Mandy*reads obsessively* 's Reviews > The Boy Who Came In From the Cold

3.25*

I love the hurt-comfort theme and the Cinderfella storyline, so reading the blurb for this one, I just couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

Todd was raised in a very small town, by a mean, belittling and abusive step-father and a seemingly disinterested and neglectful mother.
His best friend from childhood Joan became his girlfriend, because that just seemed how it was supposed to be, but he never quite understood the thrill of sex that all the other boys bragged about. A situation with his best friend Austin gave him the final push he needed to leave all that behind and go after his dream of becoming a chef.

Things don't work out and like the title says, he is literally out in the cold, freezing in a blizzard. Gabe sees him, mistakes him for a hustler and despite a rocky start takes him into his apartment and his life. Soon a friendship begins that quickly turns into more.
There is a lot of inner musing from both of the men, but Todd especially, he is dealing with new and strange feelings and revelations and all the while hearing the vile voice of his step-father saying (“You a faggot or something?”) in his mind.
Comparing Gabe to Joan and all the differences between them, slowly understanding why he never got as excited with Joan as he should have and why he is very excited around Gabe.
I enjoyed watching Todd slowly 'get' it, realizing things about himself he probably knew all along, but fear and the prejudice he grew up with held him back.
His passion for cooking was great and his sense of taste and smell weren't limited to food and drink, he also enjoyed all the manly smells, which should have given him a clue. The first third of the book is full of sexual tension although Todd doesn't quite get it yet, but Gabe certainly knows why they seem to have constant hard-ons around each other.

I would definitely categorize this book as instant lust and love follows soon after, I can go with that, for Todd especially, since he is literally saved by Gabe.
I am not quite as convinced as to Gabe's feelings, he does seem to fall in love easily.
I didn't see the ice around his heart the blurb mentions, if anything I thought he had a very big heart for Todd and right from the start.

Gabe is almost too good to be true, he steps in and takes care of Todd and helps him in a lot of ways, but then he had a good role model. Peter, his boss, did something very similar for Gabe years ago. I enjoyed the character of Peter, he was full of wisdom and wonderful quotes that kept me googling to find out where they came from. He stayed a bit mysterious and I liked that about him.
Gabe has also done something like this before, he and his then lover Daniel had taken in a young man, Brett, off the streets, but that whole situation didn't end well.
Without giving too much away, it's safe to say both Gabe and Todd were cheated on by previous lovers, although it could be argued that they weren't totally free of all fault either.

Gabe's back story with Daniel and Brett was a little disturbing , it just didn't sit well with me and I was slightly confused by the whole thing. I didn't understand Gabe and how he thought it was going to play out if he had actually gotten what he wanted. For me that whole Brett situation could have easily been left out. I'm still not sure what purpose it served.
I was a little uncertain as to their sex life, they are very attracted to each other but Todd has a stipulation and Gabe goes along with it and I sort of forgot about it until the end of the book, and it was brought back up, so I am guessing that's how it happened.
So for those of you out there who don't like a lot of sex in their books, this one is for you.

This really was a Cinderfella type story, a down on his luck sweet kid with big dreams and an evil step dad is saved by the older, handsome and very wealthy man. They fall deeply in love with surprisingly little conflict or angst and all their dreams come true.