SEASONS

SEASONS begins as two generations of a Boston family, the Winters, seem to be headed for idyllic futures. Julia Winters, the protagonist, a thirty-six-year-old divorcee, is again in a relationship that holds promise. Her older brother, Scott Winters, and his wife, Beth, have a twenty-plus rock-solid marriage. and their only daughter, Kimberly, is about to marry a wealthy, charismatic Italian, Dominick Allegro. However, Julia’s dreams begin to unravel when she finds herself alone en route to her niece’s wedding because her workaholic lover, Norman Slater, canceled at the last minute.

Julia, embarrassed to arrive without a partner (especially since her ex-husband will attend with his new wife), enlists a handsome stranger, Buck Logan, to fill in. Soon the picture-perfect Italian setting turns sinister when questions surface about her date’s mysterious past, as well as when suspicions circulate about the groom’s motives, and finally when the stability of Scott and Beth’s marriage comes into question.

The wedding festivities end, but the troubles follow the Winters home where the country is also in a state of flux. The challenges in their love relationships are set against a backdrop of the 1990’s when porn hits the world wide web, President Clinton is impeached, O.J. Simpson gets off, Viagra is approved, Aids is peaking and The Sopranos is the number one family on TV. No wonder the Winters, both humorous and pathetic at times, struggle to cope with lives devoid of fairytale endings

THE SLAMMING OF THE CABBY’S DOOR woke Julia up. She groggily tried to read the address on her wedding invitation. Yep. This was the place. Despite the amount of wine on an empty stomach, Julia was starting to piece the events together as a handsome stranger opened her car door.

Wait! Not a stranger, exactly. His name was Bryce or Buck something. Oh wow. Not Norman, who had bailed on their wedding plans. Last minute court filing or some bullshit. Didn’t matter. Julia didn’t buy it. Cold feet is what she thought. Julia straightened her dress and slipped on her Jimmy Choo heels but had the vague sense that she might be playing with fire as she accepted Buck or Bryce’s outstretched hand. She forced a come-hither smile and sounding more grounded than she felt, said, “We made it to Italy, that’s a start. What do you think?”

“A palace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. What’s not to love?” Buck Logan said, now more convinced than ever that his luck had drastically changed since leaving the prison yard before sunlight and catching the first flight out of the country.