3.25/3.5 ⭐️

i feel like… indifferent? I had some issues with this book, and then I also enjoyed parts of this book but none of it felt overwhelmingly amazing that I would would remember it in a month or two.

What i liked:
I really loved the atmosphere of this book. The author did a really good job at making the reader feel like they’re in the story with them. TONS of show, not tell and I really loved that.

I adored Teddy, Laine and Zoe. I loved the character growth that Zoe had by the end of the book, i was worried she wasn’t going to get there but she did end up finding her way through.

What I wasn’t fond of:
I don’t really understand why the author had Laine’s pronouns included? She made a point to include her pronouns, but then maybe forgot? Absolutely no other time were they included in the book. I would have rather them been not included at all, rather than brought up to never be heard of again.

I also absolutely despised Rachel. I can’t express the amount i hated her, her character, everything 😆

Overall, i feel like… it was fine but wasn’t anything special. 🙈 I apologize. I enjoyed the read during, but don’t see myself remembering much about it.

Would I recommend? Sure. I’d also read more from this author.

Hits the ground running from the first sentence.

Overall: 4
Spice: 4
Narration: 4

Zoe is struggling to grow her family's winery that was the dream of her deceased mother. Her Italian father has to return to Italy to care for his mother, so hires a temporary vintner to oversee the winery while he is away. Unfortunately, that vintner is very qualified, but is Zoe's first Lesbian crush, and sister of her former BFF/current nemesis, Laine.

I've never had a book make me say, "WTF," in the first paragraph, but this one did. Because of that and the meet cute threesome in chapter 2, you'll know right away if you will like this one. I found this to be an interesting story and characters. The narrator did a great job of creating distinct voices for all of the characters, I'll definitely look for more of her narrations. I have some conflicting emotions about the characters in this one and felt like Zoe wasn't well cared for by some of the people in her life. But overall a good romance read and would recommend. This is the second book in the series, so maybe start with Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair.

Zoe Brennan is trying to keep her family's vineyard afloat when her high school crush and ex-best friend's older sister comes back into town and turns Zoe's life upside down. Zoe Brennan, First Crush was a fun small town romance that combined spicy sapphic pining with a lovely and atmospheric small town vineyard.

I love rom-coms where the main characters are working towards an event, and this was no exception. I also really enjoyed the supporting characters. Zoe had such a good group of friends and community members to lean on, and that was honestly my favorite part of the book.

The subtitle of the book says that it is spicy and boy is it! It starts with a threesome and I was a little unsure of what I was getting into. Thankfully the book balanced the spice with actual plot. I will say though that I have never heard the term "blue bean" to refer to sexual frustration.

Overall a fun quick rom-com that's definitely one for the wine lovers!

“You’re going to rue the day you decided to court me Lane Woods.” My voice is low and dangerously flirtatious, but Lane just smiles and reaches out a hand to gently cup my painted cheek. “No” she says simply, “but I rue all the days I didn’t”.

Deliciously sexy, queer romcom!

Have you ever accidently had a threesome with your ex-best friends sister/childhood crush, only to find out your dad just hired her to work on your family vineyard and you're her new boss? Yea, me neither, but it's delightfully entertaining.

Zoe has had a crush on Lane since they were in grade school. Her puppy dog crush is what drove the final nail in the coffin of Zoe and Rachel's (Lane's sister) friendship. Zoe hasn't seen Lane for years, when suddenly Zoe finds herself blindfolded and in a threesome. When she removes the blindfold, who's there? Her childhood crush Lane, who has returned home to work on Zoe's vineyard. Their sexual encounter only causes slight drama for them at work. Think The Hating Game but queer.

Lane is a sexy, growly, butch who would do anything to protect Zoe... and push her buttons. “Shut up and sit on my face, boss.” The audio book narrator does a great job on both characters voices;)

Tropes: ex-best friends sister, childhood crush, boss/employee, enemies to lovers

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This book was both deeply, wonderfully steamy and utterly romantic. I loved the ways that Zoe and Lane supported each other and got to grow both as their beautifully flawed selves and as a couple. This one had me crying as I drove around town listening and really tugged on my heartstrings! Also, the narrator was stunning. Her narration as Lane had me swooning!

