Cold Spell by Jackson Pearce

Series: Fairytale Retellings (bk. 4)

Genera: Paranormal Romance/Fantasy Adventure

Subjects: werewolves, winter, magic, supernatural, love, rescues, retellings

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 323 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.00

Publisher: Hachette: Little, Brown

Summary/ product description: “Kai and Ginny grew up together–best friends since they could toddle around their building’s rooftop rose garden. Now they’re seventeen, and their relationship has developed into something sweeter, complete with stolen kisses and plans to someday run away together.

But one night, Kai disappears with a mysterious stranger named Mora–a beautiful girl with a dark past and a heart of ice. Refusing to be cast aside, Ginny goes after them and is thrust into a world she never imagined, one filled with monsters and thieves and the idea that love is not enough.

If Ginny and Kai survive the journey, will she still be the girl he loved–and moreover, will she still be the girl who loved him?

Cold Spell is a retelling of the Snow Queen”

My Review: This is a perfectly wintery read and I definitely recommend reading it this winter. Although, the book technically starts in October, there’s a freak winter storm in Atlanta. Snow in Georgia seems unthinkable, especially this early. Something happens to Kai’s grandma and then a mysterious girl offers Ginny and Kai a ride to the hospital. Mora is the Snow Queen and she kidnaps Kai with her mind control and cold kisses. Mora used to be a mermaid/water girl, like in the previous book, Fathomless. Kai says he doesn’t love Ginny, even though he’s loved her since they were kids. Ginny goes on a quest to find Kai and get him to love her again.

This is the best book in this series yet. Maybe it was because the time of year. Maybe it’s just because I love the whole Snow Queen story, even though this is a completely different take. I read the Stork series by Wendy Delsol, and the 2rd book, Frost, is also inspired by the Snow Queen. This book has a fun, fast adventure and it’s a complete page-turner.

I liked that we got to see another of the older Reynolds brothers. We met Silas in Sisters Red, and he had 8 siblings. Lucas is one of the older ones, and he’s married to a woman named Ella. They’re really nice and take Ginny in for a few days and that’s how she learns more about Fenris, the were-wolves. I also loved the part when Ginny end up “kid-napped” by Travellers in Kentucky. They’re Gypsies and they’re kind of Irish, because they speak some other langue to, possibly Gaelic. One character, Flannery, is a real tough girl. She’s the Princess of Kentucky, or at least the clan in Kentucky. She’s really great in a fistfight. There are other exciting and funny parts. I love the wintery road-trip that Ginny and Flannery go on in order to track down the Snow Queen. Near the end of the book they end up on an island that’s part of Michigan, in Lake Superior. I’ve never been there, but I know a lot about it. I love the great lakes, though.

This is a great edition to the series. You don’t have to read them in order, but I still suggest that you do. It’s fun to see the connections between different characters. I recommend this book if you loved the books Stork, Frost and Flock by Delsol, the Need series by Carrie Jones, the Siren series by Tricia Rayburn, Lies Beneath series by Anne Greenwood Brown, and Shiver, Linger and Forever by Maggie Steifvater.

Cover Art Review: Love the broken mirror and the title. The lines that swirl around the title are a bit tangled, but look nice. It’s all very beautiful. Wish is was metallic like Fathomless was.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

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Frost by Wendy Delsol

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Series: Stork (bk. 2)

Genera: Paranormal Romance/fantasy

Subjects: Mythology, Iceland, the Snow Queen, Magic

Length: 376 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

Summary/ product description: “After the drama of discovering that she’s a member of the Storks, a mystical order of women endowed with powerful abilities, Katla Leblanc is finally settling into her life in chilly Minnesota. In fact, the ex-California girl even hopes for a white Christmas. So when the snow starts to fall on a romantic sleigh ride with her boyfriend, Jack, it seems like the perfect present. However, before she knows it, Katla's wintry wish spirals out of control, turning into the snowstorm of the century.
The unusual weather draws unexpected attention. Environmental scientist Brigid Fonnkona is runway gorgeous, utterly charming, and far too interested in Jack for Katla's comfort, especially after Jack is singled out to help with Brigid's research. Between Stork duties, rehearsals for the school production of The Snow Queen, and checking off items on her bedridden, pregnant mother's to-do lists, Katla has zero time to investigate, even as she notices Jack's long hours in the lab and the growing tension between the two of them. Then Brigid selects Jack to accompany her on a research expedition to Greenland, and Jack's cold good-bye leaves Katla wondering where they stand, but when Jack goes missing above the Arctic Circle, Katla knows she's the only one who can find him.
In this sequel to Stork, Wendy Delsol take readers back to Norse Falls and beyond, as Katla finds the grit and spirit to rescue the boy she loves.”

My Rating: ê ê ê ê ê

My Review: This sequel has to be one of the best, most fulfilling sequels I have ever read. I wasn’t really disappointed about anything. It was a funny, exciting read, especially since it’s winter. So much happened in this book, that it took me a few days to read it because I had to soak it in. Most of the book is in Minnesota, but later it’s in Iceland and gets even more exciting and adventurous. You get to see even more of this mythological secret world that the author created. This book it less about the soul delivering and more about love’s trials and limits.

Kat is funny and quirky as ever. I had a laugh at least every page or so, sometime many times a page. These books remind me a bit of the Need series because Katla’s humor is similar to Zara’s (or the authors’).

Jack become infatuated with Brigit (but not “in love”) He’s obsessed with the climate work they’re doing, and he’s not around Katla a lot. I felt like they were gonna break up, but he’s probably just so memorized that he’s forgetting. I’m not gonna spoil it because some of it’s pretty obvious. It’s a great book, even better than the first.

Over all I recommend it because it surpassed the 1^st book and it’s awesome to read during winter.

Cover Art Review: Sparkly plastic paper. The icicles are gorgeous in purple, and that lady looks just like they described Bridget aka the Snow Queen. The actual hard cover is so pretty if you have it in real life, not just a photo.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

~Haley G