Fall has started in the western hemisphere, so this week’s Sapphic Book Bingo topic are sapphic vineyard romances.
For this category, read a sapphic book that is set on a vineyard. Typically, the main character owns, runs, or works on a vineyard.
15 sapphic vineyard romances
Below, you’ll find 15 recommended sapphic vineyard romances:
Something in the Wine by Jae
All her life, Annie Prideaux has suffered through her brother’s constant practical jokes. But Jake’s last joke is one too many, she decides when he sets her up on a blind date with his friend Drew—neglecting to tell his straight sister one tiny detail: her date is not a man, but a lesbian.
Annie and Drew decide it’s time to turn the tables on Jake by pretending to fall in love with each other.
At first glance, they have nothing in common. Disillusioned with love, Annie focuses on books, her cat, and her work as an accountant while Drew, more confident and outgoing, owns a dog and spends most of her time working in her beloved vineyard.
Only their common goal to take revenge on Jake unites them. But what starts as a table-turning game soon turns Annie’s and Drew’s lives upside down as the lines between pretending and reality begin to blur.
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Crush by Ana Hartnett Reichardt
Josie Sanchez is the head winemaker at Cadieux Vineyards, and all her dreams ride on the upcoming crush. If she can produce a gold medal pinot noir, the owner will give Josie her own wine label. Finally. She’s worked years for this opportunity, and nothing will stand in her way. Not even Mac, the owner’s annoyingly beautiful niece who doesn’t know anything about wine, but whom Josie’s forced to hire as her only harvest intern. Josie can’t imagine a more ill-suited partner for the most important harvest of her life.
After a lackluster start in her marketing career, Mackenzie Layton is eager to jump headfirst into the illustrious Willamette Valley wine industry. Thanks to her uncle, her first harvest job is with one of the most prestigious wineries in town. But when she meets Josie, it’s clear her presence is a nuisance, even if she does occasionally catch Josie’s gaze lingering on her. Mac has a proclivity for misadventure, and she is unable to resist the one person who is off limits.
This crush will be a messy one, indeed.
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Both Ends of the Whip by Brenda Murphy
Octavia Vargus had everything she wanted at Rowan House, Skye’s most exclusive pleasure house, except the one thing she craved. Longing for the freedom to explore both sides of her nature, she leaves Rowan House and her mistress, for a new start in Italy with her partner Bridget Murray.
Vivian Abiola is a connection to a past Octavia would like to forget, and a love she never expected to see again. After Octavia’s past relationship with Vivian is exposed, Octavia and Bridget explore the limits of their desires with Vivian. When an arsonist threatens to destroy their vineyard, past loyalties and secrets endanger their lives, and the three women’s relationship. Their love may be the only thing that helps them survive the firestorm of doubt, intrigue, and jealousy.
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It Started With a Kiss by Clare Lydon
When two strangers meet in a bar and share a scorching, once-in-a-lifetime kiss, they never expect to see each other again. Until days later when Skye walks into Gemma’s Surrey vineyard. For once, Gemma is lost for words.
When they start working together, they agree nothing can happen. Business comes first.
But such simmering sexual tension can only be contained for so long before the lid finally blows off…
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Sour Grapes by Eliza Lentzski
At this stage in her life, June St. Clare never imagined she’d be starting all over again—a new job, a new city, a new love? Looking for a fresh start after tragedy, June finds herself the unexpected owner of Lark Estates—a micro winery in the heart of Napa Valley. There, June is determined to learn the business and do her best, even if she’s convinced that her assistant winemaker, the beautiful but elusive Lucia Santiago, wants to see her fail.
Lucia Santiago grew up on vineyards, almost like a grapevine herself, working her way up from cellar rat to assistant winemaker. When the property where she works is suddenly sold to a woman with no prior experience, she can’t help but feel resentful of the winery’s lovely but inexperienced new owner. It’s too bad June’s helplessness is almost endearing, stirring up emotions Lucia didn’t quite expect.
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The Crush by Susan X. Meagher
Aldo Bagnolesi finally has what he’s long wanted. Control of the family winery in Tuscany. The only little detail is that someone has to manage the place for a few years. He’s far too involved in his company to leave on such short notice, but his daughter…
Despite her worries, Nicola agrees to step up to the plate, even though her interest in Italy and wine is sorely lacking. Her father will relieve her in two years. How bad could two years in one the prettiest places on earth be?
