REVIEW: With Love, from Cold World by Alicia Thompson

In With Love, from Cold World by Alicia Thompson, You would think that working at a tourist destination that features an ice rink and a walk-in snow globe in the middle of Florida would be a blast of a job. But Lauren Fox isn’t known for her sense of fun or humor. Instead, she’s the serious-faced bookkeeper who mostly keeps to herself and has diligently done her best every day for the past two years. So when her boss, Dolores, Cold World’s owner, asks Lauren to be one of three people to come up with ideas to increase foot traffic, she’s surprised but ready to give a winning presentation. Then she finds out that Cold World isn’t doing so great. And that their ideas to build revenue might actually be intended to save the business, not just boost sales.

‘She’d spent so long feeling practically invisible that it still shocked her sometimes, moments like this that made her realize how well he’d seen her all along.’

Asa probably knows Cold World better than almost everyone that works there as he’s spent the past decade being a jack of all trades. He knows he should find a supposed “real job”, but he loves the business as well as his coworkers. Well, most of them. There’s one person Asa just isn’t quite sure about–Lauren. He’ll admit he’s attracted to her, even if she is closed off and quiet. But he’s seen the spunk and backbone she hides under those prim cardigans. So, when he has the chance to get to know Lauren better as they work to improve their beloved Cold World, Asa finds out there’s a good reason she doesn’t let people in so easily. And it endears her to him even more, given his own past. As the duo tries their hardest to come up with a plan for Dolores, they also find themselves falling more and more in love with each passing day.

“I trust you.”
“I trust you, too,” she said, her voice a whisper.
Why did those words hit him in the gut so hard? Maybe it was because he knew how difficult it was to earn Lauren’s trust, what an honor it was to have it.

Enemies to lovers, workplace romance never felt so right as it did with Alicia Thompson’s newest novel, With Love, from Cold World. Its diverse cast and sweet, slow burn love story will be sure to capture readers right from the start.

‘All she knew was that somehow Asa had gone from someone she found vaguely irritating to the person she most looked forward to seeing.’

Content Warning: View Spoiler »Child abuse & neglect, drug addiction & death by overdose, foster care, forced outing of sexual orientation leading to parental abandonment. « Hide Spoiler

I was expecting With Love, from Cold World to be a typical enemies to lovers tale between coworkers. Some animosity, maybe some pranks, possibly spreading some gossip, or even a bit of smack talk while Lauren and Asa competed to create the best presentation to improve Cold World. But I’m pleased to say that this was an utterly heartfelt romance with some big laughs and rather adorable awkwardness along the way. And I *loved* the cast. Not only were they down to earth and felt like people you’d have a ball hanging out with, but there was also a diversity in their varied backgrounds as well as their orientations.

The way Alicia Thompson crafted our main characters, Asa and Lauren, was perfect. They both sadly had trust and abandonment issues. But the way they each dealt with it was very different. Lauren was all buttoned up, liked her routines and to have a semblance of control by keeping everything around her in her life as organized as possible. Although it meant that it also kept her peers at arm’s length. Asa, on the other hand, was easy with a joke and acted like the resident goofball. But beneath that easygoing persona was a guy who loved deeply and felt emotions just as much as everyone else did.

Lauren and Asa, in addition to being a wonderful couple–once they finally got their act together–were two terrific individuals who took the tough situations they’d been through over the years and used that for good. I won’t get into specifics so you can enjoy how Thompson explains it incrementally throughout the story. But I will say that how Asa and Lauren respect each other and what they do to pay it forward will be one more reason to love this duo. Sigh.

QOTD: Do you have a favorite theme park or tourist-type destination?

Book Info:

Publication: Published: August 1st, 2023 | Berkley |

She has a to-do list a mile long and falling for her coworker isn’t on it–yet somehow he’s become her top priority in this romantic comedy from the national bestselling author of Love in the Time of Serial Killers.

Lauren Fox is the bookkeeper for Cold World, a tourist destination that’s always a winter wonderland despite being located in humid Orlando, Florida. Sure, it’s ranked way below any of the trademarked amusement parks and maybe foot traffic could be better. But it’s a fun place to work, even if “fun” isn’t exactly Lauren’s middle name.

Her coworker Asa Williamson, on the other hand, is all about finding ways to enliven his days at Cold World–whether that means organizing the Secret Santa or teasing Lauren. When the owner asks Lauren and Asa to propose something (anything, really) to raise more revenue, their rivalry heats up as they compete to come up with the best idea. But the situation is more dire than they thought, and it might take these polar opposites working together to save the day. If Asa thought Lauren didn’t know how to enjoy herself, he’s surprised by how much he enjoys spending time together. And if Lauren thought Asa wasn’t serious about anything, she’s surprised by how seriously he seems to take her.

As Lauren and Asa work to save their beloved wintery spot, they realize the real attraction might be the heat generating between them.