WINTER TALES (The Original Sinners #8.7 – An Original Sinners Christmas Anthology) by TIFFANY REISZ

‘A son for King. A son for Søren. But what about Nora? Who did Nora get?’

The Winter Tales anthology has the following novellas: December Wine, The Christmas Truce, Poinsetta, The Scent of Winter and Blood & Wine. Whilst I have read some of these novellas before; the magic, the intensity of emotions and the spontaneous laughter has not been lost and I enjoyed them as much as the first time round, if not more.

“So there it is,” Elle said. “I give you my heart.”
‘Slowly Søren closed his fingers around the hart and pressed his fisted hand to his chest.’ “Thank you, Little One,” he said, his voice hardly a whisper.’

You know Christmas is coming when Tiffany Reisz releases an Original Sinners novella.  Once again it’s like breathing in the fresh crisp scent of winter, which invigorates your soul, whilst at the same time, make you crave a warm embrace. Tiffany Reisz gives you that and more with her words. She always does.

‘What he remembered was the loneliness. The worst kind of loneliness. The loneliness of being in love with someone he couldn’t have.’

Tiffany Reisz reminds you why you fell in love with her writing in the first place, she reminds you why you fell in love with her characters, and why every single time you return to their world, it feels like coming home. It is quite the feat that, despite all the years and books which have come to pass, Tiffany Reisz still manages to show unexplored sides to her characters, whilst retaining what is so fundamentally them. You think you know every character inside out, after all you’ve been through so much with them, yet they never fail to surprise you whilst at the same time giving you closure on situations and emotions you didn’t even know you needed or had. This, at the same time as affirming something you’ve always been quite sure of. That you love them. Every single one. It’s a connection of hearts which can never be broken.

“Maybe I want to fall to my death”
“You’re not allowed.”
“I’m not allowed?”

“No,” Søren said. “You are not allowed. You are not allowed to get lost unless I want to lose you. You aren’t allowed to be found, unless it’s me doing the finding. And the only way you’re allowed to die is if I choose to kill you with my own hands. Your life doesn’t belong to you anymore, and if I have to murder you tonight and paint the snow with your blood to make you understand that, I will. You are mine, Kingsley. End of discussion.”

Tiffany Reisz is so incredibly clever, a writing genius if you will. The way in which she uniquely writes these short stories so flawlessly, like a snapshot set in a moment you may have visited before or which came to pass, as you were busy elsewhere with either Nora, Søren or Kingsley. Well, it is quite an amazing accomplishment. The way in which she weaves her own brand of sharpness, sarcasm and sometimes silly humour with relevant musings of friendship, loyalty and love is quite simply outstanding.

“You always hold every card. Every last fucking card while the rest of us stand around with nothing in our hands but our hearts.”

The Scent of Winter and Blood & Wine had me in floods of tears. My heart just couldn’t take the intense traces of vulnerability as well as the humanity and power of love. It overwhelmed me and my heart felt too big for my chest with love, compassion and a deep sense of need to crawl into the pages, kneel and rest my head against Søren as my arms envelop him. December Wine and Christmas Truce made me laugh and marvel at the human connection which Nora has with those who play such an important part of her life. Her awe-inspiring love and loyalty.

‘He still had the smooth skin of a much younger man, but his eyes were ancient. They’d always been ancient, as if he’d lived a thousand lives before and carried what he’d seen in all those lives into every incarnation.’

I have purposely not divulged any details of the novellas, as every reader who is in as deep as I am with this series, will not need cliff notes. All you need to know is that this is Tiffany Reisz, this is the Original Sinners. We will feel, we will laugh, we will cry and we will crave more. It will never be enough -but for now- just for now, I feel overwhelmingly sated.

“Joy and terror – they’re twins, you know. Joy is born first. Then terror a few minutes after. Joy arrives when you recognize what you have. Terror comes on its heel, terror that you’ll lose the thing that gave you all that joy.”
He looked her in the eyes. “If she leaves me, I don’t know how I’ll survive it.”