Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book
Rate this book
Her people murdered his family. He vowed to destroy them. But now, a curse binds them together.
Life in the far northern reaches of the Dominion is unkind, and life under the reign of Morten, the dreaded ruler of the North Wind, is worse. As the last outpost of those who worship the Old Gods is destroyed, Dawn and her sworn enemy come face to face, and she learns there is more that’s frozen in the north than just the weather.

Many centuries have passed since Morten vowed destroy all traces of the people who murdered his family, even if it meant reshaping the world to do so. But when he stands poised to do just that, he learns the curse he suffers still holds secrets, even after so long.

Dawn is now the prisoner of the undead and seemingly unstoppable Morten. But the gods marked her for a purpose—binding her fate together with that of the North Wind.

Is she meant to thaw his heart…or tear it from his chest?

_____________
Frozen Dawn is the stand-alone conclusion of the Cardinal Winds villain romance series. Please note that while no assault happens "on the page," it does contain a reference to past sexual violence that may be upsetting for some readers.

243 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 22, 2022

31 people are currently reading
171 people want to read

About the author

Kathryn Ann Kingsley

66 books2,453 followers
Kathryn has always been a storyteller. Years of scriptwriting for performances on stage and for tourism in Boston led her to writing romantically dark, fantastical tales, which was an obsession of hers that began once seeing The Phantom of the Opera at a young age.

When she isn’t penning new villainous leads, she works in video game development. There, she has been everything from Creative Director to Chief of Staff, Design Manager, Executive Producer, and Principal Writer for various companies in the industry.

She shares her antique home with three very fluffy animals and one very patient and loving husband.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
157 (44%)
4 stars
103 (28%)
3 stars
74 (20%)
2 stars
16 (4%)
1 star
6 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
Profile Image for Christy Hall.
367 reviews95 followers
April 20, 2022
I tried to read Cursed Opal and did not enjoy it. I thought I would try Frozen Dawn to see how it all ended. Instead of being more developed and interesting, like Burning Hope, the story went back to being a bit of a mess, like Steel Rose.

Morten is a long-dead Roman legionnaire, whose family was murdered by invading Vikings. He has been on a rampage to kill the last of the Vikings. He created the current dystopian world in hopes of tearing down every civilization created by humans who were tied to religion, politics, and greed. This doesn’t really make sense to me but there you go. The world just isn’t very believable - maybe because it’s tied so loosely that if you pick at it just a little with logic, it all falls apart.

Morten and Dawn are tied together by a Viking witch’s curse. I feel how I did about Rose and Viktor. These two don’t make sense. Dawn should not love him. There isn’t enough of his nature built outside of his cold exterior for a reader to buy their love. It just hasn’t been built up - just like this world hasn’t been built up enough.

I like Kingsley and her twisted stories, for the most part. This just didn’t do it for me. I wish it had. I like how she writes. I just don’t think she did enough development to make this work for me.
Profile Image for Mrsbooks.
1,077 reviews15 followers
April 14, 2022
Meh. The only novel I liked in this series was the first one... which I LOVED LOVED LOVED! Each novel after seemed to get a little worse although I didn't finish number three because that was just too weird for me.
Profile Image for Rhiannon Chillingworth.
835 reviews220 followers
March 20, 2022
I really live so many of the author's series, and enjoyed the previous Cardinal Winds books, but this is my least fa ourit eby a decent margin and I've been trying to think of exactly why that it.

Firstly, this is a good book, as Kathryn is an excellent writer. But I didn't find my usual enjoyment level in it.

Dawn was a great, if slightly over the top character. All of Kathryn's heroines share a basic set of personality traits, but I loved Dawn's ballsy attitude.

I think the main issues are twofold. Firstly, Morten's whole justification for what he was doing to Dawn's people and his dominion over the world, was just a little ridiculous, which was further exemplified by the actions in the Epilogue, which I can't go into, as it would be major spoilers.

Morten himself was difficult character to characterise, as his whole point was this he was some massive, unfeeling dead guy. But I fouod his and Dawn's romance to come out of nowhere and basically just be based on the physical, which is fine, but I didn't really believe their feelings for one another.

