I gave this book a try because I enjoyed Sarina Bowen’s excellent new adult romance series, The Ivy Years, but lightning did not strike twice. Coming In from the Cold was enjoyable enough and Bowen is great at setting a mood and the scene, but the story never quite came together for me and I felt that the resolution was achieved too easily.

Summary from Amazon: Ski racer Dane “Danger” Hollister does not do relationships, though he keeps his reason a secret. The real-life curse he’s inherited from his mother will eventually cost him everything. Reluctant country girl Willow Reade meets Dane by accident. Literally. Her skidding truck forces him off the road during a blizzard. Stranded together in his Jeep as night falls, the two loneliest people in Vermont find themselves sharing more than they’d planned. And not just conversation.

That’s an excellent summary, Amazon. Well done, you!

Willow and Dane are both struggling with being grown ups and, despite their seemingly adult lives,  it isn’t going so well for either of them. Dane has lots of professional success, but his personal life is a morass. Willow is struggling financially and is stuck in a situation that puts her life on hold. When they get trapped together in a snowstorm, they are able to connect physically, but their emotional connection is more troublesome. Frankly, Dane is a bit of an ass and handles just about everything badly. Just as meteorological events forced them together for a night, life events force them together for the longer term and create a less comfortable connection. Things get sorted out and Dane’s realization of his manifest failure to act like a decent person was very satisfying, but I’m not sure he earned his transformation; conversely, Willow was practically perfect in every way even though self-esteem issues were thrown in to flesh out her character. Coming In from the Cold just felt too neat in the end.

Sarina Bowen’s catalogue can be found here. Links to my other reviews can be found on my complete reading list of books sorted by author or Author Commentary & The Tallies Shameful.

Tagged: book reviews, contemporary romance, Gravity Series, romance reviews, Sarina Bowen