Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Corkscrew You is a light-hearted rom-com set in the wine country, a la Tessa Bailey's series with Secretly Yours, which I absolutely loved -- and this book was nearly just as fun! Both our main characters, Shelby and Nate are lovable heroes who have are coming to terms with the loss of their father. Shelby's saddled with fighting for her pride and joy, her wine farm, which previously relied solely on local support and the gravitas of her father. Nate is our Harvard-educated pretty business boy, sent to help rescue the finances of the farm, while also grappling with his father's refusal to utilize modern medicine to survive a diagnosis of viral myocarditis (more on this later...)

What I loved about this book was the way in which it subverted cliches, but still managed to hold tension and stay cozy. For example, our big boss owner of the farm is a family friend of Nate's and admirer of Shelby and her father; he remains warm and understanding throughout the book, instead of this big bad investor. Our small town comprised of a constantly suspicious baker, an incredibly wealthy but also kind and thoughtful hotel owner, and the two best friends of Shelby, who are both intriguing in their own right. I'm particularly excited to see a book for Jordan and Brandon, pleaaaase!

Our two characters fell quick - my one only tiny gripe with this book. It felt like by chapter 3, Nate was already thinking he was in-love with Shelby - which was much, much too fast for me, considering they barely knew each other and Nate was getting over a fiance jilting him. What I did love about this, though, was their quick descent into spicy times. I can fully appreciate a book that spreads its sex scenes throughout while still having plot - yay! Also, I could use a little bit less French. It was just a weird bit that took me out of the story constantly.

I also appreciated both of our families -- Shelby's family clearly loves her, but has their own lives and have all but abandoned her and the farm. Nate's family is big and driven, AND his father is sort of realistic, but definitely clearly frustrating in way that I was able to relate to. Now, because I'm a medical student, I can't help but comment on the realism of this, which by the way, is genuinely very accurate to medicine. The imminent fear of him falling dead at any moment is a bit odd with a viral myocarditis or dilated cardiomyopathy, since it would be relatively rare and not something I'd necessarily feel incredibly anxious about, until he actually had an arrhythmia episode. Buuut, given this is a man who is reluctant to take meds and had a whole section on the CoQ enzyme, eh, I'm willing to suspend some belief and just be frustrated with Nate's family. I certainly would be, and the author certainly set up enough familial anxiety around it. I'd give anything to slap some sense in this man.

Ultimately, this was an incredibly fun read - I loved loved our cast of characters (again, please give me Jordan and Ava's story!!!!!) and will absolutely be reading sequels to come. Can't wait for our silent grump of a Cam to be a main character!! Giving this book a full 4.5 stars, with a 3.5 for spice!!

3 ⭐️ It takes hard work to save a vineyard!
Thank you so much Net Galley for the eARC!

Nate has been hired to help Shelby's family-owned Flora Valley Wines get out of debt after her father's passing. Although they seem focused on their differences at first, they know they ultimately want the same thing: for the vineyard to succeed. But money and soul are two very diametrically different concepts, and success looks differently depending on what it is you want most.

This book scraped by the three-star mark, but barely. It was rom-com-y and cute, and although I really like the premise and the side characters, the MMC was a big problem for me. He is basically just a walking, talking alphahole who decides, out of nowhere, that he's in love with her. I usually love instalove, instalust stories, but this one didn't make sense at all. They have a couple of conversations, in which he keeps thinking how terrible she is and how he wishes he could hit her so hard she passed out and stopped talking... I wish I was kidding. And, although I'm sure these things could work for someone else, I'm not that someone. I liked Shelby, the FMC, well enough. She was more of a cry-baby push-over than I would have liked, but then again a good cry is good every now and then, and there's an important part of this book that focuses on mental health and grief. The ending was cute, and I love the chances for other stand-alones in this series.

Apart from the terrible MMC, my biggest problem with this book was the writing. It felt so unnatural and the grammar was so odd at times. Why say 'thank you, thank you' every time, even to yourself in your own head? That was another thing, this book has Dual POV changing from Nate to Shelby, and they do this thing where they talk to themselves in the third person and then answer themselves too, in their heads. The narration doesn't stop or show any punctuation to signal there's a change in tone or anything like that, but there were questions and answers. It was just weird.

