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Zoe Brennan may be the loneliest lesbian in Blue Ridge, but at least she has her family vineyard, a deep, abiding vendetta against her ex-best-friend-now-enemy, and the occasional meaningless hook-up to keep her busy. When a prestigious wine festival announces it’s coming to Blue Ridge, it kicks off a battle royale among local vineyards vying for the opportunity to host it. Zoe’s in it to win it—getting chosen would put Brennan Vineyards on the map while also sticking it to the rival vineyard next door. But disaster strikes when Zoe’s father is called home to Italy to care for his sick mother, leaving Brennan Vineyards without a vintner. Dejected, Zoe impulsively agrees to a blindfolded threesome with a friend and, excitingly, a stranger. After having the best sex of her life, Zoe’s horrified to discover the butch beneath the blindfold is none other than Laine Woods, Napa-trained vintner, Zoe’s first crush, and her enemy's big sister.The Napa-trained vintner, Zoe discovers, her father’s just hired as his replacement. Laine assures Zoe they can put their sizzling one-night stand behind them, but Laine’s snobbery and Zoe’s pride collide at every step, creating a potent pour of sexual and professional tension. Zoe and Laine must learn to work together to win the wine festival, but when working together means late nights under the stars, letting go of the past, and learning each other all over again, Zoe has to be careful or Laine Woods might crush her heart for good.
This is really fun so far! Not (yet) falling into the pitfall of smart fmc that makes dumb decisions, and hopefully it won't! I'm a bit thrown off by the narrator's Italian accent for Zoe's father but I'm in love with Laine already so I'll let it slide.
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0Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review
Zoe Brennan runs the small Bluebell Vineyards winery with her father. When Zoe's dad has to go home to Italy to take care of his ailing mother, he hires a trained vintner to take over in his absence. The person he hires? She's none other than Zoe's former best friend, Rachel's, estranged older sister, Laine Woods, who, incidentally, is also Zoe's teenage crush. Not to mention that Rachel and Laine's parents own the competing winery next door. The two winery's compete against each other to be chosen to host a high profile wine festival all the while, the tension between Zoe and Laine keeps growing until neither can deny their feelings for each other. Needless to say things get messy and complicated.
While I did find a lot of the plot to be predictable, I don't necessarily think that's automatically a bad thing and I still very much enjoyed the book. I thought the setting of Blue Ridge was cute, quaint, idyllic. It was the perfect portrayal of a charming southern small town. I absolutely loved (most) of the side characters! I want to be best friends with both Teddy and Daryl IRL and I would pay a decent amount of money to be able to go on the redneck wine tour. Zoe Brennan, First Crush also contained a lot of rom-com elements that I personally love: a one-night stand, a teenage crush (aka PINING), a sapphic romance, former best friend's sibling love interest, workplace romance, small town setting, rival businesses.
If you are a fan of low-conflict rom coms with quirky characters, nerdy/geeky references, and a charming setting, then I would definitely recommend
0Oh. My. Gosh. This audiobook gave me LIFE. I was not prepared for this book and I'm honestly still trying to soak it all in. First off I really recommend the audiobook, the narrator is perfect for this book and I can picture her as the voice of Zoe perfectly. I understood and felt for Zoe and her personal struggles relating to worth and feeling loved so much, as well as the struggle with realizing your sexuality in your 20's. And I absolutely adore her and Lane's love story. I loved how they both were able to struggle with their own things and deal with them both on their own and with each other. The little found family they have at Blue Ridge also gives me life and melts my heart simultaneously. I look forward to their hopefully being more books for this series so we can continue to see this found family grow.
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