The Winemaker’s Dinner: Appetizers.
Delicious. Delectable. Divine. What an amazing journey this book takes you and your senses on. Never has a book shot through me and ignited me to my core. The authors of The Winemakers Dinner pull you in on page one and left me holding my breath until very last. The weaving of fact with fantasy presented you with two identifiable characters. I fell in love with both of them. I laughed, I cried, I got mad, and even screamed once. I found myself talking out loud to the characters. I found myself rooting for their relationship. I couldn’t stop turning the pages.
I thought the writing flowed beautifully. The character development was wonderful, the setting exciting. Ivan’s support and respect for Jaden was refreshing. Romance at it’s finest, Ivan’s expressions of love captivate you. He’s an old soul full of zest. Lives every second to the fullest and loves completely and fully. She is a strong yet fragile. She grows in his presence. She is absolutely smitten. They take nothing for granted. Ivan’s love for Jaden and his family left a grin on my face and a permanent smile in my heart.
Kudos from a music lover, having each chapter titled after a song made this book that much more enjoyable for me. I believe that there is a song out there for every emotion. Having a song for each chapter pulled me into the story even more. The lyrics to each song touched me and illustrated a different layer for this story.
Passionate,sensuous, mouthwatering. I didn’t want this story to end and admit to having already read it a second time. I can’t wait for the next course and I’m sure it will be decadent. Love is a progression. Love is beautiful. We all deserve a miracle.
Entree Review:
Pull up a chair and settle in… because you will not be able to put this book down, you will need to devour it whole. Pour a glass of Velvet Glove and grab some exquisite chocolates, let those flavors explode on your palate. This course of The Winemakers Feast is truly a carnival for the senses and will have your emotions teetering on the edge… Entree is simply mouthwatering, a mouthful of pure decadent deliciousness.
Appetizers may have been the inspiration for the menu and it set the perfect impassioned ambiance, but HOLY HOTNESS this serving of the banquet got spicy and left me salivating in overdrive. Everly Drummond and Ivan Rusilko have found the perfect blend of eroticism and reality for this meal. Their combined writing styles blends these superb raw ingredients and expertly prepares and presents them in a way that will satisfy the deepest hunger. Their combined efforts has created yet another masterpiece.
In this tsunami of emotions all the organic fixings are present. Plenty of passion, want, need, love, romance, trust, mistrust, insecurity, anger, angst, heady intoxication, and even the proverbial angel versus the devil of the conscious. All of this garnished with uncertainty.
I won’t lie, the passion and sex was amazing. At times left me a bit tingly. ~Which OMG is not a bad thing~
Ahhhh… But the pate foie gras??? The little green pills of course!!! I wonder just how many hits Google has sustained in looking these up? (So let me take this opportunity to insert an apology to all medical professionals at this time, I’ve a sneaking suspicion that if you’ve not already, you’re about to experience an influx in female patients. Just saying… you may want to get your prescription pads ready!).
So I raise my glass to the fusion that Everly and the good Doctor have plated. It has flambeed me and left my heart palpitating. Christian WHO? After this delicacy, I can’t even count to fifty let alone remember or think about another book!!!
Hope may very well be a narcotic but in the end love is always worth the fall. Love is beautiful.
This aphrodisiac has me frantically searching around for my waiter, because just like Veruca Salt, I want my dessert… and I WANT IT NOW!!! ~JH
Dessert Review:
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
Amouse Bouche Review:
What a delectable tidbit to re-whet and tease the appetite! An amazingly delicious insight of the chain of events as seen through Ivan’s eyes. Amuse Bouche has a silky, sultry, sexy tone to it. Dr. Rusilko does an amazing job harnessing his emotion of ‘lightning in a bottle,’ and completely zaps the audience with it. We are given a beautiful depiction of love at first sight, and a front row seat to meeting your soul mate. In a short time you are completely enthralled in the attraction these two characters share. The electricity is amazing and HOLY HOTNESS did you feel the electricity!!! I have loved the entire series, but may have been my favorite yet. I really hope this is the icing on the dessert we are about to be served!!
Pinterest Boards:
Appetizers: http://pinterest.com/
Entree: http://pinterest.com/
Desert: http://pinterest.com/
(General one for the entire series if you want it): http://pinterest.com/
FABULOUS trailer!