Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  To Melt a Frozen Heart

SERIES:  Rossingley

AUTHOR:  Fearne Hill

PUBLISHER:  NineStar Press

LENGTH:  129 pages

RELEASE DATE:  December 14, 2021

BLURB:  

Freddie Duchamps-Avery has only one desire this Christmas: to ask his beloved Reuben to marry him. However, with his needy father moping around, finding the perfect, romantic moment to propose is proving tricky.

The Rt Hon. Charles Duchamps-Avery is a successful politician, a hopeless father, and a miserable divorcé. Facing the prospect of Christmas alone in London, he accepts his son Freddie’s generous invitation to join the gang at Rossingley. Yet, being surrounded by happy couples only serves to remind of his past mistakes and a looming, lonely old age.

If only a handsome, enigmatic stranger would appear and distract him…

REVIEW:

Note:  This tale takes place after the events of the first three books in this series.  As such, there are major spoilers for the first three stories.  It can be read as a standalone I suppose, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as a catch up to the couples in the first three books with the added bonus of the beginnings of a potentially new love story 😉

This short story takes place over the few days around the Christmas holidays as family and friends gather at Rossingley.  Lucien and Jay are hosting their best friends and family.  Freddie is determined to propose to Reuben after stewing over the perfect gift.  He’s also trying to get his father out of the funk he’s been in since his divorce.  There are obstacles to achieving both goals – and sometimes their name is Charles!  As the days slip by, Charles is fascinated with the new friend he has made while Freddie is still trying to fine the perfect moment to propose.  The closer they get to Christmas though, it appears that maybe the right moment will pass of them by.

As I think I reported in my last review for the previous book in this series, my observation is that this author just gets better and better with each new offering.  I really love the way she writes the whole gamut of characters – from young fashion models, to surgeons, to prisoners, to MPs to gardeners, etc.  Perhaps it’s my love of English banter, snark and slang, but every story brings something new to the table.  In this one, we have the parallel stories of Charles and George who are in the second halves of their lives and Freddie and Reuben who are young and in love and have their whole futures ahead of them.  For the older gents, things perhaps haven’t gone to plan earlier – it was a different time and society was different.  They’ve both had full lives, but they find themselves on their own and well, perhaps they are both a bit lonely and looking for some companionship that will provide something different to what they’ve had in the past.  George’s past has not be conventional, while Charles finds himself on his own after being widowed and then gone through a divorce from his gold digger 2nd wife.  He’s an MP and his life has fallen into a more than predictable and uninspiring rut.  George offers him something completely different and they really do enjoy each other’s company.  Never mind that they come from completely different classes and backgrounds.  The trick is for Charlie to get out of his own way and take a chance.

I particularly enjoyed how Freddie and Reuben provide support to Charlie.  In past incarnations, Charles has proven to be a bit of a pain in the neck.  He’s been a not great father to Freddie and he’d not been understanding of his relationship with Reuben.  But post his own divorce, he’s finally seen the forest for the trees and has been working on rebuilding his familiar relationships.  I adored the banter between Marcel and Lucien who are hilarious in their bickering and picking at each other 😉  Their husbands as well as Freddie and Reuben are the captive audience.  Poor Freddie can’t catch a break trying and failing on far too many occasions to make his formal proposal to Reuben.  But at last Christmas is nearly over and he comes up with the perfect plan.  With a little help in the execution, the proposal is the perfect romantic gesture and results in exactly the moment he hoped to give Reuben.  Beautifully done!

This whole series is just wonderful.  I can’t recommend it enough.  This holiday gem just is the cherry on the sundae and is sure to provide a warm and happy feeling to the reader.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

NInestar Press