A sexy' fun romance with a lot of heart and interesting story. It pulls you in from the beginning and you won’t want to stop.

This was sweet but predictable and the characters and story are forgettable and a bit lackluster.

Anthony & Oscar. Anthony is a bit of a stick in the mud where as rough and tough more relaxed being. They are complete opposites but their attraction wins out in the end.

It was okay, I unfortunately wanted more from this story.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5



Anthony Beretta inherited the family winery at the tender age of twenty-four. It’s a struggle to keep it up, but he loves it and is determined to make it work even if it kills him. That is, if a motorcyclist doesn’t kill him first. He initially judges the man, attractive as he may be, on the basis of his appearance and apparently limited vocabulary. He soon discovers he’s wrong, but by then Oscar Kennett has already judged Anthony on his appearance.

Oscar thinks Tony Beretta is uptight and snobbish, and Tony’s speech for the charity they’re working on together reinforces that, even when he finds out Tony did it just to push his buttons. His adorable curls and sexy glasses might not be enough to change his mind, but maybe there’s more to Tony than meets the eye.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of love found among the wines and  vines.  It was not only a terrific contemporary romance but a great way to connect with an author I hadn't read in a while, Sydney Blackburn.

Somehow, I manage to lose track of authors and I never figure out why.  Maybe its the flood of stories I get, the titles and series I keep up with. But for whatever reason, some I forget to check up on so I'm thrilled when I read books like In Vino Veritas by Sydney Blackburn and, after finishing the story) to go romping back to Sydney's backlist to see what I have missed!

In Vino Veritas (In Wine Truth), two men collide literally and make instant snap judgements about each other based on their clothing of the moment and their conversation and language.  Initial impressions couldn't be further from the truth but it takes wine, a winery, and a celebration to  bring the men together.

I loved both men, their personalities and the chemistry between them did it for me.  The backdrop and foundation of the witery is absolutely  perfect for a romance and the character of Tony Beretta (and his mother).  It's necessary in order to get into his framework of overworked, obsessive, passionate man in love with his  vines, the art of wine making and the land.  We need to see Tony in his element and we do.  So eventually does Oscar.

I wish we could have had more of Oscar's background and seen him settled at work but the focus here is Tony and his winery as well as their romance.

I loved so many elements here that I could see a sequel. I enjoyed this couple and the location that much.

If you love contemporary romance, don't miss out on In Vino Veritas by Sydney Blackburn.  It's one I definitely recommend!

Cover art:  Natasha Snow.  I love this cover.  Its perfection from the colors to the composition.  It caught my eye immediately.

I got his book a while ago from NetGalley and read it right after but forgot to review it because quite frankly I forgot. I liked In Vino Veritas, but it wasn't like mindblowing good. It was a nice read for an afternoon evening, but that's it. The writing was ok. I'm not really sure what else I'm supposed to say about In Vino Veritas... It filled a few hours of boredom but overall only average in my eyes.

Rating: 2,5 stars

Anthony Beretta reluctantly inherited his family’s winery at the age of twenty-four. It’s all he ever wanted to do, but he wanted to run the winery alongside his father, not on his own. When Anthony’s dad dies, it’s all up to him. While Anthony’s mother runs the event side of the winery, and a cousin helps out as well, the winery is struggling financially and Anthony has more work then he can accomplish on any day. Still, Anthony is holding on.

While dressed up for a meeting, Anthony has an incident with motorcyclist, Oscar. The men immediately judge each other on their appearance alone. Oscar sees Anthony as uptight and entitled, and Anthony is sure Oscar is just another poorly spoken guy on a motorcycle. When the men realize they are running a charity event together, the animosity is high, but so is the attraction. It may not take too long for the men to realize that there is more to a person than appearances.

This book didn’t work for me from the start. It’s a case of the writing and story and what the characters were doing or saying that didn’t click with me at all. When Anthony “don’t-call-me-Tony” Baretta meets Oscar “my friends call me Oz” Kennett, the men believe it is an opposites attract story. Yet, these guys judge each other solely on their appearances and one brief conversation they have after a distressing event.

Anthony is clearly struggling with the winery and is overwhelmed. But, he’s basically a pompous ass. He’s irritating and grammatically corrects Oz every time Oz says “yeah,” telling him it’s “yes,” and it wasn’t cute, it was highly annoying. What happens directly after they meet took a bit of a leap for me in the way Anthony went about the whole thing, but if it was just that one area, I could have moved on.

