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Love's Harvest
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 ...
163 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1996
1 person is currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Peggy J. Herring
22 books21 followersPeggy J. Herring lives on seven acres in south Texas with her cockatiel, hermit crabs, two wooden cats and several chickens. When she isn't writing Peggy enjoys traveling. She is the recipient of an Alice B. Medal and author of over a dozen romantic novels.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 13, 2018
It's rare that I give a book 2 stars, but sadly,
Love's Harvest
is receiving this distinction. I had such high hopes when I first read the synopsis. A lesbian romance set in a wine vineyard in France? Yes, please! 😊
It had so much promise. The opening pages made me snuggle into my couch with a blanket for a great read, but the further I got into it, the more I grew bewildered.
The plot moved from a simple love story to a story with supernatural elements that felt unnecessary and out of place. The characters and writing were stiff and unemotional, even in the places where it called for an intense reaction. Of the two love interests, Camille was the one I enjoyed because she was passionate and stood her ground with gifted winemaster Nicole, who's aloof, closed-off, and consumed with her work. Nicole is also one the blandest characters I've come across in a long time. She's also horrible at relationships. 😒
All this to say, Love's Harvest was disappointing. I still want to read Peggy J. Herring's Once More with Feeling, which is supposed to be her most popular novel.
It had so much promise. The opening pages made me snuggle into my couch with a blanket for a great read, but the further I got into it, the more I grew bewildered.
The plot moved from a simple love story to a story with supernatural elements that felt unnecessary and out of place. The characters and writing were stiff and unemotional, even in the places where it called for an intense reaction. Of the two love interests, Camille was the one I enjoyed because she was passionate and stood her ground with gifted winemaster Nicole, who's aloof, closed-off, and consumed with her work. Nicole is also one the blandest characters I've come across in a long time. She's also horrible at relationships. 😒
All this to say, Love's Harvest was disappointing. I still want to read Peggy J. Herring's Once More with Feeling, which is supposed to be her most popular novel.
March 17, 2014
Oh dear. Where to start with this mess? First of all, even before I get to the writing itself, I have to mention that throughout this book, paragraphs end and begin in mid-sentence. Also, quotes seem to double as apostrophes. Doesn't anyone at Bella Books proof read?
Now then, the story. There actually is a kernel of a story here, but it is buried under a dung heap of terrible writing. I have read Herring several times before, and don't know what happened to her here; she is usually good for a reliable, if unspectacular, lesbian romance novel. This time, however, her characters are cardboard, the dialogue is wooden, the sex scenes are tepid and predictable, and the big climactic scene is more Three Stooges than suspense.
As if all that were not enough, Herring unerringly chooses to be vague when she should be specific. It never becomes clear exactly what one of the major characters does at her job. Oh, she reads files and makes calls, but it never gets any more detailed than that. That's just an example. The whole book is general and vague, more like an outline than a finished novel. But wait! There's more! Herring's word choices are comical at times. For example, her characters don't "think" something, they "reason". Over and over, she uses rather mechanical sounding language when plain language would be better. "A gentle kiss after a regular breathing pattern was restored" sounds like something from an engine manual.
It's awful. Don't read it. I can't believe she put her name to this nonsense.
Now then, the story. There actually is a kernel of a story here, but it is buried under a dung heap of terrible writing. I have read Herring several times before, and don't know what happened to her here; she is usually good for a reliable, if unspectacular, lesbian romance novel. This time, however, her characters are cardboard, the dialogue is wooden, the sex scenes are tepid and predictable, and the big climactic scene is more Three Stooges than suspense.
As if all that were not enough, Herring unerringly chooses to be vague when she should be specific. It never becomes clear exactly what one of the major characters does at her job. Oh, she reads files and makes calls, but it never gets any more detailed than that. That's just an example. The whole book is general and vague, more like an outline than a finished novel. But wait! There's more! Herring's word choices are comical at times. For example, her characters don't "think" something, they "reason". Over and over, she uses rather mechanical sounding language when plain language would be better. "A gentle kiss after a regular breathing pattern was restored" sounds like something from an engine manual.
It's awful. Don't read it. I can't believe she put her name to this nonsense.
April 3, 2013
Wow, this book is tremendously terrible. It had everything from lifeless, generic characters to bizarre dialogue (almost like an old time movie, not the way people actually speak, but very dramatic) and a hit you over the head obvious story and climax. On the plus side, it was a quick read.
