Happy Sunday! The beginning of a new week. We have just finished our Sunday dinner. I grew up with a big dinner every Sunday night, and I have continued the tradition. My daughter, Betsy comes over to enjoy it. We had Quick Spaghetti. It uses Italian stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce (as well as hamburger and sausage) versus spaghetti sauce (when I let it cook all day). It is a tasty and satisfying dish (the sausage gives it a little zip).
Once Upon a Wine by Beth Kendrick
is a sweet, romance novel. Cammie
October Breyer is living in Los Angeles when she receives a call from her
cousin, Kat. Kat needs Cammie to return
home to Black Dog Bay, Delaware to help with her Aunt Ginger (Kat’s mother but
she also raised Cammie after her mother passed away). Ginger has just bought a Lost Dog Vineyard in
Delaware, and Kat wants help reasoning with her (she thinks it is a bad
idea). Ginger has cashed out her pension
plan, her retirement account and sold her house as well as most of the
furniture inside it to buy the vineyard.
Cammie has nothing left for her in LA.
Her restaurant failed once her boyfriend (the chef) left for another
restaurant (Cammie was good with the hospitality part of the business, but she
is no chef). Ginger wants the three of them to spend the summer together, and
then they can reevaluate the vineyard.
But if they want to get a good price for the place, they need to keep
the grape vines alive and fix up the property.
Only problem is that they do not know anything about vineyards or wine
making. The three of them work together
to cultivate their hidden talents and try to make a success of the vineyard. It is natural for Cammie to run into Ian
McKinlay (who owns a farm nearby). The
two of them had a summer romance when Cammie was twenty-two and had just finished
college. Their romance is rekindled over
strawberries and wine. Kat is having
some troubles and is glad to have Cammie to talk to. Kat has just retired from her career as a
professional skateboarder (I think that is the right term). She does not know what to do with herself
(she suffered a bad injury). Kat is
married to Josh, a philosophy professor (a great guy). Kat needs to figure out what to do now that
she can no longer ride a skateboard. She
is spending the summer away from husband and keeps pushing him away (not good
for their marriage). It is going to be
an interesting summer in Black Dog Bay.
A summer of discovery and second chances.
Once Upon a Wine is a pleasing
romance novel that is easy to read. It
is a book is about choices, second chances, romance, and developing hidden
talents. It shows how failure can lead
to the fulfillment of a dream (if you want it to). I liked the nice change of pace that this
book provided. I give Once Upon a Wine
3.5 out of 5 stars. I have to admit that
Kat got on my nerves a little bit, and Cammie talked about her failed
restaurant too much (she should never have opened a restaurant in the first
place). I liked the addition of the cute
French Bulldog, Jacques. He was
adorable. Overall, Once Upon a Wine is
an easy breezy book that is a good summer read.
Once Upon a Wine release date got pushed back from July 5 to July 26. You can pre-order it on Amazon (as well as other book sites). I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for
an honest and fair review.
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