Welcome to my show case for The Vineyard at Painted Moon which is been hosted by HQN-HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada)
The Vineyard at Painted Moon
Susan Mallery
On Sale Date: February 9, 2021
9781335912794, 1335912797
Hardcover
$27.99 USD, $34.99 CAD
Fiction / Family Life / Women
400 pages
Buy Links:
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1335912797/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vamf_tkin_p1_i6
Barnes &Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-vineyard-at-painted-moon-susan- mallery/1136918902?ean=9781335912794
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/books/the-vineyard-at-painted-moon- 9781335912794/9781335912794
IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335912794
Libro.fm: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781488210488
Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Vineyard-Painted-Moon/Susan- Mallery/Q840696538?id=7843731390040
Target: https://www.target.com/p/the-vineyard-at-painted-moon-by-susan-mallery-hardcover/-/A- 80128583
Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Vineyard-at-Painted-Moon-Hardcover/508623296
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-vineyard-at-painted-moon
AppleBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-vineyard-at-painted-moon/id1509949550
Google Play:https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Susan_Mallery_The_Vineyard_at_Painted_Moon?id=aL3e DwAAQBAJ
About the Book:
MacKenzie Dienes's life isn't perfect, but it's as close as she could ever hope to get. Her marriage to Rhys, her best friend's brother, is more friendship than true love. But passion is highly overrated, right? And she loves her job as the winemaker at Bel Apres, her in-laws' vineyard. So what if it's a family business and, even after decades of marriage and incredible professional success, she's still barred from the family business meetings? It's all enough...until one last night spent together leads to an incredibly honest—and painful—conversation. Rhys suggests that they divorce. They haven't had a marriage in a long time and, while he wants her to keep her job at Bel Apres, he doesn't think they should be married any longer. Shocked, MacKenzie reels at the prospect of losing the only family she's ever really known...even though she knows deep in her heart that Rhys is right.
But when MacKenzie discovers she's pregnant, walking away to begin a new life isn't so easy. She never could have anticipated the changes it would bring to the relationships she cherishes most: her relationship with Barbara, her mother-in-law and partner at Bel Apres, Stephanie, her sister-in-law and best friend, and Bel Apres, the company she's worked so hard to put on the map.
MacKenzie has always dreamed of creating a vineyard of her own, a chance to leave a legacy for her unborn child. So when the opportunity arises, she jumps at it and builds the Vineyard at Painted Moon. But following her dreams will come at a high price—one that MacKenzie isn't so sure she's willing to pay…
Except
Chapter One
“Not that what you’re wearing isn’t great, but the party starts in an hour.”
Mackenzie Dienes looked up from the grapevine she’d been studying, her mind still on the tight
clusters of small, hard grapes that would, come late September, be ripe and sweet and ready for
harvest. Between now and then, she would monitor their progress, willing them to greatness and
protecting them from danger, be it mold, weather or hungry deer.
She blinked at the man standing in front of her, tall and familiar, with an easy smile and broad,
capable shoulders.
“Party?” she asked, letting her thoughts of the vineyards go and remembering that, yes, indeed,
it was the evening of the annual Solstice Party, hosted by the Barcellona family. As she was a Barcellona,
by marriage if not by name, she would be expected to attend.
Wanted to attend, she reminded herself. It was always a good time, and Stephanie, her sister-in-
law, worked hard to make it a perfect night.
“The party,” she repeated, her voice slightly more panicked this time, then glanced down at
herself. “Crap. What time is it?”
Rhys, her husband, shook his head. “You really don’t listen when I talk, do you? We have an
hour. You’ll be fine.”
She pulled off her gloves and shoved them into the left front pocket of her coveralls, then
stepped behind Rhys and gave him a little push toward the flatbed truck he’d driven out to the west
vineyards.
“You say that because all you have to do is shower and get dressed. I have to do the girl thing.”
“Which takes you maybe ten minutes.” He put his arm around her as they hurried toward the
truck. “Happy with the grapes?”
“I think so,” she said, glancing toward the healthy vines growing on either side of them. “We
might have to do some thinning in a couple of weeks, but so far, so good.”
As they slid onto the bench seat of the old truck, he glanced at her. She smiled, knowing there
was a fifty-fifty chance he would call her out on her thinning statement. He was, after all, the vineyard
manager. Technically all the decisions about the vineyard were made by him with her input, but not her
instruction. As winemaker, she managed the grapes from the moment they were picked until the wine
was bottled.
But at Bel Après, areas of responsibility often overlapped. Theirs was a large, boisterous family
in which everyone had opinions. Not that Mackenzie listened to a lot of other ideas when it came to her
wines, although as Rhys often pointed out, she was very free offering hers when it came to his work.
He drove along the dirt path that circled the vineyard, stopping by her truck. She slid into the cab, then
followed him back to the family compound. The main road leading into Walla Walla was thick with
tourists who wanted to enjoy the longest day of the year. She merged into the slow-moving traffic,
doing her best to keep from glancing at the clock on the truck’s dashboard as she inched along.
Vineyards stretched out on either side of the road, flat on the left and rising toward the hills on
the right. Bright green leaves topped sturdy trunks that had been carefully trained to grow exactly as she
wanted them to. The rows were long and neat, and the spaces between them were filled with native
grasses that held in moisture and protected the roots from the heat.
Looking at her healthy crop kept her mind off the fact that she and Rhys were going to be
desperately late.
