From Ice to Flames by AM Hargrove

Contemporary romance

Publication date: 09/12/2018
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

Audiobook narrators: Holly Warren, Jean-Paul Mordrake
Length: 9 hours, 57 minutes

I did another stupid thing, folks. (Not shocking at this point, right? I know. I’m really ashamed of myself.) I bought this book without realizing I’d already read the previous book in the series and didn’t really like it all that much. (It was just “meh”) Why did I make this horrible lapse in judgement? Well…(she looks away in shame) there’s a hot guy with a dog on the cover. I’m only human, ok?????

Sadly, while there were many things I really liked about the previous book, From Ashes to Flames, there were many, many things I really DIDN’T love about this installment in the series.

But first, I’ll just say that I thought the beginning of the book was funny. The first chapter from Milly’s (the heroine’s) POV was laugh-out-loud funny. I loved it. I was SURE after reading the first chapter that I was going to love the book. But then…

Forced comedy
Look, no one runs down a hallway yelling, “Where’s my big dick? Have you seen my big dick?” when they’ve lost their big dog (whose name just happens to be Dick). You’d yell, “Have you seen my dog?” You might even yell, “Dick!” or “Dick, come!” (which would’ve been a lot funnier than what Milly actually said). But never “where’s my big dick.” It just seemed like the author was trying too hard to be funny.

Milly is a shitty dog parent
As much as Milly loved Dick, she was a really shitty parent to him. As the owner of a dog who weighs more than me, I can attest to the fact that you have to be in total control of that dog before you let it be around other people, and ESPECIALLY before you attempt to walk it on a busy street. Milly had several mishaps with Dick getting away from her, one in which she even got hurt, and yet, when Hudson (the hero) and her dog walker suggest dog training classes, Milly pooh-poohs the idea and blows them off. Eventually, she loses control of Dick and he gets hurt as a result, which REALLY pissed me off. Milly has NO BUSINESS caring for a dog she can’t control, or really, for keeping a giant mastiff in a tiny New York apartment. It borders on dog abuse, quite frankly.

(Spoiler alert: the dog does live, even though he got hurt as a result of Milly’s negligence. I would’ve DNFd if the dog had died.)

The hero is a douche
Hudson earned big points with me for being a devoted single dad and a vet, but he lost whatever goodwill he got from me when he acted like a complete douchenozzle on several occasions. First of all, he’s a woman hater. He holds all of womankind responsible for his lying, cheating, scumbag ex. I hate it when romance heroes think all women are out to trap them into marriage and steal their money because of the actions of ONE woman. We’re not all treacherous bitches, Hudson! Then, after having sex with Milly for the first time, he gave her the “you know I’m not looking for a relationship, right?” speech. No, Hudson, you’re supposed to give that speech BEFORE you have sex with her. Asshole.

But then, the last nail in Hudson’s coffin came when he reacted REALLY badly to some news Milly gave him. I won’t spoil anything, but he went TOTALLY off the deep end and accused her of things he should’ve known she’d never do, and said things that were, in my opinion, totally unforgivable.  

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, when he should have been groveling for Milly’s forgiveness, he YELLS AT HER and makes her APOLOGIZE TO HIM! He even has the nerve to tell her she should’ve “gotten over it” because he’d already apologized. I wanted Milly to nut-punch the jerkwad and send him packing. She didn’t. I was deeply disappointed.   
      
The kid
Hudson’s kid is cute, but he has a lisp, and reading “Miwwy” over and over and over again when he addressed the heroine got on my nerves REAL quick. I get it—he’s a cute kid with a speech impediment . I don’t need every “l” he says changed into a “w” to understand that. I’m a quick study. You can go ahead and spell his words correctly, and just tell me upfront that he has a speech impediment.

Oversharing
Milly shared some pretty graphic descriptions of the sex she had with Hudson with her sister. I don’t have a sister, but that struck me as weird. I don’t really want to hear that much about anyone’s sex life. I was also put-off by her overuse of the word “peen” and talk of her “frozen vagina.” Enough, already!

So, anyhoo, this one wasn’t for me. Kudos to the cover designer, though. You can’t go wrong with a hot dude and a dog. (Take note, all you authors out there)

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s not so much stigma-y as it is offensive to my sensibilities as a dog owner.

Other reading suggestions
Check out our hot guys who rescue dogs list. There’s some real winners there. ​

---