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briisbooked 's review for:
Winter's Eve: Then, Now, & Always
by A.E. Valdez
This may just be this woman's best book yet.
A second chance romance done so well; an amazing plot with love, loss, forgiveness, and found family themes. I knew I was meeting Winter King, but, baby, I did not know I was meeting a new book boo. That man delivered in every way possible. He was the strongest and most developed character, in my opinion.
When I initially started this book and realized Eve would be the FMC, I was heated. She annoyed me in book #1, so I wasn't excited to be reading more about her. Although I had these feelings towards Eve, I decided to put them to the side and have an open mind about this complex character. Eve is stubborn, grieving, and, to a certain extent, lost. Eve carries a trait a lot of humans think they’ve mastered: the ability to fix everyone, and everything, which just did not work out for Eve time and time again. Eve is in a constant battle between what the heart wants and what the brain won't let happen. Valdez takes us on a journey through Eve's mind, and although it's frustrating at times, it's real and relatable for the reader.
When it came time for Mr. Winter King to be introduced again, the energy that came off the page was immediate. It was dominant, captivating, and grown. As I said before, Winter is the most developed character in the story. We see countless examples of this, from the therapy sessions to how he even recognized his worth when it came to Eve. Although, as readers, we know the end result is Winter and Eve getting back together, we don't know the process of getting to that point. It is a long and interesting one. This story shows that forgiveness is not linear. Winter struggled with forgiving himself for most of the book. Diving into depression and getting tossed into addiction, I’m just glad he made it out of that to become the charismatic, pressure-applying boss he was. They always say people have the toughest time extending themselves grace, and at some points in the book, I thought Winter would never end up extending it to himself. Through hard work and love from others and eventually from himself, Winter lives up to his last name, KING.
Now to the love part of this story: Who was Eve kidding?! She was never supposed to be with P*ssy Boi Noah?! Leading Noah on for so long was downright disrespectful to ALL PARTIES. I can say I am glad he read her for filth, but Noah needed to stand for something. SHIT anything!! Lmaoo. Letting your current girl’s ex punk you time and time again isn't it. Speaking of which, the resistible (according to Eve) Winter King would NOT let up. That man had Eve feeding him lasagna, gripping his thigh out of spite, and getting her panties SOAKED. How was she able to resist? I have no idea, because I would’ve folded like a fortune cookie, but everyone ain’t that easy. Eve applied the pressure right back and made Winter work for it, which my mans had no problem doing so, because when he dropped a MILL at the auction, that should’ve been the match that sparked the flame. LAWD THE MILLION DOLLAR SWEATHEART ON THE NATIONAL NEWS. PRESSURE. *cue One More Chance by The Notorious B.I.G.*
Valdez has a huge soft spot for family, and I can see that through all the books I’ve read by her. The love interests in her stories are always supported by a sense of family. Without spoiling anything about one of the strongest points in this book, I think if nothing else holds your attention, this surprise is one of the sweetest I have read in a while. Besides that, Noelle and Aspen love Eve hard and are the sisters Eve never had; it's beautiful to see. Winter and his four (
A second chance romance done so well; an amazing plot with love, loss, forgiveness, and found family themes. I knew I was meeting Winter King, but, baby, I did not know I was meeting a new book boo. That man delivered in every way possible. He was the strongest and most developed character, in my opinion.
When I initially started this book and realized Eve would be the FMC, I was heated. She annoyed me in book #1, so I wasn't excited to be reading more about her. Although I had these feelings towards Eve, I decided to put them to the side and have an open mind about this complex character. Eve is stubborn, grieving, and, to a certain extent, lost. Eve carries a trait a lot of humans think they’ve mastered: the ability to fix everyone, and everything, which just did not work out for Eve time and time again. Eve is in a constant battle between what the heart wants and what the brain won't let happen. Valdez takes us on a journey through Eve's mind, and although it's frustrating at times, it's real and relatable for the reader.
When it came time for Mr. Winter King to be introduced again, the energy that came off the page was immediate. It was dominant, captivating, and grown. As I said before, Winter is the most developed character in the story. We see countless examples of this, from the therapy sessions to how he even recognized his worth when it came to Eve. Although, as readers, we know the end result is Winter and Eve getting back together, we don't know the process of getting to that point. It is a long and interesting one. This story shows that forgiveness is not linear. Winter struggled with forgiving himself for most of the book. Diving into depression and getting tossed into addiction, I’m just glad he made it out of that to become the charismatic, pressure-applying boss he was. They always say people have the toughest time extending themselves grace, and at some points in the book, I thought Winter would never end up extending it to himself. Through hard work and love from others and eventually from himself, Winter lives up to his last name, KING.
Now to the love part of this story: Who was Eve kidding?! She was never supposed to be with P*ssy Boi Noah?! Leading Noah on for so long was downright disrespectful to ALL PARTIES. I can say I am glad he read her for filth, but Noah needed to stand for something. SHIT anything!! Lmaoo. Letting your current girl’s ex punk you time and time again isn't it. Speaking of which, the resistible (according to Eve) Winter King would NOT let up. That man had Eve feeding him lasagna, gripping his thigh out of spite, and getting her panties SOAKED. How was she able to resist? I have no idea, because I would’ve folded like a fortune cookie, but everyone ain’t that easy. Eve applied the pressure right back and made Winter work for it, which my mans had no problem doing so, because when he dropped a MILL at the auction, that should’ve been the match that sparked the flame. LAWD THE MILLION DOLLAR SWEATHEART ON THE NATIONAL NEWS. PRESSURE. *cue One More Chance by The Notorious B.I.G.*
Valdez has a huge soft spot for family, and I can see that through all the books I’ve read by her. The love interests in her stories are always supported by a sense of family. Without spoiling anything about one of the strongest points in this book, I think if nothing else holds your attention, this surprise is one of the sweetest I have read in a while. Besides that, Noelle and Aspen love Eve hard and are the sisters Eve never had; it's beautiful to see. Winter and his four (