Rating: 
Summary: Made me feel like part of the family
Review: Olivia is hard at work restoring photos when the offer comes for her and her 10-year-old daughter to spend the summer with her manager's friend, a 76-year old woman named Natalie. Natalie owns a vineyard and has spent the last 71 years of her life deeply involved with this vineyard, making sacrifices and dealing with the toils and joys of farming life. Olivia has been hired to write Natalie's memoirs and to try to help Natalie's children, Susanne and Greg, understand why their mother wants to get married again after their father has been dead only six months. There's also a tall, dark, and handsome stranger (the vineyard manager) who is going to play some part in Olivia's life in the upcoming months, but that's to be expected of a Delinsky novel.This book takes us deeply inside the ups and downs of family life. We get to see husbands and wives trying to work things out, and we also see children learning to accept their mother. Barbara Delinsky gives us a look into the heart of a family and brings new meaning to the phrase "blood is thicker than water." This is a relationship-driven book instead of a plot-driven book; the plot is virtually nonexistent. I felt like I knew the characters. At the end of the book I wanted to have a conversation with Natalie, and I also wanted to see if Greg and Jill were able to work things out with their marriage. The book made me feel included in their lives. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes relationship novels and likes feeling included in a book. I would also recommend it to people who like sweet (although gratuitous) romance.
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Summary: My favorite storyteller pens another winner
Review: Olivia Jones accompanied by her nine-year old troubled daughter Tess agrees to write the memoirs of Natalie Seebring, owner of the Asquoniet Vineyard and Winery in Rhode Island. Natalie stuns her adult children, Susanne and Greg when she announces her intention to marry Carl Burke, the long-term manager of the winery although their beloved father has been dead only six months. Iit is a struggle for her to talk about her feelings, Natalie hires Olivia to help her tell the truth to her children in order to gain their blessing for her wedding. Olivia is unaware that she is entering a major family feud. However, she quickly comes to love her employer, who makes her and her daughter feel like part of an extended family. Carl's son Simon makes Olivia want to believe in fairy tales, but she fears that he will desert her like everyone else in her life has done. Olivia, the Seebrings, and the Burkes have many personal obstacles to overcome if they are to learn what true loving means. Because of the width of the talent, no one can predict what the next Barbara Delinsky book will be especially since the great author never repeats herself. Her novels are always different as writing style and the characters are unique to one tale only. THE VINEYARD is Barbara Delinsky at her best, delivering a first class family drama filled with a heartwarming and gut-wrenching story line. The passion and uncertainty of caring for another person and the vineyard, which seems at times like a person, feels true to life in what is certain to be the writer's latest bestseller. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Another Wonderful Barbara Delinsky Novel
Review: Once again I am recommending a Barbara Delinsky book -- It's nearly 3 AM in the morning and I've had tears streaming down my face. I could NOT put this book down. When I first started the book I was a bit disappointed. There was such a huge cast of characters I was becoming confused and the details of grapes and winemaking seemed to bog the story down. But since I've had good luck in the past with Barbara Delinsky books, I kept with it. Boy, am I glad I did! Seventy-six-year-old Natalie Seebring is a recent widow - six months to be exact. Naturally, when they receive invitations to her wedding, her children are rather taken aback - not only is she marrying so soon after their father's death, but she is marrying Carl Burke, the manager of their vineyard of all people! Olivia Jones's job as a photo restorer is just about finished as her boss is retiring. When she receives word that Natalie Seebring, whose photos she's been restoring, is looking for an assistant, she asks her boss to recommend her. This sounds like the perfect solution for her for the summer. A young single mother, Olivia is concerned about her 10-year-old daughter Tess who just doesn't seem to fit in with her classmates. This will be the perfect opportunity for Tess and a good interim position for Olivia while she looks for another, more permanent position. Besides, after restoring all these photos she feels she knows Natalie's family - and is curious, wanting to learn more. The job as Natalie's assistant is idyllic for Olivia. She finds a tutor who is experienced in teaching dyslexic children like Tess, Carl can teach Tess tennis, and she is signed up for sailing lessons at the local yacht club. And Olivia fits right in - the Rhode Island vineyard has been having a rash of quitting employees -- and Olivia is thrown right into the mess and acts as if she's always worked there. As Olivia helps Natalie write her memoirs, she learns more of the mystery of her life - why did she marry Alexander Seebring when she had been so in love with Carl, her childhood friend and teenager love interest? More of a mystery though is Simon Burke, the brooding son of Carl. Simon has been managing the vineyard for the past six years and keeps busy with the work which has become his life after the tragic death of his wife and daughter in a sailing accident four years previously. Barbara Delinsky is a master at creating an emotional story - and with THE VINEYARD she gives readers two romances - the one of Carl and Natalie told mostly in backstory through the book Olivia is helping Natalie write, and the budding relationship between Simon and Olivia. Readers who are able to get through the first part of the book will be richly rewarded by a beautiful story. She details the workings of a Rhode Island vineyard so vividly readers could easily visualize the setting and smell the grapes. I am now itching to read the books in Delinsky's backlist that I've missed.
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Summary: Another book from Barbara Delinsky which I hated to finish!
