REVIEW: Saison For Love by Meg Benjamin

In Saison For Love by Meg Benjamin, Liam Dempsey is working as a bartender in a bar that’s going downhill quickly. He has plans to leave Antero, Colorado behind, including his sister and her struggling brewery. Ruth Colbert, a cheesemaker and single mother, is struggling between keeping the cook at her restaurant happy, making cheese, and dealing with her twelve-year-old daughter. After Ruth lets loose for one night with Liam, she believes it’s the only time they’ll be together. She’s too busy, his sister is her best friend, and she’s five years older than him. Liam doesn’t care about that, and with a little help from Ruth’s daughter, Carol, he finds a way to spend more time with her. But when it gets close to the time Liam needs to leave for his new job in Utah, will he be able to leave them behind?

Readers will feel for both Liam and Ruth. Liam is struggling to find a place to belong. He used to brew his own beer, but it’s obvious his sister doesn’t trust him to do so anymore. He wants to find a place to belong, but he’s struggling to find it. Ruth, on the other hand, has to deal with a cook who really doesn’t want to be working for her, her daughter’s attitude, and an ex-husband who insists Carol fly out to Los Angeles and spend time with him and his PA. Ruth deserves to be happy, but instead all she’s just exhausted.

Readers will also feel for Carol. She’s torn between wanting to help her mom out at the restaurant and her love life, and going with her father. She doesn’t know her father well because he was hardly ever around, and she wants the chance to see if she can build a relationship with him. A part of her resents Ruth’s hesitation to let her go, when Ruth is trying to protect Carol from being disappointed in her father.

I loved when Carol was torn about whether or not to go to California with her father, the first person she turns to isn’t her mother, but Liam. She clearly trusts him and his opinions. And while Liam isn’t sure how to be a father-figure, he wants to do best by Carol.
==”It’s hard to ignore somebody calling you strange,” Carol said slowly. “Particularly when it’s your dad.” Her lower lip began to tremble. “He says I should move to California with him full time. Then I wouldn’t be so weird. I guess he thinks he can fix me.”
Liam bent down on his haunches until the two of them were roughly eye-to-eye. “Look, here’s the thing. You don’t need fixing. You’re the least broken person I know. Your mom is a great mom, and you’re a great kid.” He had no idea if he was putting that the right way, but it was the only way he knew how.==

This is the second book in the series. I haven’t read the first book, and I felt a little lost about why there was some tension between Liam and his sister, Bec. From what I gathered from this one, they were co-owners in the brewery along with another brother, who took off. I wasn’t too clear as to how his taking off created problems between Bec and Liam, or why Liam felt like he didn’t really have a place at the brewery anymore, despite the fact he still helped out there. For that reason, I would suggest reading the previous book, Love on Tap, before reading this one. I think that would have helped clear things up.

For those who enjoy the best friend’s little brother trope, or just enjoy a sweet romance in general, Saison for Love is for you.
 

Book Info:

Publication: September 18, 2017 | Entangled Publishing, LLC | Brewing Love #2

Liam Dempsey isn’t long for Antero. The bar where he’s been working is going downhill fast, and it’s time for him to move on. Even if moving on means moving from Colorado to Utah and leaving his sister and fledgling brewery behind. He’s not interested in forming any attachments before he leaves in a month, but after a sexy hook-up with his sister’s friend, he finds himself unsure where his future stands.

The last thing Ruth Colbert needs is something else on her plate. She has a restaurant to run, a chef to replace, and a cranky twelve-year-old to raise, but a steamy night with Liam was just what she needed. The only problem is, now she wants more, if only she could find the time for him. Just when things seem to be working out and she can see a possible future with Liam, someone from her past shows up to throw another wrench into everything.