Reviewed by Jenna
TITLE: A Winter in Rome
AUTHOR: Francis Gideon
PUBLISHER: Less Than Three Press
LENGTH: 142 Pages
BLURB:
Craig is a man adrift, never quite feeling like he belongs or like he’s as successful and settled as those around him—especially his lovers, Alan, an art professor he met while in college, and Sybil, who tutored him throughout his Italian class. When Alan goes to Rome life becomes even shakier and the only grounding point becomes the corkboard of memories Craig creates for the three of them.
By the time Alan returns, Craig isn’t certain how his relationships will change—especially when Alan starts to fall for Sybil, bringing two pieces of his world completely together and leaving Craig worried it will create a world that has no place for him.
REVIEW:
This book begins when Craig’s love interest, Alan, travels to Rome for the winter. At this point the story goes back to show how Alan and Craig met. Sybil comes into the picture shortly afterward and Craig finds that he loves them both. He is in a polyamorous relationship and both Alan and Sybil are okay with sharing Craig. The story becomes complicated when Sybil wants something more, but what she wants is something Craig would never have imagined.
I have to start off by saying that I seriously love this book. However, I didn’t love the book from the beginning. In fact, I went back and forth between loving and hating it. I was initially irritated with how the author narrated so much back story. Despite feeling like I was on the outside looking in, I was swept away by Craig and Alan’s love affair. Then when things were getting good, the author cut an incredibly hot sex scene to faded to black the moment they had the condom on. At this point, I was so frustrated that I was at the verge of rebelling. However, I continued reading and by the time I got to the end I was in love. In fact, I’m so crazy about this book that I can’t even bring myself to knock off half a star for my earlier annoyances. Unfortunately, saying why I loved this book so much would be a spoiler. So, I’ll just say that aspects of the polyamorous relationship were so unexpected and so perfect. Though I hope Francis Gideon will stop teasing readers with last second fade to blacks, I look forward to reading more of his work. I recommend this book to anyone who loves polyamory, the arts, and romantic philosophical reads.
RATING: 
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