Note: Review originally written for Speakingof Audiobooks . Permission
has been granted to publish review in its entirety here.
Why I read it: I was so looking forward to
listening to this book. I adored Blue Eyed Devil and Smooth Talking Stranger and I love Tanya Eby’s narration. The combination of this author and this
narrator felt like an automatic win for me.
And I did enjoy it, but... well, let’s get to what the story is about first.
What it's about: Sam Nolan is the owner of the old
Victorian House and proprietor of the vineyard at the end of Rainshadow Road on
San Juan Island, Washington. We met him
in Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor
which featured his brother Mark and his, now, wife-to-be, Maggie. Sam’s gorgeous and talented and friendly and
sexy but he doesn’t do commitment.
Ever. He’s always honest about
it. He’s not a cheater or a deceiver but
his experience with his alcoholic parents and their toxic marriage has scarred
him for life.
Lucy Marinn is a glass artist,
working mainly on stained glass windows.
We first meet Lucy when her boyfriend of 3 years, Kevin, dumps her for
her younger (and very spoiled and not at all nice) sister Alice. We are told
that Kevin has awakened Lucy’s sensuality and taught her about trust in a
relationship (as she’s not otherwise a very trusting person) but frankly, Kevin
is an asshole. We see that there are no redeeming aspects to his character at
all. He whines. He blames everyone else for his shortcomings
(eg, “It might be your fault, but it’s definitely not my fault” [that I cheated
on you and slept with your sister]). I
wondered why Lucy had been with him at all.
Kevin was a caricature and didn’t fill me with confidence in Lucy’s
judgment in men.