Virginia Vineyards series by Ashley Farley ~ a Series Review

by Susan Roberts

 

Ashley Farley writes books about women for women. Her characters are mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives facing real-life issues.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. Free books were provided for an honest review.

 

Love Child

May 2022; AHF Publishing; 978-1956684056
ebook, print (124 pages); women's fiction

It's always fun to start a new series by Ashley Farley.  Love Child is book one in her new series.  Most of the characters are new to her readers but she brings Ollie and Fiona from the Hope Springs series into this book and it was great to meet new friends while catching up with old friends.  

Casey Hobbs has just lost her mother after three years of cancer.  Casey and her mom were best friends and Casey never really missed not knowing who her father was.  Her mom left a letter for her to read after her death which gave Casey clues about her father.  She had nothing left to keep her in New York City so she packed her belongings into her car and headed to Virginia to find out more about her family.  Her father owns a vineyard, has three children and none of them know she exists.  She decides to learn more about her father before she meets him and takes a job at Foxtail Farm, a boutique winery located next door to the winery owned by her father and family.  She quickly finds out that there is no love lost between the owner of Foxtail Farms and the Love family.  There has been an ongoing war of intimidation from the Love family because she refuses to sell her vineyard to the Love sons.  Casey meets her father at the opening of Foxtail Farms and he knows who she is immediately because she looks so much like her mother.  He accepts her as his daughter even though her existence was a big surprise to him.  Two of his children are shocked at their father having a love child and start to do everything they can to chase her away from their family and their vineyard.  Will Casey be able to stay strong and get to know her father better or will her half-siblings manage to get rid of her?  I can't wait to read the next book in the series to find out more about Casey and her new family.

You can always depend on an Ashley Farley book. She's one of my go-to authors when I need a good story with a happily-ever-after ending. Her characters are always well-written and feel like people I know and her books are just plain fun.

Buy Love Child at Amazon

Blind Love 

July 2022; AHF Publishing; 978-1956684070
ebook, print (238 pages); women's fiction

Book One in this series - Love Child - introduced readers to Casey who was looking for the father that she'd never met.  Her mother had just died and she decided to find him.  When she finds Daniel, he accepts her with open arms because she was the daughter of his one true love.  Even though he is thrilled to find Casey, her half-siblings see her as a threat to the family wine business.  In Book 2, Ada (Daniel's only daughter) finds out that Daniel is not her real father and he pretty much turns his back on her and replaces her with his 'real' daughter Casey. Casey soon finds out that being Daniel's daughter means being controlled by him.  Even though he showers her with new cars and a house he is having built, he wants her to follow his rules and live life the way he wants.  As she begins to rebel against his possessiveness, she realizes that she needs to stand up to him so that she can live her life the way she wants.

As always, Ashley Farley brings her readers a great storyline with well-thought-out characters that you won't forget.  Book 2 was a real eye-opener and filled with twists and turns.  I can't wait to read book 3 in the series - Forbidden Love - to find out how these two women deal with Daniel and if they will both get their happily ever after.

Buy Blind Love at Amazon 

Forbidden Love

October 2022; Ahf Publishing; 978-1956684100
ebook, print (218 pages); women's fiction

Book 3 in the Virginia Vineyards is full of deceptions and decisions and love old and new.  Daniel, the patriarch of the Love family and one of the most manipulative characters that I've read in a long time creates more lies to get his family to follow his lead and prove their love for him. Instead, he manages to break the family even more as sides are taken and difficult decisions are made.  When his plan backfires, it creates even more havoc and distrust in the family.  How will he unite his family after his cruel and manipulative lies come to light?

Ada has found true love but is torn between Daniel, the man who raised her as his daughter and her biological father.  Stuart, her biological half-brother, is working hard to keep her out of the family and out of his father's will.

Laney is married to Hugh, the oldest of Daniel's sons and is almost as mean and despicable as his father.  Laney has had enough of the marriage and wants to start her own life with their daughters but he refuses to give her a divorce.

Along with Ada and Laney, we also keep up to date with Casey and the other members of the Love family as they make decisions about the rest of their lives - whether to stay at Foxtail Farms and continue to work with their father or to start their own lives away from his lies.  Book 4 Love and War is the last book in the series and we should be getting answers to all of our questions and to find out if the Love family is able to survive.

Buy Forbidden Love at Amazon

Love and War 

December 2022; Ahf Publishing; 978-1956684124
ebook, print (236 pages); women's fiction

The Love family is totally divided on whether to be supportive of their father and only his oldest son, Hugh, stays in the family house to help nurse his father after his stroke.  But is Hugh doing it out of love and compassion for his father or does he see it as his way of gaining control of the family vineyards?  After Daniel recovers, he decides that it's time to retire and sets up a contest between his children to decide who should run the company.  Ultimately the contest is between Hugh, the oldest son and a real nasty person, and Casey, the love child that Daniel didn't know about until she decided to try to find him.

There are several other plot lines in this book:

• Casey has been expecting a proposal from Luke and is devastated when he takes a job in DC and doesn't understand why she won't move with him.
• Hazel finds out a devastating secret that her husband has been keeping for their entire marriage.
• Daniel finally asks Ruthie to marry him and she has to decide what she wants out of her life.

All of the plot lines show a family in the midst of change as they all search for happiness and love in their lives.  I'm sorry to say goodbye to the characters in this book but everyone's story was wrapped up at the end.  This was a fantastic series with characters that were well-written and very believable.  The series is about family but also touches on homosexuality, date rape, drugs, and embezzlement.  This series needs to be read in order to get the best understanding of the family dynamics.  Overall, this was my favorite series by Ashley Farley.

Buy Love and War at Amazon

 

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is two hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.  

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