REVIEW: Bitter Truth by Meredith Wild and Jillian Liota

Bitter Truth by Meredith Wild and Jillian Liota: When Murphy heads back to her hometown, she’s already struggling with the fact that she’s back and then her car gets a flat tire. The stranger who offers his assistance at the gas station ends up helping her more than she expects and she finds herself comfortable with him and questioning whether she should try to see him again. She gets her chance when they both pull into her house’s driveway and she learns that he is the new chef at the vineyard’s restaurant. Even worse, he’s her new boss, Wesley Hart.

As the two try to walk the thin line between keeping a cordial relationship and giving in to the urges that they feel, they find themselves opening up to each other about the hard times in their past. Both have been through workplace traumas which has led them to the vineyard. As they prepare to open the restaurant together, they help each other mend from their traumas and try to help the family business succeed.

First things first, one of Wes’s plot points doesn’t receive closure and I’m still not over it. I feel like he should have had more story time because his story seemed to be heading one direction with his familial line and then it shifted focus to the workplace aspect. I really wanted to understand what the relationship could be like for him with his parents, but we never fully learned what was going to happen.

Murphy might be one of my favorite female main characters. She had such fire in her and I loved her story. She accomplishes a lot throughout the story from learning her worth to learning what she wants in her life. I loved everything about her.

The rest of the cast of characters was great. There were a few who didn’t add a whole lot to the story, but for the most part, they were completely necessary. Murphy’s aunt is the kind of aunt I strive to be. The entire story wrapped up so nicely and now I want more stories from the winery.

If you like an emotional, spicy and wholesome small town romance, highly recommend BITTER TRUTH

Book Info:

Publication: August 27, 2024 | Montlake | Hawthorne Vines #1

For two wounded hearts, love is a risk in an emotional novel about family, past regrets, and future hopes by Jillian Liota and #1 New York Times bestselling author Meredith Wild.

After nine years in LA, aspiring singer Murphy Hawthorne leaves behind her broken dreams to return to her family’s vineyard. But as she helps open the property’s new restaurant, she faces a family still bitter about the fact she ever left, and old wounds quickly resurface. The only refreshing note is the handsome head chef, Wesley Hart.

Hired to draw more tourists to the Hawthorne vineyard, Wes is a culinary master with a reputation he wishes he could forget. Struggling with regrets and complex family dynamics of his own, he’s trying to start over, too. The biggest mistake he could make right now is to act on his attraction to his boss’s younger sister. If only he could get her out of his head…

Despite all the reasons to keep their distance, Murphy and Wes can’t deny the connection that keeps drawing them together. In each other, they find refuge and a sense of belonging neither could have imagined. But to forge a new future together, they must answer one important Can they face the past—and forgive it?