Alicia Thompson set my expectations high with her previous book, I loved it, and I was not disappointed! With Love, from Cold World gave me everything I wanted and left me feeling happy. I love both characters, the enemies to lovers in the work place setting, and the grumpy sunshine trope.

When it comes to the spice in this book, in my opinion, it isn't very spicy; there are some sex scenes but I've read much more detailed scenes in other books. All of it was written well and if you enjoy spice in your books, I think you will enjoy this one.

At first, I was afraid this was just another predictable enemies to lovers HEA workplace romance but IT WAS NOT! A little slow to start but when Asa and Lauren get to their “stuck together” scene the story gets way more interesting and I got invested!

Things that made this book stand out in my mind from the typical:
* Set at “Cold World” - an indoor amusement attraction in Orlando, Florida that replicates a winter wonderland with a skating rink, snow, and all. How creative!
* LGBTQ representation for MMC & growing up with a religious, unaccepting family backstory. Themes of self-acceptance and acceptance of others.
* Nerdy and anxious FMC with foster care backstory who wants to help other children.
* Christmas holiday themes.
* A fun workplace competition that turns the heat up!

Thank you so much to Alicia, Berkley, and NetGalley for the digital review copy! I also snagged a special edition from B&N of this one. I look forward to more from Alicia in the future!

This book was just so fun and delightful! Despite having some darker content matter at times, Asa and Lauren just made the book so full of happiness that I couldn’t help walking away from the book with a smile on my face due to this fictional couple’s relationship making me believe in the idea of true love. Their progression from people who didn’t get along because they didn’t really relate to being each other’s person, who just gets them was so sweet. They supported each other when they needed to and it just felt like what a healthy relationship should be.
I also thought the bisexual representation was done beautifully. I especially loved how Lauren dealt with his parents’ bigotry. I also thought the addition of Lauren’s foster care experience was interesting to read about, since that is so rarely talked about in romcoms or pop culture in general.
Everyone should go pick up this book, especially if you’re in the holiday spirit, but don’t want something overly Christmasy!

I can't get enough of this sort of "highly dislike on site" trope that I felt while reading this book. The simmering connection that Thompson weaves together in this book is perfection. While our characters are total opposites from each other in so many ways, Thompson ensures they blend together so masterfully which just made me swoon even more! I adore the setting. It was fun and fresh. I really liked this book and hope for more from Alicia Thompson!

Good grief, this book hit me right in the feels. Witty and healing and sexy and hopeful. Loved, loved, loved it.

Thank you, Berkley, for the complimentary review copy. All opinions are my own and are unbiased.

Content notes: parental abandonment (past, discussed briefly throughout), parental drug overdose (past, off page), being in the foster care system, biphobia (on page, vehemently condemned in the narrative), being outed (past, mentioned briefly), being kicked out by parents due to bisxuality (past, discussed throughout, condemned and confronted in the narrative).

I really enjoyed this rivals-to-lovers workplace romance! It had the right balance of dealing with sensitive topics but having the steam and spice that I look for in a romance.

Workplace rivals Lauren and Asa have been at odds since they met. Where Lauren is uptight and controlling, Asa is laidback and whimsical. When their boss selects them to develop plans to revamp Cold World, the failing Orlando indoor theme park where they work, the two end up spending more time together, including getting locked into the park overnight. As the two work against, and eventually with, one another, they grow to realize how much they didn't truly understand the other - and how much they really, fundamentally, understand one another now.

While on a the surface level With Love, from Cold World seems like a playful romantic comedy, it goes deeper, discussing some tough topics. Lauren and Asa are both standout characters. While their personalities clash due to being so different, they both come from the same place, a fear of rejection due to troubled pasts. This is a memorable read that takes a surprisingly steamy turn.

This was a great book. I enjoyed it even more than love in the time of serial killers and found the banter endearing. The main characters were so easy to love and had a compelling character development. This was a refreshing and light hearted read, perfect for something easy! The covers are SO beautiful.

Quality bi male lead representation at its finest! Asa was a gem! Lauren was relatable in a lot of ways. Watching the two of these characters fall in love was very rewarding, and readers will adore the journey.

This was a solid 3 stars from me. Parts of it felt really uneven to me, but I can't quite put my finger on why. The characters were fine. I could maybe have done with more of Asa's point of view, but I didn't dislike either of the lead characters. Will Kiki get her own book? That one might be an interesting read. I felt kind of bad for her at the end of this one.

Thank you for the free book @berkleyromance!! #penguinrandomhousepartner #berkleyIG #BerkleyBookstagram

𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️ 🌶️🌶️🌶️
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲: workplace romance, LGBTQ rep, work nemesis to lovers, tattooed male lead, one locked in night, some love triangle -ish situation, Christmas in July vibes, found families

I loved Love in the Time of Serial Killers and so I was very excited when I received this book in the mail!

Imagine a winter wonderland amusement park in Florida then add 2 coworkers who can’t totally stand each other 😅 That’s pretty much where this book takes us and what a fun ride it was!

First of all, spice seeking friends, this one’s for you!! Wait until you get to the locked in scene!! Secondly, to everyone who’s a classic enemies to lovers fan, this book will definitely satisfy you! The banter is amazing! I would also like to commend the author for writing about an LGBTQ male lead and his struggles with a very insightful perspective. I also really enjoyed the found family trope from this book!

It could’ve been a tad shorter for me to have enjoyed it more but it is still an overall fun read especially if you’re craving some winter vibes during these last few weeks of summer!

I’ve read the last book by this author and enjoyed it and I enjoyed this one as well. I really liked the set up and it was unique enough that I wanted to keep reading it. It was fun and I loved the main characters.

