The Winter Companion

The Winter Companion (Parish Orphans of Devon 4)- Mimi Matthews
Perfectly Proper Press
Release Date: February 11, 2020

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis:  As a lady's companion, Clara Hartwright never receives much attention from anyone. And that's precisely how she likes it. With a stormy past, and an unconventional plan for her future, it's far safer to remain invisible. But when her new employer is invited to a month-long holiday at a remote coastal abbey, Clara discovers that she may not be as invisible as she'd hoped. At least, not as far as one gentleman is concerned.

Neville Cross has always been more comfortable with animals than people. An accident in his youth has left him with a brain injury that affects his speech. Forming the words to speak to his childhood friends is difficult enough. Finding the right things to say to a lovely young lady's companion seems downright impossible. But Miss Hartwright is no ordinary companion. In fact, there may not be anything ordinary about her at all.

During a bleak Devon winter, two sensitive souls forge an unexpected friendship. But when Clara needs him most, will Neville find the courage to face his fears? Or is saying goodbye to her the most heroic thing he can do?

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For the last of her Parish Orphans of Devon series, Mimi Matthews (A Convenient Fiction) gives us the story of Neville and Clara- a sweet romance and story of bravery and love overcoming fear and the restrictions that we place on ourselves.  We've known Neville for the entire series- a gentle, quiet man who's childhood accident was, in many ways, the catalyst to the four friends becoming who they are today.  Neville's head injury left him with difficulties speaking sometimes, and his self-consciousness over how he must appear to outsiders led him to a retiring life focused more on spending time with animals rather than people.  He's seen his friends meet their matches and has begun to wonder if he can have more in life when he meets Clara.  A ladies companion, Clara wants more out of her life- she wants knowledge and learning and to be useful. Her goal is to be her brother's assistant when he's finished at Cambridge.

A Winter Companion spoke to me in a lot of ways, and touched me in ways other books haven't.  As a sufferer from TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) myself, I had an easy time identifying with Neville.  His frustrations and difficulties when he would lose words or drift off and lose time were things I experience myself- and Matthews does a wonderful job of sensitively and naturally showing readers what Neville deals with every day.  He begins to want more than what he has, but isn't sure he can reach for it.  What if he fails? Is it better to stay safe and at home, not risking anything, but not being completely content?  Clara also shines as a woman trying to fit the mold that circumstances and society tell her she needs to fill: an invisible companion  who has no dreams of a larger life using her intellect.  Life has taught her not to expect anything: no help from family, no friends, no romance, and no dreams.  

Neville and Clara become the right people in the right place at the right time for each other, and Matthews did a lovely job of slowly and naturally growing their romance and their confidence in themselves.  There were no murderers to catch here, no evil villains to overcome.  Instead, Neville and Clara have to overcome something even harder: their own fears and to decide if love is enough to try to dream new dreams, and if love itself can open new doors to new dreams even grander than they might have imagined alone.

Although book 4 in a series, A Winter Companion can also be a stand alone book.  Readers who've enjoyed the rest of the series will get to see Justin, Alex, and Tom again, and happily close the circle on the friends and their happily ever afters, but new readers won't feel lost among the characters.  This was a sensitive and lovely book, and a definite must read.  

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review