Baby It's Cold Outside

September 26, 2011
An unusual locale, sometimes quirky residents, and an accomplished story arc define Fox’s moderately entertaining first Alaskan Nights novel. New York socialite Sloan McKinley travels to tiny Indigo, Alaska, to help her best friend handle a sudden inheritance. Happening in town at the same time is the annual bachelor competition, cooked up by local grandmothers determined to marry off their stubbornly single grandsons. Sloan, who privately bemoans her own singleton status while fighting her mother’s quest to march Sloan down the aisle to a suitable society husband, is intrigued by both the competition and her friend’s lawyer, rugged outdoorsman Walker Montgomery. Fox (Warrior Betrayed) introduces hosts of occasionally distracting characters destined to star in sequels, but steamy encounters between Sloan and Walker keep the blood pumping all the way to a sweet ending.

Starred review from October 15, 2011
Fox nimbly moves from her paranormal series, the Sons of the Zodiac (Warrior Avenged, 2010), to contemporary romance as she begins her Alaskan Nights series. When the father of her best friend, Grier, dies, Sloan McKinley leaves Scarsdale and flies to Indigo, Alaska, to lend support. There she lands in a hotbed of love, is surprised by a dearth of local women, and is embroiled in the annual Great Bachelor Competition. A freelance writer, Sloan immediately sells the idea of the competition as a story and sets out to interview the three grandmothers who originally established the contest and the bachelor grandsons who provoked them to do so. Consequently, she gets to know the town, makes friends with the often colorful citizenry, and meets lawyer Walker Montgomery, who adds zest to her cold winter nights. Fox's heartfelt novel, shaped by both humor and moments of intense introspection, cuts to the core of the often debilitating myths we construct about ourselves and others and suggests how we can allow our true selves to shine through. Readers will eagerly await the next in Fox's series after reading this poignant romance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)