A Kiss of Cabernet

Pamela Gibson

Entangled Publishing

October 10, 2014

Blurb from Goodreads: The sweetest vintage of all is the one you can’t have…
 Napa Valley vineyard manager Paige Reynoso is furious. After a six-year absence, her boss—big-city entrepreneur Jake Madison—has returned, only to announce he’s selling the vineyard. Paige has always dreamed of buying Garnet Hill, which sits on land where her ancestors first settled, but without the cash, she’s out of luck. And then there’s an even bigger problem…she has a serious thing for the surprisingly tempting man who’s just destroyed her dream.

Jake’s in a tight spot. With his other business ventures struggling, he needs cash—fast. The last thing he needs is the too-lovely Paige convincing him the grapes are an effective long-term investment. Or needing Paige herself, whose spirit and heart bring his to life. But as their attraction grows, Jake knows he’s not in a position to offer her anything beyond this moment. Because Jake has a big secret…and it has nothing to do with sour grapes.

Sascha Darlington’s Review

Okay. I admit that sometimes I just move blithely through my little world and don’t always pay attention to details. Why do I say this? Because I wanted to review this book thinking that it was a follow-up to the Sauvignon Blanc to Sigh For (Love in Wine Country, #4) that I reviewed back in February when, in actuality, it’s the novel that started the series.

I will tell you straight off that while it doesn’t have the finesse of the latter novel, the writing is not as good and the dialogue seems a bit more stilted, it is still an excellent story for the most part. (And, honestly, the writing is far superior to a lot that I’ve recently encountered.) I think it’s just proof that Pamela Gibson’s writing is getting much better, quite a bit like wine.

The story here is quite good with a possibly devastating secret keeping Jake and Paige apart. There is a lot of intrigue regarding business dealings and what Jake will ultimately do with the property that Paige feels so fervently about.

This is a perfect beach read and I can tell you that because I didn’t have a lot of actual beach reading success this time, but this is one I did finish and not put aside to stare at the waves instead. Reading this series might make a great beach binge.

I have an admission here to make. I am giving this the same rating as Sauvignon Blanc to Sigh For (Love in Wine Country, #4), which means I pretty much didn’t give Sauvignon Blanc the rating it deserved, but I can’t conceive of giving A Kiss of Cabernet a lesser rating.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

rating: 

4 out of 5 butterflies