A Wine Lovers Book Blog / Books n Wine

The One I Didn't See Coming by Piper Rayne is now live!  It’s the classic story—girl returns to her hometown only to end up moving in with her high school crush, who she hates. Returning to Willowbrook was my only option after Chicago chewed me up and spit me out. Technically, it wasn’t Chicago’s fault. It was his fault—the man I thought I knew who turned out to be a liar. My older sister, always the one to swoop in and fix things, secured me a job as a yoga instructor on her fiancé’s family ranch. As my self-assigned protector, she’s keeping one eye on me and one eye on Emmett Noughton, her fiancé’s brother. He’s the charming, fun-loving, take-life-as-it-comes kind of guy, and once upon a time, his name was scribbled in my notebooks. Back then, I was invisible to him. Now, he’s looking at me like I’m the only thing in the room. But he lost his chance with me a long time ago. It’s easy to keep him at arm’s length and nurse the grudge I’ve held onto for years. Until the house ...

***5 Stars*** So. Much. Goodness! I was already excited to go back to Hope Valley and catch up with as many of the crazy, lovable characters I’d come to love ~ and though we don’t get to catch up with EVERYONE ~ it is kind of a long list and we probably need some kind of family tree to keep ~ it gave me all the small town romance feels and more and I cannot wait to go back! I loved Rae and Zach, well, loved them after a bit of frustration with them ~ nothing major, and I did empathize with both for the most part, but the eye rolling was real ~ but soon they both grew on me. With Rae it was how she took the situation she was in and stepped up. She may not have wanted to be there, but she basically “woman’s up”, takes it all in stride and finds that the life she thought she wanted wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.  Zach is a sweetheart, but when he gets in his own way, he gets in his own way and boy can he be a grump. They definitely do not get off on the right foot at th...

The One I Stood Beside by Piper Rayne is now live!  It’s the classic story—best friends since childhood agree to a fake marriage, thinking they can pretend to love each other without their relationship changing. Jude would do anything for me. He’s stood by my side since we were six, and I’ve done the same for him. When my father dies, leaving our family farm drowning in debt and on the brink of being auctioned, I’m not surprised Jude steps in to help. I just never dreamed he’d fall to bended knee and devise a plan for us to fool everyone into thinking there’s more than a lifelong friendship between us. Soon, I’m moving into his house, we’re planning a wedding on his family’s ranch, and we discover a new side to our relationship. I keep reminding myself it’s not real—it’s only to secure a loan to save the farm. I’ve secretly loved Jude all my life, and now that I know how good we are together, I’m not sure we can return to being just friends. ***4.5 Stars*** Even though this i...

***5 Stars*** Great start to a new series (I didn’t know about the prequel One Last Summer until finishing the book)! I’m a huge fan of small town romances and all the crazy it can bring to a story and lemme tell you this one has some real good stuff going on as Ben comes back home and finds himself face to face with the girl he’s never stopped loving. I adored Ben and Gillian. Gillian is a fighter, sweet and sassy. Ben is a sweetheart, a bit clueless (for obvious reasons) but a good guy who is trying to figure out what to do next with his life. Their second chance journey was a lot of fun. I was definitely Team Gillian but as she and Ben continue to collide, it was easy to see that there was still a spark between them from how easy their flow was, even as Gillian attempted to keep Ben at bay. I loved how they worked through their pasts and worked to make a future together. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved how the town as a whole rallied to get Ben and Gillian back in each ot...

***5 ‘Rage Room’ Stars*** When I picked this book I didn’t know I’d meet and be intrigued by both Leo and Mari in Passing Notes, so to say I was all excited to find out more about them and what was going on between them in an understatement and while they both gave me a good case of whiplash, I had a really difficult time putting this one down because I needed to see both get those lightbulbs moments about themselves and each other was not disappointed.  I did end up adoring both Leo and Mari. Both are really good people with good hearts that are a bit bruised and battered and they go to extremes to protect themselves that tend to keep them stuck in a vicious cycle they can never truly break out of. So, when they collide they do their best to keep the other at bay, but fail miserably as walls are broken down and they see that the surface doesn’t match the interior. Things start off rough between them, but the more they are together, the more I liked them and liked what I saw goin...

***5 Stars*** It took me a minute to realize/remember just who Clara was, but as I went back through my other reviews, I was all kinds of thrilled that one of the supporting characters I really wanted to know more about was getting her own HEA, and though there were moments of frustration, I loved Clara and Nick’s journey and how they finally got their HEA. With as much as Clara and Nick drove me batshitcrazy at times (which I fully understood why) I really did love them. Clara is a force. She is in a weird place in her life and working through quite a few issues and she can be a bit ragey but I loved how she got all She-hulk protective when someone she loved needed help. Nick is a sweetheart. He’s juggling kids, work and just life in general but is also charming and determined in the best of ways. Their journey to their HEA is filled with all kinds of push and pull and I’ll admit that there were times when the frustration levels with the both of them were high, but they both have t...

Title: Dead to Rights Author: Jessica Prince Series: Ashland Spicy Small Town Romance,  Opposites Attract, Romantic Suspense, Bad Boy Biker When I caught my husband having an affair, I picked up what remained of my tattered pride and broken heart and left the city behind, heading for a small town where motorcycles outnumbered cars three to one. Ashland, Tennessee was where I planned to start over and become the woman I wanted to be; a woman who was fun and just a little bit reckless. The need to break out of my shell led to one wild night with a man I never planned on seeing again. But when the tattooed stranger showed up unexpectedly at my new job, he made it clear that once wasn’t going to be enough for him. As the president of a motorcycle club with a checkered past, Courtland Pope should have scared me, but no matter how hard I tried to stay away, the pull to him was too strong to ignore. However, when old rivalries breach the surface and the line between good and bad begi...

Title: Turn of the Tides Author: Jessica Prince Series: Whitecap Contemporary Romance; Small Town Romance When Beau Wade left his small hometown of Whitecap, Oregon, he swore to himself he’d never go back. But when his NFL career goes up in smoke, that’s exactly what he finds himself doing. Not much has changed in the ten years he’s been gone. Gossip still spreads through town like wildfire, Dropped Anchor is still the local’s favorite bar, and the woman he’s been secretly in love with most of his life still hates his guts. Presley Fields is even more beautiful than he remembered. Her smile has the power to light up a room and that bubbly personality of hers is still as strong as ever. For everyone but Beau, anyway, and that’s the least he deserves for making her high school years a nightmare. He isn’t the same stupid kid he was back then, and after watching her slip through his fingers too many times, the tides have finally turned in his favor. It’ll take a miracle, and every ounc...

Vamp by Jessica Prince is now live! He has the voice of an angel, the body of a God, and I hate the very ground he walks on.   After having her heart broken, Alma Rossi made a vow: no more relationships. All she wants now is a good time with a guy who won't try to cuddle afterward. She's content with the new life she's built for herself, even if all of her friends are starting their own happily ever afters. But when the man she's tried for years to forget shows up in her town, begging for another chance, he throws her new life off its axis.   From the outside, Roan Blackwell has it all: a shining career as a country music superstar, a house that would make anyone green with envy, and more money that he knows what to do with. But after losing the love of his life, none of that other stuff seemed to matter anymore.   He would happily give it all up just for one more shot with the one who got away. He just has to convince Alma he's worth a second chance. He's not ...