Something Like Winter

Exceptional...

First, let me start off by stating that I was very apprehensive about reading/listening to this second installment offered by Jay Bell. I absolutely adored and cherished Something Like Summer and I was so afraid that the next book might tarnish my mental images of Ben, Tim, and Jace...it took me over six months before I began the second part of this journey...but I was so wrong!!

So I began listening to the book on the treadmill at the gym, filled with anxiety and let me just say this...Jay Bell is an evil, evil person. Deliciously evil, that is!! Not to spoil anything, but I literally stumbled and fell off the treadmill as I listened to the first part of the story...evil I tell you (saying with a smile). Suffice it to say, I loved listening to Tim's perspective of the story and it only added pleasurable images to what was already in my head. Many of the holes (that I didn't even realize existed) from the first book were filled in and then to continue the story to a fantastic conclusion was exceptional. A great story and great continuation. I will state again, that Jay Bell's writing is exceptional and the narration by Kevin R. Free was spot on. I am looking forward to the next installment, Something Like Autumn.

I seriously recommend this book!!!

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

Great Story

What did you love best about Something Like Winter?

I had no idea this was going to be Tim's side of the same story I read in Something Like Summer (which quickly became one of my favorite books) What a great way to relive it through the eyes of the other main character.

What aspect of Kevin R. Free’s performance would you have changed?

Unfortunately, this is the one part of the book that bothered me. A lot of the characters sounded cartoonish. (Aaron and Tim's live-in boyfriend... I forget his name... sounded SO gay that it was almost offensive. Tim's grandmother sounded like Speedy Gonzales and adult Tim sounded like Moose from the old Archie cartoons)

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were so many of those moments. I don't think it's possible to pick just one.

Any additional comments?

I don't know which book was better or which book should be read first, but you don't want to miss Something Like Winter or Something Like Summer. It is worth every minute. It's been a couple of years since I read Something Like Summer, but now that I'm done with Winter, it's time for me to re-read Summer.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

How much do I love this series?

Would you consider the audio edition of Something Like Winter to be better than the print version?

NO! both add to each other, I fell in love with the printed version of the series. Listening to Seasons just brings the story back to the forefront.

What did you like best about this story?

We get to know Tim and understand how his story with Ben evolved.

What does Kevin R. Free bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He brings a new dimension to the voice I hear in my head, although I am not the biggest fan of how Tim sounds all the time.

If you could take any character from Something Like Winter out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Eric!

Any additional comments?

I just hope that we will not wait too, too long for Autumn and Spring to be available.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

A different POV

Any additional comments?

It's been awhile since I've read and listened to Something Like Winter, but what I clearly remember most is having to relive a tragic event in Ben's life from the first book. It colored my perception of the entire story, and not in a good way. I cannot read/listen to the third one, Something Like Autumn, as it focuses on the subject of that tragic event, and I just can't go there. I will continue on past this and the next book as Jay Bell is a wildly talented writer and mostly I love his stories. Looking forward to many more.

Let me add that Kevin R. Free is an outstanding narrator.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Tim's POV. Still selfish but he loved Ben

Please read my review of Book 1: Something Like Summer for a background. This book was Tim's POV on his relationship with Eric. It gave insight to how Tim met Eric and the years after Tim broke up with Ben. Tim was still self centered but one thing was clear, he loves Ben. He made some poor choices but he grew especially Jace showed him how a real man does it.

The audiobook gave me a different feel from book 1. I could hear the whine, the excitement, the pain etc in the characters voices. I think Kevin Free did a great job making me empathize with Tim. It was hard, but the narrator made him real to me.

Tim and his family's opinion of gays really affected how Tim felt about himself. He grew in a Catholic family, and they were also sports jocks. Loving another man would not fly in that kind of circle and so Tim tried his best to be what others wanted him to be. The consequence was that he hurt the guy he loved Ben and he hurt himself. He wouldn't completely let go, but he wouldn't give up either. Tim was just a mess for a long time. I felt him though. I understood his need to avoid being shunned by family and friends. Ben was lucky because his family accepted his choices but it isn't that easy for others. Tim's battle was much harder.

Jay Bells writing is really smooth to me. It was emotional and the characters had depth. I can't wait to read about Jace before Ben in book 3.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

I love Happy Endings!!!

What did you love best about Something Like Winter?

Have you ever wanted to see what it was like to walk in someone elses shoes or be a fly on the wall watching two people meet and fall in love. Something Like Winter gives you the opportunity to do just that . Jay Bell was so right on in staying with Tim's point of view kept the story real for me.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Ben! If you listened to Something Like Summer you know that Ben isn't as cool and collected as Tim portrays him in Something Like Winter. To hear Tim talk about Ben you just have to fall in love with him all over again.

Which character – as performed by Kevin R. Free – was your favorite?

Allison Cross- Kevin portrayed her as a strong women giving her a voice of strength and possessiveness for Ben.

Who was the most memorable character of Something Like Winter and why?

The most memorable character would have to be the supporting characters of Tim and Ben. Eric Conroy was patient and non-judgmental with Tim and that is very hard to do when you love someone. Jace for trusting and supporting, Ben he was such a good big part of the story. Marcello, what a character he would slide in right at the last second to do what was right. He proves that no character is black and white. Grays are so much more interesting to read about.

Any additional comments?

I am really hoping the author Jay Bell records the rest of the series with the same narrator. He did a fantastic job with the characters giving each one a personality and a unique voice.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Mariposa Hermosa

THIS SHOULD BE A FILM... I love that this is TIM's POV because I was left with so many questions in Book 1.
If I loved Tim in "Summer". I definitely want to be Ben after listening to "Winter"
so much, PASSION, PATIENCE, and undying LOVE between TIM and BEN. and of course so much TEARS from me.
Tim and Erik scene chapter 21.
Tim and Mom scene chapter 35.
The Woodlands...Memory lane... chapter 35
and the multiple Goodbyes with Tim and Ben
btw I loved MARCELO...disliked Travis and Ryan... and adored Alison

Bravo! Bravo! (Marcelo accent)

and again I'm scared to venture on Book 3 but "giving in to fear and turning away from love is never okay."

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

So Much So Very Right.

I suppose I might value the first book in the series, Something Like Summer, the most of all, but this book is in it very own special way a tremendous jewel. The first book introduces the characters and it makes a good accounting of what it was like to be a young gay man in America at the end of the 20th century. This, a retelling of the same story through the eyes of the other lead character, is a darker and more complex story. After my second reading of both the first two books in the series, I've really come to enjoy this book a great deal. So much of this story is about getting it wrong and failing, but then carrying on until finding a chance to maybe get it right.

A lot of gay romantic fiction is written by women. It is so easy for such authors to get little bits of the tone of the interactions wrong. These stories by Jay Bell get so much so very right.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A Wonderful Sequel

Any additional comments?

Not much to say here. Just that this is a really good book. Good narration. Great, well-written story. Likable characters.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Don't Miss This Wonderful Book!

Something Like Summer took me by storm, a wonderful read that I had to finish in less than 24 hours. I cried at the end because it was over too soon, a beautiful story. But I had no idea what was in store with Something Like Winter. Tim was an enigma in Something Like Summer. Something Like Winter shines the sun on Tim, his loves, mistakes and foibles. The best part is the sweet, sweet ending. I cried my eyes out over it, it was so beautiful. I wish all of gay romance fiction could be like both books, epic in time if not scope. Full of love and tragedy, heartache and triumph. I am sure I will be reading this pair again, not soon, but someday. The narration was perfect, by the way, a wonderful perk and dimension that I would not have wished to miss.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful