Summer never tasted so sweet…
When Alexis “Lexi” Moreau caught her husband,
Jeff, sampling the sous-chef’s more intimate wares in their New York
restaurant, she ran—all the way back to her hometown of St. Helena,
California. Six months later, Lexi has no husband and no restaurant. But
she does have a three-step plan: First, convert her grandmother’s
bakery into her dream bistro. Second, ignore Grandma’s matchmaking
attempts. And third, avoid Marco DeLuca, her ex’s commitment-phobic,
distractingly sexy best friend.
In school Lexi was off-limits for Marco.
After all, she was his buddy’s girl. But she’s still as smart and as
gorgeous—and apparently as immune to his charms—as she used to be. Yet
the simple fake romance they agree upon to dodge Lexi’s grandmother’s
matchmaking plans soon turns deliciously complicated. And the sultry
summer might bring together all the right ingredients for Marco to win
the only woman he’s ever wanted.
Every so often you have to check the books on your Kindle but haven’t read. There is a
reason you did the one-click in the first place and they need to be read.
Summer in Napa is one of those stories that I love. It is a perfect rainy day book that I can
curl up in my reading chair and enjoy. It
has a little of everything I need in a romance novel, a woman who made a bad
choice, lost everything in her divorce, gets help from a longtime friend who
loves her and has loved her for years, takes the bull by the horn and turns her
life around. Summer in Napa is part of a series where each individual book
focuses on a member of the DeLuca family.
Marc DeLuca is the main brother in Summer.
Alexis “Lexi” Moreau is the heroine in this story. She gives up a lot of her dreams and life
plans to support her husband’s quest to open a top New York restaurant. Unfortunately, she catches the sleaze bag, Jeff
dipping his stick in his sous-chef, Natasha.
To make the situation worse, the day after the divorce is final Jeff
marries his side dish and moves on, however he manages to convince the judge
that all of Lexi’s recipes belong to him and the restaurant.
Dejected and lost Lexi moves back to Napa Valley with the
hope of working towards her dream of opening a bistro with her
grandmother. Her adventures when she
moves home are comedic and hopeful. Lexi’s
grandmother and her grandmother’s friends decide that they are going to help
Lexi move on by setting her up on dates with men on a dating website. Her dating adventures are a hoot but her
grandmother takes offense when Lexi wants out of these dates. Some might look at this as a weakness but in
reality it is a sign of love and respect for her grandmother.
Marc DeLuca is part of her clique from high school. He is also her husband’s best friend. Marc is a bit of a rebel and walks away from
the family winery business. His goal,
for many years, is to renovate an old hotel and make it something special. This decision causes some tension among the
DeLuca clan and makes Marc’s life a little more difficult.
What Lexi doesn’t know about her old friend is that Marc has
always wanted Lexi romantically but doesn’t want to let her know because of the
“man friend code”. Marc has bouts of
jealousy when he sees Lexi struggle with some dates that her grandmother set up
for her. To appease her grandmother, he
convinces Lexi to “date” him exclusively (in front of other only) while she
actually spends her time working on her bistro plans. It is a win-win for both of them.
The characters grow to be more than friends while working on
their individual careers. I love how
Lexi’s character is developed. She often
appears to be a push over when, in fact, she is reeling from the many curve
balls that her ex throws at her. She
feels sorry for herself a little then she always picks herself back up and
focuses on her goals.
Marc is a loving hero.
He does keep secrets from Lexi that come back to bite him but it is
obvious to the reader that he is always trying to do the right thing. Jeff deceives his friend as well as
Lexi. Many of the exchanges between Marc
and Lexi are funny and sometimes a little embarrassing as they become
comfortable with each other.
Summer in Napa is very good book. I enjoy the laughs, the romance, and the
ending is very satisfying. I’m angry
with myself for waiting so long to read it and I’m hoping right on the other
books in this series. I also need to
mention that I purchased the audio version of the book too. Renee Raudman is an excellent
narrator and adds to the story. I
enjoyed the audio as much as actually reading the book. This will be on my re-read/repeat listen
list. Marina Adair is a talented
writer—one that I will continue to read in the future.
4 STAMPS
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