Review: Frozen Ground

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The storm sweeps in like a thief in the night...Winter storm Holly is the worst in eighty years bringing high winds, subzero temperatures and snowfall better measured in feet than in inches. The weather paralyzes everything in its path, but in this storm, weather isn't the only threat.

Abbey Gray, a NYT bestselling thriller author, needs time away from the madness of deadlines and personal appearances as well as her big city life in Manhattan. The timing seems perfect for her to return to her small hometown in Montana to finally put the family home on the market. Except the storm of the century is descending on Montana, sweeping in with more than just bad weather--her closest neighbor is murdered. The murder stirs painful memories from the past of another murder--Abbey's mother. Can the eerily similar details of her neighbor's murder be proof that she was wrong all those years ago? Did the older brother she worshipped actually kill their mother? Now that his prison sentence has been served, is he back for revenge? Abbey must find the truth about the past before she becomes the next victim!

Sheriff Garrett Gilmore has known Abbey and her family his entire life. In truth, he has been in love with her since they were kids. All those years he hoped that one day she would come back, knowing it likely wouldn't happen. But he can't worry about that at the moment, he has a homicide to solve and a murderer to catch, all with the storm of the century bearing down on his county. Keeping Abbey safe will test the boundaries of his defenses.

Genre: romantic suspense

Publication date: December 2019

Mature content: not of sexual nature, but the book includes violence and the description of murder scenes.

Review: To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with Frozen Ground. From the synopsis I expected something way more fast paced. Instead, I felt I ended up with a romantic suspense book with very little suspense and virtually no romance at all. 

Given the limited number of characters involved, if you exclude the most obvious suspect because, well, it's just too obvious, you get to the real culprit in next to nothing. There's a small twist there at the end, but not overly exiting. Besides, there are a few plot details that seemed crucial to me at the beginning of the story but that then are either forgotten or overlooked - and that I honestly think could contribute to solve the murder(s) way sooner.

As to the romance, I also expected more. Abbey and Garrett have known (and been in love with) each other for years, but most of the romantic parts of the book are spent inside their heads - each of them wondering if they should pursue the other. They both have a severe case of thinking too much and doing too little. 

This is book one in the Stormwatch Series. Since each book is by a different author I may give some of the others a try to see if the plots improve overtime. 

Happy readings!

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