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book notes
title: Snug in Icelandauthor: Victoria Walker
series: Icelandic Romance #1
published: 10.1.2021
publisher: Ever After Books
source: Kindle Unlimited
genre(s): romance
pages: 196
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | BookBub | BookHype | StoryGraph | Goodreads
rating:
| series rating: 
the blurb
Rachel Richards is stuck in a rut. Her boyfriend Adam barely notices her most of the time and her life in London isn’t as exciting as it should be. When the company she works for, Snug, asks her to oversee the opening of a new store in Iceland, she jumps at the chance for a change of scenery. Exploring Reykjavik with the help of Icelandic tour guide Jonas, Rachel discovers that life is out there waiting to be lived. As she falls in love with Iceland, she begins to see what is important to her and wonders whether the life she left behind is what she wants after all…
a few notes
POV: 3rd person
setting: Reykjavik, Iceland
tropes: friends to lovers, love triangle
spice: 2/5
language: 3/5
my review
Snug in Iceland wasn’t for me. I just couldn’t connect with Rachel on any level, nor any character, which was probably the biggest issue. Another issue was the lack of visuals.
The FMC was complicated, yet not complex, which didn’t help the likability or relatibility factors. Part of it was that she was very much a doormat when it came to her boyfriend, Adam, in London. He took advantage of her, walked all over her, and she accepted it with little struggle. No spine whatsoever. Another part was the clear double-standard she held. Shortly after arriving in Iceland, she meets Jonas and is immediately attracted to him. But when she finds out her boyfriend has been spending time with someone else, she’s angry, despite doing the same thing herself. Things deepen with Jonas, but then she’s angry again when her boyfriend admits kissing another woman. There’s a lot of what’s good for the goose (Rachel) isn’t good for the gander (Adam). Not that Adam was a peach, but it’s hard to take her seriously when she’s angry at him for things she herself is also doing. And what really did her in for me was the fact that, due to the way she acted, I had doubt as to whether or not she ever would have ended things with Adam if a better choice hadn’t come along to take his place. As far as the MMC, I honestly don’t really know enough about him to form an opinion. He seemed fine, but he’s not particularly developed so there’s just not much there. He comes across almost as a placeholder.
The book was set in Iceland, but there were virtually no descriptions of what she experienced. Not even of the Northern Lights, something she repeatedly discusses wanting to see them, beyond a bare-bones sentence or two. Nor do I really have any visual of the characters.
Beyond that, it was smaller things. Pages and pages dedicated to little more than setting up the store she was in Iceland for, more on work-related conversations and explanations that had little to do with the story itself.
It’s a book that just fell flat for me.
About Victoria Walker
Victoria Walker has been writing romantic fiction since a visit to Iceland in 2014 inspired her first novel. As well as writing, she spends her free time dressmaking, knitting and reading an inordinate amount of contemporary romance, occasionally punctuated by the odd psychological thriller and saga.
In the past she has worked as a cinema projectionist, a knitting and sewing tutor and has owned a yarn store, all things which will no doubt appear in her books if they haven’t already.
Victoria lives in the Malvern Hills.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2026 52 Books Reading Challenge
- 2026 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge: Author Edition
- 2026 Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge
- 2026 What’s In A Name Reading Challenge
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