Sweeter Than Wine

Sweeter Than Wine is a contemporary adult romance, set among the lush, green vineyards of the Garonne Valley.

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‘My resolve is weakening. Something new is happening, something wonderful, frightening and inviting. I’m being trawled into a net of my own making, and from which there may be no escape . . .’

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Nicole Durand takes a job as housekeeper-companion to Cathy, wife of wealthy Bordeaux winegrower, Yves Ravel, to earn money for university. She isn’t looking for romance, but when she meets the Ravels’ son, Andy, she is irresistibly attracted to him. Should she give in to her feelings, risking her future ambitions and his – or settle for friendship, and be the sister Andy never had?
The past few years have not been easy for Nicole. She has struggled to come to terms with her father’s early death and with her mother Denise’s subsequent addictions, lies and bad choices in men. In spite of it all, she has come through lycée with top marks. She has had to grow up quickly.
Now, as she grows closer to Cathy and her feelings for Andy intensify, Nicole becomes caught up in her employers’ problems as well as her own – by Yves’ obsession with the business, his threats to stop funding Andy’s education, the continual arguments and by the Ravel family tragedy. Moreover, she is distrustful of Denise's new partner, and afraid her younger siblings may suffer the way she did. With three years of study in a foreign country looming, these are all complications she doesn’t need.