This book read like a Hallmark movie. I didn't feel a connection to the characters as it seemed to just gloss over them. It was an easy summer read, but not my style.

ARC received for an honest review.

Why, she wondered, did nobody want her enough to fight for her?

I hated this book at the beginning but it got really good really fast. The first half of the book was just explaining everything that happened in the blurb so it was boring since I already kind of knew what was going to happen.

The thing I didn't like at all in this book is that there is zero character relationship development. I was fuming with rage just 50 pages into the book. Lettie, the protagonist, grew up in a foster home. That does not mean she has never interacted with humans before. So, why is getting so horny near all these guys??? She kisses Rafe and spends one night with him. One night. And suddenly she's in love with him. She doesn't know anything about him! And she cries ALL THE TIME. It's horrifying. And then Rafe breaks up with her (before they even got together) and the next day she kisses Kenton, and immediately falls in love again. Apparently, Kenton's kiss felt so 'right' in a way Rafe's didn't. I just wanted to highlight the absurdity of these events that happened in the span of a few pages. I didn't even get the chance to care.

Okay, I'm done ranting now. There was some though. Lettie was annoying and selfish at the beginning but she matured near the end and actually runs Chandler Hill really well.

The setting and overall description of characters personality/thoughts could have been fleshed out more to give the book an added depth. Most of the time I couldn't picture what was going on or the emotions didn't really reach me. It was a very dry book is terms of feeling. The plot line was really good though, so you can still get through it.

I'll probably read the next book because I want to know what happens to characters.

[Bookstagram]

The saga of the main character's life will send you on an emotional journey. Raised in a foster home, she's never really know what a family was until she meets the Chandler's. Once they make her part of their family, she falls in love with the land and with growing grapes for wine. Her life is full of promises never quite fulfilled, but she continues to rise above and persevere.

I can't wait to read book 2 in this series.

ARC received for an honest review.

Why, she wondered, did nobody want her enough to fight for her?

I hated this book at the beginning but it got really good really fast. The first half of the book was just explaining everything that happened in the blurb so it was boring since I already kind of knew what was going to happen.

The thing I didn't like at all in this book is that there is zero character relationship development. I was fuming with rage just 50 pages into the book. Lettie, the protagonist, grew up in a foster home. That does not mean she has never interacted with humans before. So, why is getting so horny near all these guys??? She kisses Rafe and spends one night with him. One night. And suddenly she's in love with him. She doesn't know anything about him! And she cries ALL THE TIME. It's horrifying. And then Rafe breaks up with her (before they even got together) and the next day she kisses Kenton, and immediately falls in love again. Apparently, Kenton's kiss felt so 'right' in a way Rafe's didn't. I just wanted to highlight the absurdity of these events that happened in the span of a few pages. I didn't even get the chance to care.

Okay, I'm done ranting now. There was some though. Lettie was annoying and selfish at the beginning but she matured near the end and actually runs Chandler Hill really well.

The setting and overall description of characters personality/thoughts could have been fleshed out more to give the book an added depth. Most of the time I couldn't picture what was going on or the emotions didn't really reach me. It was a very dry book is terms of feeling. The plot line was really good though, so you can still get through it.

I'll probably read the next book because I want to know what happens to characters.

[Bookstagram]

I was pulled into this story from the start. My heart was in it completely. I felt for Lettie strongly. She is a very likable character who has many ups and downs. Some laughs and lots of heartaches. I cried with her and wept for her. This story is a love story and a tragedy all in one. Filled with so much love that your heart feels full. Filled with loss that will break your heart. Lettie was raised my foster parents, never knowing her parents at all. Her foster mother made her believe she was ugly and would never be good at anything. When Lettie meets Kenton outside of his California apartment, hungry, tired and scared, she has no idea how her life is fixing to change. Kenton is a very nice guy and feels strong that Lettie will like his home so invites her to go with him for a job at the Inn his dad just opened. She agrees and falls in love with the land right off. The three main men in Lettie’s life are Kenton, his dad Rex and Rafe, Kenton’s friend and a worker on the farm where they make wine and run the Inn. There are sparks between Rafe and Lettie from the very beginning. But they are not meant to be. She goes away with Kenton and they marry. While they are away Kenton’s father has a stroke so they rush home to see about him. After they tell him about their marriage he is so very happy. He loves Lettie as a daughter and loves that she loves the land as much as he does. Sadly though he does not make it. They on leave from boot camp Kenton is killed in a car wreck on his way home to see Lettie. She has just learned she is going to have a baby. She’s so devastated as she loves him with all of her heart. In the short time she got to know the Chandler’s and be a part of their lives she has found much happiness and grief. Rex had made it where if something happened to Kenton she would then run the Inn and Vineyards. A task she takes to heart. Doing all the things she knows he would have wanted. She works hard and is raising a child alone too.

Lettie lives and breaths the land, the grapes, the Inn and her new family. She embraces them with all she has. All the love she possesses is for this land, the Inn and her child. Then after her daughter goes away to work in another country Rafe returns. They have always had a strong chemistry and after a while they are an item again. But this time on one can keep them apart. He is there for her no matter what. Through more tragedies. Through helping with her granddaughter and more loss.

This book literally made me weep. I mean ugly crying is not even a good description. So much loss and then the biggest loss of all. It just ripped my heart into. Now I can’t wait for the next book in this series to see what happens next. I loved this book from start to finish. Even through all the tears it was one I could not put down. The laughter, the descriptions of the land, the Inn, the vineyards and her home made me feel like I was right there. Lettie was like someone I knew personally. Like that friend you root for to have it all. To be there for when life hurts her. She’s such a likable person you just feel like she is a real person sitting with you while you read about her life. From 18 on she is a fighter and such a good person.

I loved all the characters in this book. Well one man was deplorable.. A real jerk. But all the others were great. Like a huge family that surround each other through thick and thin.

I was given an ARC of this book and leave this review of my own accord. My words and feelings.

A big, huge 5 star book that I highly recommend. A must read.

This is not the kind of book I usually read, but it was an okay read

there was too much cancer in it for my liking

. Going Home by Judith Keim is a women's fiction highlighting the life of Violet "Lettie".
Lettie lived in a foster home with eight other kids and strict, catholic foster parents. She craved the independence of the city and went to San Francisco when she came of age. But the picture life is not always perfect. After four months of trying to settle in the city and failing miserably, Lettie met Kenton Chandler, who offered her a job at Chandler Hills inn in the Willanette valley. When she got there she instantly felt at home on the beautiful rolling hills of the valley.
The book follows Lettie's life journey as she goes through ups and downs. It tells about her attractions, her marriage, her griefs and her happiness. After the death of Kenton and his father Rex, the responsibility of the inn and the vineyard falls on Lettie's shoulders. When she discovers she is pregnant, things become even more difficult than before.
I liked Lettie as a woman and a grandmother, but not as a mother. She admits she spends more time at the inn and the vineyard than with her daughter and on occasions she also said she didn't want her daughter, that she was a burden. So now it doesn't make sense that she expects her daughter to take over the inn from her.
The process gone behind the making of wine was fascinating.. I liked Rex's character and to know he was inspired by a real man made it more better. I couldn't connect with Lettie's character and the mother-daughter relationship didn't help either. But the book was good. Maybe other people will like it more than me.
Thank you to Netgalley and wild quail Publishing for giving me an ARC of this book.