Coming in from the Cold by Sarina Bowen

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Title: Coming in from the Cold
Author: Sarina Bowen
Series: Gravity #1
Published by: Indie
Release Date: March 8, 2015
Format: Audiobook, Kindle Book
Narrator: Joe Arden, Maxine Mitchell
Pages: 246
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Sports Romance
Source: Hoopla
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2021 Backlist Reader Challenge, Lenoreo's 2021 Monthly Key Word Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ iTunes ✩ Book Depository ✩ Authors Direct ✩ Libro.FM
My rating:

Blurb:

He can’t have her. And he can’t tell anyone why.

Ski racer Dane "Danger" Hollister does not do relationships, though he keeps his reason a secret. The real-life curse he's inherited from his mother will eventually cost him everything: his place on the Olympic ski team, his endorsement income, and his ability to fly downhill at top speed.

Reluctant country girl Willow Reade meets Dane by accident. Literally. Her skidding truck forces him off the road during a blizzard. Stranded together in his Jeep as night falls, the two loneliest people in Vermont find themselves sharing more than they'd planned. And not just conversation.

Yet neither can guess how their unlikely tryst will threaten Dane's frightening secret and Willow's tentative peace with her own choices. Only mutual trust and understanding can end their pain and give them a hard won shot at love.

My Review:

3.5 stars — Hmmm…after rereading my review for book 2, it looks like this series might feel the same for me: good, but not great.  I think this can happen a lot with author’s earlier works.

This one had a pretty strong start, and I didn’t even mind the quick move to steamy scenes…sometimes that doesn’t work for me, but I felt enough of a connection between them as they talked with one another that it felt a bit more than *just* lust.  I think part of my problem is that I started this one before Christmas, and so I had to keep reading it in pieces over a longer period of time, and that usually prevents me from falling in love with a book.  I also made the huge mistake of starting another book (paperback) with an accidental pregnancy in it, and so I started blurring the two together a bit.  (in my defense, it was a library book I needed to return, and I didn’t know this was the same trope until after I’d already started both).

All that culminated in my losing my attention with this book, and so last night when the ending came, it came out of NOWHERE for me.  Partly it’s because there was the first chapter of the next book at the end, so I couldn’t trust my progress bar to temper my expectations.  But partly it was because I felt like the ending was really rushed and kind of unsatisfying.  I feel like they had just gotten to a good place, and I guess the conflict came earlier, and so it didn’t have the pace I was expecting.  I think I was expecting one last climax and resolution (no innuendo intended).

Willow was a pretty solid heroine.  She could be vulnerable, but she was actually a lot stronger than I had been expecting.  I loved that she didn’t lose her compassion, but she still stood up for herself at important points.  It was a hard balance based on how Dane was acting, and what was behind those actions, but for me it worked okay.

Dane was…challenging.  Even though what was influencing his behavior was unbelievably challenging and traumatic, I still wasn’t impressed with how he chose to be a dick.  He *chose* to be mean instead of explaining himself.  BUT.  But.  He was genuinely apologetic after his world shift, after he adjusted to a new reality.  I genuinely believed him and his growth.  It was fast, and I hope he does get help.

I had mixed feelings over them together, but in general I enjoyed them.  Obviously they had solid chemistry and connection.  The conflict was hard though.  But they did manage to work through it, so…in the end I was happy and gooey for them.

I’m having a hard time deciding between rounding up or down.  It was basically a SOLID 3.5 for me.  I’ll probably round down, just because I really really wanted more from the ending, but I still enjoyed myself.

I also realized I’m probably going to have to reread book 2 before going on to book 3, because it just plays too big a role.  Shucks right?