Patricia ParisCritiques

The second book in the Bonaveras series, which follows four sisters as they take over the family vineyard. Caterina had her live all mapped out. Life in New York City where she hoped one day to open her own restaurant. Nowhere in her plan was a return to Virginia. And even worse, after landing a job back home, she discovered that her boyfriend (and boss) was cheating on her. The only solution was to make a hasty retreat. But that left her jobless. Opening a restaurant and hotel with her sister was like a dream come true. Not so dreamy was the contractor she had to deal with on a daily basis. But Liam was good. And easy on the eyes. But could she trust him? She didn’t have the best track record when it came to romance.
And Liam had no room in his life for a high maintenance woman. He had his job and his daughter and nothing else mattered. Especially a pain in the a** employer and her ridiculous explanation of a ghostly aunt who threw them together. Really? How crazy did she think he was?
With a little bit of prodding from her sisters, and her ghostly aunt, Caterina found herself looking at Liam in a whole new light. And Liam found himself looking back. Who knew.

A cute love story with plenty of antics (both human and ghostly) that will have the reader hooting with laughter and sighing with happiness.

This is a predictable romance, with the love-hate relationship between key characters. As you might expect, they later come to love each other. This is not the usual type of book I read, but it was worth a look. I have not read others by this author. However, I might take a look at some of them. This was a short and light read.

This was a pleasant enough book, a quick read at least, but I found myself rolling my eyes a bit. They had a meddling ghost that could lock doors but yet they couldn't find the time to read her diaries? And kind of disturbing with her violent death in the house. The whole thing was a bit shallow and I found the dialog stilted, particularly the exchanges between the sisters. The most interesting sister was the winemaker and clearly there's some mystery in her past with an early love so I'd consider reading that story, but I wouldn't waste my time on the other two sisters.½

It was an ok book. Surely nothing to keep my attention hence why it took me weeks to read it.
It's a twisted light love story that deals with lots of trials. Two people trying to hate each other that keep falling for each other.

Caterina is back with her sisters and watching her big dream come to life as the hotel and her restaurant is being built. The only downside is the grumpy contractor who seems to have it in for her but can they find a way to work together and possibly more.

Aww this is a lovely short read. A fun romance story with a sweet ending. Theres a few dramatic moments that add to the story. I enjoyed it and loved the budding romance between her and Liam. I loved the addition of Rosa the ghost. It just added a fun twist to the story.

Caterina is a lovely lead but I think Riley stole the show for me. What a cutie.

Food, family, wine and love
5 stars

I’m going to admit that based on the cover and title alone - I’d already pegged this book as a fairly staid, melodramatic type of romance. And when I read the first, fairly flowery paragraph - I knew I was right.

Boy was I wrong.

This book was so fresh, fun and (after that first paragraph!) I enjoyed it immensely from beginning to end.

With this being the first Patricia Paris book that I’ve read - and as a result, the first book I’ve read in the Bonaveras series - there are quite a lot of situations to understand and characters to meet - presumably that were first explained in the first book in the series. I’m not going to lie - at first it was a little overwhelming. There’s a pretty large cast of characters that confused me at first but once I got my head around them all, I just fell in love with them. The Bonaveras sisters just embodied family, love and I cannot wait to read more about them. With that said, the book does stand alone so you don’t have to read the others to understand and enjoy this one.

Caterina and Liam start off very much on the wrong foot. In fact, they pretty much can’t stand the sight of each other. When they are going toe to toe and trading barbs with each other I was rubbing my hands together with glee. I love a couple who start off as enemies - it’s that barely suppressed sexual tension and the thin line between love and hate. Caterina and Liam hit all the buttons for me. I loved them individually and together. The way their love developed was fun, funny and you felt it every step of the way.

There was a lot of sexual tension building and lots of anticipation between Cat and Liam as their relationship developed - so I was a teeny bit disappointed when the door remained firmly closed during the sexy times. We got a small taste later on but dammit - I wanted more. But I can’t let it affect my rating because it still felt real.

