Frozen

 

Frozen (Heart of Dread #1)

Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston

ISBN: 9780399257544

Sept 2013

*I received this uncorrected galley from Penguin First to Read*

4 Stars

On the now frozen planet one city, New Vegas, manages to keep the allure of what it once was.  The casinos keep people coming in packs. A blackjack dealer, Natasha Kestal, isn’t like those who come to her table: she wants to get out of town.  There’s a land of myth, a paradise for people like her, which she just happens to have a map to.  It’s too dangerous to travel to the Blue on her own so she hires a mercenary crew led by Ryan Wesson to help get her there safely.  Everyone in the group has their secrets and agenda making every moment on the journey tense.  Nat finds herself getting closer to Wes at the same time that she comes to terms with the power inside that she has been fighting all along.  Can their love survive the choices she has to make?

The complaint I have feels so miniscule now so my rating may get changed when I think about it a little more. It started out slow for me. Obviously it wasn’t agonizingly slow. Once it did pick up (If I had to guess I would say page 50 or so) I didn’t want to stop reading. These characters are amazing. They are flawed and a bit on the dysfunctional side just the way I like them.  I was completely invested in them; even some of the minor characters. The imagery was also superb so much so that I felt that I was right there with them.  Action was abundant but not overdone to the point that it was tiring. I did not want this book to end.

Needless to say, I really enjoyed this novel.  I wish it would have had a better first impression but I impatiently await the next installment and fully recommend this one.