April 7, 2019
If one is looking for a paranormal romance book... I think this will fit. That said, I think there wasn't much invested on the paranormal history at least enough to make one feel you are getting a nicely dished story and then there is the confusion on the sold synopsis of wine vintage and romance... That's what I expected but not what I necessarily got. Rather, the author chose to meander to a generational ghost and use that premise to develop the plots of discord and romance etc...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 3, 2013
While this book is rather short it packs in a lot of emotion and action. Love, hate, jealousy are the driving forces of this story. Fast paced and smoothly situated between the many mindsets of all involved including the Chateau itself.
Nicole Jeton has worked by her father's side at the family vineyard since she was a little kid. She knows her job well and when her father falls ill she takes the reigns. Hard work and a love of wine drives Nicole's life and she couldn't be happier. As her father's health deteriorates Nicole's life becomes more complicated with the arrival of a woman who could be the one and the return of her alcoholic brother who has no interest in the wine business but wants Nicole's money since he spent his a long time ago.
Camile Cartier is living in Paris and works at a magazine as a junior editor and has busied herself with her work and spends an occasional night at a party (really a business meeting where she is eye candy) thrown by her cousin. Keeping herself busy and to herself those outings only serve to show her that she wants to be alone, and the men see her as a possible conquest. One party her cousin surprises her with Nicole and the two hit it off.
As Nicole and Camile explore each other and think that this might be their chance at happiness, things start falling apart. Nicole's father dies and her brother refuses to come to the funeral only to show up later acting like he owns the place. Nicole sends Camile away without a thought but Camile doesn't understand. As her brother continues to cause problems a ghost from the past, literally, starts causing havoc and Nicole realizes she might need more than she can give by herself.
Nicole Jeton has worked by her father's side at the family vineyard since she was a little kid. She knows her job well and when her father falls ill she takes the reigns. Hard work and a love of wine drives Nicole's life and she couldn't be happier. As her father's health deteriorates Nicole's life becomes more complicated with the arrival of a woman who could be the one and the return of her alcoholic brother who has no interest in the wine business but wants Nicole's money since he spent his a long time ago.
Camile Cartier is living in Paris and works at a magazine as a junior editor and has busied herself with her work and spends an occasional night at a party (really a business meeting where she is eye candy) thrown by her cousin. Keeping herself busy and to herself those outings only serve to show her that she wants to be alone, and the men see her as a possible conquest. One party her cousin surprises her with Nicole and the two hit it off.
As Nicole and Camile explore each other and think that this might be their chance at happiness, things start falling apart. Nicole's father dies and her brother refuses to come to the funeral only to show up later acting like he owns the place. Nicole sends Camile away without a thought but Camile doesn't understand. As her brother continues to cause problems a ghost from the past, literally, starts causing havoc and Nicole realizes she might need more than she can give by herself.
January 16, 2024
Altogether unsatisfying. Even as a fluff novel, don't waste your time. The romance comes on heavy and all consuming, and completely unrealistic, not to mention poorly written. "She plunged her tongue into the center of her very existence." It reads like a trashy hetero romance novel. Overwhelming lust at first sight, with a thin, self-centered plot. I lust-love you, you're so beautiful, give up your entire life and career to commit to our 3 week relationship and stay with me forever, so we can have sex all the time and I can teach you how to drink wine in my chateaux haunted by the ghost of my murdered grandmother.
November 6, 2012
I looked forward to this because I've enjoyed other light reads by Herring, but this one was such a disappointment. It has the bones of a good light read: potentially interesting characters, and some intriguing subplot elements. But they are not fleshed out. To add insult to injury, throughout the book there are line breaks in the middle of sentences. I'm left with the impression that both Herring and her editors were more concerned with deadlines than with creating a decent novel.
Bottom line: read something else.
Bottom line: read something else.
November 30, 2014
This was a attempt to fuse gothic fiction (ghosts, mansions, rich inheritors, the french) with a lesbian novel.
And honestly it doesn't QUITE work.
It's not awful, it's a decent read, but it's frankly nowhere NEAR as good as her later books. Only recommended if you are a completist of her books.
And honestly it doesn't QUITE work.
It's not awful, it's a decent read, but it's frankly nowhere NEAR as good as her later books. Only recommended if you are a completist of her books.
