Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Frosted by Wendy Sparrow (Giveaway, Book Review and Interview)

Title: Frosted
Author: Wendy Sparrow
Publisher: Entangled Publishing

About the Book: After falling through the ice one cold day, Kate is saved by a mysterious man named Jack and ends up marrying him.  Come to find out, she's committed herself to the king of winter himself.  Now Kate has cold feet about their life together...and cold everything else.
Forced to return to the frozen north for her job, Kate hopes to sneak-in and sneak-out of Colorado before Jack knows she's there.  After all, she's been living in sunny Florida for seven years, and he hasn't managed to come see her. But Jack has one last chance of convincing his runaway bride to come back to him, and he won't give up until he breaks through the ice that' frosted her heart.

My thoughts: This was a great quick read and I could definitely see this developing into a longer book or even a series of books.  Kate had been raised by two parents who didn't realize that their loveless marriage was setting in motion a lifestyle for Kate that would almost cost her her heart.  She had grown up seeing two people trapped in a marriage and eventually not even speaking to one another.  They divorced and went on to remarry, but instead of giving Kate the family that she deserved, she ended up feeling even more of an  outsider and unwanted.  When she marries Jack, she thinks it is only to give her an escape, because she doesn't think he will let her out of his winter wonderland unless she has married him.  She leaves, with no intention of returning.  

Jack finally catches up to her though, but Kate doesn't believe that he really loves her - as he has never said as much.  Even though for seven years they have been meeting in her dreams, they cannot speak there, but can only touch - but his touch in her dreams, while not unpleasant, leaves her cold and unsatisfied.  She knows what being trapped in a marriage is like, and doesn't want that feeling for herself.  But is she left cold because Jack?  Or because she isn't ready to admit what she herself feels?

~I received a complimentary Ecopy of this novella from Entangled Publishing in exchange for my unbiased review.~


About the author:  At home in the Pacific Northwest, Wendy Sparrow writes for both an adult and young adult crowd.  She has two wonderfully quirky kids, a supportive husband, and a perpetually messy house because writing is more fun than cleaning.  She enjoys reading with a flashlight under a blanket—the way all the best books should be read—and believes in the Oxford comma, the pursuit of cupcakes, and that every story deserves a happily ever after.  Most days she can be found on Twitter where she’ll talk to anyone who talks back, and occasionally just to herself.

Wendy can be reached at the following:


Wendy was gracious enough to stop by and answer some questions for me today!

1. Do you have a favorite place to write or “must haves” while writing?

My office is a corner of the couch and I usually keep either Sour Patch Kids or Oreos around. Also, I run on Mountain Dew. Which all sounds terribly unhealthy, and, okay, it is, but when I’m in a writing rut, I pull out the brain food, salmon, and go for a walk or run.

2. Do you have much say in the title or covers of your books?

I’ve yet to have any of my titles changed, but I’ve been told that my titles are pretty good. Entangled is awesome about covers. Not only are their covers consistently very striking, but they do ask you for input beforehand on what you’d like and dislike. Still, I did feel very lucky when I saw the cover for Frosted and he looked just like I pictured Jack Frost. I wanted to go high-five everyone.

3. What were your favorite books growing up?

I loved fantasy books—especially fairy-tale-style. I loved Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede and Robert Asprin’s MythAdventures. Then, I skipped right into sweet romances and kept up with the happy-ever-afters.

4. Do you have a favorite quote?

“We’re all mad here.” The Cheshire cat, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

5. What do you come up with first when creating your character- the back story, the plot, the characteristics?

The dialogue. Almost always I have the dialogue running through my head like a film playing in the theater of my brain. I build the plot around the dialogue and the descriptions of the characters around their voices.

6. How does your family feel about having a writer in the family? Do they read your books?

I come from a very conservative family so I expected some surprise and shock, but they’ve always been very supportive. Many of them are beta readers for me. My husband and kids have been telling everyone they know my book is out. Additionally, my father has had a nonfiction book published; my mom has had poems published; and my brother is working on a book…so writing is imprinted in my DNA.

7. What time of day do you like to write?

Night. I’m a night owl. Sometimes I write all night and crawl into bed when my husband’s morning alarm is going off. I also have insomnia which leaves more time for writing.

8. What is the most you have written in one day?

Well, most romance novels run about 50K to 100K words. During November, which is National Novel Writing Month, I’ve written 9K in a day. It was crazy.

9. What themes do you love to read or write about?

I love to read and write about happy endings. I don’t read sad or dramatic. I’m a sucker for a rocky road that ends with the couple getting together. I like humor too. I need a few extra laughs now and then.

Silly questions –
1. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

You tricked me into thinking about this…forever. Everything I thought of had a dark edge. Seeing through walls—can you imagine how many awful, naked visions that would lead to? Being invisible—if your clothing isn’t invisible, you’re running around naked. Super strength—you’d break a lot of things by accident. But the worst—the worst would be reading people’s thoughts. You’d never be able to be friends with anyone if they found out.

Okay. I thought of one. I’d like to be able to eat as much cheesecake as I wanted without gaining weight and without dealing with lactose intolerance. I cringe to think of what my superhero name would be.

2. Do you have any hidden talents?

I paint. I’ve painted portraits and landscapes. On my personal blog, the header is a painting I did of a ladybug roaring at a caterpillar. It was inspired by an experience with my daughter who made a ladybug puppet roar.

3. Favorite season?

Fall. I love haunted houses, picking pumpkins, crunching through leaves, and the vibrant colors of trees all around.

4. Cat or dog?

I have a giant husky/lab named Nanaimo. He’s an eternal puppy and frustratingly adorable.

5. Guilty pleasure tv show?

Do I have to feel guilty? I love Castle. The writing and dialogue are intelligent. The only thing I regularly question is how on earth can anyone run in high heels like that?

6. If you could travel forward or backward in time, where would you go and why?

Forward. Forward. Forward. I shudder to think of losing modern conveniences. My worst nightmare would be to go without modern plumbing.

Thanks for letting me visit your blog and hang out.


Wendy - you are so welcome!  Come back and hang out again sometime!







Wendy is giving away this beautiful Sworovski Crystal necklace in sterling silver! Isn't it gorgeous!  Enter below!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

13 comments:

Deb PelletierC said...

I like the interview and a handsome book cover. DebP

Meghan said...

Thanks for the giveaway! That necklace is beautiful!
mestith at gmail dot com

cheryl c said...

Intriguing storyline! And the necklace is beautiful. It makes me think of a snowflake.
castings at mindspring dot com

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

The book sounds fantastic - I like the synopsis and your thoughts.

journey throughbooks@gmail.com

wanda f said...

Cant wait to read it .Thank you for the chance to win .I hope you have a great week.

teena3940 said...

My Grandchildren..They make me laugh all the time..Great Giveaway..Thanks

Unknown said...

Oh, my goodness! I went to see the painting of the ladybug roaring-- It's so cool! Also, I've been dying to read Frosted for the longest time, but it's only an e book. :( I don't own an e reader.

bermudaonion said...

Thanks for the giveaway!

traveler said...

thanks for this lovely feature and the great giveaway. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

CherylS22 said...

The days that we didn't have snow made me smile. I'm done with winter!
Thanks for the giveaway!

CherylS22 said...

Nice cover & beautiful necklace.
Thank you for spending some time to answer some questions.

WinterFaerie said...

The necklace is gorgeous! This story looks so good! I totally want to read it! I'm adding to my goodreads as we speak! :)

lavendersbluegreen said...

Ohh, that is lovely... nice choice for jewelry that compliments the book's theme!

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