Lyra Everhart is surrounded by ice, penguins, and scientists who are far better colleagues than dating prospects. As a zoologist stationed at the Southern Crown research facility in Asterfell Ice, she has accepted that finding love from one of the most isolated places on the planet will require patience, unreliable internet, and an alarming tolerance for terrible dating apps. Then Rowan Frostbourne walks into her Wintertide season. He is quiet, capable, deeply connected to the frozen landscape, and somehow makes a continent of snow feel warmer. Shopping trips, shared jokes, and small moments of companionship begin turning Lyra's holiday loneliness into something far more dangerous to her carefully guarded heart. Rowan understands the pull immediately. The instant their bare hands touch, the ancient creature inside him recognizes what Lyra is to him: mate. He has spent years serving as a warden of Asterfell Ice, accepting isolation as part of the duty. Telling a scientist that he can transform into an ice phoenix is another matter. Lyra notices details. His eyes change. The cold responds to him. The place that should be unlivable seems to know his name. Attraction becomes mystery as she tries to separate impossible evidence from what she wants to believe. Rowan wants to give her the truth, but revealing his nature means risking the life he has protected and asking Lyra to accept a future she never imagined. Wintertide is supposed to be about light in the darkest season. For two people who have grown accustomed to distance, it may become something more: the moment fate finally asks whether warmth can be found in the coldest place on earth.
Lyra Everhart is surrounded by ice, penguins, and scientists who are far better colleagues than dating prospects. As a zoologist stationed at the Southern Crown research facility in Asterfell Ice, she has accepted that finding love from one of the most isolated places on the planet will require p...