Che-Michelle Tales

The Vine Witch Review

Book: The Vine Witch

Author: Luann G. Smith

Published: October 2019

Wine Choice:  Chateau De Win 2014 French Bordeaux

Stand Alone, Series, or Other: Series

Type of book: Novel

Genre: Fiction

How long did it take me to read this book:   Approximately Two Weeks

Audible: Three Days

I am still planning to do a collective review of “The Vine Witch” Anthology or Trilogy.  But until then, let me write about this book.  I will say I am a sucker for pretty cover art.  I loved the idea of winemaking being intertwined with witchcraft.  I feel like coaxing a grape to produce exquisite Wine is an art on the level of a master magician.  When I initially read the description it mentioned, witchcraft, revenge, murder, and Wine.  I  overlooked the romance portion. because everything else was so tantalizing.

The Vine witch side characters were more interesting to me than the main character Elena as the story progressed. Each chapter that passed, Elena lost her luster for my taste. I wanted to find out what Gand Mere did to try and cover her steps.  The ex-finance new wife had an air of mystery around her, and as a reader, we find out why she was so mysterious.  We meet  Sidra and Yvette, whose banter was organic and the relationship warm and full of disdain even as the story progressed. Imagine the friendship between a Scorpio and Sagitarrius.  Never sure how it works, but it works, and both parties are better for the connection and friendship.

As the story progressed, I was no longer invested in Elena as a character. I wanted to know more about Grand Mere, Sidra, and Yvette’s individual past.  In the end, the readers are offered a neat and tied-up story of how she became a vine witch, how she ended up hexed.   I wasn’t upset at the story or storytelling, but I was a bit perplexed.

Questions I asked:

 What period is this set in?

Are we in the 1800s, 1900s, 2000s?

Why didn’t  Grand Mere communicate openly with  Elena?”

Why is the investigator such a hard ass and ignoring the other facts?

So this random stranger is now in love with Elena and willing to risk his life after one month?

Here is the deal if you want to read a book that is not your typical murder- mystery with an excellent old-world red vine to represent the Wine grown in the book.  This book is for you! Find your best  French Red Wine (Bourdeaux, in my opinion). Turn off your brain and read. On the other hand, this may not be the book for you if you follow a certain logic and formula to Murder-Mysteries.  I sipped the  2014  Chateau de Win. It was a rich wine, picked at memories of pain and internalized bitterness from tragic romantic trauma.

Drinking Wine while reading this book made this book better.

Che Michelle