Blend by Georgia Beers is an opposites attract, enemies to lovers romance that takes place around a wine bar.

Lindsay Kent loves her job at Vineyard, helping connect patrons with their next favourite glass of wine. She’s even more thrilled when her boss, Ellen, announces that she’s going on an extended vacation and is leaving Lindsay in charge of Vineyard. The only catch? She has to run the bar with Piper, Ellen’s snobby, uptight, and (oh yeah) super hot daughter.

Piper doesn’t want to run Vineyard. She already has a full-time job and she’s barely stepped foot in her family’s business since her father died a few years prior. She can’t leave her parents’ pride and joy in the hands of a flighty hippie, though, so she finds herself checking in frequently, making it clear that Lindsay can’t just do whatever she wants with the place.

As Piper listens to Lindsay’s ideas, however, she learns that Lindsay has more business acumen than she’d given her credit for. And as they get to know each other, they each find themselves shifting from irritation to something much more intriguing.

The Characters

It’s a girl next door/ice queen pairing! What’s not to love?!?!

In all seriousness though, Piper has the biggest character arc in Blend and it’s a good thing she does. She’s a real jerk to Lindsay at first, and if it weren’t for the scenes showing her with her friends and family, I would have found Piper entirely unlikeable until she started thawing. It made for an interesting take on the ice queen trope though, because Piper doesn’t hold everyone at bay, she just keeps herself guarded in certain situations like with Lindsay or at work. She has some serious growing to do so that she can open herself up to someone as warm as Lindsay and I’m glad she finally does it, even if I wasn’t thrilled with her during the crisis point (although, frankly, I don’t think I was supposed to be).

Lindsay is so warm and funny and sweet and lovely that I just loved her! I was team Lindsay all the way. She handles herself well when Piper underestimates her and doesn’t shy away from any of Piper’s challenges. Her character arc isn’t nearly as big as Piper’s and I’m totally okay with that. This is really Piper’s book, and Lindsay is wonderful just the way she is (she’s someone I’d totally want to spend time with in person!).

The Writing Style

Blend has that classic Georgia Beers feel to it, while giving us another unique setting to enjoy. The pacing is excellent and the chemistry between Piper and Lindsay is palpable.

The Narration

Paige McKinney does a solid job narrating this story, with her voice matching the tone and content quite well. She differentiates Lindsay and Piper, which is nice, although I found that the other characters were often not as distinct as they could have been. I didn’t have an issues following who was saying what, however, so it didn’t really bother me.

The Pros

Hands down, Lindsay is my favourite element of the book. Second to that would be their chemistry, because Beers does a great job of shifting them along that “enemies to lovers” line.

The Cons

I don’t know that this is actually a con, but I found I was able to guess what the crisis would be and I was mad at Piper for how she handled things.

The Conclusion

annas favourite booksvictorias favourite booksIf you’ve never read anything by Georgia Beers before, Blend could be a great place to start. And if you’re already a fan of hers or even just a fan of contemporary lesbian romances, you’ll want to check this one out. It’s a lovely, sexy story that I’ll happily read again.

Excerpt from Blend by Georgia Beers

It was a typical crowd for a Thursday evening. The after-work crowd that had come in for a glass of wine with their coworkers had pretty much headed home, and now the occupied tables were mostly people out for a nice night of wine and cheese. Maybe eight or ten customers, total.

It should be more.

That thought ran through Lindsay’s head often, at least once a shift.

Her brain short-circuited right then, though, as she glanced at the door and saw Piper Bradshaw on her way in.

Piper Bradshaw was uptight. Everybody thought so.

Piper Bradshaw was kind of snobby. Everybody thought so.

And Piper Bradshaw was fucking hot. Everybody thought so. Including Lindsay, which didn’t make her happy, given the uptight and snobby parts.

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Bits and Bobs

  • ISBN number: 9781635551891
  • Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
  • Audiobook Publisher: Bold Strokes Books Inc
  • Narrator: Paige McKinney

Georgia Beers Online

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Note: I received a free review copy of Blend by Georgia Beers. No money was exchanged for this review. When you use our links to buy we get a small commission which supports the running of this site