I loved it. Very nearly a 5 star romance for me. ( )

This is now officially my favorite Susan Meagher book, and its all because of Chiara. I've read and loved a few books this year, but this is the first character i've read this year that i can call one of my 'all time favorite characters'. As for the book, it was pretty good too. :) I liked how the author very skillfully incorporated all the wine-making info into the story without any boring expositions and how much I learned about Italy without it sounding like a travelogue. The story really drew me in, and Nic and Chiara's adventures in steering the winery from mediocrity to excellence even at great personal cost and against some very steep odds was truly exciting and inspiring.

I read the whole book in a day, and I must admit that by 2am, I was only half-awake when I went through the penultimate chapter of the book about the Palio celebrations since all the main threads had already been resolved but I woke up in time for the epilogue. I hemmed and hawed on this because the book description was rather meh and i don't particularly like the subject matter (wine making), but the pairing was really hot, the tension and conflicts were intense, there was suspense and angst (surprisingly!), and of course there is Chiara! In other words, it was a real page turner. Definitely not just another romance. ( )