Sophia Giambelli has never had to worry about competition. For three generation, the Giambelli wines have been renowned for their quality- from Napa Valley to Italy, and throughout the world. The pride of the Giambelli family, and a top PR executive, Sophia loves her job- and excels at it.

But things are about to change at Villa Giambelli. Tereza, the matriarch, has decreed that a merger will take place with the MacMillan family’s winery- and Sophia will be taking a new role. As a savvy business-woman, she knows she has to be prepared for anything…but she isn’t prepared for Tyler MacMillian. They’ve been ordered to work together very closely, to make the merger as smooth as possible. Sophia must teach Ty the finer points of marketing and promotion- and Ty, in turn, shows her how to get down and dirty, to use the sun, rain, and earth to coax the sweetest grapes from the vineyard. But as they toil together, both in and out of the fields, Sophia is torn between a powerful attraction and a professional rivalry. At the end of the season, the course of the company’s future- and the legacy of the Villa- may take an entirely new direction. And when acts of sabotage threaten both the family business and the family itself, Sophia’s quest will be not only for dominance, but survival…

Set in beautiful Napa Valley, California,  this Nora Roberts novel portrays a rich world of family-owned wineries, complete with enough romance, sophisticated business intrigue, betrayal, and murder to cow the Medicis of Florence. The Villa focuses on the merger of two prominent winemaking families, the Giambellis and MacMillans, and the incendiary combination of the two upcoming leaders of those dynasties, Sophia Giambelli and Tyler MacMillan. Tyler is the manager of the MacMillan vines and the distilling process, a job that suits his frank and no-frills personality. Creative and flashy, Sophia is head of Giambelli’s public relations, and her job has been to put the best spin on whatever her family business produces–hard to do when the merger requires that she and Tyler switch jobs, and particularly hard to do when her own heart seems to spin out of control whenever they’re together.

Soon after the merger goes through, Tyler and Sophia learn that they have bigger problems than their conflicting work styles. Tony Avano, a Giambelli executive and Sophia’s father, is murdered, and threats surface against the Giambelli women. As a quiet woman, Sophia’s mother, Pilar, has made few enemies, except for Tony’s new wife, Rene. The matriarch of the family–known simply as La Signora–may have knocked some rivals aside as she clawed her way to the top, but few would have reason to threaten her now. When poison is discovered in Giambelli wine, Sophia and Tyler learn the killer is much closer than they thought.

This book is a little bit of a throw back for me. It is probably one of the fist ‘romance’ novels I have ever read. I discovered it amongst the books at our old house [which happened to be a bed and breakfast]. I didn’t know what to make of it at the time. This book just has so much going on. You get the story from the viewpoint of so many different characters. The main two characters of this book are Sophie and Tyler. In their late 20’s early 30’s Sophie and Tyler are stellar in their respective fields. Both working for their family’s in the wine industry. Sophie works in the limelight- Dior suits, louboutin shoes and big cities she is a marketing exec for Gambielli wines. Tyler on the other hand likes to be more hands on…literally. He is a field hand, managing the grapes themselves. Their pruning,,planting, picking the whole nine yards. It inst until this strange wine family’s matriarch decides that she needs to get her affairs in order after a shocking death in the family that things begin to change. And at first were not sure if the’re  for the better.

This book is a wonderful read. As the reviews promise it is full of intrigue and drama. But it is also lovely to see not just two characters but two entire families lives spread out beneath my fingertips.  I wholeheartedly recommend this book…with a nice glass of wine. I prefer Moscato…. [i wont hold it against you if your one of those red wine drinkers]. Be prepared to be overwhelmed. I remember wanting to cry when i put it down not ready to let the MacMillians and the Gambellis go.

xoxo Ehbookehday