A Winter Ball NovelAs far as Clay Carpenter is concerned, his abusive relationship with food is the best thing he’s got going. When a good friend starts kicking his ass into gear, Clay is forced to reexamine everything he learned about food and love—and that’s right when he meets troubled graduate student, Dane Hayes.Dane Hayes doesn’t do the whole monogamy thing, but the minute he meets Clay … thing, but the minute he meets Clay Carpenter, he’s doing the friend thing in spades. The snarky, scruffy bastard not only gets Dane’s wacky sense of humor, he also accepts the things Dane can’t control—like the bipolar disorder Dane has been trying to manage for the past six years.
Dane is hoping for more than friendship, and Clay is looking at him with longing that isn’t platonic. They’re both positive they’re bad at relationships, but with the help of forbidden desserts and new medication regimens, they prove outstanding at being with each other. But can they turn their friendship into the love neither of them has dared to hope for?
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I went into this book with great anticipation since I had pretty much wanted Dane and Carpenter to get together since they were first introduced early in the series. I was not disappointed. The love story between the main characters is a little slower burn than the other couples in the series but I feel like the pacing was perfect since the friendship had come before the relationship ever started. Before Carpenter and Dane could love each other, they had to learn to love themselves-or at least learn to accept the flaws that couldn’t be changed. Carpenter had his love/hate relationship with food and the accompanying dislike of his body that eating unhealthy could bring. Dane, of course, had his bipolar depression and the sometimes violent mood swings that his condition could bring-especially when he forgot to take his medication. I feel like Dane also had a lot of resentment towards having to depend on his brother to help regulate his condition, resentment that he didn’t want to shift to Carpenter by forcing him to become, in a way, Dane’s keeper.
I also enjoyed getting to see the whole gang again, though a lot of this was through events that had already happened in the other books, albeit from Dane and Carpenter’s POV as they went through their own relationship struggles. I don’t think that this book will be one that I reread as often as I do Skip and Richie’s story but I do feel that this was a great entry to the series. Hopefully this won’t be the last that we see from these characters-4.5 stars (less)
What happens when a bipolar kid falls for a sweet guy with a truckload of self loathing? This is absolutely a beautiful story! Clay and Dane have you rooting for them from the start, even when you’re sure they aren’t going to make it.
Clay is absolutely delicious and such a relatable character for me. I just want to snuggle him until he surrenders. And Dane! Ugh, he breaks my heart. So much pain and yet he still has the strength to hope for more.
I don’t know how Amy Lane makes you jealous of two people with mental health issues falling in love, but dang if she doesn’t give you the warm fuzzies even with people you swear aren’t going to make it. And if you’re an Amy Lane fan, you know sometimes you need to read with one eye closed in case she gets heavy with the suffersauce. I love her and love this story. You have to read it!
Can I just say – WOW!
Ok, so for starters, if you HAVEN’T read Winter Ball and Summer Lessons yet, do that FIRST.
For those of you who have already read those 2 books, you know how Dane and Mason came to meet all the guys, and how ALL their lives are entwined. You also know how Summer Lessons had the side story of what all was going on with Dane and Clay Carpenter. So THIS book revisits ALL of that, but this time through both Danes perception, and through Carpenters. Which means the book ISN’T a chronological sequel, it all occurs AT THE SAME TIME as the other two books. So in this book you get to hear yet again about Mason’s call down to the IT department to Skipper, the golf game where Mason and Dane meet Skipper and Carpenter, and so on and so forth, through the events of both previous books that had an impact on these 2 characters, and how it all influenced what happens between these two characters. The book also takes us back to their childhood and events THERE that shaped them into the men they are “today”.
There IS however a major difference between THIS book and the previous two. That being more angst and less humor in this one. (Fans of Amy’s know how GOOD she is at doing books filled with angst!) But of course that makes sense when you stop to consider that one of the main characters is dealing with being bi-polar, and all the issues that come with that, and the other main character is dealing with his body issues due to being very overweight, and the WHY of it, and his fight to overcome both, as well as Carpenters supposedly being “straight”. Two very serious, angsty issues, that Amy refuses to make light of by throwing humor at. (thank you Amy!) And because of this, I really highly recommend any reader who’s dealing with, or who loves anyone who’s dealing with either one of these issues, read this book! Trust me, it will help. (I sometimes wonder if Amy doesn’t have a PHD after her name!)
This story quite often broke my heart. I recommend having a box of tissues handy when you read it! But you see, all the angst in the book is what MAKES the HEA even more special! And even though the previous books had the humor I loved (see my reviews), I think THIS one might just be my favorite of the three books in the series! (so far!)
These men get to see some of the worst in each other and yet there are willing to continue to work through things. Clay is supportive of Dane but also knowing that it needs to wait for Dane to get things together. I love how the friendship and support system comes first. I think this book does a great job of dealing with a tough subject like mental health in a wonderful and hopeful way.
Fall Through Spring ticked off several boxes for me. I love a good friends to lovers but I love flawed people even more. So when I saw that Dane had Bi-Polar and anxiety issues and Clay had weight and self-confidence issues I was on board. Both are topics I can seriously relate to and Amy Lane handled them well.
Clay and Dane are great characters but we also have Skip and Mason. Skip is Clay’s best friend and Mason Is Dane’s brother. This is how the two meet, through mason and Skip.
The topics are good as we watch both men battle their problems and fall in love. They become great friends then more. It is a slow burn but when we do get to the sex it is hot.
This is book three. Skips book is 1 and Mason is 2 but this stands alone quite well. I loved the book. My only issue was I felt it could have been just a little shorter.
If you like friends to lovers, flawed men, coming out, slow burn and a good ole romance this is for you.
I absolutely loved this book.
The main characters, Clay and Dane, struggle to find out what they are to each other as they deal with their own respective problens.
You really should read the other two books in the series prior to this one. You get a look at all the other characters from a different viewpoint as well as some backstory.
As always for Amy Lane, the characters are very real and relatable, inviting you in to their story. There’s a little bit of everything here as far as feelings go.
Really abeautifully well done story.
There are some books that are not only fantastic, but that actually truly affect you in real life. Fall Through Spring is one of those books. It opened my eyes at how people with similar issues to Clay and Dane struggle. Amy Lane does such a good job of building the characters, of making Clay and Dane into people I not only liked but felt like I knew and was friends with that I couldn’t help emphasizing with their struggles. I really was rooting for them to succeed when battling their demons and loved how their relationship grew as the supported each other. What was also great was that they held back from deepening their personal relationship until they made enough progress personally to be strong enough for one another. They also had to face that they would each have times of struggle and that was okay. These are flawed characters that are incredibly kind and lovable and so worth getting to know through their story.
This is the third book in the Winter Ball series, which is a MM contemporary romance. This book dealt with some difficult emotions and the author did a wonderful job. The characters were magnificent and the pace just right. The story had me laughing at times and crying at other times. Great story.
Fall through spring by Amy Lane was an ARC given to me for an honest review. I loved this book so much. Dane and Clay are so wonderful together. They try to show each other they are not defined by their insecurities. Dane with his Bipolar Diagnosis and Clay with his body image and emotional eating.. This is definitely a reread. I can only hope there are more to this series.
I love Amy Lane. I love these two characters. I think they might be 2 of my favorite. Clay and Dane were meant for each other.
Dane has some mental issues and Clay has some food issues. They help each other. They grow together. They are awesome and they have such a great support system. Dane worries that he is a burden, but he isn’t. Clay worries that he is fat, but Dane loves him no matter what size he is.
This romance is a slow burn and it totally needs to be. It’s a wonderful story everyone should read!