4 Hearts

Any proper apocalyptic story is going to be bleak as the daily, if not hourly, struggle to survive weighs heavily an unbearable burden.

Here, Finn’s situation is no different, but he bravely takes a risk to help his sick sister, venturing into the dangerous city to scavenge for supplies. Unfortunately, he encounters an unsavory group who’s also looking for some rare treasures, but avoids death by the kindness of a stranger named Spencer.

This showcases perfectly that despite harsh reality, the sense of hopelessness that’s just about to overwhelm all, a simple act changes everything - outlook, expectation, goals - and gives one the courage to fight for the happiness that basically seemed forever lost.

Realistic dystopian vibe where nothing is sugar coated, this still had great feels and a nice dose of sexy. This ends perfectly as that hard fought win brings some much needed light to so much darkness.

Thank you to the author/publisher for a copy in exchange for a honest review


2019 apocalyptic-dystopia arcs-bmbr ...more31 s Elena860 101

I d the setting and the characters, but it felt the author tried to squeeze a longer novel into a 100-page novella. As a result, the characters weren’t fully fleshed out and the relationship development was too rushed. Too bad, because I the writing and I think this could have been a much better story if it had been given more room to grow.3-stars dystopia insta-love ...more24 s CristinaAuthor 31 books99

***ARC provided by NineStar Press through NetGalley***

This is a great novella set in a post-apocalypse world immersed in an eerie nuclear winter.

Its release date is fast approaching (March 4th) and my intention is to re-read the story and then write a proper review.

All I can say now is that I loved the worldbuilding and the characters. The writing is beautiful and goes smoothly from meditative to fast-paced, involving the reader in the tough predicament of Finn, Spencer and Siobhan.

The only downside is the relative brevity of the book that inevitably has to cut short some passages. I think this is a story that could have been developed very easily into a full-length novel. Even in its current form, however, is truly well-rounded and compelling.

I highly recommend it.arc dystopian favorites ...more12 s annob559 66

3,5 stars!

The story themes and character personalities were all 4 star good. The writing flowed with ease, and had just the right amount of details of a near-future postapocalyptic USA. So it was doubly frustrating that the romance never really took off. I mean, the relationship progressed but it came across as lukewarm. If I could tweak the story it would perhaps be towards more dialogue between the MCs and somewhat fewer introspective musings. Still, I enjoyed this novella and would read more books by the author.age-gap dystopia fiction ...more12 s Evie DraeAuthor 4 books140

I’m going to start off this week’s review with a holy shmoly! I went into Frost by Isabelle Adler—and published by NineStar Press—completely blind, which isn’t something I make a habit of, but something I’m learning can be very, very fun.



This was an amazing novella that dove into a post-apocalyptic space with such gorgeous world building and flawless character development that I was near-to-drooling by the time I finished. My readerly bum was on the edge of my seat and my nails were gnawed to nubs. There is such beautiful tension and organic conflict stemming from the harrowing world our main characters find themselves living within.



I got so completely sucked into this story I skipped a meal and went on to have nightmares about the vivid hellscape Ms. Adler plops her characters into. But don’t fret, my lovelies. This is a romance at its core, and despite the challenges and conflicts our heroes face, there is a very satisfying HEA. One you won’t entirely see coming, but isn’t that the best kind?!



I would recommend this book to any gay romance reader, but especially those who enjoy phenomenal world building and realistic conflicts mixed with just the right amount of adventure.lgbtq m-m-romance novella ...more10 s Alisa1,817 197

This is the second book I've read by this author in the last month and it was another hit for me. (I also highly recommend her book Adrift). I am a sucker for apocalypse settings in books and read them a lot. This was the first time though that I have read a book when the apocalypse caused a constant snow and cold temperature. I thought it was unique and since it would be mine own personal hell I was totally drawn in to it.

The book was relatively short but still did a good job with the world building. It set a tone of bleakness and fear and I could immediately understand Finn's desperation to help his sister. Spencer was intriguing and I d him immediately. The bad guys were well done too. You have to have bad guys in apocalypse stories but if it's too heavy handed it can be over the top. This was just the right mix in my opinion.

I really d the romance and I thought the guys were great together. It was a bit insta-love and while I don't generally that, I will always give that a pass in this sub genre. It's the end of the world..... you gotta get your loving when and where you can.

