I really liked Love in the Time of Serial Killers and was excited to see that this new novel, which drew me in with its very cool cover, was by the same author. This is a workplace enemies to lovers romance featuring Lauren, an introverted, kind of uptight bookkeeper, and Asa, her extroverted, always up for a good time jack of all trades co-worker at Cold World, a faux winter wonderland in the middle of Florida. The two have always clashed, but things get even messier when Cold World's owner brings Lauren, Asa, and her son Daniel (a VP for the company who doesn't actually spent much time at Cold World) together to ask them to come up with some ideas to give Cold World a makeover and update to bring in more revenue. Lauren's excited because she has a big crush on Daniel and Asa is excited to be able to compete with Lauren. Things get more complicated after Lauren and Asa get locked in at Cold World overnight and their relationship progresses unexpectedly. I appreciated how well developed both main characters were. We get a glimpse into Lauren's upbringing in the foster system and her interest in helping kids currently in the same situation, and we learn about Asa's clean break from his family after his parents kicked him out just before he turned 18 because his super religious pastor father can't accept that he's bisexual. We also see them both grow a lot over the course of a pretty short time and with some help from each other and their friends at Cold World and beyond. I really liked this and can't wait to see what Alicia Thompson writes next.

This was everything I wanted it to be, and definitely builds on the style and tone of Alicia’s first novel. With Love From Cold World is the sweet story of two people who feel alone in a crowded room finding the person who makes them feel seen. Both Asa and Lauren are hiding their hurt behind walls - Asa is the flippant life of the party and Lauren is the all-business worker bee. It starts with them sniping at each other until a night trapped in Cold World reminds them to see each other as people, and they start to fall hard and fast.
While there’s a lot of miscommunication, they are unaware of it. Both come from backgrounds that never taught them healthy communication and they are both so protective and defensive of their own well-being that it’s hard to let the walls down and give anyone the chance to hurt them.
The banter is witty and funny, between both the leads and the secondary characters, Cold World itself has sweet nostalgia vibes, and the confrontations with each lead’s antagonist will make you feel a sense of justice and completion. There are no threads left hanging at the end, and it makes you feel really positive about their longevity in the future.
Asa is bisexual and it is openly talked about, and Lauren is quick to correct anyone who denies his identity because he’s with a woman. He has a traumatic coming out story but there is a hopeful end note to that plot line.
Asa is worth swooning over - every time he couldn’t hold in how he felt or what he wanted from Lauren was pure romance. With Love From Cold World is sweet and full of heart, with two characters who grow together and learn they can trust someone else with their most vulnerable parts.

The premise of With Love, from Cold World was fantastic and the setting unique. However, I found that the narrative voice was not as strong in Love in the Time of Serial Killers. I also found that there wasn't quite enough chemistry between the protagonists under the rivalry at the start of the book. Thompson did keep me turning the pages though to find out what happens next. And the cover is so eye-catching, it would be hard to resist adding to a collection of rom-com novels!

It is impossible not to love "With Love, from Cold World." It is a contemporary romance with unique characters that you will not want to stop reading about. The novel is set in a theme park in Florida which is all about cold weather. I loved the irony here.

Lauren and Asa both work for the theme park but the two of them cannot stand each other. Both of them have back stories that really make them easy to connect with. The writing alternates between Lauren and Asa so you find yourself wanting to keep reading to find out what the other character is thinking.

Lauren is a bookkeeper for the theme park but she is also a former foster child who wants to give back to other kids in the same situation. Asa has worked at Cold World for ten years and considers it a safe place like a second family. Asa was kicked out of his house when he turned 18 due to his parents'strict values so Cold World helps fill a void for him. These two characters have very different personalities and are constantly at odds with each other. One day their boss asks them to come up with proposals for the theme park along with the boss's son who Lauren has a crush on. Their at odds relationship takes a turn one night when Lauren finds herself alone with Asa. Things between them will never be the same.

A fantastic romance that will make you want to read more. Alicia Thompson is quickly becoming one of my new favorite authors. She has a different style by creating characters and settings that are different from what you typically see in a romance. A must read!!

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC.

this book has a cover that implies that it will be quirky, and cute, and funny, and romantic, and possibly sexy.
besides maybe that last thing, this wasn't really any of those. it was heavy!!! which is fine. i think romance has as much right as any other genre to Contain Emotional Multitudes. but i do feel like the rest of the book felt shallow because of everything going on - not enough time for romance, or humor, or, you know. character development.

i would try this author again but this book didn't really work for me!

