Review: Blaze of winter
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 22, 2013
A winter's tale set in Star Harbour, NE USA, where the townsfolk commemorate decorating their original balsam fir Christmas tree with strung popcorn and cranberries. Theo Grayson, successful fiction writer, has come to spend winter back home with his brothers in search of inspiration away from his San Francisco base. A wreck off shore lures him into doing research for his next historical pirate plot.Avery Newbridge has taken leave from her job in a Boston rehab centre in order to help her aunt, who is undergoing chemotherapy, with running the local inn - it's low season so she doesn't expect much custom. Theo arrives looking for a room for an extended stay, and Avery knows right away that he will be trouble. Sure enough, Theo and his brothers used to play outrageous pranks when they were young, but he can't possibly be behind the picked door lock, the footsteps in the snow, the cold draughts around the inn... Meanwhile Avery is getting back in practise with her violin and joins the local orchestra to rehearse a Christmas concert, trying to forget her unpleasant casework.The two get thrown together just by being singletons at the local fun events such as ice skating and sparks begin to fly. But neither of them wants to stay in Star Harbour, having busy lives elsewhere, so how can they make a commitment? Then a draught from the cellar makes Theo realise that the historic inn has been secretly used to store a consignment of drugs, which are being smuggled out to sea, and peril intrudes....I liked the descriptions of the town, with people eating pumpkin muffins and drinking hot chocolate at social events, wrapped up in puffa jackets or work trousers with fleece linings, planning family celebrations. I did find that there was too much conversation and too many references to earlier books, so a fan of the series might enjoy this more than someone reading it as a standalone. Still it's got the spirit of Christmas, with an enjoyable romance and plenty of snow.