Sparrow and Vine promises a darkly romantic, enemies-to-lovers tale set against the backdrop of a beautiful, yet threatened, family winery. And while the premise – a marriage of convenience to unlock a family trust – although it feels somewhat familiar, Lark infuses it with enough spice and intrigue to keep you engaged.
Sadie Sparrow is fierce, determined, and deeply connected to her family home, Sparrow and Vine. The desperation to protect it, even if it means marrying the brooding and intimidating Monroe Beaumont, feels believable. Monroe, initially presented as the archetypal alpha male with a pirate-like band of "brothers," is immediately compelling. His possessiveness and underlying vulnerability hint at layers beneath the surface, making him more than just a typical villain.
The dynamic between Sadie and Monroe is the heart of the novel. Their initial animosity crackles with sexual tension, making their forced proximity all the more delicious. Lark masterfully builds the "enemies" side of the equation, showcasing their contrasting personalities and the deep-seated resentment between their families. The "lovers" aspect unfolds gradually, fueled by simmering desire, shared vulnerability, and a surprising amount of humor. The descriptions are vivid, particularly when it comes to the setting. You can almost smell the grapes ripening in the sun and the damp earth of the sprawling vineyard.
This book is a captivating read for fans of enemies-to-lovers romances with a touch of darkness. Sophie Lark delivers a story filled with palpable tension, intriguing characters, and a beautiful setting.

I typically enjoy Sophie Lark's books so I was excited for this one. However, this book seems much different from her other books and I found myself really bored. I didn't end up finishing it and moved on to something. else. I may come back and finish it another time but I thought this was going to be more of a dark romance.

Marriage of Convenience
Romance
🌶 1/5

This is a story about Monroe and Sadie. They come from families that do not get along trying to save a winery and vineyard. So enter in marriage of convineince .

I felt they fell in love to quickly. But I like the side characters personalities that set up for sequels in this series.

I also appreciate the setting of vineyard. I feel I have not read about that plot setting ever.

Slow read for myself personally. I felt the banter could have been more and the story took us outside of the vineyard more.

Thank you to SOURCEBOOK Bloom Books, Net Galley, and Sophie Lark for an ARC.

Enjoy reading!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I thought this book had a good plot, and I did enjoy the characters, Monroe and Sparrow. However, there were some things I did not agree with in terms of character dialog. Also, this book was different than what is normally written by this author, wish is dark romance. That kind of threw me off a bit. The pace of the book was slow at first, but then the suspense picked up. Overall, I did like the book, and thank you to NetGalley for sending me this book to review.

Unfortunately there were some offhand aspects of this book (slightly icky one liners by various protagonists) that left a bad taste in my mouth. I felt like I was reading a love story about privileged and oblivious millenials who did not know they had slightly bigoted views...

Not great,

I have never read any books by this author and was excited to read and review this book, but looks like it was removed from publication.

As a Sophie Lark and enemies to lovers fan I was excited to dive into this book. Overall, the story was good. It had a good amount of humor which made me laugh throughout the story. I really enjoyed the banter. Unfortunately, I wasn't hooked. It wasn't memorable for me, it was so easy to put this book down and then not want to return to it.

This book was cunfusing a lot it was hard for me to understand the characters and the plot all of it I have to give this a 2.5 stars I’m so sorry

First in a Romance Series About the Sparrow Sisters

The Sparrow sisters Sadie, June and Hazel live on the vineyard Sparrow & Vine with their father and grandfather. Business is failing, Their father's Ex-Fiancée is hell bent on ruining them and the pact their grandfather and his best friend made well and truly broken. Or is it? When Sadie decides to marry Monroe Beaumont, youngest grandchild of said best friend, they stand to inherit the whole vineyard. But their marriage is fake, so it looks like it is doomed from the start, as is their attempt at reviving the wine business their grandfathers set up for their families.With all grandchildren finally putting in a joint effort to save Sparrow & Vine, are things too perfect all of a sudden?

Some bits in this book did not age well, I have to give that to previous reviewers. Most of the dialogue, however, is great. Fun, quick, dynamic, this book is hard to put down. I found Sabine, the evil MIL a little over the top, and many questions were left unanswered in that regard. Hopefully the next books in the series will shed some light there. It left a sour taste in my mouth.
Other than that, the younger characters were very rounded, if outright mysterious. Sadie and Monroe, whose name to me just sounds a bit feminine... for a 6 foot plus hockey player ... have great chemistry and banter, if very little actual disdain for each other.
I found it a little hard to believe how matchy-matchy the Beaumont and Sparrow siblings are made out to be. But of course, as a set up for a series it makes sense. Their characters do seem too different for that though.
There is some spice in this book, quite extensive spice actually, but it is well written.

