Loved the setting of this book and the descriptions of the region, but I struggled to maintain interest in the story or connect with the characters.

Starting Over at the Vineyard in Alsace Domaine des Montagnes: Book 2
by Julie Stock

The setting was lovely and Thierry was lovely but not much else was really going on for me.

This book had such potential for developing the main character but it didn’t really achieve !

Also I found Lottie was not a very likeable character whereas Thierry was such a lovely one it just didn’t seem to gel for me.

2.5/5

Lottie has been abandoned by her partner when she falls pregnant. She goes home determined to raise her child. Thierry is grief stricken following the death of his wife 2 years ago. Circumstances force them together & their attraction deepens.

I originally requested this book because anything with wineries in France or Italy and I am normally all in.
Once I got the book, and went to add to my goodreads, I realized it was the second book in a series.
Well, I haven't read the first one so that let the wind out of my sails a bit.

Alas, I removed this from my goodreads and never read the title. I just did not want to get started into a series I wasn't sure I was invested in.

I really wanted to like this book, but really couldn't get behind the characters.

I loved the setting and it made me want to return to France desperately, and the descriptions and image building of the location were fantastic. I also found the concept of the story really intriguing, particularly with Lottie and Thierry's relationship dynamic given what they're going through individually.

I found the character development for Lottie was severely lacking. I understand that she was meant to be hurt and finding it hard to let anyone, even someone who is being as nice as Thierry, in, but I found her infuriating and rather tiresome with her continued rebuffals of Thierry. I was caught on occasion eye-rolling at how stubborn/difficult she was being. I did find Thierry a little problematic to start with as he came across overbearing and slightly controlling, however, his character improved significantly and had a much better development arc than Lottie's.

I also did not realise that this book was part of a series and can easily be read as a stand-alone novel, which is good in itself.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC of Starting Over at the Vineyard in Alsace!

Apologies for the late review.

I always love a story where the write displays the ability to make me want to travel, and wit this novel, Julie has accomplished the near impossible; my now wanting to to to France! If only we could...

Well written and characterised, this is a novel where the love the author put into it whilst writing, shines through. Heartily recommended!

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the reading copy.

Hopefully someone else will enjoy this book. I do love books with settings in wine country. I'm hoping I will check out another book from this author

Lottie Schell becomes pregnant but her partner leaves her alone to face the future. She decides to go home to Alsace to live on the vineyard and raise her child alone without anyone's support. Thierry Bernard is reeling with grief following the death of his wife two years earlier. He knows he needs to move on, but has difficulty dealing with the truth of what really happened. Lottie and Thierry develop a friendship that deepens with time. Both are scared to trust someone fully with their heart.

There were a lot of things to like about this book. The setting was wonderful and so beautifully described. However, Lottie was kind of mean and I found that off-putting.

I really wanted to like this book. The setting was beautifully painted in words, but the main character, Lottie, was just annoying to me. She was very immature for her age, and ungrateful to people who wanted to help her. Thierry, her boyfriend, was in denial about still being in love with his deceased wife, and it took a while for him to agree to counseling.

I just didn't love this book, barely liked it. The editing was good, and it was clear that the author had researched the local area, but it just didn't work for me.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

I wanted to like this more than I did. The setting is lovely and the main character, Lottie, is surrounded by loving relatives and great friends. The hero, Thierry, is troubled a bit as he is trying to recover from the loss of his first wife, but he is also doing his best to be a good partner to Lottie and her baby. I just found Lottie a bit immature. She has trust issues and strives to continually assert her independence so she keeps slapping back at every nice thing that Thierry does for her. And I just found that tiresome after a while.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

I must confess that I haven’t read book one in this series and can honestly say that it didn’t detract from the story as everything was written as a standalone edition.
I really did enjoy this story but felt that there was a lot of repetition in the emotions being described. I was happily able to suspend that small irritation and immerse myself in this really lovely tale of personal forgiveness and learning to trust again.
In particular, I liked the character of Thierry. His guilt was palpable, and it was heart-wrenching to sympathise with his pain. He certainly showed more patience with Lottie than I felt that she deserved! His vulnerability as he came to terms with his bereavement was well described and made for a truly lovable character.
The supporting cast of this love story were adorable, in particular, I enjoyed the exchanges between Lottie and her sister, Fran.
I would recommend this book and I look forward to any future editions in this series.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

A charming story about Thierry and Lottie, whether they can trust each other fully and move forward in their lives together.

Both have personal challenges to overcome, putting the past behind them, deal with what happened.

Lottie, whose 8 months pregnant, she’s determined that she wants to do with for herself and not have to depend on anyone else. But this doesn’t make Thierry happy.

Thierry decides to go see a counsellor to deal with his past, something which he’s not looking forward to but finds it really helping talking about what happened with his late wife and how he feels now with Lottie and her baby.

Will Thierry and Lottie be able to work together to overcome their issues and build a life together???