Blog Tour: A Vintage Summer by Cathy Bramley

About the Book

Released: 21/03/2019

Genre: Romantic comedy / Women's fiction

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Blurb:

A sparkling summer story that's FULL of surprises!

London has not been kind to Lottie Allbright. Realising it’s time to cut and run, she packs up and moves back home – but finds her family in disarray. In need of a new place to stay, Lottie takes up the offer of a live-in job managing a local vineyard. There’s a lot to learn – she didn’t even know grapes could grow so far north! Butterworth Wines in the rolling Derbyshire hills has always been run on love and passion but a tragic death has left everyone at a loss. Widowed Betsy is trying to keep the place afloat but is harbouring a debilitating secret. Meanwhile her handsome but interfering grandson, Jensen, is trying to convince her to sell up and move into a home. Lottie’s determined to save Butterworth Wines, but with all this and an unpredictable English summer to deal with, it’ll be a challenge. And that’s before she discovers something that will turn her summer – and her world – upside down . . .

My Thoughts

Firstly I'd like to thank Penguin Random House and Anne Cater for sending me an advanced e-book of this to review for the release. I'm so excited to be part of this blog tour along with the other bloggers listed above.

'A Vintage Summer' was my first Cathy Bramley novel, and it won't be my last - I really enjoyed this book. I do love to read women's fiction, usually as escapism on holiday, and this was like a warm hug of a novel - it's warm hearted and just made me smile.

The plot follows Lottie, a young woman who is slightly confused about what she wants from life. The narrative shows Lottie and her family as they move through various relationship and life dramas and is largely set in an idyllic vineyard in Derbyshire.

Being a fan of a cheeky glass of wine (often what I like to read with) I found this premise intriguing and the story itself didn't disappoint. I actually learnt a lot about life working on a vineyard, and Cathy used such rich and colourful descriptions that I could picture the setting and the characters easily. The characters themselves were well developed and all had their own intricacies - the vineyard volunteers especially were warmly and hilariously idiosyncratic at times.

If you enjoy authors like Jenny Colgan and Veronica Henry, and like to relax with a good story and a glass of vino, give this one a try.

Cathy Bramley is a prolific author and I will definitely be looking into her other titles for my next holiday read.