A Chicago reporter in her mid-twenties unexpectedly finds love in Napa Valley when she’s assigned to spend a week with a famously reclusive genius.
Kate Corbin has lost her spark. From the outside, her life seems charmed. She has a handsome, long-term boyfriend and a budding journalism career at a popular Chicago newspaper. But in reality, her relationship is going nowhere, and she’s quickly losing motivation for what she once believed was her dream job. When her boyfriend dumps her unceremoniously, Kate loses all hope of finding love.
With no living family and few friends, Kate confides in her boss. Trusting that the hungry, ace reporter is buried somewhere deep inside, he gives Kate the opportunity to jumpstart her career. The assignment: to interview the famously reclusive R.J. Lawson, a wealthy tech genius who disappeared years ago but recently reemerged as a Napa Valley vintner. The week takes an unexpected turn, however, when Lawson refuses to divulge any information. Desperate for a lead, Kate turns to Jamie, a vineyard hand who shows her the romance of wine country—and stirs her aching heart. But his connection to Lawson is ambiguous, and when Jamie disappears before the end of the week, Kate is left to investigate another story: the truth behind the man who stole her heart.
Kate Corbin has lost her spark. From the outside, her life seems charmed. She has a handsome, long-term boyfriend and a budding journalism career at a popular Chicago newspaper. But in reality, her relationship is going nowhere, and she’s quickly losing motivation for what she once believed was her dream job. When her boyfriend dumps her unceremoniously, Kate loses all hope of finding love.
With no living family and few friends, Kate confides in her boss. Trusting that the hungry, ace reporter is buried somewhere deep inside, he gives Kate the opportunity to jumpstart her career. The assignment: to interview the famously reclusive R.J. Lawson, a wealthy tech genius who disappeared years ago but recently reemerged as a Napa Valley vintner. The week takes an unexpected turn, however, when Lawson refuses to divulge any information. Desperate for a lead, Kate turns to Jamie, a vineyard hand who shows her the romance of wine country—and stirs her aching heart. But his connection to Lawson is ambiguous, and when Jamie disappears before the end of the week, Kate is left to investigate another story: the truth behind the man who stole her heart.
My Thoughts
So this review is long overdue. I sat here and wrote this review a million times and then deleted it a million and one times because I haven't been able to get it right. I was having a hard time on what I wanted to say and how much I wanted to give away to the plot and if people would stone me alive if I gave a small but big plot point to this story away. It has been nerve-wracking but now I am just going to write and hope it make sense and hopefully nobody will want to stone me to death!
This book spoke to me on a much more personal level than most books do. I mean, lets be real here, there are a lot of books that "speak" to me but this one... this one, was different because of Jamie.
Now, I won't say what about Jamie that spoke to me on a personal level, you will have to read it for yourself to figure it out, but just know, a lot of what Jamie said in the story felt like he was personally talking about me. To me... through me. He took a lot of my feelings towards certain situations and certain events and explained it how I would have. The feelings, thoughts, how your body feels, everything was explained perfectly and I fell so hard for the story because of the true descriptions and research.
A book that is thoroughly researched and not just bullshitted is a winner, in my opinion, and this one was definitely a winner!
The story, other than with just Jamie personally, was deep and what true love stories are about. A soul touching love that nothing can compete with or touch. An experience that most spend their lives searching for and never experience for themselves. It was also believable because lets face it, some romance stories are amazing but are a little farfetched, but this one I could feel and I experienced right along with these characters.
Of course there were times I was frustrated with Kate and wanted to shake some sense into her because she was being outrageous. And then there were other times I could understand where she was coming from. It was a delicate balance that never fell on one side more than the other.
There were elements that seemed so Renee like in this story. A theme I have noticed with her stories, usually dealing with older, wiser people giving the most remarkable advice about love and life in general. In Sweet Thing there was Martha and in Nowhere but Here there were actually a few wise people who gave Kate advice when she needed to hear it the most. There was also angst, surprises that you may or may not see coming, and then of course appearances from Will and Mia that make your heart swoon.
I can see this novel turned into a movie that is set in Tuscany with beautiful scenery and an epic romance that people can feel through the screen! It portrays so many emotions that a film exec would be stupid not to evoke them on screen.
It was beautiful and a beautiful story deserves 5 "I love this freaking story" stars!!
Check it out for yourself:
