Whiteout by Adriana Anders Series: Survival Instincts #1
Published by Sourcebooks on 2020
Genres: Action & Adventure, Suspense
Pages: 504
Format: eBook
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Angel Smith is ready to leave Antarctica for a second chance at life. But on what was meant to be her final day, the research station is attacked. Hunted and scared, she and glaciologist Ford Cooper barely make it out with their lives…only to realize that in a place this remote, there's nowhere left to run.
Isolated in the middle of a long, frozen winter with a madman at their heels, they must fight to survive in the most inhospitable—and beautiful—place on earth. But the outside world depends on what Ford and Angel know and, as their pursuers close in and their new partnership burns bright and hot, they will stop at nothing to make it out of the cold alive.
bookshelves: suspense-plot, romance, forced-proximity, previous-trauma, hero-with-a-secret, grumpy-hero, gruff-hero, food, chef, arctic, scientist, part-of-a-series, sex-in-the-cold, brooding-hero, only-one-bed
CW – death, torture, kidnap.
There are so many people that loved this book that I thought I was going to adore it. Unfortunately, I found it just OK.
The premise of this book is fabulous; A suspense plot on an arctic research base, the hero and heroine left to trek across miles of ice covered nothingness to save themselves and prevent the bad-guys from getting their hands on their prize. It sells itself. The action started from page 1 and it continued at a high pace throughout.
I love a forced proximity romance and this one ticked all my boxes. Previous attraction not acted on (check), actual mortal danger if they don’t go on this trip (check), they have to work together to survive (check), there literally is only one bed/tent (CHECK). I loved the romance thread and the way their situation builds the emotions between them. Could have done without the flip-flopping attitude of Coop but you can’t win them all!
I enjoyed Angel’s character the most. She was fierce, she was strong (I’d have been crying with all that snowstorm action) and she completely opened herself up to the idea of a relationship. Coop was a bloody nightmare. The man changed his mind more than he changed his socks in this book and he did that annoying male hero thing by refusing to consult with Angel over their relationship and making decisions in her best interest (God this annoys me).
The writing is gorgeous. There is so much beautiful imagery used and I could actually see the arctic scenes in my head; this writer is an absolute talent.
So why three stars? There is head-hopping POV between the hero and heroine throughout which I think can really work. I’m easily confused though, and we also had scenes from multiple bad guys POV (which I could cope with) and then again when Coop’s brother Eric turns up we have scenes from him. It was too much for me and I lost track of the narrative. I know from other readers that they loved it though – it is my personal preference.
This is clearly the set up to a big, romantic-suspense series and I will be reading book two. I want to see more of these characters – oh, and it ends on a series cliffhanger (it is not related to the romance).
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