🌶🌶 - There are a couple of s*x scenes, but they're not particularly great, imo. Except for the key lime pie one. That one was good.


This review has already been posted on Goodreads!

i’d like to begin with idea of the book. i loved it, i really did! she had to work with him to save her father’s winery? it’s so good, but the way it was written i did not enjoy as much. the writing was easy and quick but the plot was moving so fast. by chapter 8 he was already in love with her and later on with each chapter their relationship was moving with a speed of light. it felt like everything was happening in a period of a month.
characters: i think characters were okay. i liked both of them as well as supportive characters. the atmosphere was comforting and at the same time professional. i definitely not a pet person but shelby’s little friends were cute. also i liked shelby’s confidence and her motivation to keep winery working even though her close person was not around.
scenes: love scenes were bad. they were a little cringy and i did not enjoy them. most of the time i skipped them.

This books story telling was quite choppy so it made it difficult to get through. The romance was cute though and I liked Shelby as a character!

Thank you so much to HarperCollins UK, NetGalley and the author for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

As much as it pains me, I will not be finishing this book. I was drawn in by the enemies to lovers premise and the gorgeous cover design, but unfortunately I quickly realized the book wasn't going to be for me.

I occasionally enjoy fast-paced romances, but I didn't realize there was not going to be a slow burn at all, and the relationship between Nathan and Shelby simply didn't appeal to me.

I'm sure this book will be great for people who have slightly different taste than mine in romance books though, and I always encourage everyone to try for themselves and not judge a book too harshly based on other people's opinion. I will give the book three stars because I still might pick up the next book in the series!

For me, this is a 3.5 star read, but I rated it 3 stars, as platforms don’t let you give physical ‘halves.’

This wasn’t a bad effort at all.
I love a small town romance, and this was an easy read.

I didn’t mind the pacing of the plot, but what bothered me was the initial lack of chemistry between the two love interests. He’s supposedly falling in love with her, but there were no ‘little acts’ of ‘love’ between them until around 30/ 40% into the book. I think this could have been remedied with small amounts of flirtation spread through to support this.

I found the ‘on again/ off again’ relationship really quite annoying. It felt overdone. I don’t mind this two times max in a book, but for it to occur more than this is quite alienating and tiresome.

I initially requested this book because I thought a wine/ vineyard setting was an unusual one, but I felt that this plot line occasionally got lost in favour of ‘family turmoil’ plots. I’d have liked it to have a more prominent role- actually having the characters care for the vineyard/ harvest the grapes, etc.

Yes, I’d still recommend this one, because it was still a fun and enjoyable read.

Corkscrew You by Catherine Robertson had potential, but fell a little short. This forced proximity romance set at a vineyard follows Shelby, the wine maker, and Nate the business man hired to turn things around financially. Content warning, there's a heavy portion of the book that discusses the loss of a parent (Shelby's dad) and a sick parent (Nate's dad). Overall, the story is full of ups and downs, but left me wanting more. I actually found Nate's siblings to be the most interesting characters and they seem to be getting their own books down the road.

I could not get through this book. DNF at 20%. The FMC’s internal monologue was so hard to read - her thoughts were cringy with the random words instead of cuss words. And I could tell this was going to move way too fast. I prefer a slow burn! This just wasn’t for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️
Dual POV
Insta Love

It was okay. Very insta-love.
Within 3 days MMC was in love.
FMC won’t swear, uses childish words in place of factual words as she thinks it rude.

Without the insta love and the childish words the story overall is good there’s progression some predictable in a good way, the background characters were more interesting. It’s fairly light book but there is a lot of talk about family members ill/ dying. Pretty spicy in some areas with explicit description.

Odd little moments/ wording.
*spoiler maybe, Literally at the hospital she’s in middle of a freak out and Nate is having family issues and she mentions on the way there, they were too ‘too wrung out emotionally for any sexy fondling.’
Such an odd bit to add for that moment.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was marketed as a "New Adult" book but I found a lot of the text to be quite childish. Using the word "fig" in place of a curse word is not something I expect to find in a book meant for adults.

This was also an incredibly fast-paced romance as he was already in love with her a few chapters in, he was also close to declaring love around 30% in.

Overall, this book just wasn't for me, but I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to read an early copy of this book.

