Sunday, April 10, 2016

Review: The Winemakers by Jan Moran

SUMMARY

A young woman
A family secret
A devastating truth that could destroy the man she loves

Many years ago, the Rosetta family’s hard-won dreams of staking their claim in the vineyards of California came to fruition. Now high-spirited, passionate Caterina Rosetta, who has inherited both her mother’s talent for crafting the finest wines and also her indomitable will, wants nothing more than to win her mother’s approval and work at her side. But that can never happen, because Caterina is keeping a secret that could ruin her: a daughter of her own, fathered by the love of her life, who left her without explanation. Just as she feels she has nowhere to turn, Caterina discovers that she has inherited a vineyard in the Tuscan countryside in Italy, from a grandmother she’s never heard of, and she seizes the chance to start a new life for herself and her child.

But the past is not so easily outrun. In the country of her ancestors, Caterina meets the family of the father she never knew, and discovers that her mother is also hiding her own secret—a secret so devastating it threatens the future of everything her family has worked for. As an old murder comes to light, and Caterina uncovers a tragedy that may destroy the man she loves, she realizes her happiness will depend on revealing the truth of her mother’s buried past—if she has the strength to face it.


MY REVIEW 
Where do I begin?  This is by far one of the best books of 2016 hands down.  I have not been able to put it down since the day I received it in the mail.  It has this way to draw you in as a reader, you feel a special connection to each and every one of the characters.  
Caterina has gone away to school and is living her life the way she sees fit and then one day spends time with a friend she has known all her life and after their special night together everything changes.  Caterina has become pregnant and is not married and the father is not in the picture.  She wants so badly to go home, but she knows her mother will never accept her daughter.  Just when she is about the adopt her away, Caterina can't go through with it.  This is her own daughter, her flesh and blood and she will raise her and love her even if she is a single mother on her own shunned by society.
When Caterina returns home she learns that she has just inherited some property from her long lost family in Italy, she thinks that her luck is turning around, just when she needed a home for her and her daughter she is given one by her late grandmother that she never had the chance to meet.  
But life is not as easy at it seems.  She packs up and takes her daughter to Italy and is treated with a cold shoulder from almost every living family member that she has.  They are infuriated that she was left the home, the outsider.  
Not only does the home come with issues, then her mothers lies start to unravel little by little.  How could her mother lie to her all her life?  Will she ever be able to trust her again?  Will her mother ever accept her daughter or will she be shunned forever?  
Then her daughter's father re-appears, she is torn between telling him about his daughter or pretending that she doesn't exist to keep her away from him for good.   She is still in love with him and can't get him out of her mind, but again a deep dark family secret comes to light, will their love survive or will they just be ships passing in the night, never to see each other again.  
There are so many amazing story lines woven through out and I would love to talk about each and every one till the early hours of the morning.  But I can not, you must experience this novel for your self and you will fall in love as I have.

WINE SELECTION 
I am going to pick Smoke Screen - a red wine from Napa Valley.  Simply amazing and fitting for this truly amazing book.

MY RATING
This book is truly amazing and I hope everyone gets to enjoy it as I did.  I will be rating this amazing tale of love, family secrets and wine -  five wine glasses.  Enjoy!


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