Highbury, Alana. Snowed In On Valentine’s Day. (Love & Holidays #2) Independently Published. 2024. ISBN 1230351230351

*

When Hazel and Peter meet in the wedding party of her best friend, Hazel dismisses him as rude and grumpy. Her drunken rant at him when they connect at the bar is a long exposition to establish the plot of what Hazel wants and needs. Peter isn’t exactly warm and hospitable. The next morning, Hazel’s best friend and new bride is the one to help her through her hangover (a device to allude to her and Terry’s relationship from the previous book in the series).

A month later, whilst bringing freshly baked goods to her new neighbor, Hazel is displeased to learn it’s none other than her nemesis Peter, but when she loses power during an intense blizzard and he has a generator, he insists (several times) that she come stay with him. She finally stops being stubborn and agrees, but is mean to him, for example, calling him Pete when he insists on Peter is disrespectful bullying behavior, and if he were a trans character and she was misgendering or calling him by a dead name, it would be unacceptable; why is it presented as okay and even flirtatious? They weather the storm, work through some issues, and part as almost friends, and then begin walking together, and when Peter becomes ill, it’s Hazel who is there to help.

There is a Pride and Prejudice element to this tale, as they are unable to see one another as other than they appeared upon their first meeting. Peter and Hazel come as flat and one-dimensional characters., with many missed opportunities. For example, Hazel is Japanese American, but there are few details about her culture or background, and the FMC pictured on the cover does not indicate this was intended to be a diverse read. Peter’s characterization makes him appear to be neurodivergent, and his quirks are opportunities for Hazel to tease him. There is more showing than telling, and no editing to speak of. While I didn’t find many typos, there are inconsistencies, like when Hazel wakes with a cold forehead at the beginning of Chapter 11, and in the next paragraph, takes off her nightcap (her wearing a nightcap to bed is an interesting character quirk). Worst of all is that Hazel’s career is as a motivational speaker, and she has zero self-awareness or emotional intelligence.

This was a frustrating, predictable, and clean (sex off the page) read. A quibble, but this was not well-formatted for NetGalley, and my delay in reading it before the Valentine’s Day holiday was that I couldn’t change the font or easily scroll. Once sent to Kindle it was fine, and I did slog through the whole book, hoping it might redeem itself.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #SnowedInonValentinesDay via #NetGalley, courtesy of the author.