You Had Me at Merlot has all the usual characteristics for which Melissa Brayden is known for, great dialog, witty banter, main characters that you want to be friends with, charming secondary characters and a sweet romance. This novel was perfect, I only wish it were a bit longer since I wanted to spend more time with these characters.

The book’s premise is as follows: Jamie Tolliver owns Bordeauxnuts, a charming coffee spot turned wine bar in NYC. Her world is shaken when Leighton Morrow, an enigmatic stranger with a job to demolish Jamie's café for a new store, enters the scene. From this I thought I would guess the whole book but all I will say is that I was pleasantly surprised, and it exceeded my expectations.

This is one of my favorites Mellisa Brayden’s books, highly recommend it!

Highlights:
- cute and entertaining side characters
- second chance romance
- lots of coffee, donuts, and wine
- sapphic romance with both lesbian and bi/pan rep
- publication date: Feb 13

Summary: Jamie owns and runs Bordeauxnuts, a restaurant in NYC that sells coffee and donuts during the day and wine in the evening. Jamie loves her cozy restaurant and her community of regular customers.
Leighton is a cute new customer who has caught Jamie’s eye. Their developing relationship is marred by the fact that Leighton is hiding who she is.

A department store wants to buy the block Bordeauxnuts is located on, displacing all the local stores in the process. Unbeknownst to Jamie, Leighton works on the department store’s development team.

Thoughts: This book is well-written! I found both Jamie and Leighton to be well-rounded, interesting characters.
This novel felt unique to me in that it spans multiple years. We get to see both Jamie and Leighton’s “first chance” and their “second chance,” which I don’t think is common for second chance romance novels. I did find the jump in time a bit jarring while reading it.

Much of the conflict between the characters in the beginning of the book arose from a lack of communication, which isn’t my favorite trope.

There were a lot of twists and turns in the plot, so I think this book would be the best fit for readers who like more drama and more angst, while still having a guaranteed happy ending.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Content Advisory:
• References to a parent’s diagnosis with cancer
• References to a parent’s death
• References to parental abandonment
• Infidelity

Thankyou netgalley and boldstroke books for the arc of this! With such a cute punny name I really wasn’t expecting this book to take me on the emotional rollercoaster that it did. I was almost immediately drawn to both main characters and you could feel their connection through the page. Things felt like they moved really well between the too and I was heartbroken for Jamie when she found out about Leighton. I’m normally not a big fan of time jumps especially ones as big as this but I think considering the hurt Jamie felt at the situation that time between was needed for her to get over that, watching Leighton wrestle with her lie even after that and try to be there for Jamie in anyway she could was so lovely and it really helped show her love. I yelled so much at the end half of this book with the choices Leighton was making that it just made them coming back together in the end feel even more special. I loved the sub plot of Leighton standing her ground with her father as well I think it really helped close that door for her as a character. This book was feel good, tense and electric all in one and I can recommend enough.

This is a story about Jamie Toliver who owns a coffee shop /wine bar in NYC. It a nice little niche shop with plenty of local loyal customers. Then along comes Leighton Murrow a real estate developer who’s company wants to buy up the block that the coffee shop is on to build a department store.

Jamie and Leighton had instant chemistry that blows up in both of their faces. Years later they meet up by accident and become reacquainted.

This book is filled with angst and longing for what could have been. And it hit my melancholy filled brain with longing about unfulfilled dreams. Brayden did a great job on the storyline and the terrific character development.

If you are a Brayden fan this book won’t disappoint you. And she adds several characters we’ve meet in past books to give us a chance to meet up with them and check in on how their lives are going.

ARC revived from Net Galley for an honest and voluntary review.

I’ve read a couple Melissa Brayden books in the past that I just didn’t connect with. However, this time around was different. I enjoyed the concept and the characters. The entire development of their relationship was perfect. Granted it took forever to get there but at least it did!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!!

Jamie and Leighton had the BEST chemistry! I loved their story so much and loved reading about Bordeauxnuts! Coffee, sweet treats, and wine…. It’s the actual dream. I also love books that take place in NYC.

This is my first book by Melissa Brayden, and it won’t be my last!

Bordeauxnuts, a café and wine bar in one where a gorgeous woman walks in one day and makes quite the impression on it’s owner, Jamie. Dates and adult activities later and Jamie still doesn’t know Leighton works for the company planning on demolishing her café.

3 years later Leighton and Jamie have both moved on.. right? Jamie can’t imagine ever trusting Leighton the liar and lets her know just as such. Friends is where Jamie draws the line, a major mistake she comes to regret.

A sweet read. Nothing special but I really enjoyed it. Well written. Third pov. Great sexual tension and chemistry. Likable main characters. Obvious storyline. From what I understand, some of the secondary characters in this book have their own books. We didn’t get any backstory on them and I would have liked to get to know them a bit. I liked the secondary characters overall though.

The pacing was fine for the most part. But I do think the 3 year gap was excessive and I do think Jamie overreacted. The conflict could easily have been solved within months with some grovel. I think Jamie’s reaction was a bit much. If she would have let Leighton explain, she would have saved them both a lot of time. What Leighton did was wrong, yes, but they’d gone on two dates and had sex once. That’s nowhere near committed relationship levels and Leighton was unfairly judged by Jamie and secondary characters. You might have to read the book to understand where I’m coming from but to me, Leighton made an honest mistake and not an unforgivable one.

There’s quite a lot of other woman involved. The mc’s date others until around 85% in. Toward the end I got so sick of it. Being with someone else and pretending to be happy isn’t very mature behaviour. I didn’t catch Jamie’s age but Leighton is in her late thirties. I’m 19 and know forcing happiness won’t actually get you there. I do wish they would have broken up with their significant others earlier.

The HEA wasn’t satisfying to me at all, it was all a bit rushed. From 10-100 within a few pages and we didn’t get to see the mc’s as a couple for more than a couple of pages.

CW: mention of cancer and death of family member.
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3.75 stars

What in the BONUS JONAS?! This story is JACKPOT! I absolutely loved "You Had Me At Merlot," and it's definitely tied with my favorite Melissa Brayden novel of all time. This and Strawberry Summer are truly masterpieces. I cannot tell you how much I loved our two main gals. Ms. Brayden's adjectives are scrumptious and always perfect. I was rooting for Jamie and Leighton from the moment they met. How does she always write stories that make you squeal with joy? Please know that I highly recommend this book to every romance lover!

You Had Me At Merlot is a home run! Just wow, I couldn't put this one down. Melissa Brayden truly is one of my favorite authors of all time. She elicited so many warm and fuzzy feelings after reading this beautiful story. I absolutely LOVED all the characters. The way she describes characters makes me feel like I'm best friends with them all. I always feel like I'm sitting right next to the main characters in each scene. This truly was a magical and gorgeous love story, and I am so thankful for Melissa. I highly recommend, 10/10!

this was my first time reading Melissa Brayden’s book and I just loved her writing style! this story has all the ingredients to make a book successful, had witty and funny moments. the story was overall really fun to read, enjoyed almost all parts of the book. it also had few spice scenes but not too minimal, which I had no issues with. loved both characters and they were well written. loved, loved, loved, the chemistry between both the characters. I felt the characters were very relatable and the way they solved their conflicts, their maturity was just so fascinating!

I will admit that when I first got into this book I instantly saw comparisons to the novel Read Between the Lines, the quirky small business owner falling for the corporate girl boss set out to close her down.

However, once I got to know these characters all comparisons were forgotten.

I instantly felt the chemistry between Jamie and Leighton, and Brayden did an excellent job of truly making you feel connected to them both. The way the time line played out was something I really liked and didn’t see coming. It made the emotions all the more real for me, showing that they couldn’t just be forgotten.

Over all this was a great love story with great characters!

Thank you Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for the arc!

This is such a cute book. It has a cute and great banter and a queer cast.

The MC have great chemistry, banter and a great story. Sometimes the writing is the same thing over and over but the character build makes the story interesting.

I enjoyed this book and glad i received an advanced copy of the book.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

A sweet friends-to-lovers Sapphic romance filled with cute banter and a queer-normative cast.

Jamie owns and runs a popular coffee/wine bar in New York. Leighton is tasked with assessing the real estate for her family's chain store to take over the building that includes Jamie's business. Leighton and Jamie hit it off, but Leighton's deception stands in the way. Three years later, can the two women put the past behind them?

Jamie and Leighton have great chemistry, and their banter is sweet. The writing is a little repetitive at times (the relationship described as "give-and-take" at least 3 times), but the story played out well. Some chapters had a weird scene order to them that was jarring. I enjoyed the various side characters and empathized with the loss Jamie feels and the abandonment Leighton deals with. Fans of Melissa Brayden will not be disappointed.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

This novel was truly incredible. I keep being surprised by the consistent high quality of Melissa Brayden’s novels (3 now for me) and I should really wake up and adjust my expectations. The silly (but delightful) cover and title did not foreshadow how mature and well done this novel would be. It was realistic in the most satisfying ways and the emotions were real and tangible. As always, Brayden didn’t phone it in with this one; the novel took its time to fully explore the characters and story in a satisfying way without settling for easy feel-good resolutions (and yet the feel-good is still there!). I would recommend this novel to anyone and everyone.

Jamie and Leighton meet by happenstance and it seems like love at first sight, or at least attraction. Unfortunately, Leighton’s job is to scope out Jamie's business for a hostile takeover by her family’s company. The two unexpectedly hit it off and sparks fly, meanwhile Leighton struggles to reveal her secret. Things go predictably wrong and they are left to try and see if they can pick up the pieces.

I have realized that when I truly love a novel my reviews get shorter and/or more general, with this being one of those. There were far too many great things about this novel to start listing them or even trying to pick out favorites. I don’t even have anything negative to say; this novel was simply incredible! It was emotional, sweet, heartwarming, heart-wrenching, exciting, and everything else a novel can be.

P.S.: Brayden also took two tropes that I usually hate in a story and found a way to make them actually work in a way that worked for me (I was initially nervous but pleasantly surprised!). This drives it home for me that I need to seek out and read the rest of her catalogue as it was an impressive feat.

