Frozen Secrets by Nichole Severn
Author: Nichole Severn
Publisher: Harlequin – Romance
Publication Date: August 25, 2026
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Synopsis
Clearing her late father's name is the sole reason Winnie Hutton returns to the hometown she once left behind. Her father had been the town's respected police chief, but one unsolved cold case haunted the final years of his career and damaged his reputation.
While sorting through his belongings, Winnie discovers information connected to that same investigation and becomes determined to uncover the truth.
Unfortunately, doing so means working with the one person she never wanted to see again: her ex-fiancé, Adrial Tucker.
As Winnie and Adrial begin retracing her father's investigation, they uncover long-buried secrets, lies and corruption. It also quickly becomes clear that someone is willing to go to dangerous lengths to stop them from discovering what really happened.
But the cold case isn't the only piece of the past refusing to stay buried. Winnie and Adrial have plenty of unresolved history of their own, and some secrets may be much harder to forgive than others.
My Thoughts
I have to say, after reading the synopsis, Frozen Secrets immediately caught my attention.
A cold case, a second-chance romance and a small-town investigation?
That sounded like exactly my kind of read.
And the investigation was easily my favorite part of the story.
I enjoyed following Winnie and Adrial as they reopened the old case and began uncovering the secrets surrounding the investigation that had haunted her father for years. It also doesn't take particularly long before they realize that someone REALLY doesn't want them digging around in the past.
Or... was there more going on?
That question kept me engaged from beginning to end.
Unfortunately, the romance never really worked for me.
Without getting into spoilers, the more I learned about everything that had happened between Winnie and Adrial over the years, the harder I found it to root for them as a couple.
Second-chance romances already need to convince me that whatever separated two characters can genuinely be overcome. Here, though, there was so much emotional baggage between them that every new revelation seemed to make their relationship more complicated rather than making me want them back together.
I particularly struggled with the way Adrial's past relationship was handled.
Instead of reinforcing the idea that he had experienced two meaningful relationships at different points in his life, I often found myself questioning his feelings and motivations. Unfortunately, that made it even harder for me to become emotionally invested in the romance between him and Winnie.
And then we had the constant back-and-forth about their past and present relationship.
After a while, I was basically sitting there thinking...
Guys.
Maybe we don't need a second-chance romance quite yet.
Maybe we need a few good sessions of THERAPY first. 😭
Because there was A LOT to unpack.
The mystery itself remained enjoyable, and the danger surrounding their investigation gave the story enough suspense to keep me interested. However, I did find the final reveal fairly predictable, so unfortunately it didn't deliver the big surprise I had been hoping for.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Frozen Secrets wasn't a bad book; it simply wasn't quite what I expected going into it.
The cold case, investigation, secrets and danger were easily the strongest parts for me, and I enjoyed trying to figure out exactly what had happened and why someone was so determined to keep the truth buried.
Unfortunately, the second-chance romance didn't work nearly as well for me, and since the relationship is such a significant part of the story, that ultimately affected my overall enjoyment.
I also think the book would have benefited from a clearer content warning regarding a deceased former partner. That's something I personally tend to avoid reading in romance, so I would have appreciated knowing about it beforehand.
If you're a romantic-suspense reader who enjoys cold cases, small-town secrets, danger and complicated second chances, this may work considerably better for you.
For me, though, the mystery won this particular mystery-romance battle.
⭐⭐⭐
