Some Like it Cold by Elle McNicoll is the kind of audiobook that wraps you in a warm, fuzzy blanket and refuses to let go. A beautifully crafted romance that’s equal parts heartwarming and poignant, it’s the perfect listen for those seeking a small-town romance with a difference, and I simply adored it from start to finish.

The audiobook begins with the return of Jasper Montgomery, a young woman who’s come back to Lake Pristine after a long absence, and it immediately sets the stage for a wonderful journey of self-discovery, secrets, and, of course, romance. Jasper is autistic, and I loved how McNicoll portrayed her character with such depth and care—her internal world is as vibrant as the town she returns to, and the way her journey is narrated brings that complexity to life in a truly immersive way.

What really makes this audiobook shine, though, is the chemistry between Jasper and Arthur. Arthur, a budding filmmaker with a passion for turning small-town stories into something cinematic, finds his world disrupted by Jasper’s return. Their shared history is full of tension, yet there’s undeniable sparks flying between them. As they navigate their past and present, their interactions are funny, tender, and at times, heartbreaking. It’s impossible not to root for them.

The narration of the audiobook truly enhances the experience. The voice actor brings each character to life, adding nuance and emotion to every scene, whether it’s a quiet, intimate moment or a more charged encounter. There’s a certain rhythm to the way the dialogue flows, and the pacing is perfect, allowing the tension to build naturally. The small-town atmosphere of Lake Pristine, with its cosy charm and the underlying drama of returning home, is captured so beautifully that you can almost hear the snow crunching underfoot as the characters move through their world.

I also loved the themes of acceptance and growth that run throughout the story. Jasper’s return to Lake Pristine is not just about reconnecting with Arthur—it’s about coming to terms with her past, embracing who she is, and finding a way to move forward. The way McNicoll weaves in the complexities of family, friendship, and self-acceptance is masterful, and it made me reflect on my own experiences of home and belonging.

Overall, Some Like it Cold is a delight to listen to. It’s a heartfelt, captivating romance with a cast of characters you’ll quickly fall in love with, and the added layer of autism representation gives it a refreshing and important perspective. The audiobook brings this beautiful story to life, and I couldn’t stop listening. If you're looking for a cosy, feel-good listen with depth, charm, and a touch of festive magic, this is a five-star choice.

Great festive read for the season. Loved the characters and story line. Great narrator. The cover of the book is also beautiful

I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the concept of this - and as most of the romance I read is adult, I was looking forward to this being a YA take on it. However, I'm going to be honest, I very nearly DNF'd this. Everyone in town is kind of TERRIBLE, especially to the main character. When combined with the slow start, I genuinely worried that it wasn't for me. I'm so glad I didn't, because I liked getting to see Jasper finally deal with all the nonsense around her. The romance was pretty good too ;)

Jasper's family are truly kind of horrid, and while I do understand what Elle was doing, it did make the book pretty hard to read. The nuance came a little bit too late for me. Arthur couldn't have been the only person to see that Jasper is a nice person.

Romance-wise, it's marketed as enemies to lovers, which I always enjoy. It's a little one-sided on that front, though! Arthur is a sweetie pie :)

The autism rep, from my outsider's perspective, felt really good in terms of Jasper's experiences and the reactions of those around her. Especially as it's very much her experience of what they think and why they do what they do, if that makes sense.

I would definitely recommend this, but I would also say it's worth going into knowing what the tone of the book is like. 4 stars.

This was my first Elle McNicoll book and I requested it after seeing it be highly recommended by a book blogger I like. It's described as a sort of cosy romance neurodivergent Gilmore Girls-esque novel. It just missed the mark for me and I also struggle with the narration and didn't find myself engaging with this book at all.

One of my absolute favourite reads of September, and also one of my top romance reads this year - this might be YA but do not leave it to the teens because it’s gorgeous!!

This was one of those books that I just never wanted to end - I loved the wintery setting, the characters, the romance, the friendship…just everything about it. Jasper is an absolute dream of a character and such brilliant neurodivergent rep - she’s beautiful, kind, smart, and sometimes a little too selfless, but that’ll only make you love her more. And who doesn’t love a slightly grumpy, tall and handsome love interest with a heart of gold like Arthur? Honestly one of my favourite romantic pairings ever, and I loved the whole cinema angle and the ways they kept finding themselves together.

This might be a beautiful love story, but it also tackles some big topics, like the assumptions around neurodivergence, loss, grief, family expectations, people pleasing and career hopes. I can’t recommend it enough, and really hope we get more YA reads like this from @ellemcnicollofficial 🩷 All the stars!

