Frostbitten

By: Heather Beck

Narrated by: Angela Rose Masi

Great beauty hides dark secrets....

Seventeen-year-old Anastasia Lockhart has never led an easy life, but when she starts getting into serious trouble, she's sent to live with her grandparents in Cedar Falls. The small, picturesque town hasn't changed since she visited four years ago, with one exception - the presence of a handsome, mysterious boy named Frost.

Despite warnings from her grandparents and friends to stay away from Frost, Anastasia can't deny their attraction, and the more time they spend together, the deeper in love they fall. Unfortunately, Frost has a secret that is beyond Anastasia's wildest imagination, and she soon finds herself in the midst of a supernatural legend that has haunted Cedar Falls for years.

Can Anastasia and Frost's love really overcome anything, or are their fates much darker?

©2014 Heather Beck (P)2017 Heather Beck

Just a step away from 5 stars

Yes!!!! I loved this book so very very much and it pains me to not be able to give all the 5 stars it could deserve! I was contacted by the author to review the audiobook version of Frostbitten and what a lucky e-mail that was. Because I have discovered another series I enjoy. So thank you very much Heather for providing a copy of this book, in audio format.

Now, seeing that this is the first book in a series which will only become more complicated, or so I presume, Frostbitten familiarizes us with the place where all the action happens and that is Ceder Falls, a small town where snow and cold rule. Anastasia is looking forward for a new beginning with her grandparents, hoping to connect to her new classmates and reconnect with her childhood best friend. But Ceder Falls has secrets that few are willing to understand and accept.

Our main characters connect instantly, not necessarily from a romantic point of view, but they are alike in some ways as well. Anastasia’s plan to start fresh at school is quickly ruined when her classmates start spreading lies about her. So she becomes somehow isolated and blamed, same as Frost. Frost is a mystery to most and people fear the unknown. The innocence in their relationship is so beautiful, they are strong separately and stronger together. She is his link to humanity, he is her anchor when nobody trusts her.

Regardless of how much I liked the story and how well it kept me listening to the end, I must admit there are some scenes which I could not understand completely. One that comes to mind is Anastasia’s dream of a mean werewolf. I cannot connect it to the story (cannot detail because of spoilers but I’ll do it in the comments if you ask me to). And I wanted a more explosive ending. I wanted to scream in pain that it ended (I did do that…)! Even if we do have a cliff hanger, I wanted … well A CLIFF HANGER!

I liked Angela Rose Masi’s voice. She is gentle and sweet and strong when need be. The narration is amazing to say the least. She managed to change her voice very well and provided a unique interpretation to all characters in the book, be those main, secondary or even characters that appear in very few scenes.

All in all, I loved “Frostbitten” and I do wish Heather Beck will delight us with the next book in the series soon. This series shows promise of becoming great, as the end of book one offered several twists. Till next one is out, have fun reading/listening to “Frostbitten”. Happy Reading!

Good YA Paranormal Romance

Pretty good YA paranormal romance about a pretty girl who has made bad choices in her past and is sent away to live in a small woodsy town with her grandparents. Once there she is judged and bullied based on her looks and namesake and many secrets unknown to her. The premise is good but could have been done a bit smoother. It’s all a bunch of misunderstandings and no one believing Anastasia for most of the book which gets a bit tedious after a while. The instalove romance between her and Frost is just that -instalove, but I liked it. I think Anastasia could have been a bit quicker on the uptake on so many things having to do with Frost, the town, her family and the attacks. She would have been more likable and not seem so whiny. Overall I did enjoy the story. Once it got going I was invested and now I want to read the next book so know what happens after that cliffhanger ending.
The audiobook itself was done well. The characters voices and intonation were distinct and believable. I think the narrator did a good job with it.

I was provided with a copy of this audiobook by the author/narrator/publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Slow to start but picks up

What made the experience of listening to Frostbitten the most enjoyable?

The anticipation and romance

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Make the characters less immature

What about Angela Rose Masi’s performance did you like?

I thought she did very well. Engaging and got into character.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No

Any additional comments?

I think thdon’t story started off very slow. While the book was good, I found myself rolling my eyes at the immaturity of the main character. I didn’t like her much. The romance was mediocre at best.

Twilight Fans - This Book Will Fill the Void!

Frostbitten is a compelling young adult novel that is reminiscent of the Twilight series with an angsty teenage girl falling for a bad boy loner who holds a deep secret. At the same time, Frostbitten reminds me a little of Divergent with the town people's prejudice parading around under the guise of protection.

Written by Heather Beck, this story begins when 17-year-old Anastasia is sent from metropolitan Toronto to live with her grandparents in rural Cedar Falls, a place where she spent summers as a child. Despite being likeable and well-intentioned, Anastasia's bad reputation follows her to Cedar Falls and she is not given a much desired fresh start. To make matters worse, she is inextricably drawn to the only boy deemed "off limits" by her grandfather. Frost is kind-hearted and likeable, but he has a big chip on his shoulder due to being abandoned as a baby. The rest of the story follows Frost and Anastasia as they runaway from home in search of his birth parents and how they react once they find them.

