Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Hoarfrost 
SERIES: Whyborne & Griffin #6
AUTHOR: Jordan L. Hawk
NARRATOR: Julian G. Simmons
PUBLISHER: Widdershins Press
RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2015
LENGTH: 8 hours, 30 minutes
BLURB:
Sorcerer Percival Endicott Whyborne and his husband Griffin Flaherty have enjoyed an unprecedented stretch of peace and quiet. Unfortunately, the calm is shattered by the arrival of a package from Griffin’s brother Jack, who has uncovered a strange artifact while digging for gold in Alaska. The discovery of a previously unknown civilization could revive the career of their friend Dr. Christine Putnam—or it might kill them all, if the hints of dark sorcery surrounding the find are true.
With Christine and her fiancé Iskander, Whyborne and Griffin must journey to the farthest reaches of the arctic to stop an ancient evil from claiming the life of Griffin’s brother. But in the rough mining camp of Hoarfrost, secrets fly as thickly as the snow, and Whyborne isn’t the only sorcerer drawn by the rumors of magic. Amidst a wilderness of ice and stone, Griffin must either face his greatest fear—or lose everyone he loves.
REVIEW:
Again, the latest adventures of Whyborne, Griffin and Christine starts with a letter. This letter is sent by Griffin’s long lost brother Jack and he’s asking them for help with a discovery in the remote parts of the freezing Alaska. To prevent unleashing unknown horrors the two pairs; Whyborne and Griffin and Christine and her recently acquired fiancé Iskander, set off to, Alaska to save Jack and all inhabitants of Hoarfrost.
Once more family is in the heart of the story. This time it’s Griffin’s family. And a brother he hasn’t seen since they were separated as children. Obviously emotions run high, and they aren’t all from the reunion, or that Griffin and Whyborne need to hide their relationship from Jack, but because Griffin is once more faced with the monsters from the past. This time they might just be here to stay.
I love the world Hawk has created and I’m in awe of their imagination and ability to keep the magic up from one book to the other, but keeping it on a level that don’t go “overboard”. So often with this kind of series I’ve noticed that the dangers and threats gets bigger and bigger (at which point I start to lose interest). That never happens with this series, and I love it so much more with every book.
I’d like a moment to talk about Christine. Yes I want to talk about the woman in m/m fiction. She’s been there, prominently, from the beginning, smack dab in the middle of trouble. She’s frank, brash, takes no prisoners and she’s pure awesome. It’s rare (for me at least) to find decently portrayed females in m/m fictions. Ones that aren’t there just to cause trouble and drama, or being the villain of the story. I rarely find them as true best friends, having a huge part of the story, not taking over it though. Hat off to Hawk for this, I’m for one is grateful.
I loved that Hoarfrost was told from both Whyborne and Griffin’s POV. It’s something that I’ve missed in the previous books. Julian G. Simmons has very clear and distinct voices for them both so it was always easy to know who’s “head” you were in at any given moment. To that point, Simmons have many distinct voices for the different characters, human and not. The non-human ones are a bit more interesting as he pushes the limits just a little bit – and brilliantly so I might add.
RATING: 
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