Left on bended knee, with nothing but a ring in his hand and a gaping hole in his chest, Ivan Rusilko lost everything when Jaden Thorne said, “I can’t.”
Now, six months later and despite her endless attempts to reach him, finding forgiveness for Jaden’s indiscretion is last on his list of things to do. Dr. Ivan is married to his career now, and his professional success is taking him places he’s never been before. But even the glow of accomplishment can’t heal his devastated heart. Determined to recover, to move forward at any cost, he now finds moments of respite in distractions that leave him emotionally bankrupt. He’s empty, a shadow of his former vibrant, life-loving self. On the outside, he may seem to be the man he always was. But inside, a terrible desire threatens to rip him apart and ruin him forever.
Meanwhile Jaden is haunted by the memory of the moment she saw the light wither and die in Ivan’s eyes. She knows it died at her hand. After months of trying to explain herself, of begging for mercy, she takes herself back to Miami, back into Ivan’s path, for one last chance at redemption. Can she entice him back into her arms? Convince him to give her a second chance? She’s determined to do whatever
Everything you were told about Desserts is absolutely correct! Ivan’s words pour onto the pages with sinful delight! As you dive into this decadent treat you are reminded of why you fell in love with this series in the first place. In Desserts we find Ivan lost and broken. The battle between good and evil has encompassed Ivan’s life. Now Ivan’s story, this time around, is all about choices. The powerful hold of love is undeniable! Men have fought wars and killed for it causing even the strongest to crumble in its wake and Ivan soon learns that he is no different.
“The loneliness that engulfed him every day was now his companion. Jaden was gone forever, never to lie by his side again.”
Both Ivan and Jaden are at a crossroad. Jaden looking for forgiveness and Ivan learning if forgiveness is a dish he is willing to stomach. Ivan has created a world of darkness. Mindless sex has him questioning who is in control of his life, him or the monster inside. Try as he may the darkness isn’t enough to close out the light of a world that includes his baby girl.
“As the sensation diminished, so did the guard he’d meticulously maintained to protect himself. He could feel his heart flickering to life. Perhaps…”
Jaden finds herself where it all started. Returning home to take stock of her life and the disorder it has created. The life she so coveted has proven that what you want in life isn’t always what you need. As the wheels touch down at Miami International Jaden knows that she has to fight. Fight for love. Fight for the man that completes her world and makes her whole. Jaden soon learns that the road to finding forgiveness starts with forgiving yourself. Can Ivan forgive as well?
“She turned in his arms and met his eyes, silently pleading for what her mind, body, and soul craved.”
The Winemaker’s Dinner trilogy not only temps the taste buds it devours every single craving your heart may desires. Starting with an appetizer of fresh attraction that grows into a full course entrée of love your palate aches for more. No meal is ever complete with out dessert. Desserts are not always sweet then can be bitter or even cold but the end results are always the same…satisfaction! Taking the reins in the last book of The Winemaker’s Trilogy, Dr Ivan Rusilko has proven that one mans reality is capable of entertaining the masses. We have all become enchanted with the idea of finding our own good doctor and why not? Ivan is the hope that every woman is looking for. Loving, caring, successful, passionate and dominate…the total package. Ivan has allowed the world a peek into his own reality and has us all cheering for his happily ever after along with our own. Life presents us with choices and what we do with those choices allows us to create our own decadent meal. Opting for dessert is one choice you will not regret.
“The only advice that I can give you about love is this: When you find that one little thing about someone you can’t find in anyone else – no matter how small it is – that thing that completely shuts down whatever else you are doing. She’s the one.”
The very definition of the word dessert is “the unusually sweet course that concludes a meal.” That statement epitomizes the final accompaniment of The Winemakers Feast in more ways than one. The decadent conclusion to this series serves up not only the finale of an amazing love story between Jaden and Ivan, but it is also the bittersweet ending to a trilogy that has affected me on a deeply personal level. With the simple introduction of Appetizers I had no idea the smorgasbord of emotions and feelings that were about to bombard me, and stay in my heart long after reading “The End” of the final page.
Dr. Ivan Rusilko has become the perfect sommelier. The paring of fiction with reality, the blending of conscious and subconscious, the melding of light with dark and good with evil, left me salivating for more. In this serving of the banquet we are served a side of the good Doctor that is foreign to the connoisseur , and possibly a bit uncomfortable for some. For me, it was beautifully and perfectly plated. The raw emotion depicted throughout these pages had me feeling like I had just had the wind knocked out of me, and left my heart palpating in my chest. I honestly hurt for him. I believe the words that Ivan chose to use on these pages came from a place deep within his soul. When humans are betrayed it is natural to act out and repress emotions. The culmination of heartache and angst left my soul aching. Only when my fingers started to cramp did I realize how tightly I had been gripping my iPad, clenching it so hard that my knuckles were white. I couldn’t read fast enough but was leery to flip to the next page, not knowing what was on the horizon. Kudos to you Ivan. You did and amazing job showing us the pain that can take a person right to the edge, and bringing us right dead smack into the middle of your ‘world.’
It has been said that music is the window to the soul, and considering myself a novice music aficionado the choosing of the score was not lost on me. I devoured the title chapters, and found myself lost in the melodies. I loved the emotions that each song evoked. I loved that each of the songs set the perfect ambiance to the meal being served. I hope that all readers took the time to research the lyrics and to understand their relevance. Each of these songs was carefully chosen to add to the depth to the unveiling plot. The words to these tunes were morsels of insight, giving an additional glimpse of just where Ivan’s head and heart where at each moment of the story being shared with us. Each of them providing an additional element to the story and revealing another layer of Ivan’s feelings and emotions. These songs connected me to further to an amazingly powerful memoir.
“Love with out reason is true love.” In a genre where so many hearts are drawn to the Will’s, Kellan’s, Travis’, and Christian’s looking for their proverbial fairy-tale ending, Ivan has delectably shown us that sometimes it’s not about the ending at all, but it’s actually about the journey. “Love IS beautiful,” and although “hope may be a narcotic,” destiny is ours for the making. I know that I share the sentiment of many, and I personally hope that this isn’t the end of your career as a writer. So with that, I wonder… maybe someday in the future you’d like to sit back and pour a glass of Sauternes, and share with us the many secrets to the questions that you’ve (perhaps purposely) left unanswered? (Like what in the heck was inscribed on the inside of that engagement ring?!?! Uff!!!) So I raise my glass to you Ivan. I want thank you for taking us all on a magically beautiful ride. This has been a journey that has touched many, and left each of us in a better place having been given the opportunity to get to know you, and each other. **Cheers** XoXo ~ Jennifer
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GREAT series! FANTASTIC reviews, ladies!! Shirley B.