Proof That Olivia Wildenstein Can Do No Wrong
When a book feels like a homecoming, you know you’ve found an author whose entire backlist is a 5-star guarantee. Olivia Wildenstein is that author for me. Reading The Masterminds (now Cold Little Hearts) back in 2019 was pure magic, and The Ice Beyond brought that exact same feeling right back!
Zas is the perfect mix of stubborn, impulsive, and deeply relatable as she figures out where she belongs. And then there’s Nordin… because my fictional boyfriend list clearly needed another addition to keep my standards impossibly high. He gives top-tier “I would burn the world down for you” energy, and his dynamic with Zas is elite.
The slow-burn romance was deliciously frustrating—the tension had me smiling like an idiot one second and staring at the page screaming “PLEASE, JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER” the next. I was 100% here for all the emotional chaos!
Plus, the world-building is a full fantasy buffet: wolf shifters, Valkyries, dragons, vampyrs, and Norse mythology. Honestly, I didn’t mind the page count at all because I was so lost in the story—and can we talk about how absolutely gorgeous this book is physically?! Stunning. Once the initial setup clicked, it was bye responsibilities, hello reading cave.
This book set up such an intricate, epic foundation, and I am completely hooked for whatever absolute wrecking ball of a journey Olivia takes us on next!
If you love fantasy romance, protective heroes, and rich mythology, put The Ice Beyond (and Cold Little Hearts) on your TBR immediately!
