Review: Could have been so much more
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 25, 2014
Melting Ms Frost by Kat Black seemed like a good selection from the books blurb, and it wasn't bad in reality but it could have been so much more in my opinion.Aidan and Annabel were the primary characters in this little romp, with a relatively small cast of supporting characters so it wasn't hard to follow the story line.Aidan Flynn is the newly hire bartender in a upscale restaurant managed by Annabel Frost. As the manager, Annabel has maintained emotional distance with her staff and is known to be a strict, demanding ice queen of a boss. Along comes Aidan, who is determined to break through that faade and have fun in more ways than one with the red headed beauty. The relationship starts off with lots of inappropriate verbal banter and sparing from Aidan, leading to workplace disciplinary action on the part of Ms. Frost.As time moves on, we find out that Annabel has had to rescue her Mother Ellen from a not so good, boyfriend, who has squandered all of mom’s money and thrown her into financial ruin. The info we learn about Aidan and Annabel is spread throughout the book, allowing the reader to form a gradual impression of them. Aidan is a forward young man, with a sexy Irish Brogue, he has no fear for his job security, and will do what it takes to get Annabel to drop her stand offish, prickly, unfriendly attitude, and play the games he wants her to play. Annabel, has a long seated fear and distrust of people going back to her childhood, and uses her uppity, cold personality as a way to protect herself from the pain and hurt she has in her past. With Aiden’s constant attention, sexual innuendo, physical challenges, caring attitude, and humor Annabel’s walls slowly begin to crumble.The writing was very descriptive in parts of the book, and flowed well, but in other parts of the book it seemed like sections jumped, and I questioned the timeline of the story. For me the plot was simple, and the book just seemed to drag on, it took me longer than usual to complete the book. The sex scenes were simple, short, and repetitive, leaving much to the reader’s imagination. The connection between the H/h was more lust & need driven, although one could imagine Aidan and Annabel falling in love. One of my favorite scenes in the story was Aidan showing up on his motorcycle for one of their dates, and Annabel’s reaction. The story did have some challenging moments complements of Annabel’s mom and ex-boyfriend, even some violence, but it was not a long drawn out scene, and could be considered pivotal to Ellen and Annabel’s personal and emotional growth. What Aidan really brought to the relationship (besides his good looks, & charm) was the lust for life, taking chances, breaking down walls used for personal protection and the ability to trust others.The book ends with an HEA, but it was not a satisfying one for me. You could see that Aidan saw so much more in the relationship, really wanted to have a future together, and even though Annabel was giving it a go, she just wasn't excited and convincing, I felt like she didn't see the potential, she was still so guarded. I almost felt like an epilogue should have been supplied so the reader would get a look at the success of the relationship, especially since this seems to be a standalone book.I would like to thank the author, and Net Galley on behalf of Avon Books, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, for providing the book for an honest review. Expected publication: January 30th 2014 with a book length of 400 pages