Book Reviews

Frost by C.N. Crawford (Frost and Nectar #1 - Book Review)

Follow Torin and Ava in a journey of mystery and secrets, secrets that can uproot their relationship and even endanger their lives. Find out what I liked and disliked about the story. P.S.: Be mindful of the spoiler alert near the end.

Frost written by C.N. Crawford, reviewed by Fae Reviews.

🎉

As promised, check out Ambrosia's review

Review

Series: Frost and Nectar
Book: Frost (Frost and Nectar #1)
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: C.N. Crawford
Buy link?: at the end of this post ⤵️

Intro

I’ve had opposite experiences with C.N. Crawford. My first reading was the “Hades Castle Trilogy.” Like I said in the review, it’s a “story that could have been told in one book alone. It’s enjoyable, but if you’re picky, you might find too many flaws.” Then, I got into the world of demons with “The Demon Queen Trials.” This was a book series I really enjoyed—“a lot of action, great characters, enough tension and suspense, and a cute ending.” Now, here we are with the beginning of a new saga “Frost and Nectar.”

Book 1

“Frost” is everything you expect from a contemporary-hate-to-love-Fantasy-Romance book. The beginning brought me back a little bit to “City of Thorns.” We have a Fae woman, Ava, who found out her human boyfriend was cheating on her. She caught him in flagrante on her birthday. Guess who appears to uproot and sort of save her life? Yes, the Seelie King Torin. He shows up in the human world, just like Orion did with Rowan, and they take on a mutually beneficial pact. Now, they are both back in Faerie and what began as a fake relationship starts turning into a mess of feelings and passion. Torin has a secret though, a secret that can cost Ava her life. Have you read “The Demon Queen Trials?” Does this description sound familiar to you then?

That said, don’t worry, the story it’s not a copy of the aforementioned demon book series. It was packed with action, so it flows smoothly while you read it. I found Ava, our protagonist really fun. Another detail I found hilarious was the Fae features. Many had their hairs in crazy colors, from blue to burgundy to black. It reminded me of the movie Inside Out. You see, this is a commonality I’m starting to pick on Crawford. There’s always something different in her books, a twist, a funny detail, a fresh intake on a common story or fantastical creature. “Frost” was the kind of story I was looking forward to lose myself into.

Not everything was picture perfect, of course. There were two aspects I would like to comment on that didn’t work for me:

1) Ava’s Interaction with Her Ex

She arrives home and finds her boyfriend in bed with another woman. I can understand the emotional outburst, the tears and having her mind a bit cloudy. However, I would also expect anger. Those feelings didn’t translate in the dialogue. Actually, that dialogue among the three characters was killing me.

She asks him what he’s doing (a bit obvious if you ask me). Then a couple of sentences later she repeats the same question, ‘what are you doing.’ Afterwards, she starts talking about their mutual arrangement—she paying for his mortgage while he was supposed to support her with her bar. What? I want more of that emotional jumble with the curry scene—this was hilarious, I won’t spoil more—not this ridiculous back and forth that makes Ava look silly and in the wrong.

2) Torin’s Secret

🚨 Spoiler begins in...

1...

🚨Spoiler Alert🚨

Torin has been cursed. He can’t fall in love or his touch will kill his loved one. At one point Ava and Torin touch, kiss and even get passionate. It’s clear they were falling for each other. Therefore, the line between his touch affecting her or not isn’t well drawn. Is he supposed to declare out loud he loves her in order for the curse to affect her? Does he have certain control over his magic to prevent the curse from causing damage? Verdict: Unclear.

—Spoiler Ends—