Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Melting His Grumpy Heart
AUTHOR: Ali Ryecart
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 204 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 14, 2025
BLURB:
This is a heartfelt and ultimately heartwarming tale of two men who have been badly hurt in previous relationships. They come together due to happenstance and are forced to spend the holiday period together due to a fierce winter storm.
Ru is fleeing London. His life – well his romantic life – has imploded and he needs to get away for s reset. Sadly his planning leaves a lot to be desired. He barely packs any clothes, left his laptop and literally hightailed it out of London in a car that is barely holding together. His destination is the inherited cottage of the elderly aunt of one of his friends. It’s in a village of Bobblecombe. Unfortunately he’s managed to take a VERY wrong turn, he nearly hits a deer, a snowstorm has started and then his car dies. In the dark countryside. Luckily he finds a barn that isn’t locked and finds a place to huddle up for the rest of the night. But then he wakes up to a gun in his face.
Jake finds a very unwelcome surprise of an unexpected guest in one of this accommodations for his survivalist training business. The guy is clearly out of his element. Wrong clothes, car held together with spit and a bandaid and a blizzard coming. One that could last a week. If there’s one thing Jake doesn’t want, it’s company. He’s been on his own for years – with his rescue dog Monte – in his farmhouse. He’s not used to having people around and he’s not very happy about it. He’s retired military and every word he utters comes out like a barked order. He scares the heck out of Ru at first. And he’s not looking forward to having company for the foreseeable future, but there’s no other option.
As they spend more time together, Ru ends up trying to help Jake around the farm house while also surreptitiously trying to find out more about Jake who is incredibly tight-lipped about his past. Jake finds himself being protective over Ru – something he hasn’t felt in years. They find some common ground in admiring the beauty of the natural environment. Ru is interested in anything that will help with his illustrations. He’d also like to celebrate the season a bit – although they are quite isolated. Jake is again reluctant – he hasn’t celebrated anything in a few years, but he opens up to Ru about his past solstice celebrations with his grandmother and they do gather some solstice decorations and observe the occasion.
As the storm rages and they are alone in the farm house, they grow closer and share a kiss. Jake is still concerned and does a bit of a distancing yet again. But eventually the walls come down and he and Ru discover that they might just have something here. Something that could be good and lasting. Despite the hurt and heartache from their exes, maybe there is a future for them. Together.
Jake and Ru are the answers to each other’s desires, despite their initial friction. Both are nursing wounds from bad breakups and partners who were unworthy of them. Their trust has been broken, but Ru is a bit more amenable to moving forward. Jake has been stuck. Perhaps his military background has affected his way to dealing with adversity which is just to grit his teeth and get through it. Thankfully Ru comes along and shows him that being alone isn’t the only possibility for him. I enjoyed the Solstice celebration and their eventual trust in each other. Lovely holiday story with a happy ending for all 🙂 Recommended.
RATING: 
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