Shelby instantly hates Nate the moment she meets him because he’s become her boss in a complicated turn of events at her family winery. After her Dad died Shelby had to find an investor so her mom could use the money to retire. Shebly naively thought she’d be able to keep running the winery but “Harvard Bot” Nate has been brought in. Nate and Shelby become instantly obsessed with the other and their hate quickly turns to love.

This is for you if you like sappy inner monologues and instant love. Cute but very Hallmark move vibes in my opinion. Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Corkscrew You is a sweet romcom set in the small town of Verity. Most of the action takes place on a small vineyard now owned by our FMC, Shelby, after the passing of her father. When she realizes she cannot continue to run the vineyard on her own, she seeks investment help, and when she gets someone to help her, the caveat is that a new manager, Nate, will suddenly be in charge. Romance builds between Shelby and Nate, but Nate's facing similar familial struggles to what Shelby went through the year prior with the loss of her father. Nate's own father has heart issues and is refusing help, much to the chagrin of his own family. Can Shelby help save Nate's father while he attempts to save her vineyard?

The writing was nice and easy to follow. The story flowed well, and was on pace with most romcoms. The characters were quirky, but tight knit, which made you really root for them as individuals and as a collective unit. It may be a bit difficult to read if you've recently lost someone close to you, but the overall story is very sweet.

this book! It was quick and easy to read. I sped through it. I loved the vineyard setting!

The only thing I had an issue with was the speed that the MCs fell for each other, it all felt rushed which meant it’s a 3 star for me.

Definitely would read more by the author though!

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK and OMC for the ARC

I am a huge lover of romantic comedy books… i was approved for an advance reader copy and was so excited! this one had such great potential but I have to say it fell a little short.

Spoilers ahead …..






So the main characters were both likable people but the entire story felt so rushed for me. Nate falls in love with Shelby within like a half day of meeting her… I am all for love at first sight, but there wasn’t enough character development to feel invested at that point.

The overall feel of the book was positive… loved what little I got out of the character development but the whole time I just wanted more. I think if this book dove
a little deeper and went a little longer it could have gotten to four or five stars for me. But it was just way too rushed and I felt very meh when I was finished.

Felt like a familiar live to hate but then love story. I didn’t quite get into this one all the way. I think the cover is fantastic though! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC!

This is a small town romance. Shelby is looking for ways to save her fathers winery, and seeks advice from someone she despises: Nate.

There is a lot of banter, love growing between business partners, and tension! This is categorized as a slow burn, but the story is so fast paced (in my opinion) that it doesn’t feel like a slow burn at all.

All in all, this is a decent and quick read!

Shelby is determined to save her father's winery even though she's forced into a working relationship with Nathan. Nathan has big plans to change the winery, so naturally the two butt heads. After one spectacular kiss, Shelby and Nathan are left to figure out where they stand between love and business.
I loved all the pieces of this, but it was a little too insta love for me. I didn't feel the depth or connection between Shelby and Nathan, and I wanted to so badly! The depth is there for their families and the tough situations they find themselves in. Overall this was a fun read.

Loved the cover and the name
But I have a problem with the download. It didn’t have any pages . Not sure who to ask for help

This would have been better as a singular perspective. When you have a jerk MMC, but immediately get into his head and find out within pages that he's not really a jerk, all tension is lost. Not to mention when the jerk falls in love before learning ANYTHING real about the FMC. This was difficult to get through because nothing got to build or develop. The MMC is just dealing with his feelings from day 1, and his inside monologue is so whiny and kind of pathetic. "Oh woe is me, I treated my ex like a prize and lost her." Yeah obviously... and then you just immediately develop feelings for the next girl you lay eyes on?

I like Shelby. She is the one redeeming side of this. What you see is what you get. She's not pretending to be anything and she's not afraid of conflict or fighting for what she wants.

But overall, I am not the audience for this book

Spicy contemporary rom com that had potential but missed the mark for me. It was a bit frenetic and I was thrown off by just how quickly the male lead fell in love with the female lead. The strength of his feelings seemed like a red flag or rebound because their interactions were fun with chemistry but nothing earth shattering that should lead to more than like/lust at that point. I rate this a 3.5 since the writing was ok and there were fun moments and characters. I would consider trying another book from this author and hope the next one floats my boat.