Snowed In: Nen and Anani

by Nell Iris

It is time to go to my son.

Nen waited to hear those words from the Vasilissa for fifteen rotations, since that time the snow wouldn’t stop falling. But now that he’s about to meet Anani, the love of his life, again, he’s afraid. What if Anani doesn’t feel the same anymore?

Anani, the guardian of the water element, was only seventeen when he was banished from his mother’s court. Heartbroken he couldn’t be with the one he loved, he lost control over his emotions and his power. No matter what he tried, the snow wouldn’t stop, and as a last resort, he was sent away.

When they finally meet again, Anani is hopeful but disillusioned. The law that kept them apart hasn’t changed. How will they be able to find their happily ever after?

And what happens when the snow starts falling again?

Genres: Fantasy

73 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 16, 2019

About the author

Nell Iris writes gay romance, prefers sweet over angsty, short over long, and quirky characters over alpha males. She published her first book in 2017.

Nell is an author with a day job that steals too much time from her writing, her reading, her gardening, and her crocheting. She’s an introverted tea drinker who loves her family, her books, and her home in the Swedish countryside.

Reviews

[True Loveislovereview · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantasy story about forbidden love, changing seasons and a snowed path.

Anani is not allowed to express his deep love for Nen and that’s why he can’t temper his power over elements. His mother The Vasilissa, holder of the four elements, has to keep life in balance so she commands her son Anani to leave.

Nen without his beloved Anani, is hurt for many rotations and after the fifteenth rotation, the Vasilissa orders him to find her heir Anani aka the Vasilieu and bring him home. So there goes Nen, with a heart full of love.

The most enchanting scenery reveals before my eyes, a world described with the finest details, all my senses were on high awareness. An amazingly written romance. Overwhelming element forces outside were expressing the turmoil inside a small cabin. 

There are beautifully woven sentences with an expression, I imagined me in a completely white world with a magical misty atmosphere and dampness. 

A story with engaging delicate and delightful characters, all wonderful developed, against a stunning background with snow, mountains of snow. 
My heart, oh my heart, all the longing, the yearning, so wonderful and intense to experience.
For me, this is a top-shelf romance <3 

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nell Iris has quickly become one of those authors I can't wait to read. Every little story is packed with some much. It's always full of love and hope, even when the outlook is extremely grim. There's always a little bit of angst, but the outcome is always more than worth it. And this little story is no different.
When two people who love each other more than life itself can't be together, it is unbearable. For Nen and Anani both, they are in love. But as Anani grows older, he quickly realized that love between two men will never be accepted. As a guardian of the water element, his anguish came out in a way no one could stop. A snow and ice storm. Not even the mighty Vasilissa could stop the heartbreak and storm. So she sent her only son away, to try to stop the storm from completely demolishing everything. For fifteen years, Anani has been on his own, until the Vasilissa finally told Nen he could go to Anani and be together. Full of anguish at what Anani might think after all this time and hope that they can finally be together, he makes the journey. When they meet, the storms rise again. Anani is so conflicted. Happy, sad, angry, hopeful. And terribly afraid it is all a dream and Nen will leave again. And Nen doesn't know if he can get past the storm to the man he loves before it takes over the land again.
Oh my heart. Being so in love with each other and never being able to touch, to kiss, to hold each other. Nothing. It's another one of those times you want to reach in a book and smack people for being so stupid about being different. The love they had was so pure, so full of light. It's a shame it was broken apart to die away. But Nen never gave up hope. Often times he wanted to, but he couldn't. And I loved him more for it. He knew who his heart belonged to no matter what and he wouldn't give that up for anyone.
For Anani, being such a child and being told you couldn't have the one thing you loved more than anything...watching the light go out in his eyes and life. It's a pain no one should ever know. But seeing Nen again, filled him with such happiness and joy. Even if he was torn and upset, not quite believing what he was seeing. The love he had never died either. Even at his lowest.
Even at both of their lowest times, they tried to hang on to hope. Through every ounce of despair, they loved like no other. That's what made the difference. No one could take away their love. Even when everyone tried to steal their hope, they loved. Even in tears, they loved. And even through the worst of storms, their love knew no bounds. And I was ecstatic. What a beautiful story.

http://lovebytesreviews.com

[Serena Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a fantasy world where elementals reign according to very specific rules, women are in power, and same-sex unions are unthinkable, the drama of a gardener falling for the reigning Vasilissa’s son is too much for anyone to deal with, even the seemingly all-powerful ruler herself. The situation results in the son’s banishment, but because he is tied to the weather, this has unforeseen consequences. It’s an interesting concept – that of seemingly endless snow caused by the pain and emotional turmoil of a man who doesn’t know if he will ever see his soulmate again.


Please find my full review on Rainbow Book Reviews.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A law kept them apart, a mother's love gives them a second chance. With supernatural elements and a world of magic, Nen and Anani's story was surprising and had beautiful undertones of love, acceptance, and forgiveness. Second chances are sometimes sweeter than first encounters and theirs is no exception. I didn't actually connect with the characters as much as I wanted to, mainly because it felt like while trying to keep the fantastical elements, we were kept separate from their world rather than sucked into it. The angst and frustration and hurt, however, that did grab attention and was difficult to find resolution from. There were a few magical elements that were brought up as being more than what they were so when we get to the conclusion, it was a bit of a let-down in that regard, but freeing in the more romantic aspects of the story. Overall, this was a sadder sweet story that was a nice read.

[ButtonsMom2003 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nell Iris has done it for me again. She's written a relatively short novella that totally pulled me in and wouldn't let go. I don't read much fantasy romance; I'm not sure why but I just don't usually pick them to read. But when offered the opportunity to read and review a story by Nell Iris the answer will always be yes, unless something unavoidable prevents me from doing so.

