At First Blush

A Well Paired Novel, Book 1

By: Marianne Rice

Narrated by: Stephanie Montalvo

Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Known as the town tomboy, Alexis Le Blanc enjoys her simple life in Crystal Cove, Maine and devotes all her time to running her family’s winery, Coastal Vines. She wants to keep it small and traditional, but her parents have other ideas - hence why they hire some big-shot marketing executive from Napa Valley to rev up business.

When Benito Martelli shows up in her family’s tasting room with his slick style and movie star good looks, she’s more than stunned to discover he’s the man who wined and dined her the night before. Alexis is beyond peeved at his deception in trying to get into her good graces for the sake of making money on her winery. At first, she wants nothing to do with him or his fancy business ideas, but she’s pleasantly surprised when they come to a compromise, and even more surprised when she gives in to the sparks between them.

Unfortunately, things don’t go quite as planned and Alexis is faced with complications she never could have predicted. Promises and secrets unravel, and she must decide if love and wine are as well paired as she hoped.

©2018 Marianne Rice (P)2019 Marianne Rice

Ben and Alexis

Ben and Alexis were such likable characters. Alexis was such a strong and driven heroine. Ben, although he had secrets was so similar to Alexis and the chemistry was amazing. I was glad to see things worked out the way they did and the only thing I could wish for was to see more into the future with them. Stephanie Montalvo does a great job.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
AudiobookObsession
AudiobooksUnleashed

LaGina

I was able to listen to this on audibles and I was so happy to get the feels for this couple. It was such a sweet down to earth read that it gave off the feeling that there might have been some real life going on with it. The couple just seemed to mesh so well with the story that it made me want to jump into the book and just be friends with them. This was such a wonderful book to listen to and I wouldnt be surprised to see this on the big screen. I think it would make for a really nice date night movie.

Good book

This is the first book I've read/listened to by Marianne Rice. It was, overall, a good book. At first I really didn't care for Alexis. And then Benito's "situation" made my heart drop. The ending was a bit quick for me, but a great HEA. We were introduced to other characters that will keep the series going. Hopefully we'll see more of Alexis and Ben as well.

Stephanie Montalvo did a good job. There were times that there was more reading and less performance. But I honestly think it was the written word versus a narration issue. Overall, she's a good narrator.

#AudiobookObsessionReviewer

This is my happy place.

I absolutely loved this book. The pairing of Alexis and Ben works so very well, and both the author and the narrator did a wonderful job of conveying the personalities of the two of them. This was an easy book to listen to, and I can honestly say that it drew me in from the beginning, from the first words. This book would make a perfect Hallmark movie. It’s filled with romance, humor, and a behind-the-scenes looks into the wine industry, and into living in a small New England town.

I happened to listen to this book around the winter holidays, and it fit perfectly with its feel-good vibes. It would work equally as well for Valentine’s Day, Sweetest Day, or pretty much any other day of the year. It left me glowing with happiness. It’s a very sweet and well-designed story of two people with much in common, who don’t fit in with others around them. They do fit well together, once they get over a bunch of misunderstandings. I especially liked how family was worked into the story to help illustrate the main characters’ backgrounds. The parents, on both sides, added so much to this story, and while they didn’t scheme to bring Alexis and Ben together, they set a good example of marital happiness and the ability to work together.

There wasn’t a character in this book that I didn’t like. Each one brought something different and necessary to the story. Each one also offered different viewpoints to help you understand the main characters.

If you enjoy light romance, I highly recommend this book.

I received a free copy of the audio book from the author. I thank her for her generosity, but it had no effect on my review of this book. All opinions in this review express my true and honest reactions to listening to this audio book.

Great story

I loved this story line and the narrator was great. This is my first audible book I have listened to by Marianne Rice and I have to say it definitely won’t be my last.

Sweet story

This is the story of a tomboy grown up who runs her family's Maine vineyard and meets a handsome Italian Californian who comes to town to help her family's business. The story's characters are endearing. The settings are well thought out. Wasn't sure I liked the twist in the storyline, but it turned it wonderfully. The narrator was excellent.

An emotional romance

This is an emotional story that keeps you engaged throughout. The heroine Alexis made a promise to her Grandfather about maintaining her legacy, the winery and retain the old ways. Her parents wanted change which created conflict. Benito the hero of the story is looking for a change of scenery and comes to provide advise and expertise on Alexis' winery. There were lots of strong opinions and trust had to be earned and opinions respected. A very good read, or listen as I heard this on audible.

Ok listen

It took some getting used to having one narrator read both POV since I've only ever listened to two (or more) narrators read different characters but once I got over that, the narrator did an ok job capturing "the voice" of each character.

I had a bit of a hard time connecting with Alexis.

Small town love

Alexis parents want her to take over their small vineyard in Maine. Her parents called in a favor from a friend to have their son, Ben, a corporate consultant, help with ideas to increase revenue. He spent several weeks there, enjoying, the slow pace, embracing the people of this quaint small towN. Alexis doesn't like his ideas at first. The longer they are together, the attraction increases . Alexis takes a chance to open her heart to him. Ben is hiding a major secret from her. She decides to surprise him at his winery in California. She immediately leaves when she finds out his secret.
Stephanie Montalvo narration is very good. I enjoyed listening to this story.🎧audiobookobsessionreviewer🎧

Enjoyed listening!

I really enjoyed the book. Thought many times I would love to see this on TV. With this book possibly having a sequel to it, I had wished the characters didn’t get back together so soon. Could have been more detailed with their lives apart. But how the book did end, I still enjoyed and I would listen to again!