The California Wife]by Kristen Harnisch was a disappointment to me. It's the sequel to The Vintner's Daughter which I read last year. That book was a first novel and while I thought it had some rough spots I also thought the writer had promise. In fact I thought those passages relating to growing grapes and processing wine were very good. Unfortunately I didn't find this book as interesting, and too much like a romance novel for me. ( )

The California Wife picks up where The Vintner’s Daughter leaves off with Sara and Philippe having to move forward in the aftermath of the destruction of Sara’s home and vineyard in France and the knowledge that Philippe’s brother was a monster. I don’t want to spoil the plot of the first book in service the review of the second so I’ll be circumspect. Sara and Philippe head to California to make a go of Philippe’s vineyard with his promise to her that they will send money to replant in France. But all is not going smoothly there either as the prohibition movement is growing and other vintners are jealous of Philippe’s success.

Philippe and Sara set about making things work and trying to start a family and old friends move from New York to pursue further studies and re-connect with them. All seems to be going well until a disaster strikes the vineyard and an indiscretion from Philippe’s past threatens his marriage. It will take everything they have to recover from the effects of both of these issues.

The book is an excellent follow up to to the first chapter and it further develops the characters introduced in The Vintner’s Daughter. I will admit that I didn’t feel that the characters grew much in this book. They seemed to behave exactly the same and at times almost childishly in response to things happening – particularly Phillipe. But it’s a small complaint in the overall scheme of things. I am hoping for another installment in the lives of these characters as I’d like to see how they handle prohibition – we all know it’s coming. It will surely add another level of pressure as will the coming of WWI to the property in France.

This is a very good read and it will stand alone but I do suggest you read The Vintner’s Daughter first as it will add to a fuller understanding of the story lines. You won’t be disappointed. ( )