A review by kj468
Fire in the Ice by Ryan Taylor, Joshua Harwood

emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

I'll start by saying that overall I enjoyed this book. It was a fun, lighthearted read that took very little brainpower. It wasn't anything complex, but that's also what I was looking for at this moment.

Tropes: Friends to lovers, second chance romance (ish?), low angst

A few comments (not necessarily complaints, just thoughts):
  • There's a bit of on-page homophobia but it's reacted to swiftly and shut down very effectively. It felt a little like justice porn at times, but like, not in a bad way. I loved all the queer and ally support from the side characters.
  • Low angst overall. All drama that is introduce gets resolved pretty quickly and without much pain. But it's not so low-angst that the men don't have a journey to their HEA, ya feel?
  • They name each other's cocks -- the first character names the other's cock literally the first time he sees it in a sexual situation (at 26%). It's quite cheesy IMO but I'm not here to yuck anyone's yums. If that's your thing, enjoy.
  • A bit predictable. For some reason, the "chehkov's guns" in this book felt really obvious to me. Again, not really a complaint because I actively wanted a book that wasn't going to throw me any wild surprises.
  • Getting caught is a central plot component and happens several times. I'm a huge fan of the trope generally, so I enjoyed it. But it did happen a lot in one book lol.
  • The characters meet at (not 100% sure) 15 and 18. They don't start a romance then, though the younger guy has a crush on the older guy. Their friendship moves towards quasi romantic but not sexual ground at 17/20 year's old. They don't actually have any romantic/sexual interaction until 22/25. The authors make an active effort to not have the age gap be problematic, but there were a few moments where the older character reflects on his feelings for the younger character when they were younger that were just a wee bit meh for me.