Five Winters

Beth Bailey finds herself a single woman at a wedding without a date.  Even worse, the groom is a man she’s had a crush on since she was 11.  Beth is trying her best to avoid the groom when she, quite literally, bumps into a very handsome stranger.  What comes next is a wild series of events that unfolds over the course of five winters.

Kitty Johnson delivers a cute romantic comedy in Five Winters that could easily be the basis of any Hallmark Christmas movie.  This story walks through five years of Beth’s life as she navigates romance, career challenges, friendship, and the urge to become a mother.  This light read includes some heavy topics such as moving past the crushing loss of a loved one but does not consume the reader with negativity.

I give Five Winters 4 out of 5 stars.  While I enjoyed this entertaining novel, I did find the storyline a bit predictable.  I enjoyed the realistic conversations around adoption and foster care but found the interactions between Beth and her romantic partners frustrating.  I also found Beth’s eagerness to let her own goals and wants to go unmet in order to please every other person in her life very challenging to read.  If Beth had been a stronger character, I would have rated this book a full five stars.

I recommend this book to readers looking for a quick and light novel.  With themes of nudism and sexual relationships, this book should be focused towards more mature audiences at least 13 and older.  This book would make a great book club read, especially if broken out over 5 weeks.  I found myself wanting to discuss the reading with friends after every section!  This would also be a great Christmas read with scenes depicting holiday lights displays and presents.

I chose Five Winters to complete the prompt “Winter Read” for The Booklist Queen 2023 reading challenge.  I was looking for a book that was wintery, but not Christmassy since we are a few weeks past the holiday.  This fit that requirement well and is a new book to the market having just be released on January 1, 2023.  Before reading this book, I was not familiar with Kitty Johnson.  The author also writes romance novels under the name Margaret K Johnson and teaches creative writing.  While romance novels are not typically my cup of tea, I would be open to adding her other works to my reading list this year if a romance read is needed!

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