As I previously stated I have read two of this author's books this month and have really enjoyed them both. She was a new to me author and I'm really excited to have found her stuff. I will definitely be reading more by her.apocalypse m-m-read scattered-words ...more8 s ?Michaelle?3,672 217

3.5 Starslgbt m-m-romance m-m-scifi ...more7 s Charlotte694 54

Okay, let’s get this out-of-the-way – this is a novella! And my one complaint about it is that I can’t believe it’s not a novel! Sometimes, I can read an entire book and not feel any great connection with the characters. That is not true of this short work by Isabelle Adler.

This story is set in a post-apocalyptic type of world, basically a nuclear winter. The reader is introduced to Finn, a young man who is hunting for medication for his sister at an abandoned and run-down hospital. He encounters a gang of scavengers who grab him and if it weren’t for the intervention of a stranger with a shot-gun… Finn would probably be dead.

Spencer is the name of the bearded man who saved Finn’s life. Finn is surprised by the intervention…then again he’s surprised when he is invited to stay at Spencer’s home to ride out a storm. It’s clear that living in the wasted world has been hard on Finn. He’s almost heartbreakingly desperate to continue his fragile friendship with Spencer while at the same time convinced that it can’t be real.

The friendship grows into something more…and just as Finn is beginning to think that there may just be a little joy left in his life, Spencer disappears.

Adler does a fantastic job of fleshing out the feelings of the characters even in the short eighty-two pages of the novella. The state of the world is bleak, but there’s a spark of hope in Finn and he sets out to find Spencer. I believed in Finn!

No spoilers here! Pick this novella up!fiction lgbtq sci-fi-fantasy5 s Isabella ~Mikku-chan~799 38

*~~*ARC kindly provided by the author to me in exchange for an honest review *~~*

A terrific, sublime post-apocalyptic romance story (with a HEA!) during a nuclear winter and where a brother is taking care of his sick sister but finds companionship, and more, along the way. A book which shows love can be found in a hopeless place.

I simply ADORED the characters & how knit tight the siblings were. Finn is such a charming, caring brother who does literally everything to get the needed medicine for his sick sister Siobhain, who is a second character I would have loved to learn more about because she's simply adorable. Despite being sick she's not fleshed out as someone who's impassive - at least when she's not sleeping in exhaustion and sickness - she shows a strong will and a driving force for Finn to keep moving. Without her, Finn might have lost hope and although it's dangerous for him to get out and hunt for necessary medicine, food and the other needed stuff to survive in this utterly devastating world they now call their home, he does it because she is his last connection to a better place and time. The love both siblings share for each other is tender and sweet.

I can't say how much I love this story about family bonds, responsibilities and second chances as well finding love & hope when you are very close to loose it. Finn is meeting Spencer at the most inconvenient time - but granted they're living in the rough nuclear winter it's hardly any good time to find someone who's sparks your interest let alone your love of your life.
Spencer is filled with his kindness and his offer to share the rare, limited good surprised Finn, maked him humble, yet he's first pretty hesitant and doubtful if Spencer is not having something malicious in mind. He provides Finn shelter when he needs it so badly and is literally saving his life by a hairbreadth.

You're engrossed in this story from the start - Isabelle Adler catches the atmosphere in a few, easy yet powerful words - the hospital scene (see excerpt) opens up in front of the reader - unpleasant and dangerous, you get what's meant to survive in the rough surrounding, it's gripping you and evokes an inner unpleasantness for abandoned places this old hospital (at least I was intrigued and slightly disturbed altogether).
Without any effort you have the world right before your inner eye - the stunning cover also carries this atmospheric tone perfectly - and from that moment on I couldn't stop reading and I flipped through the pages and literally rushed towards the end because I wanted to know if there's a silver lining for Spencer and Finn, as well as Siobhain. I didn't wanted to give up the hope that these guys couldn't have had their HEA - and the way it's presented it absolutely fulfilling for this terrific, catching story.
Simply superb and I wholeheartedly recommend it to you. 5 out of 5 stars.

