Christmas time is coming, so college student Jasper Montgomery is headed home to her small town for the holidays. But it’s not just to celebrate with her family. She has an agenda. She wants to ice skate on Lake Pristine, the lake that gives the town its name. Jasper wants to go through the holiday maze and buy a hand-crafted ornament and go to the late show at the art house movie theater.

And she wants to tell her parents that she doesn’t want to go back to school. She doesn’t want to study psychology and then law. She wants to get a design degree and become an interior designer. And while her parents are footing the bill for the psychology degree, Jasper thinks they will be upset about the design school and cut her off. So she’s going to find a job or two while she’s home, to save up money for the life she really wants.

Unfortunately, her reentry to the town disrupts her older sister’s marriage proposal, so Jasper is immediately on the defensive. And the fact that she is neurodivergent makes her more aware of how she appears to others. She does her best to stay thoughtful towards others, so she is mortified to have interrupted her sister’s moment.

Arthur Lancaster has had a crush on Jasper since they were in school together. He runs the local art house theater with his brother, and he’s the one who chooses the late movies, the old Hollywood features they show for anyone interested. He comes up with the idea of making a documentary about the town to enter into a competition, and he starts filming around town. And he has two big events to focus his filming around—the upcoming wedding of Christine Montgomery and Kevin, and the annual ballet The Nutcracker.

It’s the Montgomery family who runs the ballet studio, and with Jasper home for a while, she is the one directing the show this year. Especially with Christine planning a wedding, the family will be very busy over the next few weeks. Jasper has a lot to get done, and Arthur is there for a lot of it, filming the Nutcracker tryouts and offering up the theater for the bachelorette party. And when he and his editing partner put together an early cut of the documentary to show the town, everything goes wrong. The edit that Arthur had agreed to is not the one shown—his editor goes rogue and shows the clips of the town he wants to, and that edit is quite revealing of some of the Montgomery family secrets.

Suddenly, Arthur’s feelings for Jasper are obvious to the whole town, and he is feeling vulnerable. But more than that, he’s worried about how Jasper is feeling about the documentary and thinking she’ll never talk to him again. Will he be able to undo the damage his documentary has done? And will Jasper ever find a way to tell her parents the truth about what she wants for her future?

Some Like It Cold is a beautiful love story about a young neurodivergent woman and the town that loves her for her. As she manages to work through her agenda, she is forced to deal with issues with a friend, her family, her past, and trying to figure out how to fall in love as a neurodivergent. Her choices show a depth of character and strength of resolve that is encouraging and inspiring.

I listened to Some Like It Cold as an audio book, narrated by Charlie Anderson. I thought Anderson did a beautiful job telling this story, keeping it lively and interesting as well as honest. After the story, there is a conversation between author Elle McNicoll, who is autistic, and narrator Anderson, who is ADHD, so they both bring understanding to being neurodivergent to the character of Jasper, which I think shows throughout the entire story. I loved this story, and I think it will appeal to both neurodivergent and neurotypical readers. Anyone who loves a good love story will find a lot to love in the story of Jasper and Arthur.

Egalleys for Some Like It Cold were provided by Wednesday Books and a copy of the audiobook was provided by Macmillan Audio, both through NetGalley, with many thanks.