Reviewed by Stephen K
TITLE: Cold Fire
AUTHOR: Hannah Heyward
PUBLISHER: Hannah Heyward
LENGTH: 160 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 12, 2024
BLURB:
Justin is content working at a candy and coffee shop in Leighton, Missouri with his best friend. It’s a damn good life, and there’s no one he’d rather have by his side. He is, quite literally, living the dream.
Well, about ninety-four percent of his dream, anyway. The other six percent of him wouldn’t turn up his nose at someone besides his buddy to share it with. So until he finds his person, he’s usually content to settle for the occasional companionship of the single-night variety.
That is, until actor Kieran Palmer walks straight out of Justin’s fantasy and into the shop while filming a movie nearby. Suddenly, everything Justin has dreamed about is not only standing in front of him, but also flirting with him.
When a winter storm unexpectedly hits and Kieran is stranded, he is forced to wait out the sleet at Justin’s house. Which wouldn’t be such a bad thing if he wanted to pass the time watching a movie or playing cards. But when he picks right back up with the flirtation, Justin is left with a dilemma.
Should he give in and have a little fun with this man he’s fantasized about but will never see again? Because the more time they spend together, the more Justin starts to like him.
And the more Justin starts to like him, the more he wants Kieran beyond this one storm.
REVIEW:
I was in the mood for something short and sweet so what would be better than a candy maker secretly getting snowed in with a celebrity from his fantasy freebie list?
Ever fantasize about meeting a celebrity and getting stranded alone with them during a blizzard? If so, this may be your book. This type of plot can be a bit claustrophobic. Given that the protagonists are snowed in, the cast of supporting characters and menu of optional subplots is small. This tale did a pretty great job of keeping me interested despite those limitations. The two quickly developed a banter that allowed us to get to know them as they got to know each other. It was fun to be snowed in with them. These two were likeable enough that the lack of supporting characters wasn’t overly noticeable.
Given the ice storm the sex perhaps wasn’t as hot as some I’ve read, but then as they say in the book, “Sex is like pizza – even when it’s bad it’s still pretty good.”
This tale was fun and really was a bit of a truffle; not terribly nutritious and not something you’d be wise to make a steady diet of. But still, it was entirely satisfying in the moment and it’s clear that the maker has more of these treats in her repertoire, if we can just coax here into satisfying our whims.
RATING: 
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