Review: Loved everything about it
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 26, 2013
It feels like forever since I've had the opportunity to read a new release by one of my most favorite authors, Heidi Cullinan. The fact that she wrote this story because she couldn't find a good "snowed in" read, just made me want to devour it even more. I love twinks, I love bears, I was born in Minnesota, and I absolutely love, love, LOVE snow. I figured this was definitely the book for me.Frankie is a stylist in Minneapolis and gay. Being lost in northern Minnesota in the middle of a blizzard is his idea of hell. Running into three lumberjack bears is Frankie's idea of the ninth circle of hell. But, when he swerves to miss a moose and his little car goes down into a ditch, Frankie figures he's just about done for. Bundling up he gets out and starts walking hoping to find shelter of some kind. He finds a small cabin which is currently empty but from the looks of it, whoever lives there isn't very tidy. Frankie falls asleep and is woken up by none other than the Three Bears, the lumberjacks he had seen in the diner when he stopped for directions. Oh, this is not good, Frankie's little rabbit brain tells him. These are the kind of guys who beat up guys like him. Little does he know.Marcus is not having a good day. Bad enough that he and his two best friends, Arthur and Paul, were at the diner when the cute little city-slick twink who reminds him of his ex comes in. Then stopping to see his mother in the care facility and she is really struggling with Alzheimer's and Marcus doesn't know what to do about that. Then to top it all off, when they get back to Arthur's cabin, there's the city twink asleep on the couch, which happens to currently be Marcus's bed. And, it looks like they're all going to be snowed in together for a number of days. Great.Frankie doesn't know what to make of Marcus. He's pretty sure, though, that the guy hates his guts. He's never met anyone so grumpy and mad, all of the time. Having to share the foldout couch with him while listening to Arthur and Paul's nightly BDSM exploits isn't helping Frankie's stress levels. Marcus really wants to dislike Frankie but he'd rather have sex with him. Marcus doesn't know why everything he says Frankie takes the wrong way. Marcus has three degrees and half of a doctorate and feels like an idiot around Frankie.Frankie finally confronts things with Marcus and, well, lo and behold, there's a nice, steamy make out session in the barn. As the snowed in days continue, Frankie begins to learn more about his Papa Bear, like how he was a lawyer in Minneapolis and how his ex cheated on him. Frankie also begins to see the scared man under all of the grump, and Frankie likes him, a lot. These two are amazing together. There's something about each of them that just fits with the other perfectly. Marcus has a wonderful way of making Frankie see himself in a different light than he ever has, while Frankie accepts Marcus for exactly who he is without judging him. They are truly fabulous together!When they can all finally make it into town on their Ski-Doos, Marcus takes Frankie to meet his mom and style her hair. Frankie is so excited to be able to do this and make her look beautiful again. I loved that Frankie really was as caring and thoughtful as I had originally imagined. What started out as just doing Marcus's mom's hair, turns into caring for all the residents in the home. No one had ever come and made them feel beautiful like this and certainly not done it for free. Frankie is a huge hit and he loves doing it, to the point where he keeps thinking he wants to stay, all the while fearing this would never work. And then the weather conditions clear and it's time for Frankie to go home. Their days of pretending to have a relationship is over and now neither of them knows what to do about how they feel. How can they possibly work? Marcus is never moving back to Minneapolis. Frankie can't conceive of giving up his job and moving to the north woods of Minnesota.There is not a single thing that I didn't love about this story. Marcus and Frankie have been added to my list of favorite couples. The writing was phenomenal, all the characters were wonderful, the dialogue was real, and the story was simple, yet not simple. It's a story about life and love, and the things that are truly important. Read it. You don't want to miss this. Trust me.NOTE: This book was provided by Samhain Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews