Unfortunately, this book was a huge miss. The synopsis promises an enemies to lovers premise and it goes from them “hating each other” in the first two chapters to them being partners and friends by the fourth. The timeline was very confusing at the beginning of the book and it would skip days but not in a clear way so I never knew what day it was and how much time had passed. Because time was passing without realizing it, you didn’t get to experience any of the main characters love for each other developing. It was a lot of some days had passed and this is what we did during that time so you didn’t really feel the connection between the characters and suddenly they were madly in love with no real interaction. This felt more like a set up to the rest of the series as the author dropped hints for the other siblings stories for future books and didn’t take the time to fully focus on the main couple of this book.

I read this book up until I came across this line: "but shouldn't there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us?"

I cannot in good conscience give a positive review to a book with blatant micro-aggressions. I am the daughter of immigrants and a proud Latina who is deeply offended by this. How this line could have made it to ARC readers is incomprehensible. In my opinion, if you’re looking for a success with this book this needs to be taken out immediately. Once the general public gets ahold of this it will do damage to the author’s reputation.

I do not support casual racism. How do these things slide in publishing in this day and age??

Will not be reading.

I want to preface this review by stating that I have never given a one-star review before as I genuinely try to maintain an open-mind while reading a story and look for the positives even if it ends up not being my favorite. That being said, I struggled with this one too much to enjoy it. The premise initially caught my attention because I am a sucker for a good feuding family, enemies to lovers situation, and the cover is beautiful. Unfortunately, this fell completely flat, and I almost DNFed on numerous occasions, primarily due to lack of depth across the board.

Things I Struggled With:
* The Plot - Very surface level and not at all as expected. I never once felt that the families were truly feuding. The mom is the primary villain, but the rest of the family is either fighting some repressed feelings or battling their own demons or old age. There are also no twists, turns, or surprise reveals. It’s all very basic.
* The Characters - One-dimensional. The MMC is intended, I believe, to be badass, or morally grey, or what have you, but he is not. The FMC is childish and has no sense of self-worth, and I had a difficult time taking anything she said or did seriously. They are supposed to be 30 (MMC) and 28 (FMC) years old but read like high-schoolers. The supporting characters lack personality, making their presence in scenes lackluster.
* The Setting - Quite literally unimaginable. As the primary source of all the family “feuding,” I anticipated falling in love with the vineyard. In truth, I cannot remotely picture the thing. I also never really gathered where we are supposed to be in time and space.
* The Romance - Disappointing. There is no build up or tension. We jump from an interesting, promising intro in the first few percent to adoration and devotion very quickly.
* The Writing - Telling dominates this show, with situations presented in a juvenile way alongside cringey dialogue, especially during romantic/intimate scenes which I ended up eventually skimming. I felt zero connection to any of the people or events of the story as a result. And some of those remarks… yikes.

I had high hopes going into this and held out hope that there would be something for me to connect to before the story ended. Unfortunately, I finished feeling disappointed and frustrated. For the reasons above, I would not recommend this story.

I went into this as a fan of the author but I read several problematic lines that genuinely made me not complete this book.

There is a VERY problematic line in this book. I do not understand how it made it through beta and editing. I really hope it gets removed. The line is as follows “but shouldn’t there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us?”

Not ok.

As a Latina, I refuse to support an author who chooses to make a throwaway comment about a marginalized group. This casual racism is not warranted and it is such a disappointment that it was even allowed in this book.

Welp. Since it’s the weekend, I hadn’t been on any socials yet before I picked this up and I was initially enjoying it! The setup has been done before, but I’m down. Then I then hit the (already infamous) line about “people with sketchy work visas” anddddd ✋🏼 I’ve seen all I need to see. If you’re casually throwing this in as a statement a character makes, you aren’t an author I desire to read. That’s the end of my lived experience, but I’m seeing other ARC readers sharing that there’s commentary about how admirable El*n is as well – I can’t imagine being so ignorant in today’s world.

No. You could never make me like a book with casually racist commentary that is never called out (that quote about the questionable work visas is a gem), as well as a character who worships the man currently destroying our country. I'm so disappointed.

I had been looking forward to reading Sparrow and Vine as I’ve enjoyed Lark’s past books. But thankfully other reviewers pointed out the casual racism present in the book.