Favorite Quotes:

Not for the first time, Lauren couldn’t help but notice that he smelled good. Like, really good. It was one of life’s true mysteries, because she felt like she’d know his scent anywhere, but she couldn’t quite place what it was. Some mixture of cedar and citrus, not overpowering, never burning her nose like some colognes did. But always present whenever he was nearby, and sometimes she’d catch the tail end of it when she entered a room he’d just been in. She lived in fear that one day he’d catch her inhaling a big whiff whenever he was close, and she’d have to quit her job and move to North Dakota.

Even thinking about it now made her wish the beach beneath her would suck her into a quicksand vortex and spit her back out at her apartment.

...the beauty of special underwear… You never know when it will be called into service.

You’re going to have to make up your mind about me... Because you used to think I was some hedonistic slacker who only cared about a good time, and now suddenly I’m this altruistic philanthropist giving out orgasms like UNICEF went into sex work.

Do you have cream and sugar, or do you keep your kitchen on some Soviet food rationing system?


My Review:

I enjoyed this tale. It was well constructed and populated with a plethora of complicated and quirky characters, who were well nuanced and endearing despite being a bit difficult. The storylines were engaging and the writing style was involving, unique, easy to follow, and tricky enough to keep me reading well past my bedtime.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of With Love, from Cold World by Alicia Thompson!

Loved this one so much. Couldn't put it down until an HEA was secured. Asa and Lauren felt like real people, with actual experiences figuring out what matters to them and what they want to be. It was refreshing for the characters profession not to be their defining characteristic, just a setting for them to meet. Cold World is a pretty cool setting though.

Its simple-I loved it! I love Thompson's previous novel and this solidifies the fact she will be an auto buy author for me. She writes with such ease and with the perfect amount of romance!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy!

Quick Breakdown

Opposites Attract
Grumpy x Sunshine
Workplace Rivalry
LGBTQIA Rep
Found Family
Holiday Vibes
Dual POV
Open Door - Mild to Moderate Detail

Thank you @PRHaudio for the complimentary audiobook and @berklery romance for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinons.

Well, this book just swooped right on in and made me unexpectedly swoon. I am 1000% HERE FOR IT!

Set at Cold World, a kitchy winter themed park in Orlando, Florida, it features Lauren, the introverted, number savvy bookkeeper & Asa, the assumingely carefree jack-of-all-trades employee.

I got ALL the Pride & Prejudice vibes here. Years ago, they got off on the wrong foot and were stuck with surface level misinterpretations of the other's character. Slowly, while competing to come up with the best idea to improve Cold World, the pair push back those superficial layers, really get to know each other & sparks fly.

It’s soft & swoony, with quirky heartwarming characters & just the right amount of spice (that locked in together scene 🔥🫠). I loved how it’s fairly low angst while still handling some heavier topics, like growing up in foster care and a strained parental relationship secondary to bisexuality. Also, it takes place in December making it a great option for the holidays.

I went back & forth between the ebook & audio while reading. You really can’t go wrong either way - they’re both very well done 👏🏻

Another banger from Alicia Thompson! Her characters are so refreshingly real and relatable. Her romances feel really healthy. Quickly sky rockting to one of my favorite authors.

What a fun, swoony, heart-warming read! I absolutely adored this story. I mean, what's not to love about an opposites-attract, enemies to lovers, workplace romance!? But beyond the romance, these characters were layered and filled with heart and I love the challenges they both had to overcome. Such a sweet romance!

Quick Stats
Age Rating: 18+
Spice Level: 1.5/5
Over All: 4.5 stars

Special thanks to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.

With Love, from Cold World is Alicia Thompson’s sophomore novel—and it is MILES beyond her debut, Love in the Time of Serial Killers.
While I did enjoy LitToSK, I thought it was pretty average. It left me wanting more. This book blew me out of the water.
With Love, from Cold World follows accountant Lauren, who’s a total stickler for the rules, and free-spirit Asa. It’s rivals to lovers; its forced proximity, its grumpy (her) x sunshine (him). It’s a work place romance—and the workplace is a winter wonderland theme park.
The setting was the first part of the book I fell in love with. I mean, come on—it’s a winter wonderland theme park! Asa has so much love for Cold World, and it really shines through in his narration. It’s impossible to read his POV and not feel a visceral connection to and love for this place. I desperately wish it were a real theme park I could go visit.
The second aspect of the book that I fell in love with, also almost immediately, was the characters. There was so much depth and emotion and development to these characters. Each had experienced traumas—Lauren grew up in foster care, and Asa was kicked out of his home as a teen for being bi—and their respective pasts and experiences were handled with such care. I think Alicia Thompson expertly balanced a thoughtful and in depth exploration of these topics, without making these traumas the extent of the characters. These experiences are woven into the fiber of Lauren and Asa’s being, without overwhelming them and the rest of their characterization. I especially appreciate the care given to the discussions of foster care, because lately I’ve read many books that use foster care as a quirk or plot point in a way that has felt insincere and almost disrespectful. It was so refreshing to see this topic explored in a way that seemed, to me, well researched and respectful.
This book is very character driven, it’s emotional, and it deals with important, sometimes heavy, topics. However there is still a measure of lightheartedness to it. There is lots of swoon and sweetness, and the emotional moments are balanced with wit and banter and a scoop of trope-y-ness. It reminds me of Emily Henry’s writing, and I think fan’s of her work could also enjoy this book.
I was hesitant to pick this up, after feeling relatively neutral towards Alicia Thompson’s debut, but I am so glad I did. With Love, from Cold World is the kind of book that sticks with you long after you read it, and I cannot recommend it more.