Review: Losing everything is not the end, but the beginning of a beautiful journey
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 19, 2014
Renee Carlino has done something amazing with this book. She has shown not only that losing everything you have always treasured is not the end of life, but the beginning of a new life. A life where you can grow into the person you can be and you always have the opportunity to start over and open your heart to new surroundings, people and even love. This book is masterfully written to do all of those things in a beautiful way!Kate feels like she has nothing left. The last person that loved her has passed and she suddenly feels alone. Her work is suffering and it is bringing to light what a ridiculous relationship she has been it. She was nothing more than a convenience for her boyfriend, but sometime taking a chance on a new experience could be the one to bring her back into the now. Showing her how to live again and how to love again.When Kate’s boss offers her the story of a lifetime to learn everything about a Napa Valley Vineyard owner and why he left a billion dollar industry behind she takes it. No one in the media has been able to get near R.J. Lawson for years. But now, given the opportunity, she wants to do it. So she hops on a plane and heads to California, leaving her relationship behind in Chicago something happens. She meet’s one of R.J.’s employees by running into him when she gets to the Vineyard (quite literally) and everything she has thought about love and relationships takes a new direction. Jamie is amazing. He is smart, brilliant and hot. He does everything and is very content with his life at the Vineyard. When he sees Kate for the first time, he sees something else in her, his future.After a very short trip to the Vineyard, Kate has to admit some hard truths, she is falling for Jamie. But that is only going to make the story that much harder to write because Jamie’s boss was nothing that Kate expected. He was rude, cocky and he actually hit on her multiple times. If the story needs an angle, she is having a hard time understanding where it is. His employees are so devoted to him and see him in a very different light than the one she sees. But it doesn’t make sense…After returning to Chicago and writing her story for the paper, sudden facts come to light and it changes everything. Everything about her experience, her trip and even Jamie, the man she left her heart with in California.This book was touching and passionate and a great read. I loved Kate’s character. She was determined to get out of the funk she found herself in. She wanted to take the opportunity to find her way back to who she was. But the biggest questions come only after she returns home. She had spunk, sass and is dealing with things in her life in maybe an unorthodox way but she is doing what she can.Jamie… what is there to say about him? He is smart, witty, charming and you just can’t help but fall in love with him. He has a big heart and a definite passion for life. But the need for privacy may be too much when the one person who he wants in every aspect of his life is the one person he hasn’t been completely honest with because she is a reporter. She wants details on him, but not who he is.I loved the way the two of them interacted and the flair for life that Jamie breathed right into Kate’s life. He was the one that showed her how much she had to live for and how beautiful she was. He wanted to give her the world, he loved to see her happy. He loved loving her.This book was inspiring and full of hope. It was beautifully written and the passion between the pages was heartfelt and touching. I love Renee Carlino’s works, but there was something special with this one. Maybe it was the sexy white wine, maybe it was the devotion and adventure… maybe, just maybe it was all of the love. This is a must read in my life and I will definitely be reading it again!*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review