The transition is tough and she’s achingly lonely. Nic knows nothing about running a winery and can’t talk to the workers or the wine maker. She’s desperate for connection; for any semblance of her former busy social life. The closest gay bar is in Florence. She heads out—determined to at least talk to someone she has one thing in common with. To her delight, she finds not just a willing lesbian, but a sexy one—who seems equally interested in her.
It’s crazy to put so much importance on a chance meeting. But sometimes, you have to throw your doubts to the winds and see what the universe has in store for you.
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Full-Bodied in the Vineyard by Nicolette Dane
After yet another breakup and on the cusp of her 40th birthday, Shannon Laughlin is ready for something new—a new outlook, a new adventure… a new love. While scrolling online, a chance post by an old friend offers to give Shannon the change she’s been seeking.
That friend is free-spirited Alina. Alina is a seasonal worker at a winery up north and has orchestrated a life for herself that revolves around following her bliss. Shannon can’t help but remember the time in college when the two women hooked up, and this second chance Alina is offering is just too good to pass up.
As she stumbles into her 40s, Shannon is ready for whatever comes next. Will this opportunity with Alina allow Shannon to find some bliss of her own?
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Blend by Georgia Beers
When the widowed owner of the wine bar Vineyard decides she wants to take some time off and travel abroad, she leaves her business in the very capable hands of the two women she trusts most: Vineyard’s general manager, Lindsay, and her daughter, Piper.
For Lindsay Kent, Vineyard is her dream job. She’s thrilled when her boss leaves her in charge (well, half-charge),delete and tells her to feel free to make changes. Lindsay has tons of ideas that she’s been dying to put into action, and this is her big chance to increase the success of the business and prove she’s more than ready to run things solo. But getting the boss’s daughter on board is harder than expected. The uptight and annoyingly attractive Piper is blocking her every move.
For Piper Bradshaw, Vineyard is not her job. She already has one. She’s VP at a large tech company, and she’s damn good at it. Who cares if people say she’s a workaholic and an icy bitch? She didn’t get to the top by being prone to whims and experiments. She’s not happy when her mother suddenly decides to gallivant all over the country and furious that the family business has been left in the hands of the happy-go-lucky, born-a-generation-too-late hippie who manages it. Good thing Lindsay can’t make any changes unless they both agree, because Piper doesn’t intend to.
Lindsay and Piper are like night and day. Working together won’t be easy, but not falling in love might prove the hardest job of all.
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Entangled by Melissa Brayden
Josephine Wilder’s torrid love affair is with Tangle Valley Vineyard, her family’s legacy. She’s grown up dreaming between the vines. She’s always had secret ideas about how to make the place shine, so when it passes to her, Joey vows to make Tangle Valley everything she knows it can be. Her biggest obstacle? That overly commercial hotel going up, and the uppity manager trying to kill the vineyard’s rustic charm.
Becca Crawford loves to unwind with a good glass of wine. An astute businesswoman who has climbed the hospitality ladder, she’s the perfect person to head up Elite Resorts’ newest property, The Jade Hotel, and give tourists all the luxury they desire. As a bonus, The Jade is not far from the cutest vineyard with the best pinot she’s ever tasted. If only the captivating owner would get on board with her plan and stop badmouthing the hotel to everyone in town.
Is it possible that a nice glass of red could help Becca and Joey see each other in a new and alluring light?
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Just Like That by Karin Kallmaker
Syrah Ardani tried independence – but the call of the Napa Valley hills and rolling vineyards of her family’s winery have brought her home again. She is content with her ordered world until she learns that her father’s feckless management has put Ardani Vineyards into receivership.
Corporate turnaround specialist Toni Blanchard’s arrival is preceded by tales of her slash-and-burn techniques. Determined to meet this soulless corporate raider head on, Syrah proudly prepares to do battle for her home and family business. Toni has reason to retreat from a high-pressure Manhattan lifestyle, not the least of which is a bitter break up. She’s been told that Syrah Ardani is attractive and single, but Toni never mixes business and pleasure.
Creditors clamor for a quick sale and payment. The beautiful–and hostile–Syrah wants Toni off her land and out of her life. Their clashes smolder with distrust and resentment, but also threaten to light a completely different kind of fire. Most dangerous of all is the one thing Toni can’t control–the way her heart reacts when Syrah looks at her…just like that.
