Series: Araneae Nation #1
My Rating: 5 cups
Blurb: (from Goodreads)
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.
Warning:
This book contains one mercenary hero with a biting fetish, one determined heroine who gets nibbled, and an answer to the age-old question, “What does dragon taste like?” Matricide and sibling rivalry are available upon request. The house special is revenge, best served cold.
I have to start by saying that it took me a while to look at anything other than that amazing cover. You do know I have a thing for pretty covers, right? Well, anyway, I was obsessed (still am, but that's another story!) with that cover. And if you think the cover is great, wait till you read the book and you'll see that there is something better than just "great".
It was so cool to see fanged creatures that aren't vampires. While I will never be able to get over my love for vampires, I sometimes feel the need for something new, fresh. It was such an amazing experience to read about these characters with spider traits. I loved them so, so much. Not the real-life spiders though, mind you! o.O
I loved the world too. And I loved the fact that there weren't so many descriptions. While I am one of those readers, the ones that don't get bored while reading loooooooong descriptions, I love the books that give me free reign in adding my own imagination to the reading experience. A Hint Of Frost does that. The absence of the descriptions make me believe that I'm sort of creating my own unique interpretation of the world, I can "see" the houses and animals as big or as small as I want, color them however I want. It's like reading a one of a kind story, something only I see.
The thing that made me love this book even more were the very, very unique names, titles and words. I find it so refreshing when I hear a name and I know exactly who I'm supposed to be talking about. You can find millions of Edwards, Erics, Marissas and all that, but how many Lourdes-es have you encountered? Or who else has the word Araneae in their works? It's these types of little things that make me remember a book for a long time after I've finished reading it.
The characters are very interesting too. I loved them all and I can't wait to meet them again. I could say more about them, but I think I'll let you discover them by yourselves. Suffice to say that you'll meet a lot of fascinating characters, from the wise old man, to the young woman who's supposed to be a leader at a very tender age, from the silent man, to the most talkative. I for one had fun meeting them all :)
I could go on and on, but I'll stop here, or else I'm sure I'll give away some spoilers. If you love fantasy, paranormal romance, new worlds and if you're searching for something fresh and new, try this book.
