Decanted

Great book with extremely well done characters. I read the whole thing in a day because I didn’t want to put it down at all. Super story that makes you want to revisit your own dreams.

I was really torn between a 3 or 4 star review for this so I'm going to class it as 3.5.

I struggled to get into the story at the beginning but I was captivated by about 50%.

The descriptive writing was really good and I enjoyed all the wine dialogue. But I just felt sometimes the way the characters spoke it felt unrealistic. Certain things that happened in the book just didn't feel right and it always fell into place far too easy.

The ending really disappointed me, I was hoping for a different outcome and I still feel that I have unanswered questions.

Vineyards
South of France And Napa Valley
Passions

This immersive and captivating story takes us though the beautiful vineyards of the South of France and Napa Valley in Northern California. Samantha and Vivian are both wonderful characters. These women are strong and don’t follow traditional conventions but instead forge their own path and future. The setting and the intricacies of the wine making business is so well written I completely immersed into the story line. This was a gorgeous story about following your passions, family and of course wine!

My momma @nannarino is back with another winner! Thank you to @suzyapprovedbooktours for our gifted review copy of DECANTED by @lindasheehanauthor - out now!
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Read DECANTED if you enjoy stories about:
-Determined women
-Second chances
-Dual timelines
-Family secrets
-Wine country
-Dash of romance
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This was a different type of read for me and I really enjoyed it. I love that I learned a good deal about wine while reading DECANTED. The way the author weaves the timelines and pieces everything together was just wonderful.

Linda Sheehan, the author of “Decanted” has written an entertaining, intriguing, and thought-provoking novel. The genres for this novel are literary fiction, romance, and a dash of historical fiction. The timelines for this story are set in the author’s present and the past when it pertains to the characters or events. I love the author’s vivid descriptions of the wine-making process, and the landscape, and the scenery as well as the characters and plots. The author describes her colorful characters as complex and complicated. This is a book of secrets, betrayals, and lack of communication. I do enjoy that the author discusses that there are some courageous and powerful women characters. The settings for this story are in southern France and in Napa's “wine” country.

Samantha (Sam) seems to be following in her Great Aunt Vivian’s footsteps. Vivian had gone to Paris, before the war, hoping to find what her dreams will be. To support herself, Vivian found jobs posing for artists. When the Germans entered France, Vivian does some brave and courageous things.

Sam is bored with her accounting job for a wine company and finds that she has a desire to become more invested in the growing, and production of wine. She sets off to France to work on a vineyard, not realizing how this will change her life forever. Sam can tell grapes are ready by tasting them. It is a tedious and long day in the vineyards, and Sam loves every moment ingesting the information about grapes. She realizes that making good wine takes dedication, and is an art.

After a major disappointment, Sam returns to the Napa valley and becomes involved in the wine industry, and again works on a vineyard. Little does Sam realize that her deceased Great-Aunt holds the key for Sam’s dreams to come true. I would highly recommend this novel to other readers.

I honestly chose this book to read because of the cover. But I was definitely not disappointed once I started reading. It caught my attention from the beginning and held it all the way through.

This is the take of Samantha. Samantha has a dream of making wine. She is an up and coming accountant at an up and coming accounting firm. But when she is given the chance to be a toiler at a vineyard in France she cannot say no.

I enjoyed this book because Samantha made me feel as if there is nothing that I cannot do. This isn't just a story about a girl who follows her dreams. Nope, there's also some love and romance to go along with the wine.

What more could you ask for?
Thank you Netgalley, the publishers and the author for the chance to read this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Samantha Goodyear is an accountant at a huge firm in New York City. She works all the time and wants to incorporate her passion which the business of wine into her work life.

After meeting the owner of a winery in France, getting her dad as her new roomie, and having an “Aha” moment at work, Samantha quits her job to pursue her dreams of becoming a wine maker.

Armed with her Great-Aunt Vivian’s grit, Samantha goes from France to Napa Valley to learn everything she can to make her dream come true.

First of all, wine is my love language, so all the wonderful descriptions about the wines and the wine making process made this a dream come true read for me.

The story is well done in the book and it isn’t just Samantha’s story, we get a little history about Great-Aunt Vivian during her time in France from 1936 - 1940 which gives the book an extra layer of complexity.

I really liked the way all the secondary characters were written into the story,
how many of them had interesting back stories, and how they all played a roll in Samantha’s adventure.

Finally, without giving away the ending, I love the celebration of girl power done in a subtle way!