Vino Valentine is the culmination of Parker Valentine’s dreams. Opening day for her winery is crucial to the long-term success of her dream, and she’s planned well for this. Unfortunately, things go astray when a well-known food and wine critic shows up and drops dead after a taste of her chardonnay. Now, hashtag KILLER CHARDONNAY is trending, and it looks like Parker’s dream may be dying from the start. Can she uncover who the murderer is in time to save Vino Valentine and her dream?

Parker is a great heroine and I love her ambition and willingness to pursue her dream. She put in a lot of labor and love into Vino Valentine, and readers can’t help but cheer her success on even as her business appears to be crashing and burning from the start. However, I have to admit that I have a soft spot for her brother, Liam, despite his seemingly inability to follow any sort of real career path. He’s loyal to his sister and his family, however, and I love the direction Kate Lansing is taking with him.

KILLER CHARDONNAY is the first book in the Colorado Wine Mystery series and is a fun start to the series. Kate Lansing has created a delightful cast of characters coupled with some scrumptious sounding wines and foods. There’s a potential love triangle brewing, and it will be interesting to see what direction Kate Lansing takes us as Parker encounters more murders (after all, she’s a cozy mystery heroine lol). KILLER CHARDONNAY is a spectacular first start and, begging your pardon for the pun, a killer start to the series! I look forward to the next installment.