Frozen Hearts by Ellie Hartwood

From Goodreads:

Jo’s an uptight New York transplant.

Jared’s a mountain man with a clingy husky named Petunia.

He’s fire; she’s ice.

When life forces them back together, old rivalries flare. Will Jo and Jared ignite a spontaneous combustion . . . or will love finally thaw their Frozen Hearts?

My Take:

This is a fun little romance set in Alaska. I love destination stories, and having been to Sitka a couple of years back, I could really settle into this one. 

The characters were interesting and the story well written. I enjoyed it, but I thought the "thing" that Jared did when they were teens was going to be way worse than it was. It was hinted at for so long and built up to the point that when it came out it was a bit of a let down. Not bad, but not as satisfying as I expected. In fact, it made Jo seem really petty and immature about the whole thing after so many years. I did appreciate that after the truth came out, Jo immediately felt better/forgave Jared.

At the end, our couple is separated for a time while Jo tries to work things out. She completely ghosts Jared, her aunt, and her best friends in Sitka for several months only to reappear at the end and all it mended. It worked, but I wanted a little more. 

Anyway, the book was nice, well-written, and cute. I give Frozen Hearts 3.75 stars and a Clean rating

1-5 scale and what it means:

1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad

2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing

3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive

3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love

4: Solid mind candy / worth reading

4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read

5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasure

Movie Ratings in relation to my review:

Clean--Hallmark movies, some kissing, no nudity, no intimacy on or off "screen"

PG--Some innuendo but nothing kids don't hear every day, intimacy is all closed door

PG-13--some language (swear words not related to intimacy), more talk about intimacy, heavy petting, removal of clothing on screen, but intimacy is closed door.

PG-14—somewhere between PG-13 and R. Not erotica, but at least a paragraph of on-screen intimacy

R--swearing (F-bomb, on “screen” intimacy, sometimes feels like the whole story is about the intimacy and not the relationship or some other plot, but not always