I want to just live on a vineyard now.

Zoe Brennan is a perpetually lonely lesbian, but luckily she can focus on her family vineyard and vying for an opportunity to host a prestigious wine festival. The only obstacle in her way is Rachel, her ex best friend who runs another winery who is determined to best Zoe. Well until Zoe's dad and vintner has to go to Italy for a family emergency and hires Laine to stand in for him. Since Laine is Zoe's high school crush as well as Rachel's sister and the reason they are no longer best friends. Yeah, her working for Zoe will definitely complicate things.

This was such a cute fun read. Zoe and Laine are adorable. The vineyard business and how it intertwines with Zoe and Laine's family histories was an interesting aspect. I adored the Mountaineer Queers so much! This was light and fun but still with good emotional depth and real world problems. The only part I struggled with was the relationship with Rachel. She seemed to be a one dimensional character and I felt like there was something missing from that part of the story. But overall a good read.

4 stars

. While the premise had potential, the characters and plot felt forced and predictable. Zoe and Laine’s relationship was riddled with unnecessary tension that seemed to drag on, and the back-and-forth between them didn’t feel authentic. The whole vineyard rivalry aspect also felt underdeveloped. There were moments that had potential to be more, but ultimately, I found myself bored and disconnected from the story. It’s not terrible, but I was expecting more. 2 stars (and that’s me being nice).

I loved this!
The couple, the side characters, the way I thought I'd be disappointed in a 3rd act break up but was pleasantly surprised the characters kept talking, worked through things, and showed their love to each other despite being unsure of the future. How refreshing!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review

Zoe Brennan runs the small Bluebell Vineyards winery with her father. When Zoe's dad has to go home to Italy to take care of his ailing mother, he hires a trained vintner to take over in his absence. The person he hires? She's none other than Zoe's former best friend, Rachel's, estranged older sister, Laine Woods, who, incidentally, is also Zoe's teenage crush. Not to mention that Rachel and Laine's parents own the competing winery next door. The two winery's compete against each other to be chosen to host a high profile wine festival all the while, the tension between Zoe and Laine keeps growing until neither can deny their feelings for each other. Needless to say things get messy and complicated.

While I did find a lot of the plot to be predictable, I don't necessarily think that's automatically a bad thing and I still very much enjoyed the book. I thought the setting of Blue Ridge was cute, quaint, idyllic. It was the perfect portrayal of a charming southern small town. I absolutely loved (most) of the side characters! I want to be best friends with both Teddy and Daryl IRL and I would pay a decent amount of money to be able to go on the redneck wine tour. Zoe Brennan, First Crush also contained a lot of rom-com elements that I personally love: a one-night stand, a teenage crush (aka PINING), a sapphic romance, former best friend's sibling love interest, workplace romance, small town setting, rival businesses.

If you are a fan of low-conflict rom coms with quirky characters, nerdy/geeky references, and a charming setting, then I would definitely recommend

This was the most fun I've had with a book in a while! From the first chapter I was laughing out loud while listening to this audiobook!

Like the title of the book, Laine Woods is Zoe Brennan's first lesbian crush and is the sister of her former best friend. After not seeing Laine for years Zoe's is in for a shock when she discovers that Laine is both the 3rd in a blindfolded threesome her situationship plans and is going to be the new vitner at her family's winery when her father leaves for an extended period to be with her sick grandmother in Italy. Zoe and Laine clash early on: Laine thinks that the winery is underwhelming and Zoe pushes back that Laine's pretentious views based on working in Napa don't work in Georgia wine country. But when a famous wine festival is looking for a venue in town, Zoe and Rachel have to put their differences aside and work together to land the festival to better both of their individual careers. Through that is there more than just a mission to reach a common goal building between them...

Best friends sibling is one of my favorite tropes so I thought that this being a spin on that where it's the ex-best friend's sibling was something really unique. Rachel makes a strong antagonist of the book and made me want to rage scream whenever her snarkiness appeared on page. Despite surface level differences, Zoe and Laine have so much in common deep down and I loved seeing them get to discover that. There's so much sexual tension between them so when Laine makes them put that aside to "court" Zoe, I was giggling kicking my feet with swooniness. This is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time: all the hilarious banter, the elf themed wedding at the vineyard, Zoe's crush box, & THE BLINDFOLDED THREESOME?!?! If you are wanting a good time I definitely suggest you checking this out!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an ALC of Zoe Brennan, First Crush!

