Blurb:
Isabella DaSilva, a fiery grad student from Cornell's wine
program is eager to leave her past behind her and forge a future in the
vineyards of the West as an apprentice at Chateau Sauvage, a winery seeking to
produce wine like no other California wineries had so far -- Rhone varietals.
She arrives at Chateau Sauvage to find that wine might not
be her only interest. The winemaker, Jonathan Sauvage, is tall, dark, and
handsome, and clearly in need of help. Together, they work to make a pioneering
wine in an effort to keep the struggling winery afloat. Each struggles with
their demons -- hers in the form of a painful and mysterious past; his created
by memories of what once might have been. In the process, they find that the
pain of their shattered pasts fit together perfectly, making their union as
perfect as the wine it produces.
A Rare Vintage features an intense and commanding hero who
isn’t afraid to ask for help, and a woman who knows that while she might
technically be the apprentice, she has plenty to teach Jonathan Sauvage.
This book is the first in the Wine Country Romance series.
Book Links:
Bio:
Delancey
Stewart has lived on both coasts, in big cities and small towns. She's been a
pharmaceutical rep, a personal trainer and a wine seller. Despite lots of other
interests, she has always been a writer in some way shape or form.
A
military spouse and the mother of two small boys, her current job titles
include pirate captain, monster hunter, Lego assembler and story reader. She
tackles all these efforts at her current home in Southern Maryland.
Delancey
Stewart is the author of Through a Dusty
Window: New York City Stories 1910-2001 and A Rare Vintage, the first in her Wine Country Romance Series.
She
is also working on the Girlfriends of Gotham Series for Swoon Romance. The
first book, Men and Martinis, will be
released in Fall 2013.
Author Links:
Excerpt
One:
At dinner, Jonathan could feel Isabella's eyes on him as he spooned stew into his mouth. His sister's cooking was the one thing he had to look forward to each day, but he was too distracted to enjoy it; plagued by the lingering questions that had been hanging in the kitchen when he entered. He knew that Vicki was worried about him, but he was surprised that she'd divulge so much to a perfect stranger her first night at their dinner table.
"So you told our guest all
about Charlotte, I guess?" Jonathan said, gazing into his bowl.
Isabella gave him a direct look
then.
"Nope, I didn't even mention
her." Vicki said, pulling the salad toward her plate. "But now it
seems you have to."
"No," Isabella
interjected. "I mean," she looked up at Jonathan, her pale skin
flushed. "I don't want to intrude. I'm not really a guest, or a
visitor…I'm here to work. I'm touched that you'd include me in your family meal
like this, but I didn’t expect it. I certainly don’t expect anything
more."
"Don't be silly, Isabella,"
Vicki said.
"No, really. I'm not used to
anything more," Isabella said.
Jonathan let himself look up at
her then. Something about the way she said that, staring into her bowl, made
her seem so vulnerable. What was beneath the smooth porcelain surface? It
seemed that this astute wine student—so confident when telling him how to
manage his vineyard—might have secrets of her own.
"Charlotte used to live here
with Jonathan," Vicki said. "And now she's gone, that's all."
Jonathan shot a fierce look at
his sister, who returned the look with defiant bright eyes.
"Charlotte was my
fiancé," Jonathan said. "We had a…a disagreement." He finished.
He stalled, playing Charlotte's departure over in his mind for the millionth
time. His heart tore all over again as he recalled her sharing the news that he
had thought would be a perfect beginning for them. She hadn't agreed. To her,
the beginning of life stirring within her was no more welcome than the new life
he'd wanted to build between them. Jonathan clenched his fists as he watched
her leave all over again, vowing to end what they had begun. He hated how
powerless the memory made him feel, how helpless he'd been to stop her from
ending everything.
"I see," was all
Isabella said.
He looked up to find her watching
him with those hazel eyes. There was a depth there that he didn't want to see,
but couldn't help to be drawn to. Something about her gaze made him want to get
nearer to her, ask her to wrap those long thin pale arms around him. He held
her gaze a moment too long, his nerves firing almost as if she were touching
him. He flushed and looked down the table at his sister.
She was watching them; her spoon
paused in front of her mouth and a faint smile on her lips.
He shot her a dark look to let
her know that he didn't appreciate being exposed to a stranger.
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