Bluestone & Vine

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Bluestone & Vine by Donna Kaufman, the second book in her Blue Hollow Falls series and I really struggled to put it down. This is a story of two loss souls who are starting over again, hoping they are on the right path toward their futures. A former Special Forces soldier, Seth works on his renovated stone barn and beautiful hillside into a vineyard. Pippa MacMillan, a super star on the Irish folk music scene, voice requires a time-out, leaving her wondering how and where she can find happiness in the silence. As she looks for answers, Pippa leaves Ireland in a house swap with Seth’s sister, ending up in a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The lovely Blue Hollow Falls is the perfect place to heal and the solitary Seth is the perfect host. Small-town living in Virginia is not much different than that of Ireland and Pippa does feel at home among the residents of Blue Hollow Falls. As Seth and Pippa spend time together, they are surprised by their feelings as they begin to fall for each other. The only problem is when Pippa starts hearing the music once again, will she return to Ireland, or surrender to the call of her heart? Seth is my new book boyfriend and I wish I was as talented as Pippa in creating the music she hears in her head. These two quiet souls were the perfect match despite their size difference; Seth was 6’6”, think Viking Thor, while Pippa was barely 5’2”, an Irish fairy. These two are good people, caring for those around them and supportive of the town and its residents. I enjoyed revisiting the characters from earlier stories and especially loved the name of Seth’s wine, Bluestone and Vine Llamarama Label, with a picture of his llama as part of the label. I highly recommend this outstanding book to other readers. It was difficult for me to put this book down. Ms. Kaufman is a wonderful story teller drawing me into her books, making me forget the world around me. I could visualize beauty of this place through her descriptive words. I highly recommend this book to other readers and look forward to the next book in this series. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

Pippa MacMillan is famous Irish folk singer but because of a recent vocal surgery, she has not performed for over a year. Wanting to get away from everything and hide out in a place where no one knows her, Pippa agrees to her sister Katie's plan where she goes to the US, while Katie's old college roommate, Moira "Mouse" Brogan comes and stays at Pippa's place in Ireland. Now, Moira just needs to let her big brother, Seth know that he is going to have a guest at his vineyard in Blue Hollow Falls, Virginia for a few months. Seth Brogan left the military and is trying start a new life for himself, away from his crazy Irish family, in Virginia. He bought an old vineyard with the hopes of turning it into a profitable income. Seth is excited to hear from his little sister Mouse, except when she suddenly informs him that he will be having a guest for few months, oh, and guess what....she just showed up....literally crashing into his life! Seth reluctantly agrees to this arrangement. Pippa is so full of life, while Seth is much more quiet and reserved. As these two try to manage being together, along with the fun way of life in Blue Hollow Falls, things start to heat up. It takes a huge leap of faith for Seth and Pippa who are from two different countries to let down their guard and just be happy. I just adored the road they had to travel to get to their happy ending. Donna Kauffman writes such wonderfully, strong characters and takes them on a journey that will make you laugh, swoon and cry. I did not want the book to end as I was reading it because it was that good! Awesome job! Highly recommend!

This is the third book I have read in this series, and each one has been a delight to read. I have to also mention the covers, as I do love a good book cover, and the ones in this series just draw me in every time, they're so lovely and inviting. This time we meet Pippa, an Irish folk singer, who has had major trouble with her voice recently and is recovering from an operation. She is very famous in Europe, but not so much in the US, so when the opportunity arises to swap houses with her sister's best friend (Moira) she agrees to the break and hops on a plan 'across the pond' to spend time thinking about her career and recovering. But the swap wasn't exactly what she had initially thought, as she was actually staying in Moira's brother's house in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia and it was sort of dumped upon Seth that Pippa was arriving at his house literally when Pippa was driving a snowplough onto his property! Pippa was such a lovely happy character that she quickly made friends with everyone in and around Blue Hollow Falls, especially as the place reminded her of her small village back home in Ireland. It was lovely to catch up with characters in the previous books too. There was an immediate attraction between Seth and Pippa, but because of the circumstances (i.e. she was only there for a certain period of time) they resisted at first, but as the townsfolk were meddling a bit they decided that life was too short and to enjoy the moment while it was there, knowing that it would have to end at some point. Pippa hadn't sung since her operation, and wasn't 'feeling the music' anymore, but of course being in Blue Hollow Falls eventually relaxed her into feeling more secure and things slowly changed. The ending was just so lovely and I definitely shed a few tears of happiness! I really love this series as there's just some really great strong characters in it, along with baby goats and a fabulous Llama called Dex, and is set in the beautiful sounding Blue Hollow Falls and the Artists Centre set in an old mill, a fairly remote community but where everyone looks out for one another. One of those places I'd love to live in. Long may this series continue. Please, please can we have Will's story next!