Winter's Heart

Heat of Love #3.5

by Leta Blake

an alternate cover edition can be found here

A short winter holiday-themed story set in the Heat of Love universe!

Winter-fox always brings Tristan the best gifts
Tristan wakes every winter holiday to find a present that delights him or teaches him an important lesson.

This story is not a standalone and is best read as an addition to the Heat of Love series, preferably after reading Bitter Heat.

Learn more about Tristan, Kerry and Janus’s son from Bitter Heat, in this short winter holiday-themed story. This 15,000 word winter treat doesn’t contain the heat level of the full-length novels in this series, but it offers all the cozy, hopeful warmth for a sweet holiday read. While it ends on a romantic note, the story does not contain a romance arc.

Perhaps a full-length book about Tristan will be on the horizon to tie up the loose ends of his story. His character certainly has a lot to say! I hope you enjoy him as much I do!

ETA: in the first edition of this story out in the world there is a mathematical error that wasn't caught by me (I have a math learning disability), any of my beta readers, the entirety of my Patreon audience for the past year, nor my paid editor. This error makes it appear that an underage boy is in a relationship with a grown man. I have fixed it going forward. However, the book has already been claimed from BookFunnel with its original error by over 1000 people and I won't be able to change it retroactively. I sincerely and profusely apologize for this mistake. How embarrassing.

Genres: Omegaverse, M M Romance, Fantasy, Christmas, Romance, Holiday, Short Stories

78 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 9, 2020

About the author

Author of the bestselling book Smoky Mountain Dreams and fan favorites Training Season, Will & Patrick Wake Up Married, and Slow Heat, Leta Blake has been captivating M/M Romance readers for over a decade. Whether writing contemporary romance or fantasy, she puts her psychology background to use creating complex characters and love stories that feel real. At home in the Southern U.S., Leta works hard at achieving balance between her writing and her family life.

If you'd like to be among the first to know about new releases, you can sign up for Leta's newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/bdn32H

Reviews

[* A Reader Obsessed * · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

The best kind of look into the characters from Bitter Heat, this is not a standalone.

This mainly focuses on Kerry’s child Tristan, by his abusive ex Wilbet. Despite Tristan’s true parentage, he’s had nothing but love and nurturing by Kerry and his mate Janus, and one sees how he slowly grows up to be an honorable alpha.

Showing various years during The Feast of Winter’s Heart, an annual celebration where the winter fox serves as the bringer of gifts for the holiday season in this alternate universe, one catches glimpses of key moments of Tristan’s life and how they ultimately affect his outlook starting from childhood to young adulthood.

Very sweet, whimsical magical, I wanted more when the end came, wondering how the rest of Tristan’s future pans out. Perhaps in time, Blake will tell the full story, but this suffices for now! It has to.

[Lisazj1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great addition to this series! I would have loved a full length book for Tristan and Riki but it was wonderful to see who Tristan grew up to be and how happy Kerry & Janus were. ❤

[Leta Blake]

Get your FREE copy of Winter's Heart (a Heat of Love holiday bonus story) by signing up for my newsletter here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/oc7qf598xo

ETA: in the first edition of this story out in the world there is a mathematical error that wasn't caught by me (I have a math learning disability), any of my beta readers (the entirety of my Patreon audience for the past year), nor my paid editor which makes it appear that an underage boy is in a relationship with a grown man. I have changed it going forward, and it does change the end of the story a bit. I apologize profusely for this mistake. How embarrassing.

[Cadiva · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

Another well-written visit into Leta Blake's excellent omegaverse.

This one is a festive look at Kerry's son Tristan as he grows up over a number of Winter's Heart celebrations.

It's sweet and, while there's no romance as such, there's a potential HFN which could lead into a HEA some time down the line.

[Debra ~~ seriously slacking on her reviews ~~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely adored watching Tristan grow up, seeing him on the same day of the year as he grows from 5 to 19 years old, and seeing Kerry and Janus' family grow. It was sweet, funny and I even shed a tear or two.

I would have no problem reading a full story about Tristan and Riki. A must-read for anyone who enjoyed Bitter Heat!

****
*ETA: In the original version there was some confusion in the last chapter regarding Zekie. Per Leta Blake's comment it was a math error -- there is NO underage sex going on or meant to be implied. A corrected version has been uploaded to Bookfunnel as of 12/1/2020 https://dl.bookfunnel.com/oc7qf598xo?...

[annob [on hiatus] · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars!
Cute, bordering on saccharine, extended epilogue to book 3 in the series. Usually bonus epilogues and bonus chapters leave me disappointed. In comparison, this was a good one even though it - to me - didn't reach the level of outstanding good the main books of the series deliver.

