Title: Winter Longing [indie bound] [amazon]
Author: Tricia Mills  [website] [twitter] [facebook]
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Razorbill
Series: none
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Reviewer: Laura
Parental Advisory:  death
Teachable Moments:  dealing with grief

“When you lose someone, lots of things go on hold.  But you eventually come out of the fog and want to live again.”

Summary (from the publisher):

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?

Opinion:
It will never cease to amaze me how our worlds, dreams, and personalities—our very beings—are colored, supported, and influenced by the people around us.  When we loose someone close to us everything can change.  Things we loved doing are now painful.  People we once looked upon with love now cause pain laced with memories of the one we lost.  So. How do we keep going?

Winter Longing by Tricia Mills tells the story of such loss and the struggle the heart faces to try to move on.  Readers are introduced to Winter Craig on the most painful day of her life.  The day she lost Spencer, her best friend and first love.  The boy she just risked telling she liked more than just a friend.  Taken from her life with such sudden force and pain.  Spencer’s death changes everything in Winter’s life.  Spencer was a part of her everyday, her future, her dreams, her everything.  Where does she go to escape the pain and memories to find peace and comfort?

Look no farther than the boy next door! Oh-how I love that boy next door! Jesse Kerr is adorable, strong, and seemingly everywhere Winter needs a shoulder, hand up, or someone to listen. Sigh…The boy melted my heart at times with his concern and warmth. Winter and Jesse develop a new friendship filled with a lot of heat and longing. Winter’s heart starts to flutter for Jesse along with increasing guilt of their growing attraction. Can she have feelings for Jesse so soon after losing Spencer? How can she move on, be happy, and possibly love again with someone new? The struggle to be happy in the face of grief is a battle we will probably never have a clear-cut answer to in this world—the heart heals and moves on when it is ready. A little neighborly love doesn’t hurt either! ;)

For me though, the most important ingredient of this book was the likeability of the characters. I really liked them all—Winter, her best friend Lindsay, Spencer, and Jesse made me cry, laugh, cheer, and swoon a bit. Even though Spencer was lost to us early in the book, readers still get to see, know, and love him through Winter’s memories, which were layered throughout the book and break up each chapter. The technique was a beautiful way to make readers feel Winter’s deep loss and longing for Spencer through out the story. Alaska herself might have been my favorite character though. The beautiful descriptions of the land, people, snow, “brrrrr-in-my-bones”cold weather, darkness, colors, hockey, and characters in nature all brought this tale to life in a magical, warm way.

“The winter chill was sniffing at Alaska’s door, trying to find a way in so she could blanket the land with snow, freeze the Naknek in to a rough sheet of ice, and invite long hours of darkness out to play.”

Winter Longing does a beautiful job of showing readers that grief is a process that changes moment to moment. Winter realizes she has to go on with her life, to learn to be friends with Lindsay one on one without Spencer, help others through their pain, and perhaps try to love again. You might be fine one day and then backslide all the way back to a big ole sobbing ball in bed the next, which is okay—as long as you get back up and try again. Love, friendship, kindness, and remembering are the best way to help a heart heal. Winter may just inspire you to open up your heart to love again.