September 23, 2017
“Twilight in Burgundy cast an almost mystic spell over the chateau as they innocently slept. Morning was sure to arrive much too soon.”
“Love’s harvest” it’s such a delight to read, it takes us to the beautiful French wine lands of Burgundy at the Jeton Winery and chateau and envelopes a beautiful romance between Nicole Jeton and Camille Cartier, such different characters, yet so alike at heart trying to keep up the familly name and fame through hard work at the winery and leaving herself no time, but to take care of her sick father and paying debts for her depravate brother.
““You make me feel so different,” Nicole said afterward.
“As if nothing else matters as long as I have you.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Bad?” Nicole said. “No, not at all. Just different.”
Camille raised herself up, arms outstretched on either side of Nicole’s body. “I’m in love with you,” Camille said.
Nicole was quiet, but put her arms around her neck and hugged her. Camil e took the silence to mean that Nicole, in return, was not in love with her. She accepted that easily enough, rationalizing that it was much too soon. They had only known each other a few weeks.”
Peggy J. Hering takes us easily on the vaste fields of Burgundy at the beautiful Jeton estate that owns a winery for more family generations, yet with a secret to hide, where we find Nicole Jeton caring for the winery and allowing little time for herself and her desires.
I enjoyed their looks too, a blonde and a brunette together always spices things up.
I find the landscape truly amazing and the integration of the characters into it is quie without a trace, like a slow flow. Nicole’s character reveals strength of will built from the need to prove the world that the Jetons are not known only for the murder that happened a long time ago, nor for the ghost of Eva, murdered by her brother, that keeps hunting the chateau and Nicole by keeping away the dangers.
Camille Cartier is a very down to earth individual, a woman who knows her own will and desires, lives in Paris and works as an editor for a firm, she gets to know Nicole at one of her cousin’s Marguerite’s parties and finds her incredibly attractive and somwhow wants to follow her wherever she may go.
““It’s not always like this for me,” Nicole whispered. She had such emotion in her voice that Camille wasn’t sure if she would cry or not. “I feel so different with you. So different.”
She kissed Camille slowly, letting the softness of their lips arouse them both all over again.
Camille squirmed delightedly under her, holding Nicole’s face in her hands and loving those blue eyes that seemed to come to life so easily.”
Nicole needs to fight with the ghosts of her past, present and future as she want Cammile and seduces her, somehow everything comes without warning at an unnapropriate moment in her life as her father is dying, the winery can be lost because of her brother, who wants to take all the family money for himself and with his new lover to go and create a new winery in California, yet somehow Nicole got used to her brother’s habbits to disappear for few years to spend money and then return and ask for more in the name of the first male born.
Antoine is Nicole’s best friend and cellar master of the Jeton winery and Lalo’s (Nicole’s brother) former lover remained at the chateau and winery to help out and somehow integrate and find a familly in Nicole.
Nicole is stubborn and unselfish and only thinks of the family’s well care, yet her true love seems to be slipping through her fingers, because she somehow doesn’t want to involve Cammile in her familly’s mess. Yet, Cammile knows she’s in love with Nicole from their very first night together and Nicole also knows from Cammile’s very first touch that her touch means love and wanting and Cammile is ready to help Nicole in whatever case is necessary. The two women have their upp’s and down’s while Antoine helps them to get together and solve things out.
“I just wanted to hear your voice again. Have I made a terrible mess of things? Don’t answer,” Nicole said quickly. “I know I have.”
Thoughts of the gypsy came to Camille, and the insistent warning of prevailing evil surrounding them made her snap to attention.
“You’re in danger, Nicole. I know it. I can feel it.” She didn’t have the nerve to say a gypsy had told her so.
“Danger? Don’t be silly. Everything is fine here. That woman in your apartment earlier,” Nicole said sheepishly, “who was she?”
Camille listened closely, but didn’t quite connect with the question for a moment. She was still in shock at hearing from Nicole again so soon. Camille smiled as she remembered. Nicole’s confession of being so possessive.
Could she be jealous? Camille mused. How wonderfully juvenile. “That was Monique.” The words my sister would not pass through her lips. Not yet anyway. Nicole had to make the next move. “Monique and I came to the party together.”
“I see,” Nicole said crisply. “How long have you known her?”
