“Love is beautiful and so are you. A life without you is a life without purpose. You’re the happy ending to my books of purpose, fantasy and hope” ~ Dr. Ivan Rusilko, Desserts
I am honored to be a part of The Winemaker’s Dinner: Dessert blog tour and Giveaway!
Below, you’ll find my review, an excerpt and the rafflecopter to enter to win a Kindle Fire loaded with the Winemaker’s Dinner Books (Appetizer, Entree and Dessert) courtesy of Omnific Publishing!
And finally……Dessert is served!
Synopsis:
Left on bended knee, with nothing but a ring in his hand and a gaping hole in his chest, Ivan Rusilko lost everything when Jaden Thorne said, “I can’t.”
Now, six months later and despite her endless attempts to reach him, finding forgiveness for Jaden’s indiscretion is last on his list of things to do. Dr. Ivan is married to his career now, and his professional success is taking him places he’s never been before. But even the glow of accomplishment can’t heal his devastated heart. Determined to recover, to move forward at any cost, he now finds moments of respite in distractions that leave him emotionally bankrupt. He’s empty, a shadow of his former vibrant, life-loving self. On the outside, he may seem to be the man he always was. But inside, a terrible desire threatens to rip him apart and ruin him forever.
Meanwhile Jaden is haunted by the memory of the moment she saw the light wither and die in Ivan’s eyes. She knows it died at her hand. After months of trying to explain herself, of begging for mercy, she takes herself back to Miami, back into Ivan’s path, for one last chance at redemption. Can she entice him back into her arms? Convince him to give her a second chance? She’s determined to do whatever it takes to find forgiveness—even if all that’s left is forgiving herself.
In this final book of The Winemaker’s Feast Trilogy, The Winemaker’s Dinner: Dessert, author Dr. Ivan Rusilko is writing solo, drawing freely on his own life and love experiences to craft a heartbreaking and wildly erotic tale about lost hope, desperation, contrition, and—if it’s possible—the quest for a perfect ending to a real-life love story. True to its title, Dessert serves readers an indulgent, decadent last course, rich with twists, turns, and tantalizing truths.
Love is beautiful, guys like this really do exist, and the power of real romance is something we can all believe in.
My Review:
This is the third installment in the Winemaker’s Dinner Series and picks up where Entrée left us…an emotional a puddle of mush on the floor.
We are back in Miami with Ivan six months after the disaster proposal that crushed his hopes and dreams. He has thrown himself into his career and, in theory, he should be happy with the success he has. He is, in a way. But in those quiet moments that work and patients and new expansion plans can’t fill is when the pain takes over. The Band-Aid Ivan has found to help get him through those moments is just that, a temporary fix to cover a wound that refuses to heal. He’s been through broken hearts before…surely he can get over this, too, right? Unfortunately, right now, it isn’t looking that way.
Jaden has just wrapped up filming her successful season of One Hot Dish and is beyond happy to close that chapter in her life and say a long-awaited adios to her prick co-host, Damian. Damian, the self-centered egotistical ass that ruined her life…well, she was just as much to blame now, wasn’t she. With the season wrapping up, she will be headed back “home” to Miami for a two-month break. Now she will just have to decide on what to do with her time there….hide or take a stand and fight for the man she left behind, broken.
Together they will need to find their ways back to a sense of peace and, ultimately, happiness…whether it’s together or apart. You have to go through Hell to appreciate Heaven and the journey they have ahead of them, even six months after the last night they saw one another, is going to be a rough one.
Let me start my part of this review by saying this book took the exact opposite direction I assumed it was going to take….and at the risk of sounding like a cold-hearted bitch, I have to say I am beyond happy it went in this direction. This book is considerably darker than the others in the series. That being said, I don’t think I would have been satisfied if this book wasn’t dark. Ivan is reeling and broken. He was ready to spend his life with Jaden and she threw his love and adoration back in his face when she declined his proposal and confessed her “adultery”. It would be unbelievable, albeit less painful, if he was sad for a month and then got back to a business-as-usual attitude. I was sobbing by page 16, but as you know, those are the kind of books I love most. I love to feel what the character feels…and to feel Ivan’s utter defeat was truly an experience I won’t soon forget. I was a bundle of anxious nerves through this read…until the very last 10ish pages. Damn…those last few pages are some I carry with me for quite some time. Ivan is truly an artist with words. There are a few paragraphs that are so well written and the words are spoken with such love behind them I must have read them twenty times after finishing the book. Freaking perfect!
So here I am…all sad that I’m finished with the book and, of course, am dying to hear what’s next for Ivan but I can’t help but think of one of Ivan’s favorite sayings….”Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”. Thank you, Ivan for an amazing finish to a series I will continue to recommend to all of the new readers I come across and thank you for, well, just being you!
Five Loves
Excerpt:
“Jaden grabs a first full of his hair and yanks his head back, forcing him to look at her as she seemed to search for something he wasn’t communicating. Her breath heavy and unsteady, she ran gentle fingers across his face and jaw. Ivan brought his hand around to the back of her neck and tilted her head, his teeth ripping at her bottom lip. Her body responded as it always had, and she clutched his hair with both hands.
Releasing her bottom lip from his teeth, he held her face between his hands, studying her face, her reaction as held he against the bricks with his body. She was every bit as beautiful as he remembered, but he could not look at her now without feeling the pain of having been ripped in two. But this was not the time for feelings. He looked he up and down and marveled at her beauty as the freak within trembled in excitement. Satisfaction.”
About Ivan:
Dr. Ivan Rusilko is the Medical Director and Co-Founder at the new Club Essentia Wellness Retreat at Delano. Dr. Rusilko specializes in creating healthy lifestyles that support longevity and improved overall quality of life through medically supervised and customized diagnostic and treatment programs, with an emphasis placed on personal patient attention and follow-up.
His debut novel, The Winemaker’s Dinner: Appetizers, is the first book of a three book series which debuted July 31, 2012. The second installment “Entree” was released on December 18, 2012 and the final book, “Dessert” will be out April 30th. He is excited to offer a male voice in a predominantly female authored genre. Always one with a story to tell, he hopes to continue writing, exploring new genres and projects, as well as field future entertainment opportunities. He is proud to bring two of his passions, medicine and writing, together in this unique project. He hopes that The Winemakers Feast Trilogy will help spark an enthusiasm and ignite liberation giving women the power and the courage to reclaim their sensual side, focus on their own sexual health and ultimately achieve a better quality of life.
”The best cosmetic procedure is adding a smile” -Dr. Rusilko
Three-and-a-Half Loves