Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: Winter Oranges
AUTHOR: Marie Sexton
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 282 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 28, 2015
BLURB:
Jason Walker is a child star turned teen heartthrob turned reluctant B-movie regular who’s sick of his failing career. So he gives up Hollywood for northern Idaho, far away from the press, the drama of LA, and the best friend he’s secretly been in love with for years.
There’s only one problem with his new life: a strange young man only he can see is haunting his guesthouse. Except Benjamin Ward isn’t a ghost. He’s a man caught out of time, trapped since the Civil War in a magical prison where he can only watch the lives of those around him. He’s also sweet, funny, and cute as hell, with an affinity for cheesy ’80s TV shows. And he’s thrilled to finally have someone to talk to.
But Jason quickly discovers that spending all his time with a man nobody else can see or hear isn’t without its problems—especially when the tabloids find him again and make him front-page news. The local sheriff thinks he’s on drugs, and his best friend thinks he’s crazy. But Jason knows he hasn’t lost his mind. Too bad he can’t say the same thing about his heart.
REVIEW:
Ben shuddered, his eyes shining, tears still flowing unchecked down his cheeks. “What is it?” Jason asked. “Nobody’s touched me,” Ben whispered, his chin quivering. “Not for one hundred and fifty years.”
I’ve been on a quest the last few months to bring you reviews of some of my favorite books from years past. Winter Oranges is a wonderful book I’d like to highlight because it’s one of my favorite holiday MM romances. Jason is in love with a man born in 1840. Said man is really only twenty years old but has been stuck living ageless in a snow globe for 150 years. This magical story is about as unique as they come. It’s warm and fuzzy and full of feels.
Jason was a child star in Hollywood. He hasn’t had as much success as an adult but that doesn’t stop the paparazzi from chasing him. He needs a break from the crazy so he buys a house sight unseen in remote northern Idaho. He’s also trying to put distance between himself and his best friend, Dylan, with whom he is secretly in love. They have a friends-with-benefits arrangement but that’s not enough for Jason anymore.
It’s not long before Jason spies what looks like the face of a young man in the window of the apartment above his detached garage. He’s paranoid about rogue reporters so he calls the police but they find nothing. When he encounters the translucent ghost face to face, he questions his sanity and begins to research various mental illnesses including psychosis, hallucinations, and delusions. But the symptoms don’t fit and he finally convinces himself Ben, the ghost, is real.
Ben and Jason struggle to communicate but eventually find a way Jason can hear Ben talk. Ben tells him a fantastical story about how he’s stuck living in the little house in the snow globe. He had a magical sister who put him in the globe to keep him from enlisting in the Civil War. At some point, he was separated from his sister and can’t get out. Jason is becoming attached to beautiful Ben and carries the snow globe from room to room as Ben can only remain in the room the globe is in.
Darling Ben is full of exuberance and happiness at being discovered after so many decades of solitude, but he’s also frustrated at his inability to communicate easily with Jason. Despite being trapped in the globe for 150 years, he’s not feeling depressed, angry, sorry for himself, or any of the dozens of emotions that would be warranted. He’s thrilled to be “alive”, go outside, experience life, and interact with someone. He’s so adorably animated when he discovers the television. He had been with a few different people over the years and has a penchant for tv shows that were popular at the time. He has a particular fondness for cheesy shows like All My Children from the eighties.
They become friends and then Jason develops feelings for Ben. The frustration of being attracted to a ghost but not being able to act on it is awful. Jason wants to kiss Ben and be intimate, but how do you do that with a spirit? What happens if Ben is forever stuck in the globe? Additional conflict and interference arise in the form of Dylan and the local police officer who think Jason is experiencing a psychotic break. Jason pulls on his acting skills to convince them otherwise.
Jason and Ben couldn’t have been written any better. The characterization is complex for these men mired in loneliness. The world building of both Jason’s realm and Ben’s inside the globe is richly descriptive. Ben’s life is heartbreaking. Marie Sexton has created palpable sadness at the impossibility of the situation. I wanted so badly for these two lonely men to find happiness, but I couldn’t guess how the story would resolve. How could they be together corporeally forever, because there has to be a happy ending, right? Of course, and it is everything I could hope for. It seems some Christmas wishes do come true. If you’re in the mood for something a little different this season, give this imaginative story a try
RATING: 
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