Because I don't read much fantasy, Snowed In: Nen and Anani took me a few pages to get into, and understand the world it was set in, but boy after that I couldn't put it down. It's a wonderful, slow-burn story about a love that was forbidden and yet wouldn't be denied in the end.

The sex is minimal in this one but the romance and overwhelming feeling of love is not. The connection between Nen and Anani was powerful, even after years apart. I'm so glad I read this story.

An advanced copy of this book was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.

***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com*** (posting 2/18/19)

[Dixiecowgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, intense, heartfelt passion and love finds a way to flourish. Incredible world-building, poignant story of separation and reunited love. Beautifully written and touching story about finding your soul mate and waiting for the freedom to love. The sadness of their forced separation is intense and that makes the beauty of their reconnecting all the more meaningful and heartfelt.

Nen and Anani experience the passion and emotional connection that binds lovers together. i so enjoyed this story about these very liable MC's finding love. This is a really touching story with a touch of innocence and the radiance of two lost souls connecting.

I was gifted this book from the author and i freely give my review.

[Mari Cardenas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Stars!

This was a short, intriguing fantasy book. The writing was good, but perhaps some of the time they spent snowed in felt a bit like a filler, seeing as not much was happening. I probably would have rated it higher if the author had expanded on Nen and Anani actually being a couple and not spending so much time in Anani's inability to control his emotions, which was what led to them being snowed in in the first place.

Anyway, this was still an enjoyable read that read a bit like a fairytale, so I have no trouble recommending it.

*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***

[VVivacious · Rating 2 out of 5]

A ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords Review. This review can also be found here.

Anani and Nen are residents of Elemiis where love between two men is forbidden. The Vasilissa banishes her son, the Vasilieu, Anani, from her kingdom which leads to a Terrible Snow Rotation as Anani's powers spiral out of control.

When after fifteen rotations they are reunited it leads to a snowstorm and Nen and Anani are stuck together in close quarters but where will they find themselves and their relationship when the storm breaks.

The story had a very rich background and exquisite world building. The author creates quite a bit of a world which I would have loved to stay in more. The characters had quite a rich back story which didn't come much in use in this short story. I expected to find more details focusing on the elements and their transfer especially considering how unique Anani's birth is as the only male child ever to be borne by a Vasilissa. At one point in the story I was sure we would get more about Anani's powers when Nen comments about Anani's power feeling like more than what anybody thought they would be. Also, this world would have contributed more to a longer story where there could be some focus on the powers the Vasilissa and her children have.

There are quite a few loose ends in this story because it really feels like the story wanted to tackle more than it could owing to the length of the story.

The whole story is a build-up to the coming together of Nen and Anani. The whole scene of them having sex should have been the highlight of the story instead it was a scene completely missing from the story with the story just picking up after the fact. So the build-up ultimately amounts to nothing.

This book had good bones but it wasn't very well fleshed out.

Cover Art by Written Ink Designs. The cover is the standard across all Snowed In titles but considering the setting of this story, it doesn't fit very well.

[Angela Goodrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads.

This was an absolutely lovely story. This is the first fantasy romance I’ve read by Nell Iris and I really hope she has more planned for the future. The world she created in Elemiis and the characters we met there had me glued to my Kindle from start to finish. Yes, this is a novella so it wasn’t a long read, but when I started it on my lunch break I planned to read half of it and finish it later that evening. However, once I embarked upon the journey with Nen to Anani’s cottage, I found myself unable to stop reading until I reached the end. And even knowing that Iris’ stories are typically snapshots of moments in the lives of her characters, I still was unprepared for the final page because I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the two men. I wanted the story to continue so I could see how the next chapter in their lives would play out. Alas, that was not to be.

One of the things that kept me off balance as I read was that I kept forgetting the near-decade age difference between Nen and Anani. Anani is more mature than I expected him to be based on the young man we “met” in Nen’s memories. I suspect living on his own, separated from friends and family and being denied the luxuries befitting of a prince (though not the title used in Elemiis), had more to do with his maturity than the fifteen years that passed since the two last saw one another. Yet it is Anani’s attempts to protect himself from what he sees as inevitable heartbreak when he’s separated from Nen once again that packs the emotional punch. Interestingly, Nen’s empathic gift is both a boon and a source of angst. It’s a boon in that it gives him the insight he needs to not give up on Anani and to keep reaching out to the younger man, but it is a source of angst in that his heart is still put through the wringer as Anani grapples with his expected heartbreak warring with his hope over what the future holds for them. There is a beauty in watching Anani begin to believe that a future with Nen is possible and seeing how that hope takes root and allows the young man who once believed in love and happily ever afters to resurface. I will admit that I did feel as though there was a thread in the story that remained just outside of my reach. I’m unsure if I was so caught up in the romance that I missed something, if the author didn’t develop it fully, or if she left it unanswered on purpose, but I felt like the mystery surrounding Anani’s magic and its strength wasn’t fully addressed, then again, I would love to read a sequel to this story, so perhaps it’s just wishful thinking on my part.

On a side note, while I understand that the same cover is used across the various stories in this collection, it really does a disservice to this particular novella. While the bottom half of the cover could conceivably represent Anani’s cottage in the woods, the upper half of the cover is far too suggestive of a contemporary romance set in an urban setting. So potential readers, don’t let the cover put you off as Nen and Anani’s story is a lovely fantasy romance complete with all the magic I’ve come to expect from Iris’ writing.

Please note: My review is of an unedited, pre-release copy of this book and assumes that any errors were corrected prior to publication.