Review: One problem I've had when reading a book by Barbara Delinsky is that the end comes too quickly and I'm left waiting anxiously for the next new title. In the meantime, though, any reader will find as I have, that Ms. Delinsky's books are wonderful adventures and her newest book,The Vineyard, is no exception. In my opinion, it may very well be one of Ms. Delisnky's very best books. As you read this book find out as I did that The Vineyard is filled with memorable characters and a unique place, Rhode Island wine country. And then savor this book as you would any fine wine. For within the book's pages, Ms. Delinsky introduces us to two characters, Natalie Seebring and Olivia Jones, whom we will come to know and remember. These women, from different lifestyles and years apart chronologically, will not only come to learn from one another but will also become bound to one another. Thank you Ms. Delinsky for this wonderful read and please don't make me wait too long for your next book.
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Summary: Harlequin Delinsky
Review: Please understand; this woman can write. But good writing can never overcome bad plot. Even Shakespeare couldn't pull that off!
This story is so incredibly predictable that the journey to the end of a 350 page book palled long before the destination was reached. The one interesting device (the story within a story.. the historical tale) was certainly not enough a strong enough vehicle to carry the lump of the main tale. I've enjoyed several of Delinsky's works, but this one just became boring; I'll be more careful before I purchase the next.
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Summary: The Vineyard
Review: She has done it again! What a wonderful book. I, like lots of others hated to see this book end. I began to feel like their family was part of my family. I also found the information about the vineyards very compelling and interesting. I would like to know more about it.
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Summary: A nice story....but....
Review: the story has two plot lines going at the same time. Usually I have an easy time following both, but I felt that I got bogged down in all that was happening. I enjoyed the book, but I wanted it to flow faster, to get a move on. The story line follows a young woman who has been hired to write the biography of an elderly woman. The older woman's past twists into her present and is explained well, but sometimes I just wanted to reach other pull the story faster. It was a book I couldn't wait to get through.
Rating:
Summary: Another enjoyable book by Barbara Delinsky
Review: THE VINEYARD by Barbara Delinsky
November 8, 2004
I've read a number of books by Barbara Delinsky, most of which I enjoyed a lot. THE VINEYARD is not going to be one of my favorites, but I think I'm going to remember it mainly because I had a hard time liking the main character.
Olivia Jones restores old photographs for a living. She's a single mother, with a daughter (Tess) who has a learning disability. The reader will discover that Olivia is a person that deals with a rough reality by hiding behind daydreams. She in particular finds herself dreaming about the people in the photographs she restores, including a series of them sent to her boss, Otis, by a woman who runs a vineyard.
Natalie Seebring is Otis' client, a woman who is in her twilight years and needs an assistant to help write her life story. Olivia accidentally comes across this request for Otis to recommend someone to fulfill this task, and soon she is dreaming of being that assistant, imagining what each person in those photographs is like. Believe it or not, she soon finds herself working for the matriarch of this family, and she and Tess move to the vineyard to spend the summer there.
The story takes on two main plots. While the story of Natalie's life is being told, the reader will learn about her childhood, how she meets her deceased husband Alexander, as well as how she met her current fiancé, Carl. The second plot involves Olivia, and a man she meets at the vineyard, Simon, who also happens to be Carl's son. Simon and Olivia seem to have something in common, and that is, they are both afraid to venture forth into a relationship with the opposite sex. But both are obviously attracted to each other, and their romance evolves slowly as the story moves on.
Other characters come into play, in particular the grown children of Natalie, Susanne and Greg, and a third child, Brad, who remains a mystery throughout most of the book. His story comes out at the very end, and although I had suspected some of what was to be revealed, I was still somewhat shocked, just as the characters in the book were, too.
While I don't recommend this book as a first time reader to Barbara Delinsky's books, I believe that those who enjoyed her more recent books may enjoy this one. The irritating characters of Olivia and Tess, however, may grate on some nerves, as it did mine. Olivia is a very weak, naive, type of person, and I found it very difficult to feel sorry for a woman that dealt with reality by hiding in daydreams and believing them to be true. Her daughter was a bratty young girl who unfortunately got picked on a lot by her peers, mostly because of her attitude and inability to make friends with others, and not by her disability as mother and daughter are led to believe.
On the other hand, I think an author is doing a good job if a reader can feel intense dislike or like for an invented character. I had no problems with the writing. And I looked forward to reading each chapter as I read about Natalie's life story. Overall, I enjoyed THE VINEYARD and as always, look forward to reading more by Barbara Delinksy.
Rating:
Summary: Be careful of what you wish for
Review: The Vineyard's heroine Olivia Jones is a woman is lost soul in a pattern of lost souls. Dumped by her mother, she searches for a better for herself and her daughter, Tess. She lucks up at job at a New England vineyard only to have dumped herself in the middle of a family war. She finds out about truths and secrets that many member didn't know or didn't want to know. Luckily, the matriarch, Natalie Seebring uses Olivia as a confidant and becomes a surrogate mother for Olivia. Through Natalie's help, Olivia not only finds a job she loves. She finds personal love and most of all self-esteem.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Pleased Reader
Review: This book is interesting and is full of surprises.Here is what it is about. Olivia Jones is a mom who is going to work with a woman named Natalie Seebring. Olivia thinks that Natalie lives a good life. But Olivia is brought in to assist Natalie in a Memoir Olivia fines out her life is not so easy. This book is a complex one yet it is one of the best books of the summer. This is a must read!
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