Don't Let in the Cold by Keely Parrack

The storm isn't the only thing they'll have to survive.

It was supposed to be just one night in the cabin: one night for Lottie and her brand new stepsister, Jade, to try to get along. When a solar flare causes a massive blackout―no power or cell signal―Lottie knows they've got a long night ahead of them.

Then, in the dark, someone else shows up at the cabin―a stranger named Alex, claiming to be lost and needing shelter from the coming snowstorm. But later that night, Lottie spies him in the driveway talking to two mysterious men in a pickup truck, and she's sure he's lying about why he's here.

Before Lottie can find out more, a fire forces her, Jade, and Alex out into the blizzard, where they must rely on one another to get to safety―wherever that is. In the remote, freezing Tahoe wilderness, they have to survive more than just the elements. Soon it becomes clear that Alex's accomplices are hunting for all three of them, in a scheme that's gone too far and taken a chilling, deadly turn.

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Mini themes pop up often in publishing, across age ranges and genres. Lately I've read a few books featuring solar storm blackouts (considered by experts to be the most likely next big calamity. Start laying in your bottled water now, folks!) In this book, however, the power cut isn't really the point the way it is in others; it's only there to create an obstacle and make things harder for our heroines.

And things really do get harder. I am not someone who likes the cold, I read this bundled up in three or four layers, and I was still cold. Keely really has a gift for description. She also managed to misdirect me a couple of times...what I thought was going to happen didn't...which doesn't happen often, so brava!

This is an excellent adventure/survival story that also touches on some family issues that readers may be familiar with. Let's hope we don't all have to go through what Lottie and Jade did to get to know each other, though...

Don't Let in the Cold publishes on the 6th October, 2022. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.