[BevS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice to read this one again...having already read it in Leta's Patreon group last year.

It is a lovely little read, but I have to agree with another reviewer who has said that the ages of Kerry and Janus' children is waay out later on in the story...Tristan is 6 years older than Zekial, but when Tristan is 19 and Riki is coming to find him for support after Viro has found his Erosgape, Zekial is holed up with his lover in a pastry shop in Blumzound...making him 13!! He surely couldn't have been such an early starter... 😉

**edit. Leta unhappy with the error, and is certainly not condoning under-age sex 😁😁. Future copies will be amended.**

[SheReadsALot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, well, well. I manned up and read this.

I love the kids! Tristan is so sweet and non-Monhundy-ish, bless his heart. And his crush? Didn't expect it.

Damn it, I'm curious about Tristan's HEA and Viro's too! Who is his Erosgape? I really enjoyed this follow up and all the Heelies kids.

(Also wanna know more about Sam Heelies.)

Tristan is a little mystical and good. Riki better not fuck this up...well if they're meant to be.

Anything can change. >;)

Thanks for the gift.

[Kazza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so, so good. I loved Bitter Heat, it was my favourite of the Heat of Love series. I regularly reread the series books but I've reread Bitter Heat many more times than Slow Heat or Alpha Heat because of Kerry and Janus, the depth of emotions, the world building, and the overall setting of that book. So it's fitting that I just read this little extra, Winter's Heart, about their growing family. It's a Christmas story and it had all the appeal that good festive season stories do. But I had mixed emotions at seeing Kerry and Janus getting older, then seeing their children growing up in the blink of an eye. But Tristan grew into everything Kerry could have hoped for, probably more, a gentle young alpha. It was beautiful to see the love there when I remember feeling the pain of Kerry, a brutalised and scared Omega, not wanting the (potentially violent) spawn of Wilbet Monhundy growing inside him. Janus was just right for Kerry, the same as this book was just right for me. It's a snippet of what I hope will be the next generation of this series original characters.
Maybe I'll get the get the time for a blog review, probably not, but you need to have read the series to really get anything out of Winter's Heart. I know them all and I love them but I was still pleasantly surprised and blown away with how good this novella was.

[Sandy Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, melancholic, immersive and romantic story telling

ABO world, no shifting, MPreg possible. This novella is related to the Heat of Love series and takes place long after Bitter Heat. It features Janus and Kerry’s firstborn, Tristan, and follows him from childhood through young adulthood. This story can be read on its own or after the other books, either way, you won't be lost.

It’s so sweet and beautiful, featuring the winter holidays when “winter-fox” brings gifts to children. We meet Tristan as a small boy who believes in winter-fox, and the gift he receives is wonderful indeed, if alarming to his parents. Tristan is convinced winter-fox brought him a bobcat…and the theme of gifts and how we receive them, and what we believe about the magic of holidays, becomes a beautiful theme in the book. It follows Tristan through the births of his siblings, into leaving home for the city and falling in love with someone he knows he can never have…someone promised to and in love with another.

But the ways of winter-fox are many and mysterious, and the outcome in this HFN novella is lovely indeed, bringing many things full circle.

I don’t fully trust in this HFN, because this world has fated mates called Erosgape, and that’s not what’s going on here, but, the poignancy, intimate caring and sincerity of the feelings involved are so warmhearted and wonderful that I enjoyed it for what it is and fell in love with this unusually gentle and kind story set in this often tempestuous and painful world.

HFN, but more of a charming coming of age story with romantic elements. Enough that my romantic little heart was happy. No cheating/others, some OM drama-esque feeling because the love interest is promised elsewhere, but, the outcome is satisfying, and the focus is on the gift of family.

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

4 stars

Winter’s Heart is a short holiday-themed story set in Leta Blake’s Heat of Love series. The story takes place after Bitter Heat, the book that introduces Tristan’s parents, Kerry and Janus, so having read their book is helpful here, and being familiar with the series is even better. This story is told starting when Tristan is five and running through age 21. It is told episodically, and we jump in and out of his life, mostly over the holiday. We see young Tristan as he finds Chewy and cares for the young wildcat, who remains by his side for years. We see the Heelies family grow and expand, and watch Tristan become a man and take those early steps to a life for himself. This story isn’t a romance, but rather more of a chance to watch Tristan grow and come into adulthood, with a strong holiday vibe added in. However, we do see Tristan start to fall for someone here and I’m hoping that it will lead into a longer story for him at some point.

Read Jay’s review in its entirety here.

[Jenn (not Lily) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Ok, so I'm really glad I didn't read this one last year when it came out. And now I have two books in this universe that I'm waiting for, both Riki's and Viro's. Cool. Write faster...no, just write steadily and well, please. Thank you!

[Bizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet, heartwarming, and made me desperate for a full-length novel about Tristan.

[Barb ~rede-2-read~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very sweet holiday story, perfect for fans of the Heat of Love series. This is not a romance, per se, but it is the budding beginning of first love and it hits all the holiday feels. Very highly recommended.

[Akame · Rating 5 out of 5]

Krótkie, urocze migawki z życia Tristana. Przez kilkadziesiąt stron możemy obserwować jego rozwój, dorastanie i to jakim stał się człowiekiem. Trudno się nie uśmiechać przez całą lekturę, jest w niej coś magicznego, bardzo ciepłego i pełnego nadziei. Może to nastrój świąt? :) Jest to też wspaniałe uzupełnienie Bitter Heat, ponieważ możemy dowiedzieć się, jak przez kolejne dwadzieścia lat toczyło się życie Kerry'ego i Janusa. Autorka sugeruje, że być może napisze pełną książkę o życiu Tristana. Mam taką nadzieję, gdyż trudno go nie polubić w czasie tej krótkiej lektury i chętnie dowiedziałabym się więcej. Właściwie przeczytałabym też o innych bohaterach, w tym bracie Xana i jego brodatej omedze, ale zapewne nie można mieć wszystkiego ;)
To koniec serii, wierzę że autorka jeszcze czymś ciekawym nas uraczy, gdyż ciężko rozstać się z tym światem i jego bohaterami. Trzymam za to kciuki!

[VVivacious · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I'm just going to come out and say it - Zekiel, Tristan's thirteen-year-old brother is in a live-in relationship... Like, I'm confused, it's like the author forgot he was six years younger, like what is up with that? I need an explanation because as things stand as of now, I'm a little perturbed. This development takes place toward the end of the story, so I would like to believe it's just oversight because otherwise, colour me shocked. [16/12/2020: This has since been revised and therefore, future readers of the story will not be encountering this.]

So, anyhow, back to the story which follows Tristan from ages 5-19. Tristan is Janus and Kerry's son from Bitter Heat and when I read this story was about him I was intrigued. There was something so devastatingly haunting about the love between Kerry and Tristan, like what Tristan means to him and how there is always this fear that runs like a vein through this love which is extremely powerful but infinitely fragile. Bitter Heat is such an evocative read because Kerry's journey throughout the book is so well written, you can immediately see both sides of the coin and you can clearly see the world as Kerry does which made a story about Tristan just impossible to resist.

I really loved Tristan, like just the fact that he has a strike against him since birth had me rooting for him but apparently ever since the epilogue of Bitter Heat I had imprinted on him, which made revisiting his character feel so good. I wanted to know him and Tristan's sweetness, loyalty and love just immediately won me over. Also, he is so caring and that was an interesting dynamic to see a caring alpha who you might get it in a romantic relationship but to see it in a parental and sibling relationship just bowled me over.

I feel in love with his character so thoroughly that I immediately hated Viro, like the hate was visceral though that might have a little something to do with Vale but it was mostly Tristan.

I loved the concept of this story as it finds Tristan on different times in his life at the Feast of Winter's Heart and I loved the direction this story took and I'm very excited to read more about Tristan.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edit: I have no idea what I wrote in this review on my first read. The ages are fine. I feel bad about Riki, but seeing Tristan grow up kind and have a shot at happiness is very sweet. I hope we see more of them in the future.
I liked the story. I'm unsure who's age is the math mistake, but I'm guessing the brother. I'll try to get another copy in the future to see if it was corrected and (if so) what the timeline would be. Beta lives and relationships are still very vague in this series, so maybe it'll be more detailed in the future

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cute addition to the Heat of Love series! :)

Sweet, but also confusing to a point, because then... who the hell Viro Sabel's Erosgape is??? I must have misinterpreted Winter's Truth's ending... I thought it was Riki who opened the door, didn't you, too? .

Janus and Kerry's soon Tristan is such a kind-hearted alpha. I loved watching him grow and become a man of his own.

I'm almost done with the series. (Although I'm still hoping that Leta Blake will gift us with Viro's book).

Now I'm going to come back to the very beginning of this world with White Heat ;)

[P-san~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Tristan's love for wildcats, it was a good touch to the story.
Here we see what his life is, how his relationship with his family is and how he lives his youth.
This family is lovley.
We see a character we already know as Tristan's crush, and I really hope there will be a book about them.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

lovely little story

It was sweet to see Janus and Kerry’s son grow tied with their winter holiday season. I loved how it ended.