Regardless, I would still recommend this book as a decent conclusion to the series, it just wasn't my favourite.
Profile Image for Jazzy.
410 reviews9 followers
March 19, 2022
4.75 ⭐️

THAT ENDING. What an amazing ending to another amazing series by Kingsley. I think this one is my favorite out of the four books. I just love enemies to lovers so much. The pain of loving someone you should hate is just so beautifully angsty. A part of me wished this book was longer so there could hace been a more detailed romance development, but I understand that these four books were meant as medium-short books, and for a book this short it did one hell of a good job.

Romance: 4/5 ⭐️
Characters: 4.5/5 ⭐️
Spice scale: 1/5 ⭐️
Angst scale: 3.5/5 ⭐️
28 reviews
March 12, 2022
good series

Read it people!!! I am going to end up reading all her books it seems. Worth it.👍 Keep writing Kingsley!!!!
Profile Image for Cait.
2 reviews
March 12, 2022
Kat never fails to amaze me with every book she puts out. I devoured this in a night when I got my hands on it. Dawn is the perfect MC; she's quick-witted, strong, and knows how to push all of the right buttons (namely Morten's *eye-waggle*). She's funny and endearing, and Morten is... well, you'll see. All in all, this was a perfect ending to a great series, with lots of steamy scenes, and well worth the wait.

(It was so unbelievably hard not to incorporate puns into this review).
Profile Image for Nessa.
3,924 reviews71 followers
Read
May 22, 2022
DNF.

The first book "Steel Rose" really captivated me, and then the next two books just didn't do it for me. Naturally, Morten being the mysterious one and also the "forefather" of all the Cardinals, I was immensely intrigued. Unfortunately, I think I got my hopes too high, because I felt zilch chemistry between the Morten and Dawn - the natural kind. I wasn't too hyped about Dawn's persona, I guess it's official, I like my FL submissive with a spine of steel, not overly loud-mouthed or getting up in your face like Dawn.

What a shame.
Profile Image for DemetraP.
5,848 reviews
March 1, 2023
I liked the enemies to lovers theme but hated the ending of this book.

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
,
,
,
,
,
,
,,
First of all, all of the cardinals from the 3 earlier books betrayed Morten. Morten made them Cardinals and gave him their powers. They said they betrayed him because humans needed to rule themselves. It didn't make any sense to me. They wanted to kill him so the humans could elect their own leaders. None of them said the problem was with the rules and laws they had each made in their individual dominion.

Morten has lived 1,500 years with his curse. He killed a bunch of pagans who believe in the Norse pagan gods because they brutally raped his wife and teenage daughter, then killed them, and killed his son in front of him in a horrific way. They were going to kill him too but they cut his bonds so he could fight them, not knowing he was a skilled fighter.

So for revenge he promised to kill all of the Northmen. The heroine thinks she is the last one left after he killed everyone in her village.

It turns out there is a secret rebellion that has been waiting for her. Every generation a woman was born with a mark just like the mark that curse the hero to never die for 1,500 years. A witch cursed him as she was dying.

So she makes him feel things and makes his heart beat and the rebellion thinks she can kill him. She begs him to leave the Dominion and just go off and start a farm somewhere. He begs her to renounce her gods and be his wife and rule at his side. She said neither of them can agree.

The other cardinals ask her to kill Morten. She decides she has a new plan. She stabs him and whispers to him while holding his hand to wait for her. That they'll bury him and she'll find him and they'll live their lives together.

So it takes her 5 years but she eventually finds where they hid his body. They live in the forest alone for a while and eventually a town springs up around them. Hero and heroine never have kids but they grow old together. He dies first and 2 years later she dies. And they go off into the afterlife together. Author doesn't say which afterlife, her pagan gods or his pagan gods.

I was also upset because in this book we are told that Nero and Hope (from book 2) have started sleeping around with other people. That they have an open marriage. In book 2 Nero was so obsessed with her and said he'd be faithful and didn't want anyone else. I felt like the author ruined book 2's happy ending.

