The Blurb:

The weather outside is frightful, but this Minnesota northwoods cabin is getting pretty hot.

Stylist Frankie Blackburn never meant to get lost in Logan, Minnesota, but his malfunctioning GPS felt otherwise, and a record-breaking snowfall ensures he won’t be heading back to Minneapolis anytime soon. Being rescued by three sexy lumberjacks is fine as a fantasy, but in reality the biggest of the bears is awfully cranky and seems ready to gobble Frankie right up.
Marcus Gardner wasn’t always a lumberjack—once a high-powered Minneapolis lawyer, he’s come home to Logan to lick his wounds, not play with a sassy city twink who might as well have stepped directly out of his past. But as the northwinds blow and guards come down, Frankie and Marcus find they have a lot more in common than they don’t. Could the man who won’t live in the country and the man who won’t go back to the city truly find a home together? Because the longer it snows, the deeper they fall in love, and all they want for Christmas is each other.

Warning: Contains power outages, excessive snowfall, and incredibly sexy

The Stats:

The Review:

?????? Stars

I found myself in the mood for some Christmas themed stories over the Thanksgiving holiday. I don’t know why because I’m typically adamant about eschewing all things snowy or Christmasy until about the second week of December.

I bought this a few weeks ago when it was on sale…it still might be, I don’t know—but was saving it for late December. Then, I found myself needing a book and nothing else was grabbing me.

Honestly, the trapped-in-a-cabin-during-a-blizzard-with-a-hot-guy trope makes me roll my eyes to the point of a migraine such is the ridiculousity. And…this one happens to be a contemporary gay take of Goldilocks and the Three Bears—I wasn’t sure what to think going into this.

BUT, for the most part I actually liked it and ended up blazing through the series.

The story was sweet, marshmallow fluff with the adorable Frankie and grumpy Marcus finding a connection during a Minnesota blizzard while the two other “bears” are having raunchy sexytimes within earshot in a small cabin in the woods. No need to throw another log on the fire with Arthur and Paul in the house.

While a little predictable at times, the characters had great depth and the connection was definitely believable.

I loved the self-aware Frankie who, in part, was unapologetic in his effeminate ways—but also quite self-deprecating in ways that were heartbreaking. He showed a beautiful inner strength, just sort of unaware of his worth.

I’m not sure I fully connected to Marcus, but overall loved the way he saw the beauty of Frankie.

I had some trouble in the beginning telling the difference between the three bears/BFFs Marcus, Arthur, and Paul. Their introduction was all at once and, even though their physical descriptions were different, it took a bit for me to catch on and tell them apart.

While written in third person, we switch between Frankie’s head and Marcus’. It got confusing at times with no clear demarcations between the scenes and the head swapping. This could be a formatting thing…not sure.

Also, a little soap-boxing. I despise stereotypes with every fiber of my being. I love when authors  take on a stereotype and smash it to bits by drawing out character traits that make a person stand out strong and separate from whatever stereotype is perceived. Bravo to Heidi—this is just one place where she excels.

So yeah, I recommend this book and the series for a cold winter’s night.

This review also posted on GoodReads and Amazon.