Book Review of Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep

Title: Kiss of Frost

Author: Jennifer Estep

Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy

Release Date: November 29th, 2011

Logan Quinn was try­ing to kill me. My Spar­tan class­mate relent­lessly pur­sued me, swing­ing his sword at me over and over again, the shin­ing sil­ver blade inch­ing closer to my throat every time. A smile tugged up his lips, and his ice-blue eyes prac­ti­cally glowed with the thrill of battle…

I’m Gwen Frost, a second-year warrior-in-training at Mythos Acad­emy, and I have no idea how I’m going to sur­vive the rest of the semes­ter. One day, I’m get­ting schooled in sword­play by the guy who broke my heart—the drop-dead gor­geous Logan who slays me every time. Then, an invis­i­ble archer in the Library of Antiq­ui­ties decides to use me for tar­get prac­tice. And now, I find out that some­one at the acad­emy is really a Reaper bad guy who wants me dead. I’m afraid if I don’t learn how to live by the sword—with Logan’s help—I just might die by the sword…

Summary from Goodreads.com

My Review: I was very excited to dive back into the world of Gwen Frost. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, Touch or Frost (review here), and looked forward to seeing what was happening to Gwen after the events that transpired in the first book.

We pick up a couple of weeks after the battle in the library and things have settled down and gone back to normal. Well almost normal, there have been a couple of changes in Gwen’s life. For example, she now has combat training with Logan and his friends in the mornings before class. She did not grow up learning how to shoot a bow and arrow or wield a sword like her classmates did and since she now finds herself with a target on her back it is important she learns how to defend herself.

One of the best elements of these books is our main character, Gwen. She is a strong lead and stands up for what she believes in. She has been through so much in her life and she bears her burdens well and is not whiny like some teenage girls her age can be. She does need to work on her trust issues at times and let others help her, but at a school where violence and betrayal is an everyday occurrence, I cannot really fault her for guarding her secrets carefully. I always enjoy being in her head and her general attitude towards life. She is a great character and Jennifer has made it very easy to adore her.

I also love the secondary characters in this series. Especially Gwen’s pink loving best friend Daphne. That Valkyrie cracks me up with her short temper and complete devotion to her band geek boyfriend, Carson. She is very supportive of Gwen and is always willing to help where she can. We don’t get to see as much of her in this book since her and Carson are always trying to sneak away together, but I still think she is a great character.

I can’t review this book without talking about the romance. While Logan is still trying to keep his distance from Gwen, she is still crushing on him, hard. When she is with him, his words say one thing, but his actions say another. Poor Gwen is left trying to decipher what he is really thinking and always comes away confused. I am still rooting for these two even though I know Logan is trying to guard his heart. We get a little peak into the reasons behind his aloofness, but I still think there is plenty more to discover about that Spartan. One of my favorite scenes between Gwen and Logan comes a little later in the book, but I am just going to give you a quick snippet so it is not spoilery.

“I am glad you came looking for me,” I finally said…

Logan gave me a crooked grin. “I’ll always come looking for you, Gypsy girl.”

I am not going to put any more because you have to read it to see what happens next, but don’t moments like that just make you think “aww, they are so cute!”? Well, that is what goes through my head at least. They have such an innocent and sweet relationship. I really want them to work through the issues keeping them apart so they can be together, but I think only time will reveal how their relationship will develop.

As for the plot, I get so involved in these books and read them so quickly I am almost done before I come up for a breath. There is always so much going on and Jennifer has a way of sucking you in so deeply that you cannot even begin to try and put the book down. Gwen is being pursued by the Reapers and danger seems to wait around every corner for her. She is not sure who she can trust and there were quite a few plot twists thrown in there that I did not see coming at all. I did figure out some of the mysteries surrounding Gwen before she did, but I still relished watching her riddle it all out for herself. We also get a plethora of new information revealed to us and I could not believe some of the revelations Gwen uncovered.

I also enjoy the mix of mythology that is encompassed in this world. Greek, Egyptian, Roman, they all have a place here and the fusion of those any many more was fascinating. I have always been a lover of mythology and getting to see so many of them come together to make up one world is so intriguing and had me soaking up every the detail Jennifer gave to us.

Overall, this is another thrilling edition to this series and I enjoyed every minute of it. Jennifer gives you a little bit of everything, a budding romance that you can cheer for, an adorable and resilient main character, a cast of lovable secondary characters and an overall mystery that will keep you glued to the pages. I cannot wait for the next installment to see what Gwen will do with all the information she now possess.