REVIEW: Sour Grapes by Rachel Goodman

Sour Grapes (Blue Plate #2) by Rachel Goodman is an amazing second book in the Blue Plate Series. Although the second book in the series, it can be read stand alone. I am foodie book lover, and this story has not only the food to make any foodie lover enjoy but this also has WINE! Can it get any better than that??? This is the story of Margaret and Ryan.

Margaret Stokes has lost a lot recently, the man that she expected to propose to her, the man that she helped to pick up the pieces of his shattered heart, dumped her for the woman that left him in pieces. To top it off, she has lost their joint friends and the members of the Randy Hallis Band, the friends that she supported when they were nothing, the friends that she helped promote. Always a disappointment to her mother, Margaret has never been able to live up to her expectations. Now even her so called friends, hand picked by her mother of course, are gloating and jabbing at her, making her feel even worse. She needs to get away, so she runs to the only place that she can think of, her Grammy J and the Bluebonnet Inn.

Ryan Camden remembered Marge the first moment that he layed eyes on her again. Though it has been years since he has seen her, he remembers her, cannot get her out of his head. When he offers the wind snob a bottle of “No Regrets” and challenges Marge at every turn to step outside her comfort zone, to live her life without regrets, without having to have everything mapped out and planned, he unknowing gives her the room that she needs to grow without smothering her.

When Grammy J takes a fall, and Margaret’s mother threatens to sell the Bluebonnet Inn, it will take the inner strength that Margaret did not realized that she has in her to make hre fight for the Inn that has come to love and the man that she will give up everything for.

What I really loved about this amazing story is that it picks up not long after Nick and Margaret have broken up. Again, if you have not read book one, do not worry, the author gives just enough details to insure that the reader understands the dynamic between the two. Ryan and Marge are AMAZING together, though he pushes her, and supports her, he allows her to spread her wings and truly live for the first time in forever. Never judging her, never putting her down, letting her know in big ways and in the little ways too, that she is perfect, and beautiful, and worthy.

Margaret has issues and I blame her mother for that. She feels unworthy, afraid to put her heart on the line, afraid that is she does, Ryan will eventually see what her mother sees, that she cannot measure up. It is not until she almost loses Ryan and the Inn that she realizes that loving and being loved is not something that is guaranteed, it is a risk you take, hoping that the other person loves you back. We met an entirely new cast of amazing characters in this book that welcome Margaret in with open arms and I cannot wait to see where this amazing series goes next.

A great summertime read for anyone that loves good food, great wine and a beautiful HEA set in the back hills wine country.

Book Info:

Published May 23rd 2016 | Pocket Star | Blue Plate #2

Uncork this delectable Texas Hill Country romance from the critically acclaimed author of From Scratch, the “smart, sexy, and funny” debut that “piles on the Southern charm” (Publishers Weekly).

Margaret Stokes is bitter. And not in the robust fine wine or tangy dark chocolate kind of way. She just got dumped, is fed up with her job as a glorified party-planner for the rich, and can’t possibly listen to one more veiled insult from her impossible-to-please mother. So she retreats to the comfort of her grandmother’s ramshackle bed and breakfast, where the wide open vineyards are filled with surprises, from the shockingly delicious wine to the aggravating yet oh-so-tempting man who makes it.

Ryan Camden’s easy approach to life encourages Margaret to loosen up and have a little fun, despite her better judgment. She resists the urge to micromanage every detail, embracing the welcome distractions of her surroundings and letting their relationship unfold at a natural rhythm. But when a health scare forces Grammy J to give up the B&B, Margaret begins to wonder if Ryan really is the man he promises—and whether the problems she tried so hard to escape ever really went away.