A Hint of Frost by Hailey Edwards- a review

Araneae Nation, Book 1

About the book: Released April 2012

Hope dangles by a silken thread.
When the head of the Araneidae clan is found poisoned in her nest, her eldest daughter, Lourdes, becomes their clan’s new maven. If her clan is to survive, she has but one choice: she must marry before her nest is seized. All she needs is a warrior fierce enough to protect her city and safeguard her clansmen. Such a male is Rhys the Cold.

Born the youngest son of an impoverished maven, the only things Rhys has to his name are his sword and his mercenary reputation. His clan is starving, but their fondness for the flesh of fellow Araneaeans makes them unwelcome dinner guests. Torn between loyalty to his clan and fascination with his future bride, Rhys’s first taste of Lourdes threatens to melt the cold encasing his heart.
Amid the chaos of battle, Lourdes’s sister disappears and is feared captured. Lourdes and Rhys pursue their enemies into the southlands, where they discover an odd plague ravaging southern clans as it travels north, to Erania. Determined to survive, Lourdes will discover whether she’s worth her silk or if she’s spun the thread by which her clan will hang.

Review:

A Hint of Frost begins with Lourdes finding someone slipping from her parents’ room and her finding them dead. She races through the tunnels, trying to find members of the Theridiidae clan, whom are Lourdes’ clan’s protectors. Unfortunately, she finds out a bit too late that things are not as they should be. She finds Isolde, the maven of the Mimetidae clan, and her mother’s dear friend. Lourdes quickly negotiates terms for a contract between the two clans in order to save her own clan, the Araneidae, for which now, she is the maven. Lourdes accepts Isolde’s son, Rhys the Cold, as her new partisan and if all terms of the contract are fulfilled, she will take him as hers through their binding ceremony. Once Lourdes meets Rhys, she discovers he is the graceful warrior that she admired from afar.

Lourdes’ siblings are very supportive, except for Pascale, her sister. Pascale is furious with Lourdes for taking Rhys as her partisan, and verbally tears into her sister. Pascale is then confined to her quarters, from where she comes up missing. A search ensues for the missing sibling, but turns up nothing. Vaughn, Rhys’ brother, is a renowned tracker and knows that Pascale has left with a member of the Theridiidae clan. But did she leave of her own free will? Or was she taken against her will? Even worse, was she a knowing accomplice in their parents’ murder? Lourdes sets out on her own to try and find Pascale, against Rhys’ wishes and without his knowledge. Thankfully Rhys is there for Lourdes when things go terribly wrong. Rhys comes up with a plan to track Pascale, but Lourdes protests them leaving her behind. It doesn’t take Rhys long to determine that Maven Lourdes gets what she wants, and they set out to find Pascale and bring her home. Rhys has vowed to keep Lourdes safe and give her vengeance for those who killed her parents.

Once their journey starts, Lourdes is drawn to Rhys even more. But, his brother keeps hinting at secrets that Rhys holds. Their journey brings danger, revelations, politics, the discovery of a plague sweeping the land and of course, love.

I really liked this story. Rhys and Lourdes’ attraction is apparent from the beginning and the author did a good job of letting it build through out the story. Rhys does have secrets, but once Lourdes discovers them, I think it makes her love him even more. He truly is a great hero for this story. And, to steal from a friend, he is swoonworthy. He really snuck up on me. Lourdes, having the survival of her entire clan on her shoulders, is a wonderful heroine and goes into everything with her chin held high and her heart on her sleeve. And, there is a cast of supporting characters that I look forward to finding out more about.

The only problem I had with this story is with the clan names and the creatures on which they rode. Some were easily figured out, riding ursus, I’m assuming, means they were riding bears. I’m still confused as to exactly what a pecora is though. Google tells me it is a hoofed animal. Guess I’ll have to settle for that. 😉 Other than that, this was a very well written story and I look forward to reading A Feast of Souls.

ORDER LINKS: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository / KOBO

Copy supplied by author.

Reviewed by Vickie M.