REVIEW: Ice + Alligators by Angel Martinez
Offend the Frost King? Get kicked from the Court. Land in the jaws of a living dinosaur?
Ink, the black ice fairy, isn’t shocked that his frostiness banished her, but she’s shocked to find herself sent to a swamp. It’s hot, sticky and mucky—an ice fae’s worst nightmare. Banishment means she’s stuck with the heat and the stupid, hungry alligators. She’s gone from knowing all the rules of her world to knowing absolutely nothing about existing in her soggy new home. At least the draiad guardian’s kinda nice, though what the hell is a draiad?
A thunderous boom and an ice fae being dropped into her swamp interrupted Pickerel’s quiet, contemplative day of preserving flowers. The fae is abrasive, just shy of rude, and apparently unable to leave. The last thing Pickerel needs this close to the winter solstice celebration is another responsibility. But she can’t ignore her host obligations, nor can she deny the fae is rather attractive.
When dangerously reckless human poachers invade the swamp, all other concerns evaporate. Ink and Pickerel must learn to work together, combining their knowledge and their wildly different talents to combat the threat to the wildlife and the peace of the swamp. And–oh no—they might even have to admit they like each other.
Ice + Alligators is a novella that contains talkative squirrels, a mischievous and overly opinionated alligator, and a shy but grumpy fae who might’ve found a caring nature spirit who is everything she needed.
Dear Ms. Martinez,
If I’m looking for a story that (somewhat) uses unusual holidays, I think of you. Last year I reviewed a Solstice book of yours and hey look, here we are again. So after reading it, I see that the Solstice festivities are actually tacked onto the end rather than being a large part of the plot but that’s the case with so many “holiday” books so I’m not going to sweat it.
Ink, a dark-ice fae did something to anger the Frost King and has been banished to a part of the Atchafalaya Swamp and for a fae, that’s permanent. Ice + swamp heat usually doesn’t mingle well plus Ink is frightened so of course she uses rude bravado to brazen things out. Luckily Pickerel catches onto this because for a while, Ink was starting to annoy her. But a host has a responsibility and Pickerel takes that seriously.
Day by day, Ink settles into her new world and life but parts of it – mainly the alligators – still give her the willies at times. That is until illegal hunters arrive and it’s all hands/paws/feet on deck to save what is being hunted – namely the alligators. And if Pickerel and Ink begin to develop closer feelings for each other, that can work, too.
The tone of the book is fairly light and breezy but it does cover some sensitive topics such as fitting in, acceptance, sexual consent, colonization, and the fact that some humans can take too much. I thought it was interesting that Pickerel isn’t against all hunting, just out of season or excessive hunting. She also works – at a distance – with park rangers to enforce hunting laws. The two villains are basically cardboard Evil. Taking them down involves a sort of swamp Disneyesque operation that I could almost see on the big screen as it happened.
The romance starts slowly then quite quickly zips along as the two carefully work out likes, dislikes, and consent. The “asking for permission” and “we’re okay with this” boxes are checked.
I enjoyed most of the swamp denizens – especially the fairy frogs. I’d love to see me some winged fairy frogs. I would want to know for certain that any alligators and I were on the same page about me not being food, though. Ice + Alligators is a cute romp through a swamp with more emphasis on the MC relationship and swamp critter teamwork that has weak villains to overcome. B-
~Jayne
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