I absolutely LOVED Some Like It Cold. This isn't my first Elle McNicoll but I think it is my favourite. The main character Jasper is such a warm and delightful person, despite some rich explorations of ableism and grief. As an old movie nerd, the writing about her special interest in classic films especially warmed me. It's a great representation of the "edge of teenage" life and the complexities of family, friendship, and what we call home. The core romance is also very cute. As a neurodivergent person, I particularly appreciated the candour McNicoll offers in how the people who love us can percieve our "difference". Delightful. Book maths: Gilmore Girls meets a Hallmark Christmas movie.

I unfortunately didn't have the time to read this one in time before the archive date but will definitely give it a try in the future.

Thank you so so much for allowing me to listen to this! I really enjoyed it
5 stars from me ⭐️
I would 100% recommend it to anyone and everyone

I have read this novel and really enjoyed it and enjoyed it just as much as an audio version. The narrator was good, and I also enjoyed the accents and voices adopted. What I didn’t pick up on in the book is that this appears to be set in a Scottish town and not America which surprised me a lot as it felt like it fit into an American town. I really like the two main characters and, whilst some of the other characters are deliberately awful and a bit stereotyped maybe, there was also room for growth there (and let’s spare some time to cheer for Christine’s fiancé who is just the cutest, I didn’t notice until listening to the audio book that Jasper refers to Arthur by his full name almost all the time (except for when she calls him Grumble) which was a tiny bit odd towards the end. Anyway, doesn’t change anything and I really enjoyed this sweet read.

This was the perfect blend of a cute and cozy childhood-hate-to-love romance with the often hard realities of being autistic. It was both heartwarming and heartbreaking but overall wonderfully empowering. My only qualm was with just how awful literally every side character in this book was but Jasper’s and Arthur’s characters were so lovely, they more than made up for it.

Overall this was an uplifting and emotional story of first love, taking your life into your own hands and the power giving yourself permission to be your most authentic self.

I also thought the narrator did a beautiful job making this and incredibly enjoyable listen.

I adore Elle McNicholl’s writing, especially when it comes to writing neurodivergent characters, she’s Gen Z’s Judy Blume.

In this book we get an utterly adorable romance between Jasper and Arthur, but also both protagonists figure out who they are and what they want too.

There’s also a great supporting cast of characters.

Also, I loved that Jasper is popular and very involved with various social events in her village, it’s a depiction of autistic people that’s rare. As is Jasper being big busted, I think it’s the first time I’ve ever seen that in an autistic woman.

I also love how Jasper explains how autism affects her and that we see how she masks and what happens when sensory overload happens.

Five stars, I wish I could give it six.

SOME LIKE IT COLD - ELLÉ
MONICOLL - ARC -
AUDIOBOOK
It is so nice to see autistic representation as the female lead in a book. It's really relatable and makes me have an immediate connection with the story. I listened to this on 2x speed and listened all in one day, once I started I couldn't stop! The storyline was decent and I love YA books for their lack of spice. There was some really funny parts to the story and some really heartfelt moments too. It did make me feel lots of emotions, l probably would have felt them more if I had read rather than listened.
Listening at regular speed makes it 10hours and 7minutes long and is narrated by Charlie Sanderson and Elle Mcnicoll
@rachaelmcreads

“Not that you see people like me in love stories”
That quote hit hard. Not often does a book so perfectly capture my own feelings and make me feel seen. As an autistic woman, I recognised Jasper’s struggles, I felt those emotions and I cheered her on all the more for it. Was the story perfect? No, it dipped slightly in the middle but I honestly don’t care. I love Christmas romance movies and books, but never before have I encountered a character that felt like me - representation matters and I would highly recommend anyone - be they autistic or not - to read this absolutely beautiful story.

Thanks to NetGalley, Elle McNicoll, Macmillan UK Audio and First Ink for this ARC

I really wanted to like this book, but alas it fell short.
The narrator was challenging to engage with.
Making the characters boarding.
I didn’t invest in the story. Not for me.

This book was exactly the book that I wish I'd been able to read when I was a teenager, I wish that books like this were written when I was a teenager!!! I cried in the Author's note and throughout.

Jasper is returning home to their small town, university hasn't been going well and Jasper has made the decision they aren't going back but navigating family dynamics and finding their way will not be easy. Jasper's intention is to go home for one last time but then there's Arthur...
The fact that this book has an autistic heroine and it's written by an autistic author means that the autistic rep is impeccable we need more of this please!