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Share the Moon by Toni Logan
Jamie Carr recently inherited her aunt’s struggling vineyard, nestled in the picturesque hills of Northern California. With help from Jamie’s slightly out-of-control best friend, Kali, and her aunt’s surviving lover, Kate, the vineyard is about to get a makeover.
Being stuck on a fifty-acre vineyard for over a century can be a bit mind-numbing, especially for Ruth, the resident ghost, who never wanted to be there in the first place. Fortunately, as time has passed, so has the ownership of the property, and if the three friends who now live in the old Victorian house are any indication, things are about to get much more interesting.
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Love’s Harvest by Peggy J. Herring
Deep in the heart of France’s majestic wine country, the sun drenched hills and lush vineyards of the Jeton family estate seem like the perfect setting for a passionate affaire de Coeur. But the life of workaholic winemaster, Nicole Jeton, is anything but romantic. From one harvest to the next, she runs the world-renowned winery, cares for her invalid father, and bails her no-good brother out of trouble – never stopping long enough to consider her own needs and desires. Until she meets the lovely Camille Cartier…
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Harvest Dreams by Jacqueline Fein-Zachary
Walking through the luscious Napa harvest in the fall of 1982, agricultural student Kate Bauer is inspired to grow grapes, and charismatic business major Sydney Barrett might just be the perfect person to make that dream come true. If only Kate knew what to do with her unexpected attraction to Sydney.
On the threshold of the AIDS pandemic, Kate is appalled by her father’s homophobia toward her closeted uncle, Louie. When Uncle Louie dies, he leaves his potato farm on Long Island to Kate. Soon Kate and Sydney are planting thousands of baby vines, even as the unspoken desire between them grows.
As the vineyard thrives, Sydney caves to family pressure and heads to Paris for a once-in-a-lifetime banking apprenticeship, leaving Kate to struggle with the feelings for Sydney that never wane. Their possibility for a shared harvest grows faint until Sydney returns, and a threat to the vineyard and their dreams forces them to confront their unresolved feelings.
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Finding Love Down Under by Donna Jay
When Claire discovers her fiancée has abused her trust in the most heinous way possible, she severs all ties.
A year down the track, she couldn’t be happier living a life of solitude on a vineyard. That is, until a quick trip into town changes everything.
Suddenly on her own in New Zealand, and on the edge of despair, Zoe never expected to find her salvation in the form of a beautiful and complex woman.
The following months are fraught with highs and lows as Claire and Zoe learn to navigate their way around each other. Both women need to overcome huge trust issues if they have any hope of forging a relationship.
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Spectrum by MJ Duncan
Sparks fly the moment Bryn Nakamura lays eyes on Anna Fitzpatrick, and not in a good way. Driven, reserved, and recovering from another encounter with a life she would rather leave behind, all Bryn wants is to forget about Anna and focus on her beloved vineyard—but Fate has other plans. No matter where Bryn goes, Anna seems to be there, and despite how annoyed she is by this development, she can’t help but be charmed by Anna’s warm smile and easygoing charisma. But as carefully constructed walls come down, new obstacles take their place, leaving Bryn to question who she is and what she truly wants out of life.
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A Foreign Affair by Linda M. Ford
Miranda first kissed a girl in her last year of high school. She received a slap and a sneer which left her with fear and mistrust. For years she has lived quietly with her mother on their farm in Napa Valley not seeking love. Then sexy, self-assured Odile arrives in her life in 1981.
The Frenchwoman is on a business trip from her family’s vineyard and winery in Burgundy, France. Odile is not above mixing pleasure with business and invites Miranda to dinner hoping for a rather delicious dessert.
Shy virgin, Miranda’s life and emotions are turned upside-down by her brief affair with the beautiful but scarred Odile. She dreams of a future together with the woman she has fallen for so hard. It feels impossible. There are so many obstacles.
Life in the early 1980s has challenges. Communication is slow and the world has become even more homophobic with a new pandemic which has become known as the gay plague.
Can love rise above these, defying distance and borders?
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Leave a comment
Leave a comment and let us know what book you’ll be reading for the “sapphic vineyard romance” category!
Read Spectrum by MJ Duncan.
the trio of Melissa Brandon’s entangled series. I’ve read yours and Georgia Beers ones.
Thanks for reading, Antonia!