Amid the Winter Snow

Amid the Winter Snow is a beautiful anthology of stories by well-known authors: Grace Draven, Thea Harrison, Elizabeth Hunter, and Jeffe Kennedy. Of the four I had only previously read titles by Grace Draven and Elizabeth Hunter. Although now I will certainly be checking out Thea Harrison’s other titles.

The Darkest Midnight – Grace Draven

For fans of Grace Draven this novella is everything that you would expect, maybe not as steamy as her full length novels, but the emotion more than makes up for it!

Grace has this magical way of writing her stories. Her prose is almost lyrical and often hypnotic in a way that you just can’t stop reading. It’s always ‘just one more page, one more chapter….’ Her characters are always well developed; you will not find any unrealistic paragons of virtue in her stories, all characters have their strengths and weaknesses and are more real, and so more likeable, because of it.
It’s difficult to talk about this story without giving away any spoilers. But in a nutshell, it is a critique of the petty mindedness of the ‘herd mentality’ where to be different means to be shunned and excluded. It is a story of strength and resilience and it was a joy to watch Jahna grow from the young girl hiding in the shadows to the strong and confident woman she becomes, thanks in part, to her relationship with the sword master, Radimar.

This story is connected to the Wraith Kings series, but it can be read as a standalone as the connections are very minor. Although I highly recommend reading the Wraith Kings it is a brilliant series!!

The Chosen – Thea Harrison

Thea Harrison is a new author for me, but I enjoyed The Chosen so much that I will be going back to her other titles. Wulf is absolutely gorgeous and together with Lily they make a good pair. This novella had so much potential to be expanded to a full book. I hope we’ll get to opportunity to meet up again with these characters in another series.

The writing was smooth and flowing, world building was excellent, and all characters, including those in the periphery, were well developed.

This was a lovely fast paced romance. Highly Recommended.


The Storm – Elizabeth Hunter

This story is a novella of the Irin Chronicles, but it can be read as a standalone as enough information is given to follow along. You may not completely understand the wider scope of the relationships between the secondary characters and who they are, but it’s not really important to this story.

This story is ultimately about tragedy and letting go. It was lovely. I’d quite happily take Maxim home myself, such a lovely character. There was certainly chemistry between Maxim and Renata and I found myself cheering for a happy ending.
I’ve read a couple of Elizabeth Hunter’s books and I enjoy her writing style. Her world building and characterisations are always consistent and she has that extra something that makes you want to turn the pages.


The Snows of Windroven – Jeffe Kennedy

The Snows of Windroven is a novella of the Twelve Kingdoms/Uncharted Realms Series. Jeffe Kennedy is another new author to me, but unfortunately this was my least favourite of the anthology but not because of any deficits in Ms Kennedy’s writing. This was the only novella in the anthology where I felt I needed to read the other stories in the series to get more information.

This story read like it was the final chapters, or an extended epilogue, of the main book. Although attempts were made to explain characters, situations, and concepts I felt that it left the reader with only a surface understanding of who was who and what was happening.

For me, this was a shame because the novella has a lot of potential. I liked the characters, they seemed like they would have been well developed and so easy to like, if not love, if you’d read the earlier book(s).
This story has piqued my interest enough that I will put this series on by TBR pile and see if I can catch up with these characters and understand more fully where they are coming from.

If you’ve read the other books in this series I’m sure you’ll love this novella. I very much enjoyed Ms Kennedy’s writing style, I just found myself floundering to keep up with the characters.

4.25 stars
THE DARKEST MIDNIGHT, by Grace Draven
The mark Jahna Ulfrida was born with has made her a target of the cruel and idle all her life. During the long, crowded festivities of Deyalda, there’s nowhere to escape. Until a handsome stranger promises to teach her to save herself
THE CHOSEN, by Thea Harrison
In her visions, Lily sees two men fighting for her tiny country’s allegiance: the wolf and the tiger, each deadly, each cunning. One will bring Ys chaos and death, one a gentler path—but she’s destined to love whichever she chooses. The midwinter Masque is upon them, and the wolf is at her door
THE STORM, by Elizabeth Hunter
When her soul mate died in a massacre of the half-angelic Irin people, Renata thought she’d never feel happiness again. She’s retreated to the snowy Dolomites to remember her hurts—until determined, irrepressible Maxim arrives to insist on joy, too. And before she can throw him out, they discover a secret the Irin have to know
THE SNOWS OF WINDROVEN, by Jeffe Kennedy
As a blizzard threatens their mountain keep, the new Queen Amelia of the Twelve Kingdoms and her unofficial consort Ash face their own storm. Ash knows a scarred, jumpy ex-convict isn’t the companion his queen needs. But when a surprise attack confines them together in their isolated sanctuary, the feast of midwinter might tempt even Ash into childlike hope
I thoroughly enjoyed these short stories especially as they were completely different from my usual reads. All of the authors are new to me & so these novellas were a great introduction & I’ll certainly be reading more of their works. These are ideal for reading in a couple of hours.

My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

This is probably the first time I've ever read an anthology in order, with many favorite authors here it would have been hard to decide where to start otherwise:)

Reviewing though I am starting with the last...

THE SNOWS OF WINDROVEN, by Jeffe Kennedy -I am not familiar with Kennedy's stories, but this short has the feel of established characters in a world that should be familiar to her fans and I am guessing that they will be happy to see this pair - Ami and Ash - on the road to their HEA. I liked this for the most part - even though there is a tad too much 'I am not worthy' inner dialog from the leading man and I really wanted to know more about the dragon. I really liked Ami's children and friend.

THE DARKEST MIDNIGHT, by Grace Draven - Set in her Wraith King's world, with a brief cameo by one of those characters. As always, Draven does a wonderful job with a slow burn romance that grows from kindness, admiration and respect. I also liked the growth in our heroine, who gets a chance for some payback against a tormentor. And I loved the hero who sees the past what others see in the heroine's appearance and helps her to find her strength and how he stands up for her against those who would demean her. This was a great pairing and a story that felt very complete.

THE CHOSEN, by Thea Harrison - Set in a corner of the Elder Races world. This story has good bones, two very interesting characters and a prophecy setup for something that could have supported a much longer story. -I always enjoy Harrison's stories, I liked the leads, I liked what was here but I wanted more.

THE STORM, by Elizabeth Hunter - I love Hunter's stories of her angelic decendant Irin - their history is just so tragic, and finding love for the young males of their race such a rare treasure that they are truly appealing as leading men and the leading man Max is all that. The leading lady Reni is a bit tougher to like initially, because she is terribly scarred by the tragedy and she is not open to love. Her journey with Max is a long one told in flashbacks ( at least one of which felt very familiar from the series) and while Max pursues her over the years, she spends most of that time trying to discourage him even as she can't resist him. Where this story really shines is when all the past history recap is done and things start happening in the here and now - that is were Reni really started to shine and when a nice little side plot finally gave her some peace and Max his hard won HEA.

ARC via NetGalley, but my own copy has been preordered since day I could click:) Release date 12/12/17

I enjoyed all 4 stories and found a new author or two. Good solid romances.