When the men realize they are working together on a charity event, Anthony does everything he can to embarrass Oz and why he had such animosity towards him felt incredibly forced. Then, with Oz calling Anthony “Mr. Fancy Pants,” their dialogue (and actions) were juvenile and awkward. I think the author was going for an enemies to lovers vibe here, but it didn’t work for me and when the guys are all of a sudden all over each other, there was zero chemistry between the two of them.

There is little character development for either of them and we learn only the basics about Anthony and not much about Oz. The men decide to be exclusive and it still wasn’t clear if they liked each other and they make a comment about not having to be friends because they’re sleeping together. The timing and flow and just all of it was off for me. Add in an ex that shows up out of nowhere after no contact with Anthony for four years to cause pointless conflict, Anthony’s mother that teases Anthony and Oz about their sex life, and ridiculous miscommunication, and it added a trifecta of more things that didn’t work for me.

This also was a relatively short book and the men went from making fun of each other, to sharing a bed, to not talking again, and then to forever in a span of a few short weeks. I’ll recommend a pass on a visit to this winery.

All in all this book was a wonderful pageturner, romantic and sweet. Anthony and Oscar are cute together and I loved to see them fall in love and find out more about each other. Oh, and don't forget Anthony's mother, she is really great! I was a bit annoyed by their constant efforts to push each other's buttons though because I thought that it was a bit too much. Apart from that, it was a very enjoyable story with two very likeable characters who just can't help falling in love!

Thank you to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. I really enjoyed this book. I loved Anthony and Oscar, as a couple. This was a steamy, short romance, that kept my attention

It took me a while to like Anthony, his first impression wasn't the best; he's super prickly when he first meets Oscar, who nearly crashed into Anthony's car with his motorbike.

I always like a good hate-love at first sight story! In Vino Veritas delivered in some aspects, in others not so much. I guess I just I didn't adore characters, I'm afraid. I'm torn, as you can see. I mean... The story was a good one, for the most part! I enjoyed the setting and seeing the two guys bitch and banter.

What I didn't like so much was how Oscar kept calling Anthony, Tony especially since he didn't like it at first. It just bugged me a little to be honest, but that's probably just me.

Oscar and Anthony totally made me fall in love with their relationship and that H-O-T biker/businessman combo. I loved the Canadian vineyard setting and the biker group that Oscar is a part of.....in addition to his REAL job. No, I won't tell you what it is ~ read the book! IN VINO VERITAS is a steamy, short romance that is a little rocky at times, both in relationship and writing, but overall this male couple stole my heart. I'd love more stories about them or related stories set at the vineyard!

Brand new M/M romance novella set in Wine Country. First impressions are rocky, to say the least, but there's an undeniable physical attraction between Anthony and Oscar. Enter someone's ex to shake things up a bit, but remember that you're guaranteed a Happily Ever After. While it ticked most of my boxes (an unapologetically gay vintner passionate about literacy, plus motorcycles!), I was less than impressed with the writing style and found myself skimming pages to get to the next plot point. That being said, I would have enjoyed getting to know these men better had the author chosen to write a longer story.

In Vino Veritas is a short but satisfying romance.

The story is an enemies-to-lovers romance, although the enmity between the two men isn’t very deep. Vineyard owner Anthony is almost in an accident when a motorcyclist lays down his bike in front of him to avoid hitting a rabbit. Anthony initially judges the rider, Oscar, to be uncouth based on the way he dresses and talks. For his part, Oscar thinks Anthony is an overbearing snob. But when the two of them must work together on a charity book drive and their mutual attraction heats up, they soon discover that first impressions can be mistaken.

There’s not too much more to the story. The author complicates it slightly by introducing baggage for both men in the form of bad past relationships, and Anthony’s very unpleasant ex makes an appearance. Anthony also has to work through some insecurity about his attractiveness based on his teenage years as well as his fears that Oscar won’t stay with him given the unrelenting work schedule involved in running a vineyard.

Really, though, this is simply a quick, easy read about two nice guys overcoming their initial impressions of each other and falling in love.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

I loved this book, being pulled in to wine country and sexy bikers. Tony and Oz's story pulled me in from the start, it was a fast paced read. where I got to learn some of the main characters background. I would like more of Oz's background. I did love how much we got to know Tony/Anthony. I was sad when this book ended, it left me wanting more. I hope to see a second book so we can follow more of their story and see what is next for them.