Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Frost and Fire
SERIES: Christmas at Hall Farm #1
AUTHOR: Ana Ashley
NARRATOR: Alexander Cendese
PUBLISHER: Heartbound Press
LENGTH: 7 hours and 13 minutes
RELEASE DATE: November 14, 2025
BLURB:
After decades of sold-out stadiums and never-ending tours, coming home to run my family’s Vermont dairy farm was supposed to be peaceful. Instead, I’m being terrorized by my devastatingly attractive neighbor who’s apparently declared war on me—one “gift” at a time.
A goat that won’t leave my side. A rooster with a Napoleon complex. A hive of bees with serious attitude problems. The boy I remember as my best friend’s sweet little brother has grown into a man with a serious grudge and zero intention of making my homecoming easy.
When a crisis threatens our small town’s Christmas celebrations, we’re forced to work together. Fighting our attraction while saving the holidays should be simple, right?
Too bad Taylen James has always been my greatest weakness.
Frost and Fire is a brother’s best friend, enemies-to-lovers Christmas romance with an age gap, small-town charm, and enough sexual tension to melt Vermont snow.
REVIEW:
Bastian Hall and his band, Hall of Fame are going on hiatus. Bastian wants to return to his family’s farm and take over for his aging father. He’s got a studio and a cabin there, but he intends to run the farm.
Next door, running the James orchard is Taylen, the younger brother of his best friend Jackson. Taylen is NOT welcoming. There seems to be a war going on that Basian isn’t sure what the rules of engagement are, but animals keep showing up at his house 😉 Well two can play that game. And a rooster that is up at 3 am seems like the perfect counter 😛
Basian’s brother Fin is the town planner and the Holiday Festival is about to be cancelled because of a disaster with a gas leak. The only answer seems to be to use the Farm and Orchard property to set up the festival. Exactly what Bastian DIDN’T want – chaos in his refuge. But he will support his town, his family, he small businesses there and local bands. He and Taylen will have to work together. They are going to have to get past this animosity and deal with the real reason that Taylen is less than thrilled that his long time crush is back in Winterberry. Because he has been in love with him for a long time and he’ll just leave again and where does that leave Taylen???
OMG! This book was an absolute delight! I’m not usually a huge fan of rockstar stories. There have really only been two maybe three series that I’ve really liked if I’m honest. I feel like this series may join that small list 🙂 There are several reasons for this I think. First, Bastian and his bandmates are in their 40’s and have been around for decades. They are not 20-something. Taylen is in his 30’s. So he also is a grown adult who has been through some stuff. Secondly, this is a twist on the brother’s best friend trope that has a completely different effect on the way these two interact. Thirdly, it’s just a lot of fun to watch them poke at each other and dance around the obvious before they get out of their own way and give in to what they really want and need.
Along the way, there are other stories that are going on underneath the surface that I hope are going to result in the next books in this series. Like who HAS Fin has secretly been texting? Where does Fox disappear to all the time? Will Stone win over the Vet in town and his new neighbor? Honestly I cannot WAIT for the next book. I love the small town feel. I LOVE the Halls – all of them 😉 The humor and heart in this book were outstanding as are the found family vibes. The fact that everyone could see what was between Bastian and Taylen was so adorable. I loved how everyone tried to help them get it right – encouraging them to be honest and TALK to each other. Novel concept 😉 Such a wonderful story with plenty of heat, heart and humor. Highly recommended. This is one of my top holiday books this year! Maybe one of my top books overall this year.
Alexander Cendese did a fabulous job narrating this story. I always love his work on stories with plenty of humor because I think he is great at performing sort of smartalecky and sarcastic characters. This is a perfect example. Bastian and Taylen’s push/pull relationship throughout the story was handled very deftly in this veteran performers hands. I believed the depth of the grief that both Basian and Taylen were experiencing as well as the desire and longing they both had for each other that they kept trying to ignore or suppress. When they finally let go and are honest about their hearts, feelings and fears, it’s oh so sweet. Another winning performance from a favorite narrator with fantastic source material 😉 Well done!
RATING: 
BUY LINK:
