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 wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.
Two people with bad luck in relationships find each other through a popular Reddit thread.
Emma Grant and her best friend, Maddy, are travel nurses, working at hospitals for three-month stints while they see the country. Just a few weeks before they’re set to move to Hawaii, Emma reads a popular “Am I the Asshole” Reddit thread from a Minnesota man who thinks he’s cursed—women he dates find their soulmates after breaking up with him, and the latest one found true love with his best friend! Emma has had a similar experience, which inspires her to DM the man and commiserate. She’s delighted by her witty, lively interactions with software engineer Justin Dahl, and is intrigued when he suggests that if they date each other, maybe they’ll each find their soulmate afterward. Emma upends the Hawaii plan and convinces Maddy to move to Minneapolis for the summer so she can meet Justin in person. The overly complex setup brings Emma and Justin together and the two hit it off, with Justin immediately falling head over heels for Emma. Jimenez then pivots to creating romantic roadblocks and melodramatic subplots centering on each character’s family of origin. Justin’s mother is about to serve six years in prison for embezzlement, which means Justin must move back home to care for his three much younger siblings. Emma was traumatized by her own mother for much of her childhood, left to fend for herself and eventually abandoned in the foster system. When her mother shows up in Minnesota, Emma must face her traumatic childhood and admit that she has prioritized her mother’s well-being over her own. There is little time devoted to Emma’s painful efforts to heal herself enough to accept Justin’s love, which leaves the novel feeling unsatisfying.
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781538704431
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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