Review: VERY GOOD READ BUT THE ENDING WAS TOO ABRUPT
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 23, 2013
This is Casey Dawes' second book and I have read both of them (California Sunset was the first).  I really enjoyed this book which features Elizabeth, the best friend of Annie, who was the main character in California Sunset.  We got acquainted with Elizabeth in the earlier book but really got to know her in this one.  Elizabeth is a second generation Italian/American and after her mother's death, she visited her grandmother's home in Italy.  During this visit she met Marcos, a divorced man who is a little older than she and who owns vineyards in Italy and France.  Elizabeth is very drawn to Marcos who wants to court her and plans to come to California Wine Country to look for a vineyard to buy there.  Elizabeth is a widow who carries a great deal of guilt for getting pregnant when she was a teenager and marrying the father of her baby who died while still a young man.  She is trying to start a life of her own now that her daughter is away at college and after breaking up with a very controlling man that she dated for several years.  Elizabeth wants to expand her spa business by producing her own cosmetics and she believes that she can't do any of these things while trying to maintain a relationship with a handsome Italian.  Added to Elizabeth's angst is the discovery that her late husband had been having an affair with another woman for several years before his death and that the affair produced a daughter.  I had two problems with this book: (1)  Elizabeth's guilt and reluctance to get involved with Marcos frustrated me and I feel it went on too long.  I can't imagine a man alive who would continue to pursue a woman who rejected him as much as Elizabeth rejected Marcos.  (2)  The book ended abruptly with Elizabeth arriving in Italy for a holiday visit.  We have no idea what happened to Elizabeth and Marcos, how they resolved their problems of distance and Elizabeth's need to be her own woman or if Elizabeth's new business and Marcos' entry into the California wine scene were successful.  The book felt incomplete and truncated.The positive aspects of this book certainly make the book worth reading.  The story developed smoothly and the characters were wonderfully likable.  The description of the California Coast and Wine Country were so well written and vivid that I felt as though I was there.  Elizabeth's history and backstory were very complete and her use of a life coach (therapist) to help her overcome her guilt and fear was realistic and believable.  I look forward to other books by this author and recommend both California Sunset and California Wine to others who like a good, heartwarming story.