Book Review: "The Vineyard At Painted Moon" By Susan Mallery

 

Just when you thought you had it all....

Life throws curves and soon enough you realize there's so much more to life than you ever dreamt possible.

Sometimes that's true and yet other times we find contentment in the joys of simply living, breathing, and being free.

I'm a fan of Susan Mallery's work and I put this book to the side to give it the attention I knew it deserved.

Certain books I have to be in the mood for and usually the type of chick-lit, romance, woman's fiction are those kind of books that make me feel like I need to be on a beach to read.

While it was just snowing here in Northeastern Pennsylvania I'm sure things were quite different in Washington State either for better or worse.

Funny, I should mention 'better or worse' because that's what we have here in this delightful new work -The Vineyard at Painted Moon.

It's about family, power, wealth, control, and love but in a unique set of ways that brings forgiveness, compromise, and faith into a frenzy of drama filled explosive moments.

Divorce is never easy as nobody ever wins. It's equally as difficult when you have children involved and a lengthy union with unique marital assets such as this case.

Mackenzie is our main gal and she's a 38 yo soon to be divorcee with a new guy in her sights and a new life ahead in many ways.

It begins in Walla-Walla Washington at the vineyard at Painted Moon that's run by Barbara and her children. Barbara and Bruno are quite the couple who seem to have the bedroom in check.

The extended family includes Stephanie and Kyle (10 yrs. divorced) with daughter Avery and son Carson. As well as, Mackenzie and Rhys (sexless marriage and soon to be divorced) and Lori and Four who we don't honestly here too much about in this story other than brief snip -its.

The comradery between this group is very dynamic, powerful, controlling, aggressive, and hostile at times while at others it can be somewhat kosher but you have to watch for the cat like claws.

It appears that Mackenzie is a winemaker and she's about to embark n a journey into a new realm one without her meddling mother in law Barbara who's wears the pants in the family.
Everything comes to turmoil when she announces she's unhappy in her marriage and wants out after Mackenzie and Rhys have spent 16 years together with no children.

The 'no children' was key because it didn't take him long to jump ship when the heat became intensified in this dramatic twister of events.

The battle for control rages on in many different faucets of each other's lives. The direction it will take is quite extraordinary as their careers, relationships, legal concerns over marital assets and more all come into play.

Will Mackenzie stay on board in this vineyard or will she venture off on her own leaving everything she ever knew behind?

Will she find the strength and courage to go after her own dreams and live a life she always imagined or will she feel guilt tripped and shamed into staying put?

It's quite the revelation and that ending with Bruno was a welcome delight.

Thank you to Susan Mallery, HQN, NetGalley, and Amazon Kindle for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.