ARC Review: Winter Signs by Sarah Gai (Season Named)

Title: Winter Signs

          (Season Named)

Author: Sarah Gai

Release Date: August 31, 2017 (ARC)

Publisher: Self

Category: Contemporary Romance

Type: Digital

Click Here To Buy NOW!

Sarah Gai Website

Blurb:

'She may not hear, but her world is far from silent'

Winter Harris had everything she ever thought she needed—a soulmate, a best friend, and the one person in this entire world who made life worth living. He was her everything—until he was ripped from her life.

Nolan Reed never thought he would lose his heart the first day at his new school, but he had no choice the moment he laid eyes on Winter Harris. The only problem was, she wasn’t his to love.

When a tragedy occurs, lives are changed in ways they can never come back from. Will the years gone by be enough to fix the shattered pieces of Winter’s heart? Can Nolan ever be enough to help heal it?

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age.

If you are under the age of 18, please exit this site.

Favorite Line(s):

Winter might not hear the world, but she saw things, small things each person did, and felt things most would never pay attention to. We dull our senses because we don't need to focus, taking for granted our ability to hear, missing out on so much. We don’t see people the way we should. We don’t notice the miniscule, unspoken things they are trying to say. Winter had shown him those hidden qualities and quirks a human could have without a single word needing to be uttered. She showed him what life truly held.  ~  Nolan

Excerpt:

Nolan got back to work and finished as much as he could. As the sun began to set, he packed up his tools and jumped into his truck, cranking the heater. He had not been able to concentrate that afternoon, not since he found out Winter was coming home. He wondered if she was back yet. Once she found out Nicole had lied, would she stay? Or would she hightail it straight out of town again? The thought of her leaving and going back to Seattle without seeing her had made Nolan sick. He had waited it out, given her the time and space to grow, to come to terms with the fact her life now ran without Connor.

There was barely a day all those years ago he didn't wake up in a sweat after what happened to his friend. He wished they had more time to get to know each other. Connor had been a great guy. Pulling him out of that water, Nolan instantly knew he was gone long before he refused to give up. It was enough to haunt a man. But as the years moved by, thoughts of Connor became less and less frequent. The nightmares of that haunting day slowly faded, but were never gone; more like a dream than the reality of what actually happened.

Nolan let Winter heal; at least he hoped she had healed even just enough to let him in to see if there was a possibility the two of them could be together. God, he had hoped she could see him as a possible suitor. From all the questions he had pounded Charlie with on a weekly basis, he knew she hadn't been seeing anyone, which helped settle his heart every time. His best friend truly knew Nolan had a crush on his sister. If he only knew the feelings Nolan had for her were so much more—practically bordering on insanity.

There were so many times he simply wanted to pack a bag and head to Seattle, confess his feelings, sweep her off her feet, and bring her home. He almost did a few times, but Charlie settled him. "You know she's not ready and any chance you two could have had will be destroyed man," he would remind him.

He was right; Nolan was only new in town all those years ago and even he hadn't been blind to the fact that Winter and Connor had something so much more that puppy love. It almost killed him to be around them, wanting her, yet knowing he would never, ever have a chance. He was willing to stay away, someday move on from his feelings for her knowing she was happy and loved.

He may have a chance now that Connor was gone, but if he could go back and save him, he would. No one deserved to die so young, especially someone as great as Connor. Nolan couldn't change history though and by some miracle he had been given the chance of a lifetime.

As he headed for his house, he went over how he should approach the situation—slow and easy or fast and hard. It didn't take him long to decide. He was all in; slow and easy just wouldn't work with Winter. It most certainly wouldn't work for him. He was not going to give her the chance to leave again. He was going in with all he had, no messing around. Winter was going to know once and for all she belonged with him and he was not letting her leave town without a fight.

Dialogue Highlight:

Nolan pushed the nail gun down into the roof of the house they were hoping to finish up and have completed before Christmas in a few weeks. It had been a busy year for their construction business with more projects than their small team could handle. With the start of the New Year also came hiring some new guys to add to their crew. Business had boomed and so had their town; new estates were popping up in droves, expanding and supporting local shops, restaurants, and trades.

Nolan finished what he was doing and looked down toward the street after he heard Charlie going off on some tangent to whomever he was talking to on the phone. Making his way down the ladder, Nolan walked toward his best friend who just hung up from his call, his head facedown on the hood of his truck. Nolan slapped him on the back before he sidled up and stood next to him, resting his elbows on the car. "What's got you fired up?" he asked.

Charlie groaned before standing up straight and running his hands through his buzz cut. "Nicole, my darling fiancé has gone and played stupid with people’s lives," he growled.

Nolan knew Nicole well. Sure, she could be fiery and pigheaded, but the past few years have done her well. The girl from high school with her dark-lined eyes, piercings, and colored hair was unrecognizable. She looked more like a housewife from the fifties these days. He had to admit he did miss the purple or pink streaks she used to don. Whatever Charlie was stressed out about couldn't be that bad.

"I know what you're thinking, Nolan. Charlie is being dramatic! Surely, Nicole could do no wrong!"

"Damn man, you're actually pretty spot on."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Well, let me tell you something buddy," Charlie lectured, pointing his finger at Nolan’s chest, "that woman is like C4 and the explosion is never far behind. Her meddling and sneaky, deceptive ways will be the end of me!" He turned and walked away from his friend to open the truck door.

As Charlie stepped up into the cab, Nolan shook his head, smiling. What has gotten into his best friend? He seems so on edge. Nolan walked up to the driver’s window as Charlie turned the car over, revving the engine.

