Five Winters: the twists and turns of life and the search for love and motherhood

Five Winters by Kitty Johnson is a story about motherhood, friendships and love. When she lost her parents in a car accident when she was 9, all Beth Bailey ever wanted was to get married and have a family. She always pictured her best friend’s older brother, Mark, as that guy. But now, she is 35 and she is witnessing Mark marry someone else. She realizes that her dream of marriage and a family can still happen, it will just have to be with a different guy. Over the next five years, she experiences unexpected twists and the highs and lows of life and love. Beth still clings to what she knows: family, friendship while learning the meaning of love, the truth about happiness and discovering that dreams sometimes take a different road than we expected. 

I was intrigued by the premise and the eye-catching cover of Five Winters. I also understood and related to the premise of watching your crush fall in love with someone else. However, from the get go, Beth was not relatable. She made odd decisions without much thought. She is passive aggressive at times and immature at others. I didn’t care for any of the supporting characters except Mark’s parents who truly loved and supported Beth like one of their own. The story itself seemed to be all over the place. Was it about finding love? Motherhood? Overall, it was a hard book to get through. I wanted to like this story, I really tried but it was a relief when it ended. It is sad to say that I do not recommend Five Winters. 

Five Winters is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook