London has not been kind to Lottie Allbright. Realising it’s time to cut and run, she packs up and moves back home – but finds her family in disarray. In need of a new place to stay, Lottie takes up the offer of a live-in job managing a local vineyard. There’s a lot to learn – she didn’t even know grapes could grow so far north!

Lottie is stuck in London, with a boyfriend who is more and more controlling. Finally she finds the nerve to leave him and head back to where her father and sister live, and she finds a temporary job at a local vineyard. When she meets the widow's grandson Jensen, sparks fly. A good story and one that was hard to put down. A bit more details on grapes than I needed, but it did add to the story. Would highly recommend this book and author. Fun summer read.

How can I adequately express just how much I love this book?! It has wine, love, loss, hope, humour, family, relationships, new life...it has it all and the author is a genius at guiding us through this story in a way which allows us to celebrate the highs and lows with the characters as if we were really there! A truly fabulous read.

I really enjoyed this 'bubbly' summer romance. My rating 4.25.

Lottie was excited to move to London with her new boyfriend. Slowly she realizes that he is cutting her off from others, becoming over-controlling and edging towards abuse. Lottie makes a smart choice to go home before things get worse. She arrives to find her sister in distress over estrangement from her husband over their childless status and her father ready to head out on a trip he never got to take before her mother died. Lottie is desperate to find a place to live and to find a job. She is shocked to fall into a live-in position as a manager of a local vineyard.

Butterworth Wines is owned by Betsy, a recent widow whose husband was the leader and driving force behind the vineyard. Most of the workers are volunteers. Although Lottie knows nothing about viticulture (vine growing and harvesting), she is willing to work hard and learn fast. This works especially since everyone is thrilled to let her take control. The only person challenging her inexperience is Betsy’s grandson, Jensen. He thinks it is best to sell the vineyard and facilitate Betsy moving into an assisted living situation.

Lottie is quick to begin to turn things around at the winery and she would like to keep the property in the Butterworth family to honor the founder. She has only been engaged for six months and doesn’t know if she can convince Jensen to continue the business especially when he is on the brink of promotion in his business career. And that is how things stand when a new discovery rocks her world with a ripple effect that will impact everyone in the story.

I am not usually a big fan of relationship drama but this story leans to humor and is simply charming, interesting and engaging. Lottie is a wonderfully real character with strengths that outweigh her insecurities. I loved how her personal journey developed and I enjoyed the support she received from the quirky, passionate characters around the vineyard. Jensen is also a lovely character and their relationship conflict bounces between struggle and joy.

The setting and winery experience is a great element. I enjoyed learning about viticulture and its growth in Britain as well as some of the details and difficulties of the process of making wine. There is good movement in the story and light humor that helps with the enjoyment. I recommend this to readers who would enjoy a relationship story that will bring sighs and smiles. I will have to look for other romances by Ms. Bramley.

Source: 2019 NetGalley.

A fun summer story with lots of LOLs

4 out of 5

**OMG! I cannot believe that these reviews haven't been done! I am so sorry they are so late!!!**

A Vintage Summer is a rather odd little book about a woman who is ready to run away. When Lottie decides to work at a local vineyard, she is becomes up to her eyeballs in secrets. This is a good book that might take you a bit to get into. Press on, like some wines, this one gets better with time.

Loved it!! The story was beautiful. I ended up loving Lottie, but it took a while. How couldn't you love someone who sings Queen's Another One Bites the Dust to a rose bush in a crematorium because it was the person's favorite song. At first I just wanted to shake her. She was living a life with a horrible man, whom she was also scared of and always had to watch what she said in case he became enraged. I hated how Evie treated her when she found out Lottie's secret. She needed her sister and she wasn't there for her. Marjorie and Betsy were quite the characters. They definitely came along at the perfect time and were exactly what Lottie needed. All the volunteers at the vineyard were the perfect family for Lottie. What can I say about Jensen??!!! he was everything that Harvey wasn't, plus so much more.

Definitely recommend the book. I loved everything about it- the story, characters and writing style. I loved the description of the scenery and felt like I was right there in the vineyard (thankfully not there during grape picking in the rain). I look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Orion Publishing Group through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I loved the setting in the winery and Lottie too! Great beach read.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a new author for me and I normally only read books based in the United states but this one had me intrigued. It' takes place at a winery which is why I loved it and could not put it down.

Lottie moves from London to visit her sister evie to find out evie sends in her application for a job. You will have to read the book to see what happens. I don't want to spoil it.

Happy reading

When Lottie moved to London with boyfriend Harvey for his personal training career to take off they were happy. Only over time and him not getting anywhere career wise, Lottie getting promoted in her crematorium gardening job, Harvey becoming more controlling and emotionally draining her Lottie decides to take her life back after talking to a stranger who knew the situation too.



Evie her sister is trying to foster after parting from husband Darren after their lengthy struggle to get pregnant and the stress it put on their relationship.



Meanwhile their dad has gone off travelling the world as to fulfil his wife's dream they shared of retirement travelling only that doesn't go to plan...



As Lottie finds herself at a vineyard by chance to work and build her life back up, she makes new friends, learns new skills and meets the handsome Jensen, the grandson of her new boss whom looks out for her as if she were family...



As Lottie faces a tough choice after finding out a shocking life change and with her ex looming over her and Jensen caring for her closely just what's her happy ending to be?



This book made me smile lots and taught me a lot about wine making too! The story has very serious topics from illness, pregnancy, death, grief, infertility and abuse but if course we see how her life changes from making tough decisions. It's a great summer read for sure!



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

I liked this one fine. It didn’t wow me. It didn’t piss me off. It was complete middle of the road. And sometimes those are just the stories we need.