I listened to the Audible version of Frostbitten narrated by Angela Rose Masi who did an admirable job providing differing voices for the characters. I'm very much looking forward to listening to more books in this series as there are a few unanswered questions that I'm just dying to know the answers too!

Loved it!

I offered to review this audiobook because I am such an an avid reader but also almost exclusively audio due to my schedule. Because of this, I can be critical of narrators. Especially when books have a single narrator required to speak with different voices for multiple characters. Most cannot do it without having some errors where they use the wrong 'voice' for the wrong character. I am a true believer in the fact that a bad narrator can destroy a great book and have turned away several books with good ratings because of just that. The narrator in this book did a great job with all voices and I was able to listen to the book without issue.

Next is the story. I am not one to give a lot of specific story details since I feel you should read the story for that, and in this case, you won't be disappointed. I am a huge fan of paranormal romance and was excited to listen to this story since the author is new to me. Heather Beck did a great job of developing the characters and keeping the storyline moving at a good pace without feeling rushed. I am now anxiously awaiting book 2!

I received a free review copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving a review.

A New Spin - Great Tale for Youth and Adults Alike

Any additional comments?

Frostbitten is a fun, paranormal romance based in Cedar Falls in Northern Ontario (woohoo thought this was pretty cool hearing Toronto and Ontario in an audiobook as this never happens). The story will be a huge hit for fans of youth paranormal novels like Twilight and Vampire Diaries (although in this case a werewolf takes centre stage, which I actually enjoyed reading about as I think we have had enough of vampires).

Cedar Falls is a remote, beautiful, isolated town that holds a dark secret – a history of attacks and wolves. This is where Anastasia finds herself after getting in trouble at her previous school, her Mother’s home with her Grandparents. She is a very typical teenager – unsure, wanting to fit in and conflicted about her emotions.

Anastasia does not find life any easier in Cedar Falls – the youth in her school are mean and untrusting. Something I am sure many teens can relate to (I know I could have), they torment her with their lies and gossip. She falls hard for Frost a young man with his own troubled past (most that is not his own fault). Their relationship seems doomed from the start – her Grandfather despises the young man and it doesn’t help her social life at school. He also has a very huge secret that could destroy their friendship.

The story really picks up here as we dive into the town’s history and the legends of the werewolves. Their relationship is starting to build and when werewolf hunters come to the town – they are forced to make a huge decision.

This was a well written, fun and interesting audiobook, Heather has done a great job with this story. It has a great plot line that paranormal fans will love. The narrator in the audiobook is excellent and kept me engaged and interested throughout the novel. There is some mild language throughout the book so depending on your comfort level with this it may be better geared for older youth. A great read and/or listen overall!

High School Bites

A troubled girl looking to start over in a new town, what could go wrong? Being in high school, having to deal with bullies, gossips, social hierarchy, and catching up in class can be stressful. Add in a sordid past, the various reputations of family and friends, and a boy that everybody says is trouble, and what could possibly go wrong?

If you like young adult romances that combine the forbidden aspects of 'Romeo and Juliet' with the high school angst and not quite normal twists of 'Twilight' then this is a book you will enjoy. Additionally, the story branches out beyond te high school elements, so that theme does not dominate the entire book. The narrator can be viewed as good or bad depending on your point of view, because although she can sound quite studious and intelligent, she can also sound on the verge of a temperamental explosion, a fear based meltdown, or a good cry.

Normally high school dramas are not something I tend to enjoy, but this book has enough unexpected twists and mysterious turns to keep the audience hooked and listening. I found the romance elements to be a little bit too easy personally, but still not blatantly overdone. Also the ending leaves a few things unresolved which makes the audience want to come back for more.

Not For Me

I was sent this audiobook from the author. My ratings and reviews will be my own personal opinions and are in no way influenced by publishers or authors who may have sent me books to review. “Great beauty hides dark secrets.” As soon as this started, I thought it had some similarities to Twilight: A young girl moving to a town she grew up in and away from her mother. New school, a cute boy, mean girls, and so much more...a lot of similarities right off the back. I already knew from the cover and description that was also a YA paranormal romance. I was just not expecting so many similarities. If you are a fan of Twilight you will either love that it is similar or hate it. I am in between. I really enjoyed that this story takes place in present day. Yes, there was paranormal aspects but the surrounding plot was easy to follow which I appreciated. Everything moved a little too quickly for me, but also at a slow pace. I know that may not make sense, but when things happened they went fast. There were other places that dragged on that I was ready to skip ahead. There was very little character development while events quickly unfolded. I just could not connect with this one, and ended up DNFing around half way through.