Review originally posted on my blog with added content Mikku-chan / A world full of words4 s Jacqueline RohrbachAuthor 9 books35

Frost by Isabelle Adler is a story about finding something other than survival to make life meaningful. Finn sets out to find medicine for his ailing sister and is jumped by a gang. Luckily, Spencer intervenes and saves him. As Spencer and Finn get to know each other, feelings of love develop and Finn and Spencer both take a leap of faith on their budding romance.

What I d about Frost is how it played with my expectations about survival novels. Usually, the world ends and the protagonists find themselves surrendering to their more base instincts in order to combat brutal antagonists. In this novella, the characters use hope and the desire to build a family to make it through the winter.

I love doom and gloom stories about the end of the world, but this was a nice change of pace.

Most post-apocalyptic novels focus on how bad people are and how the collapse of society frees people to revert back to their savage ways, and everyone has to become as brutal to survive. Frost reminds us that people created laws and civilization to begin with and that people, filled with the same hopes and dreams of their predecessors, can bring it back even after a nuclear winter.

I recommend this novella for people who enjoy stories of hope and sweet romances. I don’t recommend this book for people who only enjoy cutthroat survival stories. 4 s Kazza1,443 165

This wasn't exactly what I was expecting. It isn't the slightest bit dark and the romance is of the very, very insta kind. It's nice. If you are the kind of person who wants nice end-of-world reading then this could be a good one for you.

Short blog review
3 s Solly481 35

This was so nice!! (maybeee it's even 4.5 stars, I'm not sure)

I have a lot of Feelings and Thoughts and I'm gonna try to word them.

I really loved the worldbuilding! It's a romance set during a nuclear winter, and the worldbuilding is simple enough not to take over the story and realistic enough that I was : yeah well that definitely would happen if we were thrown into a nuclear winter. Basically: most human beings are shitty, and the world 'ending' would make it so much worse. I did asked myself a lot "but how cold is it really??" and that frustrated me a little bit but it's a minor detail.

I think this book really filled a bit of the void of my deep desire for more stories about 'normal' people going on with their lives in SFF settings (apocalypse, space opera, high fantasy, etc.). SFF without the high-stakes of saving the world and all that is really nice sometimes and it's kind of rare. It felt so good to see the life of three people struggling during a nuclear winter, but their struggles are personal and intimate and not world-changing, and I *loved* that. , I really really loved that.

The romance itself was really nice. Honestly, in a contemporary setting, I would've been "oh this went too fast for my liking" but I think it works extremely well with the setting. I actually felt the apocalyptic setting allowed the author to explore emotions that are different from the usual romance: how much you cling to the few things you care about, how romance seems something frivolous when you should focus on surviving, how you don't trust people anymore but once someone trustworthy shows up, you don't want to let them go. It was just really, really interesting to me.

The cast was small (but , you don't keep 53 friends during an apocalypse, folks) but the characters were interesting and believable. I loved Finn's sister, Siobhan! It was great to have a strong, important brother/sister relationship aside from the romance. Both Finn and Spencer were great characters. I would definitely be a Finn in these circonstances (honestly in these circonstances I would probably be dead though): mistrustful, hard on himself, having a hard time to let himself hope. At the beginning, I thought Spencer wasn't... believable. He was too kind, too great. But he grew on me and I could understand him better when he said that thing about holding onto the very few things you care about.

My ace self was in a period where my sex-aversion was higher than usual so I kind of read the (only) sex scene quickly, but that's 100% on me anyway!!

Overall, I really d this. Worldbuilding, characters, plot, everything was super well-done. I was actually glad this was a just a novella because otherwise I would have stayed up a lot later than I already did.

TW: violence/blood, gunshots, fire/explosion, serious illness, explicit sex.2019-reads dystopia-or-apocalypse m-m ...more2 s R.J. SorrentoAuthor 3 books43

Read this in two sittings. I was enraptured by the story immediately, and I loved the subtle detail and creative world building in describing life during a nuclear winter. A beautiful, suspenseful and emotional tale with a gorgeous bittersweet romance at its heart.2 s Donna3,843 49

Frost tells the tale of Finn and Spencer in a post-apocalyptic world struggling to survive and find a reason to keep on going. I d Finn and his relationship with his sister and I loved Spencer’s view on life. I felt the world was really depressing and it was only the budding relationship between Finn and Spencer that kept me turning pages.2 s Jolanda Kämpf12

