The Villa - Softcover

Roberts, Nora

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0749929685 ISBN 13: 9780749929688

Publisher: Piatkus, 2012

Synopsis

Sophia is the pride of the Giambelli clan and a vital player in the family's celebrated winery. But things are about to change at Villa Giambelli.

Family matriarch Tereza has announced a surprise merger with the MacMillan family's winery. As a savvy businesswoman, Sophia knows she must be ready for anything - but she isn't prepared for Tyler MacMillan. They've been ordered to work closely together to ensure the merger goes through smoothly. But as they toil together, both in and out of the fields, Sophia finds herself increasingly torn between professional rivalry and a powerful attraction.

And when the business and the family are threatened by disturbing acts of sabotage, Sophia realises her quest isn't just for dominance, but survival...

'Nora Roberts is a superstar'
New York Times

'The most successful novelist on Planet Earth'
Washington Post

About this title

Product Description:

The Villa

Review:

Set in beautiful Napa Valley, California, Nora Roberts's novel The Villa portrays a rich world of family-owned wineries, complete with enough romance, sophisticated business intrigue, betrayal, and murder to cow the Medicis of Florence. The Villa focuses on the merger of two prominent winemaking families, the Giambellis and MacMillans, and the incendiary combination of the two upcoming leaders of those dynasties, Sophia Giambelli and Tyler MacMillan. Tyler is the manager of the MacMillan vines and the distilling process, a job that suits his frank and no-frills personality. Creative and flashy, Sophia is head of Giambelli's public relations, and her job has been to put the best spin on whatever her family business produces--hard to do when the merger requires that she and Tyler switch jobs, and particularly hard to do when her own heart seems to spin out of control whenever they're together.

Soon after the merger goes through, Tony Avano, a Giambelli executive and Sophia's father, is murdered, and threats surface against the Giambelli women. As a quiet woman, Sophia's mother, Pilar, has made few enemies, except for Tony's new wife, Rene. The matriarch of the family--known simply as La Signora--may have knocked some rivals aside as she clawed her way to the top, but few would have reason to threaten her now. When poison is discovered in Giambelli wine, Sophia and Tyler learn the killer is much closer than they thought.

In description, dialogue, and plot, Roberts's talent and control are as fine as ever. But while the relationship between Pilar and David, the new COO, feels complex and mature, Sophia and Tyler's romance can at times feel slightly forced. As Roberts explains repeatedly, Sophia approaches sex "as a man does," which apparently means with no strings attached. And while that does tend to take the "romance" out of the romance to some extent, the positive aspects to be found in The Villa outweigh this flaw, ensuring another hit for the talented and prolific Roberts. --Nancy RE O'Brien, Amazon.com

About this edition

• Publisher: Piatkus
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0749929685
• ISBN 13: 9780749929688
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496