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

Zoe and Rachel are no longer friends which makes it really difficult for Zoe to be around Laine, Rachel’s sister. They try to avoid one another but that becomes impossible when Laine is recruited to the family owned vineyard Zoe runs. Laine was her first crush and they have to learn to work together to keep the vineyard going!

This story was really cute! Such a sweet sapphic romance with fun side characters. One of the characters was so corny one moment then making me laugh out loud the next. Very realistic for a goofy friend I’m sure we’ve all had. I liked the setting and wine talk along with the pacing and writing. I really enjoyed this one!

Lindsey Dorcus did amazing at portraying the characters for the duration of the audio I listened to.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Laura Piper Lee, and Dreamscape Media for providing this free audio ARC. Also thanks to Union Square & Co for my physical copy. This is my honest review. This published on January 21st!

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.
Oh. My. Gosh. This audiobook gave me LIFE. I was not prepared for this book and I'm honestly still trying to soak it all in. First off I really recommend the audiobook, the narrator is perfect for this book and I can picture her as the voice of Zoe perfectly. I understood and felt for Zoe and her personal struggles relating to worth and feeling loved so much, as well as the struggle with realizing your sexuality in your 20's. And I absolutely adore her and Lane's love story. I loved how they both were able to struggle with their own things and deal with them both on their own and with each other. The little found family they have at Blue Ridge also gives me life and melts my heart simultaneously. I look forward to their hopefully being more books for this series so we can continue to see this found family grow.

I loved this one! From the setting to the chemistry between the MCs, I was hooked the whole time. I also just loved how truly queer this was.

I did feel like the drama with Zoe’s ex best friend was a little juvenile and I wasn’t a fan of Laine’s nickname for Zoe being ‘boss’.

Other than those two things, this was fantastic and I’ll definitely be reading more from this author.

Also, Lindsey Dorcus who did a fabulous job.

I stopped with about 2.5 hours to go because the impressive overuse of the thesaurus just got to be too much for me.

There is a lot to like about this book but ultimately, I stopped before finishing it.

I had so much fun with this one! Zoe is funny and relatable while also being a strong personality. Lane is someone I would want to be friends with. They have made their mistakes but are learning from them and seem to be such a fiercely loyal person. The backdrop of this story is in one of my favorite areas of the country and is beautiful described. There is a fair amount of spice in this one, but the story itself holds its own to me. I was rooting for the FMC's the whole time. This story has heart, romance, humor, found family, a funny goat, and more. I highly recommend!

I was so excited to have a chance to listen to this audio arc! I really really enjoyed Hannah Tate Beyond Repair, mostly for how lovable and unique the characters were. I do think the plot of this book was more unique and compelling, but I felt like I got just a little bit less of the endearing character in this one. Overall, I had a good time and will hopefully continue to read Laura Piper Lee's books!

This was a light hearted rom com. Sure there are some emotional stories and situations, but they are written well and keep the story upbeat. There were so many times I laughed out loud. LGBTQ cast of characters who were fun with big personalities. Many spicy moments. The narrator did a good job and made this an easy listen.

A Delightful book to read! It had some humor and great romance. It had a good amount of steam throughout the book, which was nice. The conflict was minimal and was resolved quite quickly, which I didn't mind. I loved how this book showed a great and well balanced community Zoe had for her and her vineyard. It talked about some sensitive subjects in a caring and compassionate manner. Overall this book was a joy to read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Laura Piper Lee for the chance to listen to this book in exchange for my honest review.

I'll just start by saying the "re"meet cute had me: gasping, gagging and speechless. Wow. What a happenstance that was!

I loved the found family, the reconnections and growth. This is a sweet & spicy book that deals with grief, moving forward and finding your place/purpose.

Lindsey Dorcas did excellent narration. I've enjoyed her before this- and I look forward to hearing more from her in the future.