Winter Longing by Tricia Mills

When Winter’s boyfriend is killed in a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness, she’s robbed of the future she’d only just allowed herself to believe might be hers. Winter and Spencer had been destined for one another. And after his death, Spencer’s presence continues to haunt her.

But when her next-door neighbor becomes an unlikely friend, Winter begins to accept all that she can’t change. Can she open herself to a new future . . . and a possible new love? (Summary taken goodreads)

For some reason, I expected so much out of this book. I thought it would be a really powerful story, but it just disappointed me. To be honest, I don’t even think I really liked it at all. It was really simplistic. Basically, Winter and Spencer had been in love with each other practically for as long as they had known one another. Finally, they both admit their feelings and then days later, Spencer dies in a plane crash. Now, Winter is left grieving over the loss. Enter Jesse. The cute boy that lives next door to Winter.  He becomes Winter’s shoulder to cry on and is always there for her when she needs him. Will it be enough for her to move on?

            Okay, normally I start with how I feel about the characters, but I’m going to have to start with the plot. At first, I thought the concept was really, really good. Yet, when I read it, I ended up hating it. Yes, it’s wicked sad that he died so suddenly, but it just seemed really out of place.  Also, I understand the fact that everyone grieves in their own way, especially when you lose someone so close to you. However, it seemed as though that’s all that Winter did. Even the supposed relationship with Jesse didn’t really do much. I mean, there was some romance, but just not nearly as much as I anticipated and hoped for.

            Now, the characters. At first, I sympathized with Winter. She seemed like a genuinely nice character, but as the book went on, I started to get annoyed with her. As I mentioned before, she grieved a ton. I understand she lost someone extremely close to her and everyone deals with the death in their own way, but she started to reach the point of being obnoxious. It was like she couldn’t even function properly without him. Then there’s Jesse. I found him to be likeable, but nothing really stands out about him. It was truly sweet what he did for Winter. He was so supportive and kind. Overall, the characters were just okay.

            The writing style was easy to follow and the book was a short read. The fact that her name was Winter and she lived in Alaska seemed a bit cliché, but it wasn’t as though it would stop me from reading this book or anything. I did enjoy the setting though. Not many stories are set in Alaska, so it was quite refreshing to read something new.

            All in all, I’m not sure I’d recommend this book. It was slightly touching, but if you’re looking or expecting something deep and moving, this is definitely not it. This book just didn’t live up to my high expectations, but that doesn’t mean it won’t live up to yours. So check it out if you want and let me know what you think about it :)