Winter Blossoms

by Paul Iasevoli

Chris, a naïve twenty-four-year-old, breaks up with the first man he’s ever lived with. In the months that follow, he travels from Queens to The Hamptons, Manhattan to Brooklyn to find love. In the process, he discovers more about himself and realizes the man he hoped to meet has been in front of him the entire time.

Winter Blossoms will take you on a ride through the streets and subways of New York City. Every stop along the way highlights the 1980s’ vibrant, gay nightlife. Part nostalgic romp, part coming-of-age story, Winter Blossoms will delight the reader as it comes into full bloom.

Part of Seasons of Love Anthology

66 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 31, 2018

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both the title and the cover of this book caught my attention. Winter Blossoms, a novel published in 2018 by Paul Iasevoli, takes place in 1980s New York City where a young twenty-something named Chris struggles to survive amidst everything blowing up around him. Friends dying of a mysterious disease, his boyfriend cheating on him with a woman, learning how to date in a very sexually-charged gay culture... Iasevoli tackles it all in small doses and scenes in this very realistic novella. It's under 100 pages and reads quickly... taking us through several of NYC's boroughs where we understand the different types of opportunities presented to Chris over the course of a few months. With each page that passes by, you wonder... will he end up okay or will he disappear and/or fall down along his path?

Running the range of both graphic physical and lighthearted emotional tension, we see Chris handle a break-up, casual sex, the bar scene, falling in love, and learning to trust himself. Iasevoli will transport you to the not-so-distant past and show you a different side of life you may not know of or ever experienced. In some ways, it's much the same today in terms of trying to find love amidst immediate gratification. It's also very different than today where our mobile phones, internet-culture, and general acceptance of a different lifestyle offers things much more easily. Thirty-five years ago, it wasn't easy finding someone to potentially fall in love with in a culture and environment were much was still taboo and opportunity was often slim. Casual might have been easier to find, but that's not what Chris wants.

As an intro to this author, I very much enjoyed the writing style and scenery depicted in this work. The characters were well-drawn for a short novel... just enough to get a feel for who they are but not too much where the picture is fully painted. I look forward to seeing more from Paul Iasevoli.

[Ofelia Gränd · Rating 5 out of 5]

This morning I got up to a quiet house, almost. My husband took the kids crawfishing, so it’s just me, the cats, the fishes, the hamster, and the dog at home. I went for a short walk with the dog, made myself breakfast and a big pot of coffee and sat down to read Winter Blossoms.

Chris is a twenty-something young man struggling to get over a failed relationship as he’s looking for love in the New York bars. Normally, I don’t read YA or NA books, I’ve lived through the struggle of becoming an adult, I don’t want to be reminded of what it was like LOL, but this story shouldn’t be missed!

It’s so carefully crafted it almost made me feel bad for the way I haste through my stories when I write. I’ve never been to New York, and I was just a baby during the 1980s, and yet it felt as if I was there walking the streets with Chris. Beautifully done!

[A. Zukowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with this story from the first page. A young and naïve twenty something cruising in 1980s New York is deliciously depicted here with wit and a supporting cast of colourful characters. What a coming-of-age story!

[Debbie McGowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Editor's Review:

I love literary fiction - not the pretentious nonsense that has to be read with a side order of Roget's, but the real deal. Clever plays on words, themes, metaphors and other literary devices that the author hasn't forcibly inserted into the story to elevate it to high-brow.

Winter Blossoms is a beautiful piece of literary fiction, and it was only when I came to writing this review that I noticed the sheer brilliance of juxtaposition all the way through the story:

As I climbed down the subway stairs, the smells of alcohol-laced urine and the smoky essence of axle grease mingled with the September night's cool scents from above.

This constant push-pull drives (and puts the brakes on) protagonist Chris's personal journey as he comes to terms with a failed relationship and tries to rebuild his social life.

Winter Blossoms is a story that will resonate with those who were there, in 1980s New York City, but also with 'modern' readers of LGBTQ+ fiction with love/romance.

[A.M. Leibowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is extraordinarily well-written. The style is just beautiful, almost painfully so. There are some heartbreaking moments in here, but there's also resilience and love and joy. For many people, I suspect this will feel like taking a time machine back 30+ years. For me, it was eye-opening. I feel like I've come away from reading this as a better person. A well-told coming-of-age story.

[Dawn Sister · Rating 5 out of 5]

This begins with a break up. Chris, The MC, breaks up with his boyfriend and assures himself he doesn't miss him, except it's clear he is hurting and heartbroken and angry, and we follow him on a journey through eighties New York that all seems to be some sort of frantic search for something despite Chris, nor I, really understanding what it was he was looking for. Do any of us?

Chris's search was real and his confusion with the world was real and I shared it all with him. I was there with him all the way. Such a great story, with such an amazing atmosphere.

This is a coming of age story that will stay with you for a long time. I recommend that you sit down to read it with a drink. Mine's a Cutty, no lemon.

This story is available on its own, or as part of the Seasons of Love Anthology: A Beaten Track Anthology from Beaten Track Publishing.

Other titles in the Anthology are:

The Year of the Guilty Soul by A.M. Leibowitz
Out of Season, by Bob Stone
Seashell Voices, by Alexis Woods
The Great Village Bun Fight, by Debbie McGowan
Once Around Seven, by Ofelia Gränd
Tourist Season, by Deven Balsam
Machete Betty and the Office Sharks, by Neptune Flowers
Courting Light, by A Zukowsky
And my own story:
A Springful of Winters

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

It read to me as more of a meandering coming-of-age bridge narrative than a structured story, but on some level the structure made it refreshing and intriguing. As a queer man of a certain age the story, character, and especially the setting resonated on a significant level with me. It interweaves key themes from queues life in decades past, from finding love among competing ideals of monogamy and the freedom of sexual liberation (& promiscuity), to the bar scene, kink, and bisexuality . It was all set in a very interesting structure, following more of a coherent emotional journey while the outside developments are milestones of development.