Darcy Jensen is the younger of the president's two daughters and she's tired of playing second fiddle to her more attractive, adored sister Lauren. After spending what feels like a lifetime being upstaged by Lauren -- whether it be for her father's affection or that of her college boyfriend -- Darcy is struggling to find her place in the world and overcome the media's unfair categorization of her as the edgy, unpleasant sister.

After a botched kidnapping attempt, Darcy finds herself hiding out in the wine country of California while the government scours the country for the kidnappers. While in California, Darcy not only falls in love with wine, but the warm and loving Marcelli family. The Marcelli family bustles with three generations of winemakers, several boisterous sisters, spry and opinionated grandparents and one very hunky son named Joe, who happens to be a Navy SEAL assigned to help keep her safe at his family's winery.

A hunky guy, some fine wine and great Italian food...you know where this is going, right? In addition to a fiery romance, crime and a few family skeletons keep this story moving at a fast clip. It weaves themes of family ties and forgiveness throughout the novel. The story and characters were well-developed. I felt as if I knew the characters and was sitting at the family table dining with the Marcelli's myself.

Ms. Mallery does a great job of teasing the reader in this book about her next Marcelli novel, a story about Mia Marcelli. Pour yourself a glass of fine wine and take time to enjoy THE MARCELLI BRIDE.