REVIEW: Freezing Aversion - Consortium Trilogy Book 2 - BL Maxwell

Title: Freezing Aversion
Series: Consortium Trilogy Book 2
Author: BL Maxwell
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Gay Romance
Publisher: Independent
Release Date: Dec 29, 2021
Format: Kindle
Pages: 261
Source: Amazon

The cold isn’t the only killer in the wilderness.

Benjamin Coulton is a tracker employed by the Consortium, the ruling counsel of vampires. When he’s sent to investigate a rogue vampire killing indiscriminately in a remote region of Alaska. Bad weather hampers his effort and he loses the vampire he’s been tasked to find.

Leon Davis and his friend Trevor agreed to be winter caretakers for several cabins and a fishing lodge, thinking it would be easy money. They settle into their daily routine of checking the cabins for animal break-ins, or broken water pipes, and prepare for a long winter.

Until a run in with a vampire changes everything.

Ben finds a newly turned vampire left for dead by the rogue vampire, and suddenly Ben's mission changes course. In the freezing wilderness of Alaska, he uncovers more truths and the mate he'd always longed for... and now the vampire he was tasked to find is hunting them.

#MMParanormalRomance #vampire #fatedmate #thriller

Reviewed by Xanthe

Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team

So, I can’t really put my finger on why this isn’t a 4 star for me, but I can say I liked this book more than book one, which makes it more than 3.5…. Let’s call it 3.75?

This is the second book in the series and focuses on Ben who we met in book one. Now he’s up in Alaska during winter and a snowstorm, hunting on The Consortium’s orders. I do prefer that this book stays with one character’s POV throughout.

Benjamin and Leon clicked for me straight away. There’s a connection between them from their first meeting when Ben is hunting a newborn vampire and whoever sired them. Leon both does and does not act like a newborn vampire should, which is confusing to Ben. Personally, I think it’s the mate bond starting to work its magic, keeping him calmer, though it’s tougher when there is blood around. Things go from bad to worse, though, when Ben discovers who it is he is supposed to be hunting and that someone in The Consortium is lying.

The cat and mouse game played throughout the story is good, things going back and forth as to who is winning. Ben and Leon now have more to live for and are determined to put an end to things, Leon more so for what happened to him before he was turned. Things do get slightly confusing along the way as mind suggestions mean that on occasions, one or more of the characters is acting under instruction. I enjoyed how the plot of the story unfolded and the setting for it all seemed quite fitting for vampires, cold and isolated

While the story is good overall and I prefer this couple’s slow burn romance, there is something that I just didn’t really connect with. This holds me back from giving four stars but as things have improved for me so far, I’m looking forward to reading the last in the trilogy.