Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Glacier Gold
SERIES: World of Love #22 – Austria
AUTHOR: Crystel Greene
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 107 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 21, 2018
BLURB:
Up in the Alps, a single night can change your life.
Struggling college student and self-taught graphic artist Justin Bennet isn’t the most self-confident guy, but he knows he’s good at two things: snowboarding and sex. Why does Andi, the hot instructor at the Tyrolean ski resort, pretend Justin doesn’t exist?
Justin becomes all but obsessed with the idea of scoring with the young Austrian. Because for all the man’s reserve, he made it quite obvious he likes Justin—at least from the neck down.
When Justin books a private heliboarding trip with Andi as his guide, he thinks he’s one step away from striking gold.
But then the forces of nature take over, trapping the men in a snowstorm, and things get real. What was supposed to be about some freeriding fun and inviting a closeted guy to start exploring his options suddenly becomes about survival—and the hidden truths of the soul.
World of Love: Stories of romance that span every corner of the globe.
REVIEW:
I am a fan and have read several of the World of Love series book. Each one is by a different author and takes you on a new adventure in a different country. This book takes you snowboarding in Austria.
Justin Bennett is on a quick one-week snowboarding vacation in Austria with his two straight best friends “Jay and Carl. We’ve known each other since high school, since back in the days when it was still a big deal to hang with the gay kid.” They are on college break for a week and then back to the grind. Justin is the quarterback for his college where he is majoring in Economics. His mom is paying for the schooling as long as that is his course of study. She just wishes he would concentrate on his studies more than his love of sports and doodling on his silly tablet. However Justin struggles at school and secretly loves to create graphic art. When Justin has a bit of a slippery tumble in the Glacier Cave tunnel the gorgeous hunk that checked them in to the hotel comes to check on him. Justin is flat on the floor covered only in pine honey and rock salt in the no-clothing area. Justin knows that Andi is very interested in what he sees but scurries off beet-faced and avoids him at all costs after that moment. When Justin discovers that Andi does like what he sees but is deeply closeted he makes it his mission to get what he wants and he desperately wants Andi. In a last chance desperate move, Justin books the “Glacier Gold” all-day heliboarding adventure with Andi as his private guide. Will this day adventure be just the thing for Justin to finally get Andi alone to have his way with him or is this a giant mistake with disaster written all over it?
These stories can be hit or miss for me. They are each based on a new country so you get appreciate the charm of the country on its own. Unfortunately, at least for me, this story was more of a miss. I didn’t connect with Justin much. He came across as an entitled jerk that knows he’s gorgeous and gets what he wants when he wants it, no matter the price to the others involved. Plus the whole package didn’t quite line up for me. He come off as a flamboyant gay, complete with leopard print leggings, magenta see-through shirt, and an obsession with owning as many scarfs as he can. He just didn’t match up to the masculine bossy top that he proclaimed he was. I know this is being judgmental but he just didn’t work for me. The whole quarterback thing was a bit weird and totally unnecessary part to the storyline. It just didn’t fit. He talks of dropping out of school but, if he’s the college’s quarterback, that didn’t seem to be a real option. If you are that good then you are really committed to the sport and your whole team at the college level. You wouldn’t just quit and leave your team in the lurches. Plus he had mentioned it a couple times, like bragging about his status at school, but snowboarding seemed more important to him and what he was really good and passionate at.
I found way Justin obsessed with and chased after Andi. When Andi said no Justin became a bit stalkerish and uncomfortable. I know that he saw and read more into the shy and reserved Andi but it wasn’t his place to keep after him after he plainly and firmly said No!!! He pushed past what I felt comfortable with. Just because a guy sets sights on you doesn’t mean he has the right to you when you plainly state you aren’t interested. Andi I got. He lives in a quiet, secluded resort town that his father all but owns most of. He is very closeted and wants to stay that way. He has chosen to ignore his feelings and not pursue cardinal pleasures, especially with hotel guests that are here for a quick holiday break. Everything that is him is tied to that town and his large, extended family that he loves. He would stand a lot to lose for a five-minute fling with a man that is a few days away from leaving and never being seen again. That was the part of the story made the most sense.
As for the ill-fated heliboard trip…that was probably the best part of the story. It had the rush of adrenaline this story so desperately needed after dragging the first half. Unfortunately it didn’t come until 54% in the book and the admitting of feelings and first kiss until 78%. Then everything was in hyper mode and then the end. The finish was a bit abrupt. I would like to think that they got their HEA but, for me, it was just a HFN. There was just too much left up in the air.
The formatting of this book was unique. It was just one long chapter with no divisions. It’s not that uncommon in short stories but in a book this size is much less common and cumbersome. It made it a little harder to follow the change in days and activities for the week and didn’t allow a good stopping break when real life gets in the way of your reading. Also, so many words were in German, especially food and drink, which kept taking me out of the storyline. It turns out there is a glossary in the back of the book, that I didn’t know about until after I finished the story, so I was constantly googling the meaning of the words. I became very frustrated with having to do that.
All in all, this wasn’t a bad book but definitely not one of my top picks in this series. The premise was good but the writing style and story flow were a bit off for me.
RATING: 
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