P.P.S.: As an aside, the main characters from the two other Brayden novels that I read featured significantly as side characters in this novel (Strawberry Summer and Kiss the Girl). Crossover characters can be hit-or-miss for readers sometimes. In this case it was something I enjoyed given that I knew these characters, however I wonder how it would have played out if I didn’t know them. I can’t comment on if this would have been an issue for people who didn’t know them, but I think they were sufficiently described enough to stand alone in this novel. I am left wondering if there were any other crossover characters; it would be some random luck if the only ones happened to be from the only two other Brayden novels I have read!

Thank you to NetGallery for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bordeauxnuts" is a tale set in the heart of New York City, and it all revolves around the charismatic Jamie Tolliver, owner of a charming coffee and doughnut spot by day that turns into a wine bar by night. Jamie's world shakes when Leighton Morrow, walks in. From the first encounter, the chemistry between Jamie and Leighton is palpable, sparking a crush that intensifies with each conversation.
But Leighton’s intentions are not all that they seem. As a development coordinator for Carrington's Department Store she is part of a plan that could close Bordeauxnuts doors.
A little bit of a spoiler but this book comes with 2 conflicts, and here’s where we have the first one - quite early in the book- as Brayden is combining the sweetness of romance with the bitter reality of conflicting interests.
I won’t give any spoilers about the second conflict but the twist is significant for both Jamie and Leighton.
Overall, the characters are vibrant and relatable, the story flows quite nicely.

Free ARC via NetGalley.

First Position by Melissa Brayden is one of my favorite romances of all time. So I was really excited to read her newest one.
The book is about Jamie and Leighton, two women living in New York City from very different backgrounds. It seems love at first sight when Leighton enters Jamie’s coffee/wine/donut café. But is love really that easy?
The best part of the book was that the obvious conflict is central to the plot. Often in romance novels what goes wrong in a relationship is forgiven quickly at the last 10% of the book. But here the conflict is early in the book. Which gives Brayden the opportunity to really make her characters work for conflict resolution and forgiveness.
Given that this was my favorite part, what I liked less was the conflict introduced in the last third of the book. Just when they are getting closer, both Leighton and Jamie pursue other relationships. This felt really unnecessary and makes them dishonest about their feelings. I would have liked it way more if trust and forgiveness played a larger role there.
It’s obvious that a bunch of couples from previous books make an appearance, and I think you’d get more out of the side characters if you’ve read more of Brayden’s books. Which maybe makes the side characters feel flat because I had no background for most of the other characters.
In the end I think the book had a lot of potential but did not give me what I wanted from it.

Thank you Bold Strokes Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

CW: <spoiler>cancer diagnosis and death of dad (minor), grief</spoiler>

Jamie and Leighton…WOW! Individually really great characters but together - combustible. Melissa Brayden takes us on an emotional journey with these two MC’s that has your heart and stomach feeling as if you’ve been on the emotional roller coaster with them. The story keeps you on your toes and guessing right to then end.
As most of MB’s books the story has romance, heat, sweetness, sadness and lots of laughter ….oh! And great Easter Eggs.
Thanks to Bold Strokes books for the ARC via NetGalley. I really enjoyed giving my honest opinion.

This was like a wlw version of a 2000s romcom and reminded me of Written in the Stars. The dual POV added to the story and understanding what was going on with each characters' motivations. I wasn't expecting the time jump, but it was done well and kept the story moving along nicely. I liked the parts that explored the main characters' dynamics with their family and friends and I think they added to the story and the characterization, but I do wish there had been more of some of the side characters. This had a balance of moving fast and slowburn by putting the conflict early on and then rebuilding after that to a more fleshed out connection. It was nice to see a wlw take on the classic romcom tropes.

<b> A cozy wlw romance </b>

This started off as a nice snow day read with You've Got Mail vibes (the business rivals bit, not the internet chatroom bit), but I anticipated that conflict to last the full book and instead about a third of the way in, we jump forward to a very different reconciliation friends-to-lovers story. I think the final third of the book has pacing issues as a result - at some points the story starts to plod toward its inevitable conclusion, at others mandatory complications get glossed over.

The leads have great chemistry, but the secondary characters are weak. These facts coupled with passionate sex scenes and pretty mid writing elsewhere read as fan-fictiony to me, which is great for those who enjoy it and is just not my personal cup of tea.

All in all, a cute enough palate cleanser, but nothing special.

This was a really sweet and endearing story. It was the first girl meets girl romance book that I’ve read and it made me think of all the TikToks of straight women lamenting that they are attracted to men. Haha!

This read like most books in this category; lots of tension, poor timing, etc. to keep the story moving along. There are a few spicy scenes but they aren’t overly descriptive, so even while they narrate the acts it doesn’t read as vulgar. Additionally, I loved the feel of some fun side characters who are regulars at the coffee shop. I did find that some plot points felt unnecessary (the bit with Leighton’s father) but overall, this was an enjoyable read and I would recommend!