Once Upon a Wine (Black Dog Bay, #4)

by Beth Kendrick

[girlinthepages]

It’s so rare for a series to get BETTER over time, but that’s exactly what’s happened with the Black Dog Bay series by Beth Kendrick, as the last two books in the series are my favorites by far! I put off reading Once Upon A Wine because I enjoyed Put a Ring On It SO much that I was afraid that I wouldn’t like this one in comparison. However, I was so wrong because I really enjoyed that final installment of the Black Dog Bay series (although not QUITE as much as book 3, but what can I say, it’s hard to compete with Jake Sorenson).

Once Upon a Wine takes readers a little farther inland in Black Dog Bay to rolling hills and a winery purchased on a whim by main protagonist Cammie’s aunt. Cammie flies out to Delaware to LA to help with the situation (since her aunt knows NOTHING about running a vineyard) and of course their family is enveloped into the town fold by all of our local favorites. I think Cammie may be my favorite BDB protagonist because she’s smart and goes after what she wants without being obnoxious about it, but she’s also not a special snowflake either- she’s had her share of failure and mistakes. I loved her female dominated, lovingly bickering family, her adorable “farm dog” Jaques, and her family’s secret Strawberry Wine recipe ( I don’t even like wine but I’d try some of theirs). I loved how even though Cammie wasn’t good at farming, she was able to use her other business school skills and marketing savvy to contribute meaningfully to the vineyard’s growth, and how everyone in her family, though being woefully inept at wine making, was able to make a contribution to the situation in their own way. Even though this book felt the shortest to me, I feel like I connected with the characters the most out of all of the novels (although did this one feel really super short to anyone else? I also wished Cammie’s backstory and her breakup from her previous relationship and her previous restaurant had been talked about more!)

Of course it wouldn’t be a Black Dog Bay book without a romance, but the wonderful thing about these books is that they’re much more about the protagonist self discovery than they are about the romance. Cammie has an ex with unfinished business back in Delaware who she of course runs into all the time throughout the book. While I ultimately liked Ian and Cammie’s relationship (and though they had some of the best chemistry of all the romantic couples), something about him just felt very stubborn and a little sexist to me (likely due to the fact that he was unsupportive of Cammie going off to grad school in the past and wasn’t willing to flex on his own plans or do long distance with her). Overall though, I’d say their romance was the second best in the series (second to Jake and Brighton’s).

Overall: This was a really fun and QUICK read and possibly my favorite location I’ve read about in Black Dog Bay. I really hope the author returns to the series because I love the characters and setting and fall more and more in love with the town with every book I read! There were also some rather big changes at the end of the book and I’d love to see how those pan out in the future!