I was a damsel in distress.Trapped in a car. Slowly being buried by the unrelenting snow. No cell service. No way out.And then when all hope felt lost, he appeared—a shadowy figure emerging from the depths of the blizzard. Except my dashing hero on a mighty steed was instead a hulking beast of a man with an eyepatch and a beard, driving a pickup truck. He offered his small cabin as shelter until … cabin as shelter until the storm blew over.
He saved my life.
But this mysterious, rugged stranger is no prince. He’s not even the simple woodsman he pretends to be. I don’t know exactly what he wants from me.
But I’m beginning to think I want the same damn thing.
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I don’t read a lot of suspense stories so this is something a little different for me—a romance hero who is a wounded/disfigured woodsman living in a remote cabin in the forests of Vermont. It was another compelling read by Annabelle Costa that made me forget all about my RL responsibilities until I turned the last page.
Our heroine Natalie is rich, smart, talented and entrepreneurial, but she’s never dated a guy she could like. She thought she enjoyed the finer things in life, until she met Jake. Stuck in a snowstorm with her douchy boyfriend Chase who she just broke up with, they are in dire straights until Jake rescues Natalie from the car and Chase out in the cold suffering from hypothermia. They’re snowbound in Jake’s cabin for the weekend with no electricity, no phone service, no internet, no hot water—totally off the grid. While Chase recovers from his hypothermia, Natalie learns to live on less and to appreciate Jake’s simplicity, at the same time understanding that he has a complicated past. Despite Jake’s limp, missing digits, scars and an eye patch, she finds him fascinating and attractive, and when Chase awakens she feels tugged in both directions between the two men—wanting to return to her familiar life in Boston, but at the same time wanting to explore a relationship with Jake. But Jake has secrets and a history that make that impossible, no matter how much he wants Natalie to stay.
Natalie’s right on the cusp of really discovering herself when this whole scenario takes place. We see her dumping her sh*tty boyfriend as the story begins, then as it continues we see her shifting back and forth, drawn to Jake’s decency while still easily swayed by Chase’s deceit. This is the story of Natalie’s epiphany, discovering what she should value in life and learning to think for herself. She looks inside and sees Jake’s true essence and worth, as well as his rugged appeal, and finally knows what she’s been missing in her past relationships. Interestingly, in the end she finds a balance.
Despite being left with a few question marks about Jake and a desire for more closure this was a good read. It’s strictly an HFN with no promises being made, but if you’re interested in suspense, intrigue, twists and turns, and self-discovery in your romance stories you won’t be disappointed. It starts out a little creepy but stick with it, you’ll be pulling for Jake and Natalie and wanting them to have each other by their sides forever after.
Snowed in………now what?
Cabin Fever is the first book I have read by Annabelle Costa and I enjoyed it. The story is about Natalie and Jake. She is a materialistic and self-centered young woman who can basically recite the names of “expensive brands”. She has a successful catering business but is super shallow. She finds herself stranded and her savior is Jake. He is the opposite and her and lives a simple life in the mountains. When he takes her back to his cabin to ride out the snow storm it is an interesting mix between these two. Jake is handsome, big, is damaged and does not like having this woman invading his space.
There are funny moments where I laughed out loud and loved the banter between the two. What I really wanted to do for a long time was cuff Natalie upside her head because she was just so dang unlikable. Her idea of expensive was more “flashy wealth” so that everyone can know just how rich you are supposed to be. She ends up learning what substance is and that there is more to life than “keeping up with the Jones’s”.
CABIN FEVER is a stand-alone, contemporary, suspense romance.
Natalie and Chase were a pair of rich snobs and I wondered at first why we were even presented with two such shallow people and why they were in a car together. It was obvious they didn’t know or like one another.
When reality strikes in the form of a blizzard, Chase’s true colors come out in full force and that ends a long-term relationship just in time for the real prince to sweep into Natalie’s life… except Jake can’t be seen or known.
I loved how honorable Jake was. He was a real man, not a sniveling weenie. He had a great sense of humor, but also fairness, protection, and gallantry that were important to him.
I didn’t like spoiled little rich girl, Natalie, for most of the book, but as she grew as a person I grew to like her. Her growth was in direct correlation with her exposure to the morality she saw in Jake.
There was light suspense at the beginning, but true suspense came later in the book and was a surprise. It was one of those “what just happened” moments that took the book from a three to a four star experience.
Note: While I received this book as a gifted ARC via Author’s XP, my opinions are my own and are given freely.
Title: CABIN FEVER
Series: N/A
Category /Genre: Suspense Romance
Recommended for: 18+ due to sexual content
Grammar/editing: received as an unedited ARC
Received from: Annabelle Costa
I enjoyed this book a lot and liked the twist that was totally unexpected. I agree with other reviewers that the characters could have been fleshed out more. Also I would loved to have had more exploration of how the heroine developed-her change was too abrupt for such a radical change. Overall, this was a quick light read.
Not everybody can be judged by what they look like. Natalie certainly learned that lesson the hard way. Is Jake who he says he is? Is her current relationship worth holding onto just because it’s comfortable? This book is a great read. I loved the characters, and how they continued to develop throughout the story.
I really enjoyed this book.
Natalie’s boyfriend Chase is taking her for a get away weekend in Vermont. They get stuck in a blizzard in his car. They get rescued by Jake who is a mystery but one she wants to get to know. What a good read, it has twists and turns, and the characters draw you in. I really enjoyed this book.
WOW this story is one I was not putting down once I started it. Nathalie and Jake’s story has suspense, drama, danger, twists, turns, evil, villains, a man hiding because of a murder, and the woman who comes to love him. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Another wonderful read from this author. She paints her flawed characters so perfectly that you can’t help falling in love with them. Also loved the over-arching sense of dread whereby I knew something was coming up, but didn’t have a clue what. Color me surprised with the twist I never saw coming. Definitely check this out.
There is quite a bit of drama, action, and intrigue in “Cabin Fever” in addition to the love story. Natalie, Jake and the supporting characters are well developed. I practically could not put this book down. Also, there is a cameo conversation with Sophie Pasternak from Ms. Costa’s “Love is Blind” – another ‘must read’ – but more of a heartfelt love story as opposed to all of the serious drama in “Cabin Fever”.
Mrs Annabelle Costa is an auto-buy’s author for me.
And today with this new release, she did not disappoint.
As usual, her heroine is far from flawless, why she was so real, I liked and dislike her as it arrives in real life, nobody is perfect, she is from the good side of the fence and even if she created her own business by herself, it is easier when you have a good name.
I confess I quite struggled with Nathalie, sure her spoiled side brought quite the humour here, she is a dictionary for expensive brands, but she can also enjoy more simple things even if she could not save her life in the wild.
She did a lot of growing up during the short span of time of the action, her main problem is she seems unable to see past people’s mask and trust the wrong persons and make mistakes. I was upset at her for never voicing her own needs or envies, letting others take the decisions for her.
Jake is a protector in the soul, he went to a great deal out of his wait to help Nathalie and her dumbass of boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend. Sure, why is he living all alone, with less than the basic of necessities in nowhere’s land.
Nathalie will have to learn where lies her trust as when masks will fall she will find herself in quite a complicated situation.
Funny how this story took me by surprise, I thought I was going one way then unexpectedly Mrs Costa reversed the brake and turned it upside down.
A five stars rate for this surprising read.