I adored Thompson's previous romance, "Love in the Time of Serial Killers", so I was stoked to get a chance to read this one early. Unfortunately there was just something about it that didn't hit the mark for me. I never really got sucked into it and really felt like I had to force myself to finish it. I do think that the characters were well rounded and full of depth, however I just either couldn't relate or didn't really want to. I enjoyed the setting and almost all of the minor characters, and I appreciated both Lauren and Asa's wit and charm, but this isn't one that will be sticking with me for a long time.

I liked this one! I just recently read Alicia Thompson's other book and was excited to see another one. I would recommend to friends, its a good read.

I was so freakin happy when I saw that Alicia Thompson was coming out with another book this year. I read Love in the Time of Serial Killers earlier this year and really enjoyed! Also this cover is stunning and instantly drew me in!

This book is an enemies to lovers, workplace romance with forced proximity and I was living for it. And the male main character is bi so that was an interesting twist. Sadly, I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. Don’t get me wrong, it was super cute and very intriguing but I just couldn’t connect to the characters as much as I did in her first novel.

I’m still happy I got to read this book and I recommend it tremendously. Alicia has a very captivating writing style that makes me keep going back for more. This would be the perfect book to read cuddled up in bed on a rainy night!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Berkley for the e-arc!

I'll be perfectly honest here--I DNF'ed this one about 25% of the way through. I might give it a try again someday, because part of me feels like I'm just not in the right mood to read this now. But I also found myself getting frustrated with the story, as well. A quarter of the way into the book, and I wasn't feeling very connected to either lead. It was also starting to feel a little repetitive to me--with character descriptions, as well as the interactions between the leads. On a positive note, it was an easy-to-read writing style, so like I said earlier, I may try it again at another time, but I don't think this one will be a favorite for me, even then.

I became a fan of Thompson's writing with Love in the Time of Serial Killers, but this one cemented me for life. With so many romances populated by beefy gruff alpha men and bubbly hyper-confident women, it's like a balm to the soul to read two complex, fully fleshed out characters who wrestle with relatable insecurities and difficult family dynamics and who are basically still figuring out who they are and what they want in life. Thompson deftly lays in challenging backstories for both of her leads, while also building an in-the-moment fun, funny, heartfelt love story in a spectacular setting, with a supportive and memorable friend group (who all need their own spin-offs, please!), a sassy boss with a wardrobe I'd love to design, and just enough steam to melt all but the most stubborn snowflakes in Cold World. Workplace rivalry launches the story, but the heart of the of the book lies in the ways the heroine works through her fear of abandonment and the hero peels away a few long-ingrained defence mechanisms as the two gradually acknowledge that their attraction to one another goes way beyond skin-deep. I loved that by the end of the story I felt like I knew them both, not just as characters in a book, but as three-dimensional people. I loved reading about a heroine who wasn't always confident. I loved reading about a hero who had his own struggles and whose greatest asset was his heart and not his pectorals. It's a tender love story--my favourite kind--full of memorable details, and I'll be right here for whatever Thompson writes next.

WITH LOVE FROM COLD WORLD is without a doubt one of the best contemporary romances I’ve read all year. Both main characters have traumatic back stories but Thompson skillfully makes those backstories a part of who the characters are in a way that doesn’t leave them as walking wounded, but rather as fully formed people who have believably taken that pain and moved forward from it, though not without scars. Thompson has a gorgeous authorial voice (I’ve likened it to literary flannel in how warm and compelling it can be, and I’ll continue the simile here) and Cold World is a real place in my mind that I wish I could visit (even if it is in Florida). If you’re going to read only one contemporary romance this year, read this one.

I enjoyed Alicia Thompson's previous book and this one was also a good time. Lauren and Asa's attraction to one another was so great! This had good banter and passion and I had a pretty good time reading this.

In this sweet, heartwarming book, we meet Lauren and Asa, who both work at Cold World. Cold World is a family park in Florida that brings nostalgia and snow to families who rarely see the cold. Both Lauren and Asa are dealing with trauma from their pasts, and both struggle with feeling unloved because of it. Despite being opposites in most ways and not getting along, they are assigned a task by their boss that results in them spending more time together. Then they begin to realize that they might have more in common than they originally thought.

