A Taste of Sake, by Heather Hayford

Have you ever had a book that once you started reading it you lost sense of everything else around you? All you wanted to do was keep reading? Usually that happens to me with a Police Detective / Crime Novel or Spy / Action novel. But I found that it happened with this wonderful book.

First of all I would like to thank Net Galley and the publisher for making an Advance Reader Copy of this book available to me for review. This is book four in a Series titled, "The Napa Wine Heiresses."

Sake is the youngest daughter of Xavier St. Pierre, a winery owner in the Napa Valley. The problem is that she grew up poor because her mother and Xavier had an adulterous relationship. He had three daughters with his wife, not with Sake’s mother.

But Sake’s life was not that of a rich, wealthy, socialite like her half sisters. She lived with a mother who moved often, used drugs, drank and was out of touch with reality most of the time. Sake actually went up to a year at times without knowing where her mother was.

But at the age of 22 her father found her and brought her home. How will a mixed race young woman who was raised on the tough streets of San Francisco fit in with her wealthy half siblings and a father whom she really doesn’t know that well at all.

The book is well crafted and the characters are well developed. You come to know the main characters well, learn their secrets, their mindsets and what really helps them cope with a world that is not as simple as it might first appear.

Sake will learn quickly that the rich have problems just like ‘normal’ people. She will also find that she is more welcome than she thought, but that takes time.

There is another character in the book, real estate broker, Bill Diamond. He somewhat comes to Sake’s rescue during an unfortunate accident at the wedding of Sake’s oldest half sibling. This brings Bill into Sake’s life. But Bill has his own issues. He wants to be successful, he wants to have the golden ring of success and he wants a wife to share in life with him, but a wife who fits the Napa Valley mold.

What will he do with Sake, a young woman who has quite a different flavor for language, dress and lifestyle than anyone he has ever known? Will Bill finalize a relationship with Deb, his doctor friend, or will he discover that love comes bundled in a strange package at times.

This entire book caught my attention and I couldn’t wait to get to the end. Now the only problem is I want more.

Enjoy!