I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

I had high hopes going into this book. I mean, it’s a wintry sapphic romance, what’s not to be excited about! I want hot cocoa and snow and women falling in love! And while the book does deliver on a lot of this, it unfortunately just didn’t entirely work for me.

One thing I have to compliment this book on is its atmosphere. I feel like an important part of any seasonal romance is properly setting the scene and making readers feel like they’re also there in that season, even if in real-life it’s an entirely different time of year. This book did a fantastic job of it, and even though it’s only the early days of fall here, I felt like I was in a cabin, buried in inches of snow. It made the book so cozy overall, and I can honestly see this being a perfect read this winter just for this alone. It was incredibly atmospheric, and I can’t wait for it to be winter and for the holidays to come around again now!

Unfortunately, that’s the only part I really loved about this book. While I generally liked the romance, I was never quite into it because I couldn’t fully connect with Morgan. I actually really liked her problems (abandonment, feeling like you’re never going to be enough, etc.), and the angst that came with it, but something about the way she was developed didn’t really work for me, and she remained feeling a bit two-dimensional throughout the book because of it. It kept me a bit more distanced from the romance, too, and the third-act breakup only solidified that distance for me. I wasn’t a fan of what was chosen as the issue here, and how some characters, especially Morgan, felt out of character during that scene. Since I was never truly invested in the relationship, it also made the many cheesy moments a bit too cringy for my taste, which ruined a large part of the ending for me as well. I also just wasn’t a big fan of the epilogue, and felt that it was quite rushed and fast overall. It was hard to tell the exact timing of when the epilogue takes place, but it seemed like it was only a few weeks/couple of months after the end of the book, which only contributed to the rushed feeling.

Overall, this book was a cute, snowy read, but not one I’ll find myself rereading this winter, unfortunately. I do think many people will still find it to be the perfect holiday read, though, especially paired with a massive mug of hot cocoa!