I loved this author’s debut novel and was so excited to have the opportunity to read her second! It didn’t disappoint at all. I loved both main characters and wanted them to find happiness after such difficult upbringings. I appreciated how the author was able to touch on serious topics (foster care, loss of a parent, bigotry, coming out as bisexual) in a very sensitive and empathetic way. In addition, the workplace setting, holiday time period, childhood nostalgia, and an accidental workplace overnight added to the fun of this story! It is warm, cozy, funny, and poignant. You’ll surely want to grab this when it releases!

Thank you to Alicia Thompson, Berkley Romance, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was SO good! I loved how the pace wasn’t too fast but also wasn’t slow either. I kept up with everything nicely and it was so refreshing!

I also loved how this touched on topics that members of the LGBTQ+ community tackle - especially the youth. As an ally with a best friend that’s gay, it really does hit home to see some of the bigotry and hatred that they face for no reason.

Asa was SO charming and I found myself blushing and giggling at many points during the book. I was so happy that he was able to get Lauren out of her comfort zone and it was so clear that they helped heal each other.

I loved this book so much. It has a unique setting, characters you can’t help but root for, and a romance that’s beautiful and tender.

Lauren is the bookkeeper at Cold World, an Orlando attraction that’s an indoor winter wonderland. Asa is the guy who’s worked there for ten years and has a reputation as a jokester. He and Lauren are complete opposites in every way. She’s prickly and organized; he’s easygoing and carefree. Grump, meet sunshine.

The two have been rivals since Lauren started working at Cold World two years ago. Things heat up when their boss challenges them to come up with ideas to increase revenue. Cold World is struggling financially, and without a way to attract more customers, it could close. I was so invested in Cold World’s success! It was such an interesting setting, and the way Alicia Thompson writes it, I felt like I was there.

When Lauren and Asa end up locked inside Cold World all night after it closes, their relationship shifts from enemies/rivals to something more. Everything about that scene was perfect. It’s one that’s going to stay with me for a long time.

After that shift in their relationship, Lauren and Asa’s romance unfolds beautifully. They both have terrible things in their past — Lauren was in foster care and her mother died of an overdose, and Asa was kicked out of his family’s home at 17 when his pastor father learned he was bisexual. I was really touched by the way they supported each other and helped kids who were going through what they had gone through. (Lauren volunteers as a guardian ad litem for foster kids, and Asa volunteers for an LGBTQ+ crisis line.)

Something about this book just felt safe and cozy. I think a lot of it had to do with not just Lauren and Asa, but found family, which is a theme throughout the book. Lauren doesn’t have a family or any friends, and watching her be brought into Asa’s found family was lovely. So was reading about Lauren and Asa falling in love. THESE TWO. They’re written with such care and heart that it makes me kind of emotional.

This is one of my favorite romances I’ve read in a while. I highly recommend picking it up when it releases in August.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

i LOVED this book. i loved lauren, i loved asa, i loved lauren AND asa. i loved the setting; cold world is expertly crafted. i loved the friend group (i am DYING and i mean DYING to see what john it up to… PLEASE alicia thompson PLEASE tell me we get a book for him!) - so supportive & so loving. I LOVE THIS BOOK! READ IT!

#netgalley

This was a very sweet & sexy workplace romance: the workplace just happens to be an Orlando theme park named “Cold World”.

(CW: the two MCs each had childhood trauma - one was abandoned & in foster care, the other was kicked out by parents for being bisexual.)

I love these cheesy covers, and I absolutely loved Love in the Time of Serial Killers. I was so excited to start With Love, from Cold World. Enemies to lovers, characters with incredible chemistry. The plot of this one was so unique and I got through it in one sitting. Highly recommended!!

definitely a unique one! Sweet
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This new story is based on a love-hate relationship. You know the type – you meet someone and they automatically rub you the wrong way. Personalities clash and you think you really don’t like them when in actuality, you just have to get to know them.

Thompson brings a story that has character and flavor with a simmering connection that slowly builds between the two main characters. They are opposites in many ways but yet blend together perfectly with understanding and trust. She adds a solid lineup of secondary characters that help to develop this book into an engaging and compelling read.

The story is definitely unique with the plot and the character development, not to mention the crazy business! Plus, With Love, from Cold World gives us a sweet ending that leaves you with a smile and anticipation for more from this up-and-coming author. (Fab cover BTW!)

A very sweet, opposites attracts/enemies to lovers story in a chilly and unique setting. Perfect read for hot beach days.