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A review by book_concierge
Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave
3.0
Digital audiobook narrated by Joy Osmanski.
From the book jacket: Growing up on her family’s Sonoma County vineyard, Georgia Ford learned some important secrets. The secret number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine: eight hundred. The secret ingredient in her mother’s lasagna: chocolate. But just a week before her wedding, thirty-year-old Georgia discovers her beloved fiancé has been keeping a secret so explosive, it will change their lives forever.
My reactions:
I had read Dave’s The Last Thing He Told Me with my F2F book club last year and thought it was a decent thriller. This one piqued my interest because of the setting in the Sonoma Valley, and the book jacket blurb led me to believe it would be a lighter, romantic read.
There IS some romance involved … but …
Georgia turns out to be a bit more complex that I originally gave her credit for. The book DOES start out with her running out of her wedding-dress fitting … still wearing the dress. Shocked by the discovery of her fiancé’s secret she immediately heads home to her family’s winery, only to discover disarray. She puts her skills as a lawyer to use in an effort to help the family, but what she really wants for her life will take some serious thinking. Should she go ahead with the wedding, now that Ben has explained? How can she help her parents, and her brothers with the winery and with their lives?
The resolution of the difficulties has to wait for a few more twists and turns and complications, but the ending is still satisfying in a chick-lit romance sort of way. Not exactly tied up in a pretty bow … but the ribbon is there.
Joy Osmanski does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She has clear diction and sets a good pace.
From the book jacket: Growing up on her family’s Sonoma County vineyard, Georgia Ford learned some important secrets. The secret number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine: eight hundred. The secret ingredient in her mother’s lasagna: chocolate. But just a week before her wedding, thirty-year-old Georgia discovers her beloved fiancé has been keeping a secret so explosive, it will change their lives forever.
My reactions:
I had read Dave’s The Last Thing He Told Me with my F2F book club last year and thought it was a decent thriller. This one piqued my interest because of the setting in the Sonoma Valley, and the book jacket blurb led me to believe it would be a lighter, romantic read.
There IS some romance involved … but …
Georgia turns out to be a bit more complex that I originally gave her credit for. The book DOES start out with her running out of her wedding-dress fitting … still wearing the dress. Shocked by the discovery of her fiancé’s secret she immediately heads home to her family’s winery, only to discover disarray. She puts her skills as a lawyer to use in an effort to help the family, but what she really wants for her life will take some serious thinking. Should she go ahead with the wedding, now that Ben has explained? How can she help her parents, and her brothers with the winery and with their lives?
The resolution of the difficulties has to wait for a few more twists and turns and complications, but the ending is still satisfying in a chick-lit romance sort of way. Not exactly tied up in a pretty bow … but the ribbon is there.
Joy Osmanski does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. She has clear diction and sets a good pace.