12/2/14

Book Review(s): St. Helena Vineyard Series

I just got finished reading all five books in the St. Helena Vineyard Series by author Marina Adair.  They are wonderful.

I had an opportunity to purchase the fifth book, From The Moment We Met, for $1.99 on Amazon.  I realized after I was a chapter into the book that this book was part of a series.  While I was ready to read this whole book right away I wanted to start from the beginning.  So, I bought all of the other four books for $4.99 each (that is how Amazon Kindle hooks you). 

The St. Helena Vineyard Series introduces us to the DeLuca family and their vineyards.  There are four brothers; Gabe, Nate, Marco, and Trey; one sister; Abigail; and the matriarch of the family their grandmother ChiChi.  I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each character as well as the other outer lying characters in this small town.  My favorite part of a series of books is how all the characters throughout weave together.  I love reading about past characters in new books and learning about future characters (such as Sheriff Jonah and Need You For Keeps coming out in March of 2015).

In Kissing Under the Mistletoe we meet the oldest of the DeLuca boys, Gabe, and his female love interest Regan Martin.  The reason I started at the beginning is because you need to meet Regan in Book One so that Book Five makes sense.  Again, this is why I love the thread of characters in a book of series.  Anyway, I do think Book One was my favorite.  I loved the chemistry between Gabe and Regan and I loved Regan’s little girl Holly. 

Summer in Nampa would, Book two, is my next favorite book.  Marco DeLuca and Alexis “Lexi” Moreau have a bit of a past together.  I was constantly on the edge of my seat waiting to see where the author would take these characters.  It really kept me engaged since both characters lives right across from each other and that sizzle between them was always ignited.  This was an excellent book.  We also start to learn more about other common characters.

My least favorite book was Autumn in the Vineyard and it actually took me the longest amount of time to read.  I had high hopes as I felt I identified with Nate, the organized one of the group.  What also had my hopes up is that I also liked the non-nonsense tough-as-nails female character Frankie Baudouin.  I think part of why this wasn’t my favorite book is because there was a lot of history between Frankie and Nate and I think it was lacking the chemistry from when two characters first meet.  I sort of felt I missed out on that.  What I did like about this book is that you start to get more insight into other characters and are introduced to some of the Baudouin family, which is important. 

Be Mine Forever was a really fun book.  The baby of the DeLuca boys, Trey, is the playboy of the group.  However, once we meets sweet Sara everything changes.  I love Sara’s son (oh man I can’t remember his name).  That kid cracks me up.

Finally, From the Moment We Met, wraps up most of the DeLuca story with the only DeLuca sister Abby and “Hard Hammer Tanner.”  Even though Tanner and Abby have past involvement, I really enjoyed this book.  We also see many things come full circle and throughout each book of the series we learn more of the DeLuca siblings and their female counter parts. 

We still don’t have a resolution with Grandmother ChiChi and her long lost love interest…the identity of whom you will have to read to find out!

I look forward to reading more from the St. Helena Vineyard Series.

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