Hello everyone!
As I settle back into my usual routine and work on blog posts, I swear I keep getting distracted by all that I come across. It can be another book, a TV show, a movie, you name it, I'll probably turn all ADD and go OH LOOK!
This is what happened to me today, as I continue on with the After Cilmeri series and I can't seem to put the first proper book of it down. I mean, I get it, it's time travel, it's Wales in the Middle Ages which is another one of those tempting things, but I'll also admit the book has flaws, so why did I have to literally pry myself away from it to write this post?!
Who knows.
It's the same with Agatha Christie's Marple series - the show had to switch actresses halfway through and the new one isn't quite the same as the original, and yet I find myself rolling around the bed laughing like an idiot each episode I watch.
But I thoroughly digress. This blog post is about a book - continuing with Serenity Woods again, it's the third in her Four Seasons saga, Bewitching Winter.
As is usual with my posts when I've done books from the same series and/or author, you'll find links to the blogs at the bottom of the page. Hopefully, they keep you entertained if nothing else!
If we very briefly recall: in Seducing Summer, Callie's life was threatened so Gene went undercover as her PA while actually being a bodyguard, and the pair of them fell in love. In Tempting Autumn, Rowan was unhappy and worried about a lot of things so went away for a weekend with Hitch, and the two of them ended up getting together while we also learn Callie married Gene and is expecting his first child.
Now, in the third book, Bewitching Winter, we're moving on to Neve.
Neve is the mastermind behind promoting Four Seasons and its lingerie, and she's attending a marketing workshop which she hopes will help her achieve a wider range and teach her things she may not know about.
Unfortunately for her, however, her ex, Rhett, is the keynote speaker of the event.
Rhett and Neve actually met years earlier at the wedding of Rowan's twin Willow, and hit it right out of the park, staying together for a good year or so before things collapsed around them. Both were competitive, both played badminton, but Rhett was chosen to go off for the solos and the Olympics and he made the decision to go without consulting Neve so, naturally, stuff hit the fan. Literally.
Since then, Neve has had a hard time committing to anyone and has thrown herself into her work, but equally she's never forgotten him. Seeing him here and now brings everything back, but as both of them are adults, she figures, okay, maybe she can try being civil.
Rhett is nothing but, really, although he has a secret he's been keeping from her - and from all of his closest friends, at the same time: after his father passed away from cancer, Rhett himself was diagnosed and had to go through the treatments. Thankfully, at the time we read this book, he's in remission, but it still comes as a shock to Neve, who hadn't known and probably wouldn't have if she hadn't attended the workshop.
Confused and emotional, unsure of her own feelings, she does realize that she still cares for Rhett, and the pair of them decide to take this workshop as an excuse to have a fling again. They'd been really good together, so why not?
Well, Neve decides she wants a fling.
Rhett decides he's just going to try and win her back along the way.
As always, Ms Woods doesn't make the book all about sex (but there ARE sexy scenes all around and, honestly, you'd be mad if you didn't enjoy the book, it's tastefully written!), adding bits here and there to make it more realistic and believable. Both Neve and Rhett are working through things, perhaps one more than the other, but equally they both subconsciously realize that the flames between them haven't died.
That isn't to say the workshop isn't a success, either: the attendees have fun, although a tragic death of one of them by an unexpected heart attack dampens the mood a little bit. Still, they decide to instead celebrate life as much as possible and it's just about holiday time then so there's some reason to have a minor party of a kind.
Meanwhile, Neve and Rhett have turned the temperature up so high it's off the charts, but the more Rhett is trying to wear her down, the more Neve seems to be preparing her walls again and he can't seem to get through to her.
Of course we have to cut her some slack, too: her dad practically accused her of being a whore so she's testy. Wouldn't we all be?
Rhett loses his patience with her, however, eventually when she keeps repeating the same fling mantra, and ties her to the bed to get her to listen (hear me out: he didn't tie her too hard, she untied herself later so really, those knots were nothing whatsoever): she keeps clinging to the past as opposed to trying to go for the future; he still wants her, but she won't let go enough to admit she wants him, too.
They end up on the balcony together and manage to settle their differences and reconcile (and I rejoyce because, dang, I was exhausted reading their back and forth!), as Neve finally admits that maybe she shouldn't hang on to the past so much.
They return to Wellington together and Rhett accompanies her to her family's place where she confronts her father (and also Rhett subtly points out he doesn't quite care for the beligerent comments, natch) and the two of them make up, so the family is basically mostly together again.
As we slowly transition towards the last book in the series, we learn that Rhett and Neve are attending Bridget's wedding together, but Rhett also proposes to Neve and she happily accepts.
So now we only have Bridget left!
But a word on Bewitching Winter: unlike the rest of Ms Woods' books, this one, for some reason, rubbed me in a slightly wrong way, not that I can pinpoint how or why. Maybe it was just the dynamic between Rhett and Neve that I couldn't get into; maybe it's the fact that I never actually caught Rhett apologising to Neve (and meaning it) about their breakup years ago; or maybe I'm just weird and this one wasn't my exact cup of tea. Who knows?
All in all, however, I did enjoy reading through it and moving on to Persuading Spring.
But you'll have to wait for my review about Bridget's adventure until next week!
xx
*image not mine
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