Also in the final fight Morten rips out Nero's hypnotic eye so he can't hypnotize people anymore. He can still use his power of fire though. Opal and Hugo (book 3) retire to his private island. Viktor remains the leader of his Dominion after he is elected. Hope runs Nero's Dominion. So nothing really changed in my opinion. Petr, Morten's second in command and a secret Northman is now running Morten's dominion. So one of the people he tried to all kill is running his former dominion.

I just thought the ending of the series would have been better.
Profile Image for Tracy Books_Beers_Brews.
1,069 reviews51 followers
March 28, 2022
🌟🌟🌟🌟

So I have loved this series since I first found this series with Steel Rose 2 years ago. This whole series is so good, each with a questionably moral leading male & the woman who tame them. This book is no different, we finally get the book for the leading Cardinal Wind of the world, the Cardinal of the North. Morten is a cursed 2000 yr old warrior corps who has not felt anything in all that time. Dawn is the last of her people that have been hunted by the North Wind, exterminated by him for nothing more then their religious beliefs, or at least that is what she believes. These two are enemies on so many levels, but things are not always as they seem.

The growth that both these characters go through is astounding. I love how Dawn thaws the frozen heart & how Morten gives her something else to live for. This book is full of twists and turns & that ending was sadly perfect for these characters. I definitely cried at the end of this book, so perfect.

If you want a pnr series that is completely different from anything else you can find, then this is definitely the one for you.
Profile Image for Ashley.
285 reviews
March 11, 2022
At last, the Cardinal Winds series has wrapped up. We read the stories of each of the leaders of the West, South, and East Dominion Cardinals found love, and we wondered if the enigmatic undead ruler of the frozen North would be able to find it as well. I always liked Morten. He always seemed stern, but extremely intelligent and genuinely wanted people to be happy. I was not disappointed as we finally got to spend time with the harsh North Wind and the Valkyrie, Dawn, who spent the entire book trying to crack his icy facade. Their relationship was tempestuous and aching as they wrestled back and forth between their desire to kill one another warred with their growing attraction. Each was torn between their affection for the other and their core values- and neither was willing to compromise.

What's a girl to do when she's stuck between a glacier and a hard place?
Profile Image for Alexandra G..
928 reviews1 follower
March 15, 2022
4.5 stars

The last book in a favorite series of mine, from my favorite author. How can I not enjoy it?

Seriously. Turns out I will read any book that Kathryn Ann Kingsley writes, no matter what's it about, regardless if it's my type or not.
Her stories and characters push me so far out of my comfort zone that I don't even remember where my line in the sand was.

I liked 'The Cardinal Winds' series from the start. Viktor remains my favorite, followed by Hugo, Morten and lastly Nero because he's a lovable ass, but still an ass.
I liked the world, the characters, the different types of villains.

Morten and Dawn's story was bitter-sweet. The ending really punched me in the feels for some reason. But it was definitely worth it.

9/10 would recommend
Profile Image for Mary Ann.
56 reviews7 followers
May 28, 2022
This made me smile while reading

“You’re a sick and disturbed man, aren’t you?”
“And you’re an excellent judge of character.”

“Rumors travel faster than feet. Or dead horses. And we have spies everywhere. Viktor is…eh…I’d say paranoid, he’d say pragmatic.”

“Where is everybody?” She gestured at the room. “Did you seriously tell the restaurant they couldn’t have other people in here?”
“I am paying them well for it.”
“I’m sure you are.” She snickered. “But why?”
“I did not know if you intended to arrive naked.” Morten was watching her, his face passive and unreadable as it usually was.
“Thought about it.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Sarah Filkin.
16 reviews1 follower
March 11, 2022
I received an ARC from the author.

I was really excited about reading Morten's story. It didn't disappoint. You got to see more of a complex character than someone who is an ice stick.

I loved Dawn she had a lot of spunk and she was passionate in what she believed. I really enjoyed reading their relationship grow as the book progressed.