Twenty minutes later, she followed him off the highway onto a less crowded secondary road—a
back way home. Five minutes after that, they parked the trucks by the processing buildings behind the
big tasting room. Rhys had already claimed one of the golf carts the family used to get around. She slid
in next to him and they took off toward the center of the property.
Bel Après Winery and the surrounding land had been in the Barcellona family for nearly sixty
years. Rhys and his siblings were third-generation. The original main house had been updated several
times. When Rhys and Mackenzie had married, Barbara, Rhys’s mother, had suggested they build
themselves a house close to hers, rather than commute from town. Eager to stay in the good graces of
her new mother-in-law, Mackenzie had agreed.
A large two-story home had been built. Barbara and Mackenzie had decorated every room, the
act of choosing everything from light fixtures to doorknobs cementing their affection for each other.
A few years later, Stephanie, the second of Barbara’s four children, had gotten a divorce and
moved back home with her two kids, requiring another house to be constructed. When the youngest of
the three girls had married, the last house had been added. Only Lori, the middle daughter, still lived in
the original home.
All four houses faced a huge central courtyard. Mexican pavers were shaded by vine-covered
pergolas. The extended family used the space for big dinners and as a kids’ play area. If one of the
women baked cookies, a cookie flag was hung out the front door, inviting anyone to stop by. At
Christmas, a large tree was brought in from Wishing Tree, and for the annual Summer Solstice Party,
dozens of long tables were brought in to seat the two hundred or so guests.
Rhys swung the golf cart behind the large main house, circling counterclockwise. Normally he
would cut across the courtyard, but with all the party preparations, he had to go the long way. He pulled
up at the rear entrance to their house and they dashed inside.
Mackenzie paused to unlace her boots and left them in the mudroom. Rhys did the same. They
raced up the stairs together, separating at the landing to head to their individual en suite bedrooms.
Once in her bathroom, she started the shower. Thankfully, she’d already picked out the dress
she would wear. She raced through a shower. After she dried off, she wrapped her hair in a towel and
dug out the scented body lotion Rhys had given her a couple of years ago. Why anyone would want to
smell like coconut and vanilla was beyond her, but he liked it.
She walked into the large closet and opened her underwear drawer. To the right were all the
sensible bikini panties she usually wore—to the left were the fancier ones for special occasions. She
chose a black pair and slipped them on, then went to the second drawer and looked for the matching
push-up bra. When it and the pads were in place and doing the best they could with her modest curves,
she pulled on a robe and returned to the bathroom.
After plugging in her hot rollers, it took her only a few minutes to apply eyeliner and mascara.
She was flushed from the day working outside, so she didn’t bother with any other makeup.
Her hair took a lot longer. First she had to dry the dark red shoulder-length waves, then she had
to curl them. While the rollers were in place, she searched for a pair of black high-heel sandals that
wouldn’t leave her crippled by the end of the night.
Those found, she opened her small jewelry box and pulled out her wedding set, sliding both the
engagement ring and the wedding band into place on her left hand. Diamond stud earrings followed.
She’d barely stepped into her sleeveless black dress when Rhys walked into the closet, fully dressed in
black slacks and a dark gray shirt.
She sighed when she saw him. “See. You have it so much easier than me.”
“Yes, but in the end, you’re more beautiful. That should be worth something.”
“I’d rather have the extra time.”
She turned, presenting him with her back. He pulled up the zipper, then bent to collect her
shoes. They retreated to her bathroom and together began removing the curlers.
“We’re late,” Mackenzie said, catching sight of his watch. “Your mom is going to be all snippy.”
“She’ll be too busy welcoming her guests.” The last of the curlers was flung onto the counter.
Mackenzie fluffed her hair, then pointed to the bedroom.
“Retreat,” she said, reaching for the can of hair spray.
Rhys ducked to safety. She sprayed the curls into submission before running into the bedroom
to escape the death cloud. Rhys was on the bench at the foot of the large bed. She sat next to him and
quickly put on her shoes.
“Done,” she said, pausing to reacquaint herself with the seldom-used skill of walking in heels.
She grabbed her husband’s wrist. “Seven fifteen. Barbara’s going to kill us.”
“She’s not. I’m her only son and you’re just plain her favorite.”
“We weren’t ready exactly at seven. I can already hear the death-march music in my head. I
want to be buried on Red Mountain.”
Rhys chuckled as he led the way downstairs. “In the vineyard? I’m not sure your decaying body
is going to be considered organic.”
“Are you saying I’m toxic?” she asked with a laugh as they walked toward the front door.
“I’m saying you’re wonderful and I’d like us to have a good night.”
There was something in his tone, she thought, meeting his gaze. She’d known this man her
entire adult life. They’d met over Christmas her freshman year of college. Her roommate, his sister
Stephanie, had dragged Mackenzie home to meet the family. Grateful not to have to spend the holiday
by herself, Mackenzie had gone willingly and had quickly found herself falling not only for her best
friend’s hunky older brother but for the entire Barcellona family and the vineyards they owned. Barbara
had been like a surrogate mother, and the vineyards, well, they had been just as magical as Rhys’s sexy
kisses.
Now she studied her husband’s expression, seeing the hint of sadness lurking behind his easy
smile. She saw it because she hid the same emotion deep inside herself. The days of stealing away for
sexy kisses were long gone. There were no lingering looks, no intimacy. They had a routine and a life, but
she was less sure about them still having a marriage.
“I’d like that, too,” she murmured, knowing he wasn’t asking them not to fight. They never did.
Harsh words required a level of involvement they simply didn’t have anymore.
“Then let’s make that happen,” he said lightly, taking her hand in his and opening the front
door.
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