The story was sweet but all in all really flat. I already had the first problem when Spencer wasted a bullet to shoot in the air to proof he's serious - in a postapocalyptic world where bullets are rare you don't waste them this if you /actually/ are serious. Also the development of their relationship was frustrating; both of them being so shy and beating around the bush... The drama at the end was foreseeable and the ending itself a tad bit too sweet.2 s Love Is All Around1,920 66

Voto: 4.5
RECENSIONE A CURA DI EVELYNE
Con un’ambientazione post-apocalittica, “Gelo” è stata una delle migliori letture dell’ultimo periodo. Mi sono sempre piaciute le storie tormentate inserite in eventi tragici, specialmente se ben scritte e con una buona struttura alla base.
Continua sul nostro blog!ninestar-press recensione-di-evelyne2 s Blog Coccole tra i Libri 1,452 85

“«Perché mi stai aiutando?» chiese Finn con un filo di voce.

Spencer alzò le spalle. «In un periodo come questo, troviamo senso ovunque sia possibile. Altrimenti, come possiamo andare avanti? E così quando la vita all’improvviso ti presenta qualcosa di cui avere cura, proprio quando pensavi che non sarebbe mai più successo… non ti fai domande.» Finn deglutì. Aprì la bocca per parlare, ma non trovò le parole giuste da dire. Spencer gli strinse la spalla e si alzò. Sistemò le sue cose di lato, in un posto asciutto sotto una stretta finestra chiusa con assi di legno.”



Innanzitutto mi scuso con l'autrice per il ritardo di questa recensione. Tornando a noi, oggi volevo parlarvi di questo romanzo, che seppur di poche pagine è riuscito a incuriosirmi fin dalla sinossi.

L'autrice, già all'inizio del capitolo, ci porta in un mondo tutto nuovo, dove niente è come lo abbiamo sempre visto. Siamo catapultati in un mondo apocalittico, freddo, grigio e soprattutto pieno di pericoli che coinvolge il protagonista Finn, un ragazzo di ventitré anni.



Conosciamo Finn che è intento a cercare dei medicinali, quando per sua sfortuna incontra dei malviventi, ma tutto cambia quando in suo aiuto arriva Spencer che lo salva.

Possiamo capire che Spencer e Finn stringono un'alleanza/ amicizia, però non sappiamo cosa sia successo al mondo e perché si trovi in queste condizioni.



Il romanzo manca un po' di avvenimenti ben descritti, qualche volta infatti capita di avere dei dubbi sullo svolgimento, però la lettura riesce comunque a intrattenere il lettore. Andando a leggere i vari capitoli si scoprono altre cose, ma le descrizioni si fermano lì.



Quello che attira di più è il crescere della storia d’amore tra i due protagonisti e questa mi ha appassionato molto, perché sia Spencer che Finn crescevano a ogni pagina, si sono evoluti in maniera molto omogenea e naturale. Quando leggevo il romanzo, mi sembrava di essere parte di loro in certi momenti, questo è dovuto alla scrittura fluida e scorrevole della scrittrice, con cui è riuscita a tenermi incollata, e lo apprezzo molto. L'unica pecca, per me, avrei preferito che molte situazioni fossero approfondite ulteriormente.



Voto 4,5 coccole

Naomi1 Isabelle AdlerAuthor 12 books110 Read

Category: Romance, Genre: Sci-fi
Word Count: 27100 (novella)
Pages: 97 (e-book edition)
Sex Content: Explicit
Pairing: MM, Orientation: Gay, Identity: Cisgender

Warnings: depictions of violence and physical beating

Available from these vendors:
NineStar Press
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon DE
Amazon CA
Smashwords
Kobo
Barnes & Noblemy-books1 Pam859 31

2.5 stars. Enjoyable when you’re looking for something easy and plot-driven, especially if you’re a fan of survival stories. Properly dystopian without being too dark.dystopian own-epub read-20221 Just Gimme Da Books34

This blew me away. The setting was so well handled--a post-apocalyptic world with all the expected, yet packed with the unexpected, as well. And the fact that the author was able to achieve a sense of happiness and hope at the end despite the setting was... truly impressive. I will definitely be reading more from this author!lgbtq lgbtq-romance m-m-romance ...more1 Polina Ganeva24

Book thoughts in 300 words and 3 gifs

Three 'Frosty’ stars
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