Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Second Winter
AUTHOR: Sophia Soames
NARRATOR: Jaxon Jensen
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 7 hours and 10 minutes
RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2025
BLURB:
Ten years ago, Ned Anderson made the biggest mistake of his life.
Now he’s been invited to go back to Sweden for his exchange-year high school reunion. It’s a chance to reunite with all the people he once considered friends, and the invite promises a charcuterie board, open bar, all that…crap.
The biggest mistake of his life was leaving, and if he went back…Does he even want to?
Teddy Backman has become exactly what everyone expected of him. He runs his farm the way his father once did. Gets up in the morning and gets things done. Tries to remember what’s next. Wonders why he feels so violently lonely when he’s surrounded by so many good things. The sun. The sky. The earth. The trees. All the trees.
He’s already deleted that email—the one inviting him to someone’s idea of a joke. There’s no one from back then he’s interested in talking to, let alone drinking or, God forbid, dancing with.
A high school reunion is Teddy’s idea of a nightmare, and he probably shouldn’t let anyone drag him along. He’ll only regret it.
But what’s the point of regret in the grander scale of things? It’s not like Ned Anderson’s going to turn up, is it? The guy who fled straight back to Arizona without even a last longing glance.
Second Winter is the story of something that was always there. A second chance at happiness in the last place you’d expect to find it. This book is a standalone contemporary M/M romance with a HEA, dealing with the death of a loved one and the grief that follows. Please listen with care if these topics could affect you.
REVIEW:
Ned Anderson spent a year as an exchange student in Sweden 10 years ago, living with his Aunt Violet on a dairy farm. Now he’s received an invitation to the class reunion. He’s torn because he came back to his life in Arizona, went to college and got a job that is was less than fulfilling. From the outside, he’s got a good life – condo, car, job, friends, the occasional hookup. But he isn’t happy. Does he belong there though? The one time he was happy? When he was in Sweden. Where he was quietly in love with the boy who lived in a farm down the road.
Teddy Backman is having a tough time. His father has passed away the previous Christmas holidays. He’s running his family farm alone from an empty house. He also receives the invite to the reunion. He’s not enthusiastic about going. He’s been keeping his head down and struggling with loneliness and overwork. His best friend Flora is there to make sure he eats and doesn’t fall to far into his grief. He goes because she is going. Then he finds out that Ned Anderson is there. The boy who came for their last year of school. The boy that was his first. The boy he’s never forgotten. Except now they were both men.
Their meeting at the reunion doesn’t go great. Teddy wants to know why this Swedish-American has made the trip. When Ned confesses that it’s because of Teddy, well Teddy doesn’t know what to do with that exactly. They do spend time together 😉 But then Ned is off again, back to America.
Ned is completely adrift when he returns home. He is more and more unhappy with his job. With his life. What is he even doing? He realizes that he felt more at home with his Aunt Violet back in Sweden than he feels in the place he was born and raised. He talks to his parents and his aunt and they encourage him to follow this path. So he quits his job and moves back to Sweden where he renews his citizenship 🙂
Ned doesn’t see Teddy right away and when Teddy finds out from Flora, he’s not too happy with Ned. Ned apologizes and they fall into a sort of pattern. Ned spending evenings with Teddy. Flora is finally confronted with the fact that Teddy is never going to be with her. She’s known that intellectually forever, but can’t quite give up her childhood dream. Until she finds Ned in Teddy’s bed. This is a little wrinkle in their relationship because Flora is important to Teddy.
Teddy also is still dealing with his grief. The empty house has left him feeling very much abandoned. Ned coming back is really what he needed though and they get to know each other for real. Their relationships builds to the logical conclusion and they agree to live this life together 🙂
I really enjoyed this story so much. I’ve only visited Sweden as a tourist but it was so lovely. I felt for Teddy dealing with losing his dad and his anchor. Ned was just adrift doing what he thought he was “supposed to do” and being miserable doing it. I was happy he had supportive parents and relatives to help him take the chance. Flora was a hoot. Aunt Violet was very cool 😉 I loved their life in the country and how they learned to communicate and adjust when things didn’t really suit. It was just a really lovely story.
Jaxon Jensen is a new narrator to me. I really enjoyed his performance here. There aren’t a huge number of characters, but all were voices distinctly. I though the emotional pitch of Teddy’s grief and Ned’s fumbling his way into a new life were just perfect. I look forward to hearing more of his work. Recommended!
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