I downloaded a copy of Snowmancer, by Olivia Helling, from Amazon. It was still free at the time of posting.
Description from Goodreads:
A partner he could trust. That’s what Prince Heir Ilyas wanted most in the world. Instead, he spent his days alone defending his future throne from his younger brothers and reaping the rewards of their estates. But when he receives his latest conquest, a slave named Jem, he’s abducted to the far reaches of a frozen wasteland to be sacrificed to Jem’s backwater god.
Someone who would see him. The one thing Jem knows he can never have. Instead, Jem walks the world searching for the sacrifice that will save the people who fear and shun him — the beautiful and proud Ilyas. Capturing Ilyas might have been simple, but keeping him safe for his god is another matter.
Trapped in their struggle and tight quarters, they’re both haunted by the whisper in each other of the warmth they dared not dream for. But nothing can stop the Dark God from coming. Nothing short of death. Can one kill the other? Or will they both be destroyed?A partner he could trust. That’s what Prince Heir Ilyas wanted most in the world. Instead, he spent his days alone defending his future throne from his younger brothers and reaping the rewards of their estates. But when he receives his latest conquest, a slave named Jem, he’s abducted to the far reaches of a frozen wasteland to be sacrificed to Jem’s backwater god.
Review:
Let me give you the perfect illustration of the type of impression this book makes. I read it yesterday, finished it about 11 and then went to bed. Until I sat down this afternoon and picked up my Kindle to find something to read, I’d wholly forgotten I read a book the day before. Nothing about Snowmancer stood out enough to be remembered without prompting, less than 12 hours later!
Now, it’s not a bad book. It was entertaining enough in a shallow sort of way. It has good atmosphere. You do feel the helplessness of the situation and Jem is a wonderful character. But I never could follow the progression from captive to captivated. Ilyas just seemed perfectly content to float along with Jem, despite threat of imminent death. His continued haughty attitude didn’t fit his situation at all and felt forced. There was basically no history to the characters and the climax/HEA was of the hand-waving variety. And I mean that as in it seemed to come exceedingly easy and without the need of further explanation and as in there was actual hand waving involved.
If you have an hour or two to pass this isn’t a waste of time, but it’s also not worth carving time out for.