Review: Romantic comedy
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 19, 2013
While belting out "It's Raining Men" during a Karaoke session at the company's Christmas party, Lillian life took on a life of its own, never turning back to see if she had bothered to jump on board."Lila pulled the blanket over her head. But, still the memories found her. She and the intern had gone down with the karate kick. Her stiletto heel hadn't. It had sailed smack into the forehead of the CEO of a hot new Silicon Valley tech company, leaving a dark, red welt.""I'm sure it wasn't as bad as all that." "I kicked my shoe off into a guy's forehead." At this, even Gram had to pause. "Did he need stitches?""On the counter her iPhone made a little chirp. A new text message. It was from Alison, her friend from work: "OMG U R on youtube!!!"If I were to write a book that I would enjoy reading, this book would be it. It has "sipping chocolate" and a hunk who owns a local vineyard;  80's music and a hunk who owns a local vineyard; and a quaint book store to work in and a hunk who owns a local vineyard. , and the best part is that it located on the coast of California. How many times did I just wish I could hop into the pages of this book."Annie's profile was lit warmly as she deftly maneuvered a large chef's pastry tube to fill oval moulds with dark chocolate. A luscious aroma of vanilla, hazelnut and chocolate filled the air and Lila knew she would happily follow it into a candy house in the forest, even after having read Hansel and Gretel.""...Annie snapped her fingers in front of Lila's glazed eyes. "No mooning in here! This is a place of chocolate. Show it proper respect."This was the first book I've read by Addison Westlake and Christmas in Wine Country was a delightful quick read full of humour that made me laugh out loud. The characters were everyday people that we might have in our own lives. Lila, after a disastrous attempt at taking over the planning of the company's Christmas bash, finds herself out of a job and minus a boyfriend. The upside is, she still has her best friend.She winds up in a lovely little ocean side town where her best friend, Annie, from college lives. Lila ends up with the perfect job in a quaint little book store not far from the chocolate store where Annie. Annie introduces her to "sipping chocolate" and the friendship quickly rekindles over chocolate. There are loads of mishaps and odd people throughout the book which make it a fun read."Annie would arrive at the store tomorrow morning and turn on the lights to find Lila guiltily bathing in a big vat of sipping chocolate.""All Lila wanted was a quiet little job in a quiet little book store and a whole lot of sipping chocolate. That couldn't be too much to ask for, could it?"Technically speaking, I thought the book had a good story line and the characters were wonderfully eccentric people. The author incorporated the local flavour of the area into the book and painted the scenes so that you felt you were visiting the little town of Sonoma. The comedy in the book was well written and had me laughing at the antics of Lila's friends. It was charming and witty and while the book was a quick read, the story meandered just enough to allow you to enjoy the scenery.I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.