Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5
Many things brought Cannon Malloy west from Atlanta. Cannon wanted to put his past behind him, including ex boyfriends and the trauma that went along with them. Cannon most importantly want to find out what it meant to finally live his life as an out gay man after years of living in the closet. But that initial step out of his self deception didn’t mean Cannon felt comfortable as a gay man until now. With help from his flamboyant neighbor at Mountain Shadows and some well applied eye liner, Cannon is ready to try once more to connect with the handsome Finn Lorensson. With a newfound sense of self-appreciation and confidence he approaches Finn’s cabin with more than lust on the mind to make up for their last unhappy encounter and repair some of the damage he caused.
But professor Finn has plenty of problems of his own, one especially that arose around a malicious student and his impact on Cannon. Finn’s unsure of how to proceed, with the student and the newly confident Cannon. Both require his immediate attention and how he handles them both might mean the end of his tenure as a professor and any chance of happiness he might find with Cannon.
Cannon finally seems over his own brand of cold feet when it comes to Finn and relationships. But how long that will last and what Finn will do about it is anyone’s guess.
Of all the interconnected Pulp Friction 2014 series, Lee Brazil’s seems the most introspective of the four. With all the others, while the characters are undergoing emotional upheavals and personal problems, they are also being impacted by outside forces and obstacles. But Cannon and Finn are grappling, almost solely, with Cannon’s past and its effect on each other and the possibility of a relationship. Cannon Malloy is the fulcrum of In From the Cold. He is the pivotal element on which most of the plot threads rest or emanate from. A character displaced after the events in Atlanta (Pulp Friction 2013), Cannon was an ambivalent character, deeply closeted, married and the cause of much pain to the main character Chance. He ran from Atlanta to Flagstaff, unable to operate due to the events that occurred in Atlanta and is floundering in his role as a professor. From a dislikable personality to one clearly in need of compassion and understanding, Brazil has moved Cannon through his journey in cautious, fearful steps to this point. It’s been realistic and painful.
Reacting to Cannon is professor Finn Lorensson, a confident, handsome man. Cannon, however, is strewing Finn’s life with stumbling blocks and obstacles in Finn’s pursuit of the skittish Cannon, the last one of which might have lasting consequences for all. I love how Brazil has taken this self assured mountain of a man and added cracks and fractures to a strong personality that seemed unbreakable. It’s a lovely, believable transformation, especially with love as the impetus behind it. With the exception of the disgruntled student who feels entitled to take what he wants, all the movement and changes made have been done so because of internal arguments and decisions, changes of attitudes and self worth. It’s an internalized and introspective storyline and its very intimacy is conveyed through thoughtful inner monologues and bouts of painful fretting on the characters part.
The other characters and plots exist in Lee Brazil’s series but sometimes it feels as though we see or feel them at the very perimeter of Finn and Cannon’s lives. Such an inward facing story structure has been a wonderful way to relate to both difficult characters and their fragile steps towards each other. But I expect that is about to change.
Cold Feet and the other three stories are at the midway point in the series and changes are about to fall on all the people involved. I expect Finn and Cannon to change their direction, and move outward to embrace the other characters and the tumultuous events occurring at Mountain Shadows. I can’t wait to see how the author folds these two back into the main story thread that flows through all the series and the evil that has clearly visited the woods around them. I love these characters, the series and the entire Pulp Friction 2014 grouping. It’s compelling, gorgeously depicted and as wide ranging as the mountains themselves, and I can’t get enough of their lives and their stories.
I highly recommend this story and series (all of them) to you. However, you must start back at the beginning to understand the scope of the stories and the characters involved. I have listed all the series for you below. Don’t miss out one a single one of them…..
Cover art by Laura Harner. Love these covers, perfect branding and great models.
Buy Links: <a href=”Cold Feet: Pulp Friction 2014 (In From the Cold Book 3)
Book Details:
ebook
Published June 1st 2014 by Lime Time Press
edition languageEnglish
seriesIn From the Cold #3, Pulp Friction 2014 #10
The Pulp Friction 2014 series in the order they were written and should be read to understand the characters, events and plot:
Round One:
Firestorm (Fighting Fire: 1)by Laura Harner
Cold Snap (In From the Cold: 1) by Lee Brazil
Blown Away (Whispering Winds: 1) by Havan Fellows
Higher Ground (Earthquake: 1) by TA Webb
Round Two:
Controlled Burn (Fighting Fire #2) by Laura Harner
Cold Comfort (In From the Cold #2) by Lee Brazil
Blown Kisses (Whispering Winds #2) by Havan Fellows
Moving Earth (Earthquake #2) by TA Webb
Round Three:
Backburn (Fighting Fire #3) by Laura Harner
Cold Feet (In From the Cold #3) by Lee Brazil
Blow Hard (Whispering Winds #3) by Havan Fellows
Tremors (Earthquake #3) by T.A. Webb
Round Four: to be released
Flare-up (Fighting Fire #4) by Laura Harner
Out In The Cold (In From the Cold #4) by Lee Brazil
Blown Chance (Whispering Winds #4) by Havan Fellows
Aftershocks (Earthquake #4) by T.A. Webb
Round Five: to be released
Radiant Burn (Fighting Fire #5) by Laura Harner
Cold Day in Hell (In From the Cold #5) by Lee Brazil
Final Blow (Whispering Winds #5) by Havan Fellows
Terra Firma (Earthquake #5) by T.A. Webb
Sixth Book Series Finale Written by all the Authors
charactersFinn Lorensso
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 
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