This book had all the feels. Totally all the feels. It had all my catnip and more.
This is the first book in a new trilogy set in the Scandinavian kingdom of Svardia and we meet the first of three siblings, Princess Freya, second in line to the throne of Svardia after her brother King Aleksander and older sister to Princess Marit.
CW: Princess Freya has just learned she has infertility issues.
When our story opens, Freya is confronting her brother, the King, about her decision to step down as "spare" because of the potential for scandal and concerns about the security of the royal line once her medical condition gets out. This is tough for Freya because she's always been the perfect princess, finding fulfilment in her role helping her people.
Aleksander is reluctant to allow this, knowing how important she is to the country and also how hard it would be for the youngest sister to step up into that role.
He gives Freya a last mission to accomplish. Only if she succeeds will he release her from her royal obligations.
And there's the catch. She is commissioned to travel to Sweden to meet with a soldier who has refused to receive his medal for valour.
The soldier is Kjell Bergqvist who was once Freya's bodyguard when she was a student. And you guessed it, they have History. With a capital H. Maybe HISTORY. Cos it was a doozy.
They both had reasons to consider the other betrayed them, so this first meeting is going to be difficult at the very least.
As you can guess from the title, Princess Freya is delivered to Kjell's cabin on the cusp of a massive snowstorm and when she is delayed, her official helicopter leaves without her. Hmmm. Yes. Very likely. Nods.
So. Do I need to go on?
Not really. But as you've guessed, they are snowbound with only one bed and a lovely couch and some reindeer hide rugs and suchlike. Worst of all, they have to talk. Well not really, but there were so many things that needed saying after eight years they were (snow)bound to spill out.
Freya and Kjell always knew there was no future for them, in the past, the present, and the future. Not unless she went ahead and renounced her princessness and then there was the children issue, or lack thereof.
It made for a very emotional read and earned it my official romance review fifth star for making me cry.
I loved the ending and the little epilogue which was careful not to give too many spoilers for the other two in the series although there are hints along the way.
Like her diamond trilogy, some of the events in the other books are concurrent to the events in this book. I look forward to reading Marit's adventure and then finding out Aleksander's secret.