Disclosure / Disclaimer: I was sent this book, free of charge, from Kate Tilton's Author Services, for review purposes. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it, all opinions are my own,
After a visit to Napa, author Deborah Coonts fell in love…with wine.
Conceived of as a four-book series, her new The Heart of Napa series follows four women (and their men) each of whom toils in her chosen vocation in the farm-to-table movement—the winemaker, the artisanal cheese maker, the baker and the restaurateur. These are feel-good stories as each woman finds the life she was meant to live—and serves up some killer wine, cheese, and chocolate (yes, recipes and pairings included).
In Crushed we meet the winemaker….
Synopsis:
In Napa Valley, he who has the best grapes wins.
And in the pursuit of perfection, dreams and hearts can be crushed.
Sophia Stone is a widow on the brink of an empty nest, stuck in an unsatisfying job managing the vineyard for a mediocre Napa vintner. Faced with an uncertain future she wonders how do you choose between making a living and making a life? Between protecting your heart and sharing it? Five years ago, after her husband was killed in an accident, Sophia put her heart and dreams on ice to care for those around her. Now her home, her dreams, and her family’s legacy grapes are threatened by the greed of the new money moving into the Valley. Sophia has a choice—give up and let them take what is hers, or risk everything fighting a battle everyone says she can’t win.
Nico Treviani has one goal in life: make brilliant wine. A woman would be an unwanted distraction. So, while recognized as one of Napa’s premier vintners, Nico finds himself alone… until his brother’s death drops not one, but two women into his life—his thirteen-year-old twin nieces. In an instant, Nico gains a family and loses his best friend and partner in the winemaking business. Struggling to care for his nieces, Nico accepts a job as head winemaker for Avery Specter, one of the new-money crowd. And he learns the hard way that new money doesn’t stick to the old rules.
When Sophia Stone gets caught in the middle of Nico’s struggle to remain true to himself or sacrifice his convictions to make stellar wine, both Sophia and Nico are faced with a choice they never imagined. A choice that might extinguish the hope of a future neither expected.
Excerpt:
Read chapter 1 over at Deborah's website!
Review:
Now ya'll know HOW much I love Lucky from Deborah's other book series, set in Vegas (that girl is So my alter ego/super hero), so I was highly intrigued to start reading this new series and to see how she took on the history of Napa and the allure of wine making and made it hers!
Deborah never fails to deliver! This is another rollicking read, that will have you turnign pages late into the night, or unable to leave the beach til it's done! Everything is here, the family connections to European vines, the family rivalries, the fight over dwindling market shares and the search to reinvent wine and make it uber popular again. Add in a great romance, a bit of a mystery, and some good old family drama/trauma, that Deborah does so well, and you have a book you don't want to put down, and that you may find yourself talking back to, as characters react the way you don't want them to! But Deborah knows what her readers want, and she moves the book readily into a great ending, setting up book 2. As always Deborah's books are super quick reads and ones that will inspire your romantic soul!
About the Author:
Deborah Coonts says her mother tells her she was born in Texas a very long time ago, though she's not totally sure -- her mother can't be trusted. But she was definitely raised in Texas on barbeque, Mexican food and beer. She currently resides in Las Vegas, where family and friends tell her she can't get into too much trouble. Silly people. Coonts has built her own business, practiced law, flown airplanes, written a humor column for a national magazine, and survived a teenager. For more information please visit http://www.
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