Two #Books to Enjoy While Sipping Your Favorite Wine #MondayBlogs

by Susan Roberts

After a long day there is nothing better than to relax with a glass of wine and a great book. These two books about wine would make the perfect pairing.

The Winemakers: A Novel of Wine and Secrets by Jan Moran is about two strong women in a wine making family - Ava, the mother and the owner of the California winery and her only daughter Caterina who has hopes of working at her mother's side. What could have been a wonderful mother and daughter business is ruined by the secrets that both women keep from each other. After telling her mother about the baby that she had when she was at college and that she plans to keep, Caterina goes to Italy to the house that she has inherited from the grandmother she never knew. There she finds out secrets about her mother and her family that may change her life and the existence of the family winery in Napa Valley. She and her mother must face the past together or be destroyed by it.

The time period of the novel is the 1950s and the author highlights that very well. The reader sees it in the treatment of both women as second class citizens, especially in the way they are treated by bankers. We also see it in the clothes that the women wear when they dress up with hats and gloves.

The author definitely did considerable research into the process of wine making. I learned a lot about it as I read the novel. Not in a boring way but as part of the story of what went on at the winery.

This novel has it all - great plot, strong characters, mystery, suspense and romance. Trust me, you won't be able to put it down once you've started it!

A free book was provided by the author for this review.

Buy The Winemakers: A Novel of Wine and Secrets at Amazon

In Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave, Georgia wants life to be perfect. She chose a career and a potential husband who would fulfill her goals. When she sees her fiancé with another woman, her life begins to fall apart and she runs home to the family winery. She thinks that life will be perfect there like it was when she was growing up but she finds out that even at home, there are secrets and discontent. Georgia is a little old to call this a 'coming of age' book but it is the story of someone who grows up and learns that life isn't all perfect and tidy and that sometimes the best parts of life are the things that you don't expect. I really enjoyed this book - not only the characters and the plot but also all of the information about growing grapes and making wine. Great read!

A free book was received from GoodReads.com for this review.

Buy Eight Hundred Grapes at Amazon

Susan Roberts, reviewer. Susan grew up in the Detroit area but after deciding that city life wasn't for her she moved to North Carolina after college. She and her husband have several acres of land and they enjoy gardening and canning vegetables in the summer. They travel extensively. Susan reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction and thrillers. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook or Twitter.

Get even more book news in your inbox by signing up for our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/mHTVL. Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small commission is earned when purchases are made at Amazon using any Amazon links on this site. Thank you for supporting Girl Who Reads.

Related articles

• Book Review: Eight Hundred Grapes (chicklitcentral.com)
• M.M. Wolthoff's Guide to Books & Booze (thenextbestbookblog.blogspot.com)
• Laura Dave has nothing to "wine" about....plus a book giveaway (chicklitcentral.com)