Having the MMC say “but shouldn’t there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us?” Is not acceptable at all, let alone in 2025 when our political climate is a mess. Then to name drop Elon Musk as he destroys the government??? Absolutely the hell not.

Sophie Lark is on my do not read list after this.

Bloom, I enjoy a lot of the books you publish but please be more conscious of authors that slip casual racism into books like this. It’s unacceptable.

You know what we don’t stand for in 2025? Casual racism.

Ch8: “I don’t want to sound ignorant,” I say to Sadie as we ascend the gentle slope up to the vines, “but shouldn’t there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us?”

Fuck right on out of here with this bullshit.

I was looking forward to Sparrow & Vine, but unfortunately, this book completely missed the mark for me. The moment the male main character questioned why there wasn’t a “crew of people with questionable visas” doing the work instead of them, I was immediately put off. It was an unnecessary and problematic line that added nothing to the story, and no one in the book challenged it. On top of that, the female lead’s sister is written as an Elon Musk fan who finds him inspiring—again, a strange and unnecessary detail that no one questions. These elements completely ruined the book for me, and I can no longer support this author.

There is a way to write about immigrants with respect & intention and this isn’t it:


“I was inspired by Elon Musk. I use his five-step design process.”

“I don’t want to sound ignorant,” I say to Sadie as we ascend the gentle slope up to the vines, “but shouldn't there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us?” “Sometimes there is.” Sadie bites the edge of her lip. “We’re a little short on cash this year.”

I was really excited about this new series and unfortunately everything about this story fell flat for me. It was missing so many hallmarks I’d come to expect and love about Lark’s writing, not to mention there were certainly some comments that made me feel icky.

I have read and loved books by Sophie Lark, and I was so excited when I received the arc for Sparrow and Vine. But then the mmc went ahead and said, “shouldn’t there be some people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us.” Lost me with that one. I was turned off of him immediately and struggled to root for him and Sadie.

It’s with the greatest disappointment that I write this as I used to adore Sophie Lark. The MMC questions why there isn’t a “crew of people with questionable visas” doing the work instead of them. She also writes the FMC’s sister as an Elon Musk fan who is inspired by him. Not a single character calls out either of these things. Both things were unnecessarily added and I refuse to believe that Sophie didn’t know better.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to ARC read!

“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘪𝘵? 𝘞𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.”

This book was just delightful! With the fluffiest sweetest romance that I flew right into. This book was heartwarming, with a refreshingly unique storyline.

I was invested immediately in their cause, drawn in by the way each character had an intriguing perspective. The way it was written makes me excited for the following parts of the series with the side characters. Everyone had such a distinct and vivid personality, I absolutely loved it. I was entertained the entire time!

I was thoroughly absorbed from start to finish. The book’s pacing made for a quick yet satisfying read, offering the perfect blend of light-hearted enjoyment and a refreshing escape—ideal for a "brain candy" or palette cleanser read.

Highly recommend!

Overall, it was a decent story. The romance seemed underdeveloped. The romance had potential, but the emotions never really developed like I had hoped they would. The banter was lacking what it needed to spark. The family drama added tension, but that wasn't enough to make this book what I was wanting.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️

Now when my book bestie mentioned that Sophie Lark was coming out with a new book I was excited to read about it. More so after reading the summary. When NetGalley approved my request I quickly went to download it. However my excitement became diminished. The writing was just not it. The dialogue made it seem wattpady. The MMC gave me the ick. The more I read his inner monologue the more he convinced me that he was a slimy douche. When he was describing the FMC as nothing special but her sisters were drop dead gorgeous I was thinking to myself I’m suppose to be rooting for you? Now what had me DNFing 20% in was when the MMC stated “shouldn’t there be some people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us.” Book girlies… wtf is this?! It was at this time that I yeeted my kindle out of my sight and decided to go watch Lilo & Stitch. This is my statement officially declaring being done with Sophie Lark books. Such a disappointment in this book but more so the author for even writing and including something as this 🥺

This is one of the most romantic books I’ve ever read. Sadie and Monroe are the absolute perfect couple. Unlike so many romance novels, the conflict in this story never comes from their relationship, but is instead outside factors. The way Sadie and Monroe stay so true to each other, full of faith and confidence in each other, is so uplifting. I am so grateful to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this love story early, and I’ll be eagerly anticipating the rest of the series.