"You just have to tell me what the little vixen has done now."

"She told a huge whopper of a lie. When I got home from work last night, she proceeded to inform me she told Winter that I was in the hospital and to get home. Man, I was furious! When I went to text my sister, Nic swore if I intervened the wedding was off. And you know when Nic says something, she stays true to her word," Charlie finished, rubbing at his jaw in frustration.

Nolan tried to look casual and act like he actually heard everything Charlie said, but all he focused on was Winter’s name having been mentioned.

"So, what you're saying is, Winter is coming home?"

"Seriously man, that's all you heard?"

That’s all Nolan wanted to hear. Heck, she’s all he had thought about the past few years. The last time he saw her she was leaving town. In the years gone by, not once had she come back for a visit, a holiday, or a birthday. His heart raced as he thought about her returning to Port Townsend.

"Nolan! Are you even listening?" Charlie interrupted. "Winter is going to kill me! Nic, just told me her flight was delayed but she’s left Seattle and almost here.”

Nolan cleared his throat, a smile forming on his lips as he looked at his friend. “I’m with Nic on this one Charlie. If this is what it takes to get your sister back here, then I'm all for her scheming," his smile turned to a huge grin as he thought of the possibilities. This is his chance, one he has been waiting for, preparing for, for years.

"You know what, I'm outta here. I need to go and make sure mama's house is clean before my sister arrives and rips me a new one after she finds out I'm as fit as a fiddle."

Nolan pushed away from the driver’s door and waved, "Enjoy that!"

"You suck," Charlie flipped him off as he put the truck in gear and drove off down the road.

Review:

Winter Harris has dealt with a lot of loss – first hearing loss that morphed into total deafness following a childhood illness, then her father from cancer, her mother spirals out of control after her father passes away, and then her soulmate is tragically ripped away from her. Through it all, and even after balancing precariously on the edge of giving up, she finds the beauty in life and tries to move forward, but healing happens after she leaves home and every person and trigger she has for the memories that swamp her. Problem is, she hasn’t really been healing, she’s been running and avoiding. When her best friend conspires to drag her back home under false pretenses years after her departure, she knows it’s time to face her old life even though she doesn’t want to. Nolan being there doesn’t help. Her attraction to him in adolescence and even more so as adults just leaves her feeling guilty. How can she be happy when the love of her life is gone?

Nolan Reed has been waiting for a long damn time. He fell in love with Winter the first moment he laid eyes on her. Despite his attraction, he couldn’t make a move, knowing she loved Connor. After Connor’s tragic death, Nolan steps in and takes care of Winter the best he can and when she leaves, he knows she has to. When she finally returns, he knows he has to dive in head first and show her how much she means to him. But there is a lot Winter doesn’t know about that has happened since she left all those years ago and when the secrets are revealed, it might be too much to come back from. Nolan has one shot to prove his love to her and if he screws it up, he’ll most likely lose her forever.

I don’t know how much more of this emotional roller coaster I can take with Gai’s Season Named series. The first book was difficult, but this was even more so. I wanted to read this one before I even knew about the first because my son is hearing impaired and I was interested in how an author would bring a deaf character to life on the pages. Having zero frame of reference as far as other books to compare, I felt she did a phenomenal job of communicating sign in writing. And true to form, as with the previous book, she stuck a fork in my heart, chewed it up a bit, and then somehow weaved it all back together in a brilliantly told story of loss and triumph. This book was another case of difficulty in finding something to share with you all because the first half is adolescence prior to the tragedy and the second half is adulthood years later. I felt like sharing the past would cause confusion as the main characters shift, so I stuck to the second half of the book. Gai creates quick-paced stories in which much occurs within the space of a few pages, so it is difficult to identify the line between revealing too much and providing a bland, vague review. That said, I think the gist of the “tragedy” is simply stated in the blurb, but beyond that, I wouldn’t want to divulge too much. Winter is a lot stronger than she realizes and very nearly throws away a second-chance at love when guilt threatens to overtake her and make her second-guess everything she thought she understood. Nolan is a gem. He will make you swoon and in the same instance want to slap the arrogance off his handsome face. Everything he does for Winter in an effort to show her how much he cares will likely sweep you off of your feet. But even that “perfect guy” frequently has a few lessons of his own to learn.

Initially I was completely confused as to why this book is part of the Season Named series other than Winter’s name. But patience was rewarded and I was thrilled with a visit from a couple of characters from Autumn’s Dance later in the story. I am looking forward to the next book as well; as I am sure we will be seeing more of these characters in the future. As much as I love this author and her heart-wrenching books, I will have to pace myself because I end up with an emotional recovery period. Not to paint anything in a bad light in any way what-so-ever; just giving testimony to the deep connection I feel with these characters and how effected I become when reading their stories. If you are looking for a sweet romance with nary a bit of mystery or passionately-charged characters, then this is not the place for you. You are going to laugh, cry, squirm, sigh, and experience everything in between with these unforgettable, endearing characters. It is impossible to read this story and come away untouched, so grab your tissues and get ready for the ride. While you may experience gut-wrenching heartbreak, the love and friendship that shines through all of the tragic circumstances is sure to inspire you. In the end, it is all worth it. Ms. Gai’s familiar way of harmonizing darkness with light brings readers yet another beautifully crafted story brimming with emotional depth. This is one I likely won’t read again … Because I’ll never be able to forget it.

Kindle version provided by Xpresso Book Tours/Author in exchange for an honest review.