That path always leads to trouble in a story, so I've come to recognize it as a lazy and tired device. I don't want to give anything away in this review, so I will just say that it was refreshing to see a hero from the past being selfish and claiming the woman he loves (who also loves him) instead of trying to 'spare' her by keeping away. The way Kearsley weaves her tales together is absolutely captivating to me, and I will forever be jealous of her ability to craft a compelling tale. There, again, was another complicated mess, as the ending left me feeling both happy and sad. I wanted to just keep reading about Sophia and John and Carrie and Graham, and when it was finally over, I wanted to cry. Not because I feared it would be bad, but because I didn't want it to end at all. It sounds insane, but I wasn't looking forward to the ending. I then experienced something I don't experience often as anxious as I was to get to the end and find out what happened, I kept putting it down and waiting. I read until I could no longer keep my eyes open, allowed myself four and a half hours of sleep, then woke and picked it right back up to finish it. This one grabbed onto my imagination much sooner and I found I really couldn't put it down.

The Winter Sea was a whole different beast for me. Granted, it took me a little while to get into it because I found the pacing in the beginning to be kind of slow, but after getting over that bump in the road, there was no turning back. I read The Rose Garden earlier this year, and being a huge fan of time travel, devoured that shit like it was going out of style. I think I might be in love with Susanna Kearsley. The five stars I've given this book reflects the high I'm still coming down from after having finished it.

The winter sea by susanna kearsley