The Coldest Winter

Making my way through Brittiany Cherry’s work, 1 book at a time…

This may have only been the second book of hers that I’ve read, but I have been a huge fan of Cherry’s work since winter of 2022 when I received an ARC of her novel The Holly Dates. I fell in love with her writing style, the representation she included and just the overall plot of the book and so my expectations were high for this one.

Unsurprisingly, I loved this one as well.

This forbidden love, stranger-to-lovers plot pulled me in from the blurb alone so it wasn’t that hard to dive head first into this one. While I felt a little icky at first with the high school/college relationship, Cherry wrote it so tastefully that I was able to move past it. I would’ve have enjoyed this exact same story with a undergrad/TA plot more, but again it was a small detail that tripped me up at the beginning.

This book reminded me a lot of Colleen Hoovers, Reminders of Him, with the emotional connections the characters shared. I love a fluffy romance book as much as the next person, but every once in a while, I crave a gut-wrenching story and this one delivered. I had tears streaming down my face through a good chunk of this book and I welcomed them.

Heartbreak, loos, forgiveness, redemption and love were the main themes of this book. I really enjoyed the letters from Milo’s mom and waking up at sunrise every day learning how to find himself. It was beautiful and raw and overwhelming, but was exactly what I didn’t know I needed.

If you’re looking for something to put you in your feels and remind you to appreciate all the little things life has to offer, I encourage you pick this one up. Cherry is a top author of mine and I will always be the first one in line for her new releases.

Also BIG thank you to Valentine PR for sending me this ARC <3

Book Rating: 4/5

Spice Rating: 3/5