The Memory of You by Catherine West ~ Book Tour and Review

Publisher's Description: 
Thirteen years ago, Natalie lost a part of herself when her twin sister died. Will traveling back to the family winery finally put the memory to rest, or will it completely destroy her?

 When Natalie Mitchell learns her beloved grandfather has had a heart attack, she’s forced to return to their family-owned winery in Sonoma, something she never intended to do. She’s avoided her grandparents’ sprawling home and all its memories since the summer her sister died—the awful summer Natalie’s nightmares began. But the winery is failing, and Natalie’s father wants her to shut it down. As the majority shareholder, she has the power to do so. And Natalie never says no to her father.

 Tanner Collins, the vintner on Maoilios, is trying to salvage a bad season and put the Mitchell family’s winery back in business. When Natalie Mitchell shows up, Tanner sees his future about to be crushed. Natalie intends to close the gates, unless he can convince her otherwise. But the Natalie he remembers from childhood is long gone, and he’s not so sure he likes the woman she’s become. Still, the haunted look she wears hints at secrets he wants to unearth. He soon discovers that on the night her sister died, the real Natalie died too. And Tanner must do whatever it takes to resurrect her. But finding freedom from the past means facing it.

My Thoughts:
I loved this story.  It captured me right from the first pages and totally had my emotions invested into the characters all throughout the book.  The setting is beautiful, the Sonoma wine valley,  and the author's descriptions made me picture it clearly in my mind's eye.  The two main characters  are both dealing with tragic circumstances that have changed who they are and their struggles came across as authentic and well written.  Right from the get-go I felt for Natalie's pain and vulnerability as the life-long struggle with the death of her sister so many years before comes back full force after a negative event in her adult life.   As her life starts to spiral her father decides she should go back to the very place her pain began, her grandfather's  home and winery, with the mandate to shut it down.  Because her grandmother bequeathed her the majority of shares in the winery, Natalie hopes to see if she could improve on it and not close it's doors.  But she must go against her father to that.  And after spending her growing up years and her adult life trying to please her father, Natalie doesn't know if she has the strength to go against him.   As she comes face to face with a combative, defensive and angry vintner, who just happens to be a crush from her childhood and  who believes she is about to put him out of a job, you can't help but hope she can hold it together.   I must admit I struggled a bit to like Tanner at first until his story started to unfold and you saw the place of pain he was operating from.  The secondary characters were all nicely developed too.   As the story peals back it's many layers it deals with loss, guilt, secrets, family dynamics, depression,  facing the past and moving forward, forgiveness, faith and love.  I found it multi-layered and rich with a satisfying ending.

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for a free copy for review.  I was not required to give a positive review.