[Xavier Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe starting at the last chapter and going backwards wasn't a good idea. Now I think of Tristan as a hunky young man who aged down into a four year old. And who's cat turned into a kitten.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful short & emotional read

OMG! This Novella follows Tristian’s childhood through his 21st year. You’ve got to read the rest of the “Heat of Love” series and all other extras, bonus scenes and novellas before this one. I was a wreck after reading the story of Tristian’s parents, and I am not less emotional reading this one! I sincerely hope the author will carry on with Tristian’s, and the other second generation’s stories as this one was a delight to read and I’m not ready to let go.

[jasmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Omg this was so sweet and maybe the best story of the series so far, despite it being a novella. I kinda hated Riki the instant he was mentioned bc of his feelings for Ro… but everything (kinda) worked out in the end. I still hate Ro but now I am REALLY curious as to who opened the door. Idk if it’ll happen bc this ends on a nice HFN note but I’d be so down to continue their story.

[Emilie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars, perhaps, but I rounded up because I liked Tristan and the wildcat kitten. Kerry is worried that Tristan will take after his horrible biological alpha father, but he's a kind and loving, though stubborn, child. Tristan knows that Janus considers him to be his son just as much as the children that Janus has physically fathered. There's a lot of love in that household.

Tristan is spoiled a bit by his Uncle Caleb. He goes to live with that family for college. Though it's Xan who's related to Janus, there's some bitterness there. The asexual and aromantic Caleb has his wish of having several children of his own, as Xan and Urho have worked to make heats as bearable as possible for Caleb. Caleb enjoys being a nurturer and pater. He has plenty of affection for his family.

All of the adults understood rationally that Tristan has no responsibility for who his biological father is. For some, it takes a while to believe that Tristan is nothing like Wilbet Mohundy mentally or emotionally. Tristan is raised in relatively modest circumstances, considering the wealth of some of his relatives. Though Uncle Caleb does send him very nice presents, Tristan doesn't have expectations of being catered to because of his name. Also, Tristan has several younger siblings that he helps to take care of, so he's learned that the world doesn't revolve around him. It's nice to see that he's a nurturer.

[Emily Mccullough · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adore Leta Blake's Heat of Love series. I thought Bitter Heat would be the last one but with Winter's Heart she's renewed my hope about a book centering on Triston and Riki's romance. Winter's Heart focuses on Triston as he grows from the little boy we saw in Bitter Heat to a strong and caring alpha. This is such a sweet entry in the series where we get to see Kerry and Janus expand their family. Triston is such a sweetheart and I really really loved how the author navigated the pain and trauma of how Triston came to be. It's why Bitter Heat is my favorite book in the series. Triston is nothing like the alpha who fathered him. At the end of Winter Heart, we get little hints that Triston wants to know more about his alpha father's side of the family. It will be an interesting topic to explore if he does get his own book. I really loved the world that Leta Blake has crafted in this series. It's hands down the best omegaverse books I've read. So I'm down to read any book she writes next.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella, part of the Heat of Love series, is a look into various times in the childhood of Tristan, the oldest son of Kerry and Janus. While it's not a romance, since the MC is a young person, it hints at a beautiful upcoming romance. It also updates the lives of his parents and grandfather. The family is close, loving, and peaceful, which sets a tone for the book. It is low-angst with lots of symbolism in Tristan's holiday encounters with his semi-pet wild cat. It's a must-read in the Heat of Love series, which is best read in order. I can't wait to see what comes next!

[Altivo Overo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I didn't care for mpreg fantasy

This story and the characters within it grabbed my attention hard. Tristan and his love for animals, and his attachments to place and people sang out to me. The feeling of not quite fitting in is so familiar, I've had it all my life. I understand, and feel with him. It takes good writing and top notch people skills to do that, and this author has them.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

2024 Christmas Bingo 3

3+ stars

Awww! What a perfect little Christmas story. Adorable and heartwarming, with a very sweet start to a romance by the end. This starts with Tristan's first time celebrating the winter holiday at age 5 with the kind of morning that will instill him with a lifelong love for the day, and then follows him as he celebrates the holiday throughout the next 15 years. With a family that feels loving but real and a few bittersweet moments as well. Loved it.

[Kendra T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really sweet. It was great seeing Tristan grow up and to see him with brothers. I was happy that this ended showing the start of him finding love. I was a bit saddened after Winter’s Truth, so I’m glad to see some beginning of a happy ending. I would definitely love more from Tristan and Riki and find out what’s up with Viro.

[Kristi Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet

Tristan is the son Kerry was carrying when he met Janus. This is the story of him growing up. It is a sweet tale of the child conceived in violence but raised in love and how he grows into a strong compassionate man. It is also a wonderful window back into the lives of Kerry and Janus and their love. A bonus in and of itself and worth the read.