I am unsure about how much Sophie Lark knows about the wine business.. some details felt off, especially the plot-relevant ones.

All in all a rounded-up four stars for me!

thank you sophie and publishing Bloom books for accepting me to read this book before it’s released. i was so excited when i saw this on netgalley it made me realize how much i’ve missed your writing!
I live for a marriage of convenience and enemies to lovers. you do it like no other also so this made it so much better for me!
Sadie’s family is messy and hilarious and real. I love PopPop aw! The banter between everyone is sooo funny i was actually cracking up. I loved the pace of everything too. I loved all these characters this was such a fun read!
I do know it has been pulled and or put on hold for a rewrite due to some lines in the book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this eARC.

This is a perfect example of just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Sophie Lark is being moved way down my list of authors at this point. Do better!

After seeing all of the reviews regarding racist remarks & content glorifying elon musk, it left a sour taste in my mouth. i tried to read this book but found myself skimming at 50 pages in - the book seems rushed and there’s so many different issues & characters thrown at you from the get go. i just couldn’t get into it.

Received this ARC via NetGalley before the controversy.

Honestly, this was simply not a good book at all, even without the racist comments made as pointed out by other early readers. The author also seems to associate Shaolin monks with Japan... so that's an interesting interpretation.

The whole story itself was so flimsy. So many random plot holes, all surface-level characters and it's just a mess. Also the main storyline of a marriage of convenience was laughable - like what was the point of all of it? Why did they have to act like their marriage is 'real'? Also why did the main antagonist do the things they did???? None of the characters had properly explained stakes in the whole situation. So poorly plotted.

Even the blurb is a flat out lie e.g. 'intimidation is what Monroe does best... (MMC) insists on sharing a bed... she just didn't know she'd be fighting her own husband'. Literally none of this happened - the FMC readily agrees to the marriage after a couple of shots + the MMC didn't really intimidate anyone in the entire book, the MMC didn't insist on sharing the bed and the FMC didn't even fight the MMC in any substantial sense.

Other things I noted:
- both MCs have such juvenile conversations and language... they're supposed to be in the early 30s
- MMC kept commenting on the FMC's looks and keeps comparing her to her sisters' even though he supposedly liked her since college
- reader is always reminded the MMC was a hockey player - idk but that's so random and added nothing to the plot
- literally not even dislike to lovers; both folded so quickly
- their first intimate moments were icky...
- idk how I feel about all the siblings pairing off with each other

Would not read again, nor any other Sophie Lark books.

Overall rating: 0.25/5

This was a DNS for me, I cannot support an author that is a racist and recommend anyone looking into this go do some research on what happened.

My first five star read this year. I LOVE Sophie Lark so when I was approved for this book, I screamed. I loved everything about this, the plot, the characters, the theme. So so so good!

Who doesn't love a marriage of convenience, but im uncomfortable with the elon musk references and the comment about the visa less workers.. i love sophie lark's books, but that really bothered me. Thank you netgalley for the arc.! I still like her writing style though and the story overall.

As someone who loves Sophie Lark's books I am sad that I will not be continuing this book until Racist comments and other topics are addressed appropriately.

The author and publisher have pulled this book and it will no longer be published. Due to this and the severe controversy surrounding this book I have chosen not to go ahead with reading it. Thank you so much for the opportunity.

Thank you SOURCEBOOKS, Bloom Books & netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited when I received this ARC as I have liked Sophie Lark's books in the past but I can no longer support this author. The racist comments made within this book are so uncalled for. As a POC and a decent human being, I can not stand around and pretend that her comments are ok. I simply do not care if that's just the kind of character the MMC is, the fact that Sophie sat down and wrote those words, edited, reviewed and printed them is disgusting. Also what about the editors? WHO IS READING THESE RACISTS COMMENTS AND GIVING THE OK? HOW DID IT GET ALL THE OKS? HOW WAS IT EVEN ALLOWED TO BE PRINTED????

SO SO SO DISAPPOINTED

I have NEVER done this before, but I can’t in good conscience give this book a good review. I admit, I saw the drama surrounding this book before I went in, but I really did go in with an open heart and mind… if you took a few phrases out of this book, it really would have made this experience a lot better. Because without the immigrant quote from our MMC, it was a good book! I didn’t get as upset about our FMC admiring Musk; because I believe it’s important to read about characters who have differing opinions. So that didn’t bother me, but the immigrant quote really, really did. Otherwise I really would have enjoyed.