I adored this book the Romance, the family dynamics, the coming of age and all set in a small town where everyone knows everyones business it's such a special book.

I listened to the audio and the narration was so good, I listen at 2.5-3 and the clarity was not lost at all.

I will be sharing and recommending this book to everyone for some time.

Another hit from Elle McNicholl. Some Like It Cold is a book to read in front of the fire wrapped in blankets while imagining snowy towns full of markets and mazes and a lot of charm. This is a book to save for when the winter chill hits.

As always, Elle McNicholl’s ND representation is just perfect and at some points so accurate that it hurts just a little. In a good way. As an autistic girl, this book was cathartic. One of the things I love most about her books is that she finds a different type of autism to show in each. Because as the saying goes, If you meet one autistic person, you have met one autistic person. Every single one of us has a unique perspective and McNicholl has truly committed to showing it.

The narration was perfect. One of the things I loved most about Sanderson was that she made the voices subtle but so distinct that you could get a sense of who was talking before the dialogue tag. I always love when narrators do that.

This book was cosy, it had small town charm and it’s the perfect book to break into the Young Adult market.

In this book we meet Jasper Montgomery as she heads home for the 1st time, since she left her small home town Lake Pristine.
Jasper has been away at university for the last 18months and she doesn’t want to go back, she doesn’t want to be in Lake Pristine either as she feels she doesn’t belong

Arriving back, she literally crashes into her sisters proposal scene and is immediately on edge.
We also meet local boy Arthur, he and Jasper have never really got on very well and are often arguing with each other.

We follow Arthur as he films Love in a Small town, his and his cousins entry into a video competition, we follow Jasper as she battles with herself to come clean to her parents about not wishing to continue at university. She has written a list of things she wishes to achieve while home and is slowly ticking them off.
Can her and Arthur help each other out, can they over come their intolerance of each other?

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. The narrators accent was lovely to listen to, although it felt at odds with what I initially thought was an American setting.

I am looking forward to discovering more from this Author

Thanks so much to the publisher via Netgalley for access to this Audio ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. This book is out today!

Elle McNicoll, in my opinion, is one of, if not the most exciting voice working in the Middle Grade space at the moment, so I was excited but a little nervous for her first foray into Young Adult. It seems, however, that she has stuck the landing, I can't wait to give this one to our pupils.

A good romance novel doesn't need to reinvent the wheel -- actually, in many cases, I think it's best not to. In many ways, Some Like It Cold is a conventional small town romance; Jasper returns from eighteen months at college with a to-do list of things she wants to do before leaving the town of Lake Pristine forever. Grumpy Arthur Lancaster is making a film about the town, and Jasper is about to unwittingly become its protagonist, despite the antagonistic relationship the film maker has with the former star ballerina. It's not hard to see where it's going to go, but it does so in such a joyful, fun way. Elle McNicoll's natural impulse towards the whimsical and vibrant translates well into the YA space, Lake Pristine coming alive with all the sparkle of the festive season.

Of course, there is also the fact that Jasper, our protagonist, is autistic. McNicoll doesn't shy away from the challenges this presents, painting a full portrait of a young woman who is desirable, intelligent, disciplined and kind, but who also struggles with loud, noisy places, and who sometimes finds difficulty in navigating certain social situations. I've never read anything quite like this, and have no doubt it's going to be invaluable representation for all of the kids I work with, but especially our neurodivergent girls.

Petty irritant: The one qualm I have, and I don't even know if this is on the author, but I keep running into YA that won't commit to being set in the UK or in the States. Partially due to the actress voicing the audiobook being from England, but partially also due to the sheer vagueness of the text, I didn't realise that this book is set in the USA until about halfway through, when the under 21s are wristbanded at a nightclub. Still, the book is full of briticisms, and the characters having names like Craig, Kevin, and Ross, really suggests its set over here. Plus, McNicoll is Scottish, and there doesn't really feel like there's a good reason for it to be set in the US instead of here -- except for it maybe giving more weight to the "parents paying the tuition" thing. It doesn't really matter where it's set, I'm just a little jarred by how difficult it was to pin down and I'd like if publishers could stop letting these things slip through.

Nobody's surprised this was a five star for me. I adore this. It felt comforting and familiar - cosy and warm and just.. I want to be back in it, please.
Loved the narrator and the addition of the author interview at the end.

I really liked the narrator i felt they was easy to get along with. I listened to this book while on my way to work in the car and it made my journey go really fast It was a fun romance and i really enjoyed listening to this book