Saturday, May 8, 2010

Crush On You- Christie Ridgway

Crush On You
Christie Ridgway
Berkley, Jun 1 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780425235133

Alessandra "Nun of Napa” Baci and her sisters (Stephania and Guiliana) vowed to their dying pop to save the family vineyard, Tanti Baci. None of the siblings understood how difficult their death bed pledge would prove when they made it three months ago, but the business is teetering towards bankruptcy.

In spite of her own marital woes when her fiancé Tommy failed to come to the altar because he was dead, Alessandra believes restoration of the dilapidated wedding cottage for use by brides and grooms and marketing her wine will help. Reluctantly she must go to the thorny neighbors and rivals the Bennet brood; specifically she needs Penn the host of a TV remodeling show.

Penn only recently learned who his biological father was; being one of the two recently “discovered” bastards. He wants to help her as he is attracted to her and her energy, but Napa Valley is not in his itinerary even if his paternal roots are there. Finally he distrusts the nun; unaware she has her doubts as he resides in the shallow movie capital. Neither of them expected to want to be the first couple to occupy the wedding cottage.

This is an enjoyable throwback (even with profanities) contemporary romance as neither of the lead couple wants to fall in love; in fact each prefers flight over fight when it comes to relationships. Character driven, fans will appreciate how far the Nun and the TV star come when they learn love means diving head first without regard to safety.

Harriet Klausner

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