Villa

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
With the release of The Villa, the latest romantic saga from Nora Roberts, it's easy to understand how this prolific writer hits the top of the New York Times bestseller list time and time again. Roberts's writing skills -- like a fine wine -- have improved with age. For this latest effort, she combines intimacy and intrigue in an intoxicating tale of one family's struggle to find peace, happiness, and love amid mounting scandals that involve both the family name and the family winery.

There have been Giambelli vineyards in both California and Italy for centuries, and when the steel-willed matriarch of the family, Tereza, was widowed at a young age, she merged her life and her vineyards with those of her neighbor, Eli MacMillan. Their combined vineyards have produced some of the highest-quality wine to be found worldwide. Now that Eli and Tereza are in the twilight of their lives, they are looking to hand off their legacy to their descendants, a task that proves exasperating when they discover that some of the family members are philanderers, embezzlers, and gold diggers. Tereza offers to hand over her control to her granddaughter, Sophia, who is already in charge of marketing, while Eli offers to do the same for his grandson, Tyler, who for years has lovingly worked the fields. But first Sophia and Tyler must learn each other's jobs and deal with the acrimony created when Tereza brings in an outsider to serve as CEO.

Sparks fly whenever Sophia and Tyler are together, their opposing personalities clashing even as their libidinous sides are meshing. When Sophia's father is murdered, the family becomes divided, a split that only grows when more killings follow. When someone dies after drinking a bottle of poisoned Giambelli wine, it triggers a scandal of international proportions that leaves both the business and the family teetering on the edge. Forced to look deep within their own ranks, the Giambellis discover not just incompetence but betrayal and sabotage. But they also discover some surprising strengths and learn that the true definition of family goes way beyond mere blood ties.

Roberts's characters are as fascinating as they are diverse, and the business-savvy women in the matriarchal Giambelli family are delightfully strong, ambitious, and determined. Roberts's keen sense of pacing pulls it all together, and, as a final bonus, she treats her readers to an intriguing insider's look at the ins and outs of the winemaking business. (Beth Amos) Contributing Editor Beth Amos is the author of three novels, including Cold White Fury and Second Sight.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A proud family's deadly secrets are exposed in this passionate tale of two rivals who, while toiling in the Napa Valley vineyards, discover they have much to learn-from each other, and about themselves.

FROM THE CRITICS

Jill M. Smith - Romantic Times

Take a mesmerizing trip through the vineyards of Napa and Italy as the amazing Nora Roberts delivers yet another exciting, sensuous and fantastic tale of love, murder, revenge and family.

Publishers Weekly

Another novel rich in emotion and rife with conflict from the prolific Roberts (From the Heart; Carolina Moon etc.), this sweeping saga of Northern California wine-making steeps the reader in a heady mix of sex, scandal and the excesses of the supremely wealthy. Sophia Giambelli, sophisticated head of marketing for the family-run Napa Valley winery, is the heiress to the Giambelli empire. She's often compared to her grandmother Tereza, La Signora, who still runs the business. The Giambelli holdings include the 100-year-old Castello di Giambelli in Venice, Italy; Villa Giambelli, operating in the Napa Valley for 64 years; and nearby MacMillan, a 92-year-old firm added to the family holdings when La Signora married Eli MacMillan. The wineries have always operated independently, but now La Signora announces that she wishes to merge all three, occasioning a major restructuring of responsibilities. She orders Sophia to replace Tyler MacMillan, Eli's grandson, and become the wine maker for both families' vineyards. The monosyllabic Tyler will spearhead marketing for the new joint venture. Laying the groundwork for heated fireworks, Sophia and Tyler fight not only each other but also a corporate saboteur who's being fed inside information. Dramatic personal confrontations are exacerbated by La Signora's designation of a new CEO, David Cutter, the only non-Giambelli to hold a position of power. Cutter brings his two teenage children with him to live in the winery guesthouse and immediately falls in love with Sophia's newly divorced mother, Pilar. Other juicy subplots involve manipulative mistresses, dilettante husbands and emotional Italian wives. As usual, Roberts provides plenty of intriguing background information, this time on wine making, and snappy dialogue. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Something is turning sour in the Giambelli winery when the family matriarch decides to consolidate and reorganize her vast holdings before she dies. Since she "dies" about every six months, her heirs Tyler McMillan, the manager of the vineyards, and Sophia Giambelli, the head of public relations are less than excited when they are required by La Signora to exchange jobs during the course of the merger. Soon, Tyler and Sophia are pressing more than grapes, but as their relationship heats up, other problems surface. An executive is murdered, the Giambelli women are threatened, and poison shows up in the wine. What should be a light, sparkling champagne listening experience turns to vinegar early on. There are so many characters that none is fully developed and the plot never seems to gel. The reason behind the sabotage is pretty laughable. This is the worst Roberts this reviewer can remember. Then there is the narration by Laural Merlington: the continuous faux-Italian (Giam-BAY-lee) is teeth grating. With all the wonderful audiobooks available, libraries would do well to bypass this big-name title and spend their money elsewhere. Barbara Perkins, Irving P.L., TX Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

AudioFile

A dynasty of Italian wine-making, led by three generations of women, merges with an American wine-making powerhouse, and the leaders of each learn how to work together for the business, their families, and their love. The young generation must fight corporate sabotage and murder to save the company and the family. Laural Merlington gently performs the multilayered romance with sensitivity, giving each character a distinct voice that meshes well with the text. Her Italian accent is a little heavy-handed, making that side of the family somewhat caricatured. But the overall impression is one of relaxing entertainment. R.P.L. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

Internet Book Watch

As the successful head of marketing for her family's Napa Valley winery, Sophia Giambelli has never failed. However, her grandmother Tereza throws Sophia for a loop when she announces the merging and shuffling of responsibilities for the three family holdings.Sophia must teach marketing to Tyler MacMillan while she must learn wine making from Eli. To make matters worse and more complicated, Tereza announces that David Cutter, an outsider, is the new CEO. As Tyler and Sophia squabble over processes, they fall in love with one another just as David falls in love with Sophia's mother. However, a snake in this Eden wants nothing less than to destroy the Giambellis out of vengeance and so adds to the turmoil that love and realignment have already caused. The Villa is an exciting, action-packed romantic suspense novel filled with the Nora Roberts trademark of charming characters, especially strong female protagonists. The story line is filled with emotion and passion as love is obviously in the air. Ms Roberts, through meticulous and accurate research, shows the reader just what goes on in the winemaking industry. Although the villain is apparent early on and the reasoning for the reshuffling is not fully explained, neither of these faults fails to slow down a typical ardent tale that will send Nora back to all the best seller lists.