I think I'd have liked this more as a more romantic tale, without Louis.

I went all grabby hands when I saw this tale up for request at Netgalley and didn't read the blurb. As usual from this author, I got a well-written tale, and one with lovely descriptions of food, which was a given seeing that one lead was a food blogger and the other a chef, and for me, the fried stuffed olives were a thing of intrigue and I felt quite bummed that they didn't turn out as planned.

I'm not sure that the romance worked for me, as it felt a bit too many cooks, no pun intended, with the arrival of the unexpected Louis and all seemed a bit awkward and for a few, I wondered if there'd be fisticuffs. I think that had the two former lovers been alone, they'd have had an earlier chance to drop the artifice a lot sooner in exchange for the conversation that they did need to have, but that came across as a bit too little, rather too late, and where both seemed a little too reasonable, doing me out of some anticipated angst-and-soppy stuff. It ends abruptly, too, so I'm not too sure what to make of this tale.

It's Christmas Eve and a chef's son is cooking a romantic dinner for his best friend and ex-boyfriend, who is also a chef. It's such a cute set up and is executed wonderfully by Josh Lanyon. I prefer full length novels, but this 60 page novella/short story was adorable. I was immediately intrigued and the character development was remarkable for such a short story.

I wish there was more of Jess and Rocky!

Josh Lanyon can write a great short story. This is a good example.

Like no one else, he can create full-size characters on just few pages. Rocky and Jesse are proof of that. We meet them when Jesse appears on the doorstep of Rocky's house to cook him a delicious dinner for two and perhaps regain his heart. And all this during an extremely snowy Christmas.

Additional thanks for the author for the fact that he can make us like even those characters that we are unlikely to do - such as other participants in the race for Rocky’s heart.

This is a good short story, perfect for Christmas reading. It definitely warms the heart.

★ ★ ★ ★ ish!
Themes: holiday romance, friends to lovers, childhood friends, second-chance romance, HEA
Content Warnings: shitty parent, swearing

Alright, this novella was really freaking cute. Holiday romances are a genre I’ve never spent much time reading because I found the premise kinda cheesy. Baby, It’s Cold says nah to the cheese because it’s lactose intolerant and just makes a fun, funny, and terribly sweet second-chance romance between childhood friends who finally started dating just this year, but broke it off shortly after.

We don’t learn exactly what went down right away, and it leaves you feeling a will-they-won’t-they buzz for most of the book, but the HEA is totally satisfying and just a bit cheeky.

I’m not gonna say this is totally groundbreaking stuff. It’s certainly not. The holiday romance tropes are all here, but they’re here done quiet well. Baby, It’s Cold was such a quick read; just make your tea, get cozy for an hour, and enjoy!

3.5 rounded up

I've read a lot of Lanyon and I generally know what to expect going into their books--the good and the bad--so I went into this prepared for a brilliant and hurty read with an abrupt ending and not enough resolution for my personal preferences, and that is exactly what I got. The concept was a little odd/confusing, with Jesse showing up at his ex's cabin in the woods to cook him a fancy dinner because "a secret admirer is going to show up to go on a date with you" ??? It's played off as ridiculous in the book as well, but it was honestly so confusing and odd that I found it distracted from the main story. The characters were lovely, and I really felt for both of them hurting for the relationship that didn't quite take off the way they wanted. There's a lot here packed into 60 pages, and it's all played perfectly for me, right up until the end. There *is* resolution here, and it's no completely unsatisfying, but it didn't quite go far enough for me personally and didn't leave me feeling totally ~finished~. But this is a common issue for me personally with Lanyon's books, and clearly plenty of people find them great as they are! To be clear, I keep coming back to Lanyon's works despite their endings because I generally really enjoy every other aspect, and I imagine I'll keep picking their books up as long as they're writing them!