An intoxicating blend of romance, Portuguese history, and winemaking lore.
A British merchant succumbs to the charms of Portugal—and one captivating Portuguese woman—in this debut historical romance.
It’s 1870 at the beginning of Siniscalchi’s novel, and Griffin Maxwell has spent 12 years in Oporto transforming his uncle’s small trading firm into “the fastest growing port company in the city.” He only needs to secure a partnership with another company to restore his family’s status to what it had been in London before his father’s death. When John Croft, the successful merchant he has been courting for months, finally agrees to partner with Griffin, he is ecstatic. But Croft has a few conditions. First, he asks Griffin to expand his planned trip up the Douro River to include a meeting with the widow who inherited Quinta do Vesuvio, the best wine- producing estate in the region. And the merchant tells Griffin that the partnership will only be his if he marries Croft’s 18-year-old daughter. Griffin accepts both conditions and sets off on his journey. He is wary about spending several weeks upriver; not only is the Douro region “a wild, unruly corner of the world,” Griffin also has never mixed with the Portuguese. In Griffin’s mind, “they make great wine, they have a bloody complicated language, they love weird food and romantic nonsense, and they like to respond to reasonable questions with monosyllabic nonsensical answers.” He also assumes that the widow at the helm of Quinta do Vesuvio will be a boring, old crone. To his surprise, he discovers that Julia Costa is a beautiful, brilliant winemaker. Griffin even falls in love with her 7-year-old son. But Julia is headstrong, with unorthodox plans to modernize her vineyard—and another suitor. A crusade to save the Douro’s grapevines against phylloxera brings Griffin and Julia close, but will it be enough to bridge the differences between a staid British merchant and a passionate Portuguese winemaker? Siniscalchi’s command of Portuguese history and winemaking is impressive, and her vivid descriptions of the Douro region will make readers yearn to travel there. Does Griffin and Julia’s first kiss occur too early in the story, eliminating opportunities for the author to build suspense? Yes. Are there too many references to Griffin ogling Julia’s legs when she chooses breeches over skirts? Yes. But the author’s compelling characters and propulsive plot smooth over these minor hiccups, creating a warm romance that goes down easily and does not hesitate to explore the difficulties of a cross-cultural relationship.
An intoxicating blend of romance, Portuguese history, and winemaking lore.Pub Date: April 25, 2022
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 345
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.
Best friends confront feelings for each other when they take a honeymoon trip together.
Francesca Gardiner and George Saint James have always been best friends—just like Jo and Laurie from Little Women, which they both love. Frankie has a big, complicated family and George was the boy next door who’d moved in with his eccentric grandmother. Their friendship survived childhood, awkward teenage years, and living together as young adults without ever venturing into the romantic—well, except for one kiss, but they don’t talk about that. When Frankie gets engaged to an older professor named Nate, George isn’t happy and a huge fight ensues. Despite his misgivings, George shows up to be her best man, but Nate leaves Frankie right before the wedding with only a cryptic letter. Devastated, Frankie goes to a friend’s house to recuperate, but her honeymoon is already planned and paid for—so she decides to travel to Tofino, a picturesque town on the coast of Vancouver Island, with George taking Nate’s place. Frankie wants to fix her friendship with George, but now that they’re in a romantic suite in a beautiful location, things are more complicated than ever. She’d always thought a relationship would be a bad idea, but she’s slowly beginning to realize they’ll never be able to go back to being kids. Maybe the only way forward involves forging a new kind of relationship. Fortune, the author of romances like This Summer Will Be Different (2024), returns with another love story full of longing and intense angst. The many allusions to Little Women are charming, and Frankie is a delightfully headstrong, feisty character. She and George have explosive chemistry, and Fortune manages to make the “will-they-or-won’t-they” nature of their relationship feel like life-or-death stakes.
A powerfully strong romance for readers who like their love stories full of torment and passion.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9780593953242
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A cleverly titled, cozy SF romance that marks Thorne as a writer to watch.
After purchasing a dilapidated, century-old starship called the Destitute, Torian Razner discovers that the moss covering it is, in fact, a deeply sarcastic sentient computer with abandonment issues.
Torian’s sister, Celise, is dying. Determined to save her life by getting her to a distant planet with air she can breathe, Torian ignores her former captain Amelia Perrosk’s warning that it’s an impossible task (along with any romantic feelings she might have for Amelia). Using the only ionite bars she has to her name, Torian purchases an ancient, moss-covered alien starship that appears to be on its last legs, so to speak. She hardly expected the moss to be a sentient computer or for it to hold a century-old grudge against its former alien captain. Moss quickly proves itself to be acerbic, intelligent, and rightly angry after being having been left behind for 100 years by its former captain. The two form a reluctant and surprising alliance, Torian proving to Moss that not all captains are “dog-turd fungus,” and they both gradually evolve into the best versions of themselves, human or otherwise. It’s obvious from the early pages that Thorne has crafted a story tailored to fans of Becky Chambers’ Monk & Robot series and Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries. Falling somewhere between the two, this is a delightful mashup of romance, found family, and a touch of violence as Moss grapples with its feelings about its former captain and the unexpected kindness that Torian shows. Sweet without being overly saccharine, it’s a book for readers who want the adventure that comes with the vastness of outer space without its harsher realities.
A cleverly titled, cozy SF romance that marks Thorne as a writer to watch.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781250414144
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bramble Books
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
