Member Reviews

When I started this book it felt like I was going home to Alpine Ridge, a small town set in the Ovens Valley, base of the mountains of Victoria, back to meet up with The Mathews Brothers and see the eldest brother Mitch get his HEA, Mitch has been through a lot but when his high school sweetheart Matilda James arrives back home the sparks fly between them, hold onto your seats make yourself comfy get a box of tissues and enjoy this fabulous story.

Matilda moved away from Alpine Ridge after finishing high school at the age of eighteen, she left her boyfriend Mitch Mathews and ran, she did not want to grow up in a small town, and she ended up in San Francisco, married and working in a high powered job in marketing. But when she wants children and her husband doesn’t she leaves him and moves back home and runs into her old flame Mitch, and starts working at the family vineyard, this isn’t easy as her feelings for Mitch come to the surface, but a lot has happened in the fifteen years they have been apart.

Mitch eventually got over Matilda leaving him, threw himself into the family vineyard, met a beautiful girl Rachel married her and then lost her in childbirth, he is a single dad now and Sophie is everything to him, but Matilda still pulls at his heart-strings but there are a lot of emotions going on that make it really hard on Mitch and in the end Matilda as well.

This story is emotional and so very moving as Mitch and Matilda have a very up and down journey to a HEA that had me crying bucket loads and smiling with such joy, this book has just about every emotion there is and just ends up in such a happy place, MS Underdown has done it again with the third and I think final story in this series, written beautifully with such heart-felt feelings and love entwined throughout, I loved this story so much, I loved Mitch and Matilda, Tom and Amy, and Sam and Ella, Livvy and Sophie, what a family. I do highly recommend this book and series wow awesome thank you MS Underdown

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What a wonderful story!!!! This is my first time reading this author and I am very much impressed with there writing style. This is book three of the Brothers of the Vine Series to which I have not read the other two books so it is a stand-alone set in a series. There are so many ups and downs in this story that it had your attention to the end. This book is a second chance romance about Matilda and Mitch who were high school sweethearts over fifteen years ago. A great Aussie story full of emotions and great characters that will touch your heart.

Will following your heart and your dreams get you the life you want?

Can you ever fully recover from the grief of losing your wife and the life you dream together?

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley for my unbiased opinion of the book.

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Not gonna lie, this book had me in tears a couple different times.

But the rest of the book?

I really wanted to slap the hero and heroine. Which is so ungracious is me.

Even though I wasn’t all that excited about this book, I was still interested in reading it – poor Mitch Mathews, who lost his wife during childbirth in the first book and is now raising his daughter alone, deserves to find happiness again!

Matilda James has now returned back home to Alpine Ridge after leaving her husband because he didn’t want to have children, and she really wants to.

When Matilda is offered a job as marketing director for the Mathews Family Vineyard, she hesitates, but the brothers convince her she is the woman for the job, and that it won’t be awkward – despite a relationship with Mitch that ended 15 years ago with hurt feelings.

As you can probably imagine…the more time they spend together, the more their past feelings return. Mitch fights it, Matilda doesn’t push, but then decides he’s worth being patient for, then Mitch decides he wants to be with her, but then pushes her away, lather, rinse, repeat…

The best thing about this story is that when they meet again, Mitch doesn’t act angry or rude, and their reunion was pleasant and not contentious. I liked how Matilda was open and honest, and encouraged Mitch to be the same. At the beginning, she did a good job of getting things out in the open.

But things then just got angsty and melodramatic. There was back and forth, which I could understand with a man who loved his wife dearly and feels conflicted about moving on. But these characters spend a lot of time in their own heads, and it wasn’t a pleasant or amusing place for me to be. Add in conversations that were frequently stilted, and there simply wasn’t much about this story I found appealing.

I put off writing my review for a couple of days to see if I’d feel more favorable about Sweet From the Vine, but my conflicted feelings continued and I don’t feel any more generous about my rating. I think I “suffer” from an odd form of obsessive compulsive disorder, wherein I am unable to not finish a book where I’ve read the first two books from the series, and I was wanting a happy ending for a most sympathetic single dad. To be fair, I wasn’t a huge fan of the previous two books (this author is probably not my cup of tea), but the first book was okay, the second was good, so I had hopes of this one being the best – especially since second-chance stories are totally my fav! Sadly, that didn’t even make a difference. But, I’m glad I can check this one off my list and go on to the next book!

PS I will say this, though…I LOVED the covers for this series. Aren’t they lovely?!

* thank you to NetGalley and Escape Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

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I received an Advanced Reader Copy from Escape Publishing for my unbiased opinion of the book. What a great final book in the Brothers of the Vine Series!!! I couldn’t put it down. I read it in six hours! This book is about the eldest brother Mitch and his high school sweetheart Matilda. Both are struggling with demons, especially Mitch who lost his wife eighteen months prior. Matilda is ready to rekindle what they once had into this new adult version of romance. Can Mitch put his demons to rest so they can have a happy ever after? You don't want to miss this book! Jackie thank you for this series, I loved every minute!

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I loved this (what I'm assuming), the last book in The Brothers of the Vine series. This time we learn how Mitch is still dealing with the loss of his wife from book one and what happens when he's forced to confront his feelings or risk losing his future with his old girlfriend Matilda. Matilda has her own issues to deal with after divorcing her husband and coming back to her home town after being gone 15 years. There's plenty of mixed emotions and misunderstandings ahead for the two of them. It was nice to be able to revisit the vineyard and see how Tom and Sam and their partners Amy and Ellie are doing a bit further down the track. This can be read as a standalone, but you'll get so much enjoyment from the previous two books, I recommend you read them first.

Thanks to NetGalley and Escape Publishing for a copy in return for an honest review.

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A well written romance. I enjoyed the book, setting and the author’s writing. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my digital arc this is my unbiased review.

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‘Sweet from the Vine’ is the final book of the Brothers of the Vine trilogy. I’ve really enjoyed these books with the first in the series ‘Bittersweet’, being my favourite.

This book is Mitch’s story, the elder brother of the trio.
Twelve months ago Matilda was married, living in San Francisco and working a 60 hour week as a marketing and media consultant. It all seemed great until she wanted children and her husband didn’t. Now she’s back in the home town of Alpine Ridge that she left 15 years ago. Matilda previously dated Mitch in high school for 2 years, before she broke his heart to go to Melbourne for Uni, now she is offered a marketing consultant position in the expanding family vineyard, will that a potential problem for them both?

This was a sweet romance, with Mitch trying to resolve his feelings of guilt and move on from the tragic death of his wife, while trying to be a loving father to his baby daughter. For this reason I really feel the reader would get the best out of the story if they were read in order but it’s not essential.

Just an all round lovely story, with characters that have grown over the books and realistic reactions to events.....I’m not one for great angst, storming off moments that seem an over reaction!!
Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC copy to read

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"Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review."

Loved this book very much. It had just enough sweet romance and the storyline was great! I highly recommend!

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