Book Review: A Springful of Winters by Dawn Sister

Blurb:

Kit is a bit socially awkward. In fact, the rules of social encounters are mostly a bit of a mystery to him, but he gets by, with lots of lists and contingency plans. He doesn't have any plans in place for when he first meets Stephan, however, and he keeps bumping into the man in the most embarrassing situations. The trouble is, Stephan keeps turning up in unexpected places, arousing suspicion that this gorgeous man might just have some contingency plans of his own where Kit is concerned.

Todd's rating:

Awww, this story was unexpectedly adorable and I really enjoyed it a lot.

As the author's note mentions:

Kit has Asperger syndrome, which is an autism spectrum disorder. Autistic people experience the world in a very different way to other people. They have specific difficulties with social interaction and communication. They can also have some sensory processing difficulties, which means they could have higher sensitivities to smells, tastes, touch, light and noise.

What this means for Kit is that he can't easily interact with others, without loads of preparation beforehand, requiring him to create notebook after notebook of "contingency plans" to help himself cope, including detailed scenarios of *every* possible outcome that Kit can think of when approaching various situations.

Kit had always seen himself as an "oddbod", so his self-confidence had never been very high, causing him to avoid friendships and relationships, which made his life easier. And lonelier, even if he didn't dwell on that fact.

Kit's life was plodding along as usual, then his normally-well-behaved, loving, service dog, Bessie, decided it would be a wonderful idea to roll in fox poop and get up close and personal with Bridezilla at a local hotel. In her white wedding dress. With fox poop everywhere. Yikes!

So hilarity ensued and Kit ended up meeting a suitor bound and determined to work his way into Kit's quirky, well-ordered life.

Meet Stephan, the soon-to-be love of Kit's life. Yaaaay!


Stephan was immediately smitten by Kit, even though Kit ran off in a panic from the hotel as soon as possible. They met again a few days later, when Kit *literally* ran into Stephan on an icy road, where Kit ran away again.

Much to Kit's horror, Stephan eventually tracked Kit down at the bookstore where he worked (and lived), though, and that's when the feels truly began.

Stephan was the kindest, most understanding person that Kit had ever met, combined with bottomless patience, which was exactly what Kit needed, and I loved seeing Kit blossom under Stephan's quiet adoration.

Stephan’s words play over and over in my head, I think he’s perfect. I think he’s perfect, until I end up saying them out loud like a chant.

How can he think that? But then, I’ve never been able to fathom the way others think, or what they mean when they say things like that about me.

I’m not perfect, but if Stephan wants to think that, who am I to argue?

The humor of the story, mainly from Kit's quirky thoughts and unconventional ways, constantly made me laugh, but kind of 'with' him, not really 'at' him.

Other than Kit's own internal anxieties, the story was as close to angst-free as I've read in a while, and the steam was kept to PG-13 levels.

I'd rate this funny, adorable story at around 4.5 stars and especially recommend it to readers who also loved "Ethan, Who Loved Carter", which had similar humor and feels.


My copy of the book was graciously provided by the author in exchange for a fair, unbiased review.

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