Wintering with George

By: Mary Calmes

Narrated by: Declan Winters

George Hunt is certain that spending time with his boyfriend’s family over the holidays will be a disaster. How can it not? For starters, he knows nothing about families, never having had one, as for the rest…talk about pressure. What if he messes up, says the wrong thing, and ends up losing the most important person in his life? Dr. Kurt Butler is his miracle; George can’t afford any missteps. But if he’s careful and does everything right, perhaps they’ll see his good qualities instead of the lethal ones.

Sometimes, though, fate lets you put your best foot forward, and George gets to show off how handy he is to have around when bullets start flying. If he can keep everyone alive long enough to do some wintering, maybe he’ll discover that a family is something worth having after all.

©2024 Mary Calmes (P)2024 Mary Calmes

Mary Calmes writing!

I loved the entire book! The writing was superb, as usual. A narration was well done.

I love George

George is one of my favorite characters by this author. Him and Kurt are so perfect for each other even if they don’t look that way in the surface. Of course, they can’t have a quiet Christmas for George’s meeting with the rest of Kurt’s family. But he comes through as he always does. 🥰🥰 And Declan Winters does an amazing job bringing them to life.

Wintering is a winner

I’ve read the book and listened to the audio book. Loved them both. I want more because George is an awesome character.

Fantastic narration & fun winter story

I enjoyed Wintering with George and getting to know more about the reservist and professional bodyguard. It was great to see him in action again and heartwarming to see the family resolving internal issues and learning to "winter". I definitely recommend for read by the fire in the colder months.

Narrator: I had not heard Declan Winters before and I really liked him. Always good to find a new narrator.

Awesome 2nd performance!

Declan recorded a great part two of George’s story. It was great to have both parts released at the same time. I can’t wait for the wedding. It’s likely going to be a big bang. 😉

it's always good to get more George

3.25⭐️
Audio: 4.5⭐️

It's good to spend time with George and Kurt again. For all George's warrior toughness, he's terrified of meeting Kurt's family—convinced they will see all his flaws, think he’s a terrible partner, and convince Kurt to leave him. What better way to bypass all that rigmarole than by saving all their lives in spectacular fashion. Huzzah!

I was excited to get more of the fellas but was a bit disappointed. The romp is fun, but Kurt’s character isn’t developed more here; his personality is almost less than in the shorter novella. There are still his capable and caretaker sides, and we learn he’s fastidious. But here, his main personality trait is lamenting about George almost being killed (when deployed and otherwise). George is capable and deadly, but Kurt shows little upset about his sister’s fam almost getting iced. He has a reasonable response to it, but will not let George being in the line of fire go—again the capable black ops operative. I get it, George is his partner, but kids in serious danger should get more play. Bro, find some perspective.

The trope is common for Calmes (especially since she loves her LEOs and contract killers) and is not a misplaced sentiment, but with so little time to get to know Kurt better, it becomes a shortcoming rather than simply a reaction. Kurt's sister and BIL are fine, though part of what bothers me about the story is some blame-shifting/faults on both sides happening during an upset that seems overly weighted given the cause of the discord. I like Kurt's nephews, and the action is great per usual. As always, I love the call-outs, and there are many to choose from in Calmes’ ever-expanding roster.