I will confess near the end of the book I was crying so much I thought that I would finish my box of Kleenex. The ending was bitter sweet. A perfect ending for the end of the 4 book series.
Profile Image for Christine Kingston.
72 reviews3 followers
March 22, 2022
What a wonderful way to end this series. I think a lot of us wondered what Kat up her sleeve with Morten and Dawn. What was she going to cook up for the frozen, undead, unfeeling Morten. Welp, she hit us in the feels that's for sure. This story gave us everything and left me in tears over a beautiful ending. It was spicy, had intense action and a great story ARC for the characters. I wholeheartedly recommend this series to anyone. Enjoy!
14 reviews
March 19, 2022
The ending made me cry

I love the cardinal winds series. This gives such depth to the characters and I really enjoy the "love your enemy" and understand the trauma they have faced for them to have these ideas. I like how the author allows us and the female lead to sympathize with Morten. 10/10 loved it
28 reviews1 follower
August 12, 2022
Loved the first book in the series. But it kinda went downhill from there… I was excited about this one because it was supposed to be the final one but it fell short of expectations… The ending felt rushed… however, the epilogue *chefs kiss* - it was incredibly sweet.
Overall rating for the series - 3 and half stars!
Profile Image for Marla Berry.
81 reviews7 followers
March 10, 2022
I absolutely loved this book!! It was such a good ending for The Cardinal Winds series! I loved Dawn, she was such a character, and I loved her humor. I also loved that she wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind, and she stayed true to the values that she cared about instead of caving into the pressure (plus she always has a come back for anything lol). Morten was an interesting character! I definitely loved reading from his perspective. Under all of that ice he's just a big ole' softie 😊. The ending was perfect, and I legitimately cried, but they were happy and sad tears lol, happy for the ending that they all received but so sad that its over. All in all, Frozen Dawn is such a great book, and I love all of the books in the series as well. Definitely a must read!
Profile Image for Marissa.
31 reviews
March 15, 2022
Perfect Ending Of This Series

Dawn is an amazing character and I think my favorite from this series. I just loved everything about this book and this series. Everyone should read all of Kathryn Kingsley's books, she is one of my favorite authors.
Profile Image for Lindsay.
87 reviews9 followers
March 31, 2022
Oh my heart!

This entire series is absolutely incredible, but I think Madam Kingsley seriously saved the best for last with this one.

I absolutely loved Dawn.

The ending had me in tears… in a good way.

Thank you for this beautiful story.
Profile Image for Aneek Mac.
1 review
March 17, 2022
This one had so much emotion . I cried , it was a great read. A wonderful end to a great series.
Profile Image for Ignasis.
22 reviews14 followers
March 20, 2022
Fun until it made me cry like a baby. That ending broke my heart. 10/10.
Profile Image for Lauren.
717 reviews
April 11, 2022
I’ve been waiting for this one

I have been eager to read the North Cardinal’s story and it is finally here. I was overall surprised with how the author decided to steer the story about the 4 cardinals and the world they live in. Trying not to spoil anything but I was pretty surprised with a lot of the revelations and events that took place in this book.

I feel like the build up of the relationship between our 2 characters could have been better. I just didn’t get that strong chemistry between the 2 of them when reading like I have in his author’s other work. I really don’t know how else to explain it. 🤷🏼‍♀️

This book gave us the answers we needed about how this works came to be and why Morten is the way he is. Overall I still loved the book and I felt as if the ending was bittersweet yet perfect.
Profile Image for Johanna Sawyer.
3,473 reviews41 followers
April 18, 2022
wow

Phenomenal series! A bit hurried on the ending but cataclysmic. Poor Nero…. Awkward experience for his rebellion of Morten. Five stars.
Profile Image for Audion Audiobooks On Demand.
152 reviews
May 3, 2022
Loved this series

Seeing Morten get a book was a huge surprise! I really enjoyed this, great wrap up to the series. O can now tick off another finished series by KAK.
Profile Image for Lex.
314 reviews
December 24, 2025
Wow Kathryn really pulled things together in this book. I almost did not read it because the third book was so meh and the first book made me mad. I really enjoyed book 2 and this one is amazing!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.