TL;DR: Alternating between WWII era and modern era in France's wine country, four women grapple with the events of Nazi occupation and the continual fallout of their choices in life and love. 

What I Liked:

What I Didn't Like:

I fear I'm too harsh on romance novels. I have very specific requirements about what I like, so if romance is your genre, I think this is a well-loved example with a rich environment and a beautiful set of moments. No sex scenes, no heavy romance, but love is in the air. I really do think what makes this book shine is its attention to detail in winemaking, and the fact that the ending is so, so beautiful. 

For better or worse, I have a history in winemaking, including sparkling wine, and I can attest to the factual nature of this novel's descriptions of how Champagne is made. This information is nuanced and hard to nail down, especially about how riddling worked at the time. It was a highly precise process, and volatile, given the pressurized nature of the bottles of wine. I'm exceedingly happy with the setting descriptions.

For spoilers reasons, I won't go into details about the endings, but I almost DNF'd this book, but the ending made it worth it. Stick to the end, you'll be happy you did.

I'd recommend this book to someone who doesn't need heavy sex or romance in their romance novels, but instead appreciates niche interests, tough-to-love characters, and WWII settings. 

Holy moly. It's fitting that my last book of 2023 would be such a rollercoaster! Harmel does it again by taking you on a rollercoaster of emotions, from hating the main characters to crying at the end. I was about ready to knock down a star because of not giving one character their happy ending but she did. 

My only tiny, almost microscopic annoyance is that the French words aren't translated and even though, normally that would knock off a star, Harmel's masterful storytelling overrides it.