While the romance was the main focus of the book - there were a lot of other elements that really gave it depth and made it something a bit more special. Liam’s daughter Riley was absolutely adorable. Her relationship with Liam - her relationship with Cat - just too gorgeous for words! The whole Bonaveras clan was just the kind of big, American-Italian family that you would love to spend time with. And then there’s the ghost. Yep - there’s a ghost. But the ghost of great aunt Rosa isn’t a scary kind of ghost (and I would know because I’m a total wimp when it comes to these kind of things!). She’s a well-meaning ghost who helps those along who might need a nudge or two when confronted with a love they didn’t expect or anticipate.

The writing was very well done and I didn’t want to put this book down for a minute. Ms Paris has a knack for really painting a picture. I’m not sure if it’s a feature in all her books, but her descriptions, particularly of the food, really sold it for me and made my mouth water.

I enjoyed this book immensely and I feel like I’ve found a series I can really grow to love. I’m off to look out for the first book in the series (Lucia and Antonio’s story) and can’t wait until Eliana and Marcella’s stories come out. We’ve already had some teasing of who they’ll end up with so I hope I’m right. All in, an excellent story about food, family, wine and love. 5 stars.

This was a fairly boilerplate romance novel. Couple meets, hate each other, get thrown together a lot, lust for each other, learn to love each other. Just with a ghost thrown in for difference. I did enjoy it, although it was rather predictable. And I do now want to know the stories of the other sisters.

This is such a cute novel about warring natures, testy and curt, that hide the underlying sizzling emotions of chemistry. Catarina Bonavera is a strong willed, stubborn woman who knows what she wants and it is not Liam Doughtery. Liam is just as strong but there is just something about Caterina that drives him wild. The ghost of Caterina's Aunt Rosa knows what is best for both of them and her machinations bring them together even though their heads say one thing and chemistry says another. I am looking forward to reading about Caterina’s sisters and the Aunt Rosa effect.

Caterina gives us a peak into the lives of the Bonaveras sisters. This book focuses on chef Caterina, how she ended back with her sisters, and her blossoming relationship with Liam. The book starts off slow, with it being detail-heaving when it wasn't necessary. If you continue reading though the story starts to read smoother and you get drawn in to what is happening.

My thoughts: This was one of those good feelings books. This is the first I've read of the Bonavera sisters novels, but with just reading this one, I look forward to reading them all.
This novel was full of love, laughter, family, food and mystery.

Caterina's character is strong, with a no nonsense vibe. She wants to find love, but she views cooking and family as her heart. When she meets Liam, it is immediate chemistry that she perceives as dislike on his behalf.
Liam is a strong willed single parent to a little girl who has had to overcome a great deal of sadness and anger in his life. Due to this, he is afraid to let just anyone in and around his daughter.
Over time however, the chemistry between the two becomes overwhelming and undeniable.

Patricia Paris did a wonderful job putting this little feel good novel together. She left the mystery until the perfect time, she let the love unfold, and gave a happy ending. I will definitely be looking forward to seeing what else she comes up with, both within the Bonavera family and outside it.

I cannot say enough good things about this novel and will recommend it with joy as a feel good book of the season.

Stars: 5!

I enjoyed the content of "Caterina", the romance, a little bit of mystery, food, and family! Great overall read.

Contractor and single dad Liam does not like perfectionist chef Caterina and the feeling is mutual. As the holiday season approaches, both learn that their first impressions may be wrong.
At first I wasn't enjoying the story but as the characters developed, they grew on me. Conflict with Caterina's ex boyfriend/boss and Liam's in-laws angling for custody adds drama. A matchmaking ghost adds humour. Liam's daughter and Caterina's sisters are engaging secondary characters.
I wouldn't mind reading more about these characters.

Fans of romance will love this second offering in the Bonaveras series by Patricia Paris. The story is well-written and entertaining with plenty of romance to satisfy. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

I was chosen to receive a free early copy of this book via LibraryThing. Sorry, but I didn't finish this book. The first few chapters just overwhelmed me with adjectives--for example, take this sentence: Snow was falling. Author would write something like this: The almost brilliant-white multi-faceted, awesomely unique snow seemed to be drifting lazily down from the ominously gray clouded skies, whirling in rather lazy circles back and forth, then changing directions to swirl the other way as it drifted slowly but surely down all the way to land on the barely covered lawn which was turning brown for the winter which it usually does this time of year......you get the idea. Too much for me.