With Love, from Cold World

Not so patiently waited for this one, and it did not disappoint. Workplace romance at a Florida attraction called Cold World. Asa is the resident Christmas and all things Cold World expert. He has been working there since he was 18 and kicked out of his parents' house. Lauren is the introverted bookkeeper and a bit newer to Cold World. Grumpy sunshine meets, and they do not get along well, Asa likes to push Lauren's buttons and can not figure out why she doesn't like him or for the life of him why she is interested in the owners snooty self absorbed son Daniel. Lots of secondary fun characters. Good moments of lightheartedness, a few spicy moments, and lots of sweet moments to bring these two together. Big fan of AT writing style

This was everything I wanted it to be, and definitely builds on the style and tone of Alicia’s first novel. With Love From Cold World is the sweet story of two people who feel alone in a crowded room finding the person who makes them feel seen. Both Asa and Lauren are hiding their hurt behind walls - Asa is the flippant life of the party and Lauren is the all-business worker bee. It starts with them sniping at each other until a night trapped in Cold World reminds them to see each other as people, and they start to fall hard and fast. While there’s a lot of miscommunication, they are unaware of it. Both come from backgrounds that never taught them healthy communication and they are both so protective and defensive of their own well-being that it’s hard to let the walls down and give anyone the chance to hurt them. The banter is witty and funny, between both the leads and the secondary characters, Cold World itself has sweet nostalgia vibes, and the confrontations with each lead’s antagonist will make you feel a sense of justice and completion. There are no threads left hanging at the end, and it makes you feel really positive about their longevity in the future. Asa is bisexual and it is openly talked about, and Lauren is quick to correct anyone who denies his identity because he’s with a woman. He has a traumatic coming out story but there is a hopeful end note to that plot line. Asa is worth swooning over - every time he couldn’t hold in how he felt or what he wanted…

This is a sweet novel that absolutely hits the spot if you're looking for an enemies-to-lovers trope. This book is also unique in that one of the protagonists is bisexual. The novel gets along in the same comfortable formulaic way, but what really annoyed me was how once they are in their relationship, all of their other life problems are magically solved into a Happy Ending. The banter and conversation of the secondary characters also felt exhausting, and after a point, I just wanted the characters not to sound like each other after a while.