“All my life. We’re very close.” It was not like Camille to play these adolescent games, but she felt as though Nicole had brought it all on herself. As she stood there among the various assortment of raincoats and furs, the word evil again stayed fresh in her mind, amplifying itself as she touched the door. Nicole was in danger. Evil could mean so many things. It could even be Eva, she thought suddenly. Aren’t ghosts and spirits evil?
“How is Eva?” Camille asked urgently.
“Eva is fine. It’s quiet here now. She’s restless when Lalo is around, so he stays at the
winery with his new friend.”
Maybe Lalo was the evil the gypsy had referred to, Camille reasoned. She claimed to have seen a tall, handsome man in the crystal ball. Camille rolled her eyes. Am I really believing this? she wondered, but somehow it just seemed silly to take chances.
“You’re in danger, Nicole. I’ll be out of town tomorrow, but I’l call you. Please be careful.”
“Where are you going?” Nicole demanded. “Camil e,” she said desperately, “please. Who is this Monique person? Are you going away with her?”
In the end, I enjoyed that what happened between Eva and her brother Phillipe has been repeated trhough the generations as inherited by Nicole and Lalo, when he tried to strangle his sister because he couldn’t overcame her talent for wine nor for her strength to keep up the familly name.
““Eva comes to me often,” she whispered. “She’s there in the chateau, walking the halls at night. She was there when I showed you my grandfather’s portrait.”
Camille trembled in her arms, and Nicole pulled a blanket up over them.
“She likes you. Don’t be afraid.” Nicole tightened her arms around her. “After my grandfather strangled her, he was never the same. It haunted him the rest of his life and he never quite recovered from it.”
“Did you ever hear an explanation about why he killed her?”
“Several. The most commonly discussed has been
jealousy,” Nicole said. “Philippe was jealous of Eva’s ability to run things without him. He would disappear for weeks at a time. No one knew where he was. There were rumors of a mistress and then rumors of foreign exports, but he never confirmed anything. Eva took care of the family business whenever he was gone. There was no one else able to do those things then. Their parents were old, and there were other children who were much younger.” Nicole’s voice was soft but steady. “One night Philippe returned after having been gone for a month. He rode up on his horse and stormed the stairs of the chateau to the second floor. He and Eva had a terrible quarrel. When the servants found them Philippe still had his hands clamped around her throat. She was dead.”
Camille buried herself deeper into Nicole’s arms. “What happened to him? Did he go to jail?”
“Nothing happened to him. The family kept it a secret for years. With enough money you can buy silence.” Nicole kissed the top of Camille’s head again and rubbed her cheek against her hair. “Lalo, my brother, always wanted to be like him,” Nicole continued softly.
“He’s wanted that more than anything. When he was younger Lalo would stare at the portrait for hours. He combed his hair the same way. Often wore similar clothes. He was so proud of the resemblance between them. He sees Philippe as this masculine hero who built the family fortune from nothing. My grandfather grieved for his sister for many years.
They apparently had been very close when they were younger. Philippe finally married and became the man my father idolized and talked about. The Philippe Jeton the villageremembers wasn’t a murderer. He was a hero. And that’s the man Lalo wants to be like.
The hero.” Nicole hugged her again and laughed. “But Eva’s spirit never let any of us forget what really happened that night. Lalo has trouble accepting Eva’s place in our family’s history. I always remind him that there would be no Jeton Vineyards if Eva hadn’t kept things going when Philippe would disappear for weeks at a time. My father eventually came to realize that I was right. Eva belongs there in the chateau as much as any of us do. Even now.”
https://inkmarksonemptydreams.com/201...
“Love’s harvest” it’s such a delight to read, it takes us to the beautiful French wine lands of Burgundy at the Jeton Winery and chateau and envelopes a beautiful romance between Nicole Jeton and Camille Cartier, such different characters, yet so alike at heart trying to keep up the familly name and fame through hard work at the winery and leaving herself no time, but to take care of her sick father and paying debts for her depravate brother.
““You make me feel so different,” Nicole said afterward.
“As if nothing else matters as long as I have you.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Bad?” Nicole said. “No, not at all. Just different.”
Camille raised herself up, arms outstretched on either side of Nicole’s body. “I’m in love with you,” Camille said.
Nicole was quiet, but put her arms around her neck and hugged her. Camil e took the silence to mean that Nicole, in return, was not in love with her. She accepted that easily enough, rationalizing that it was much too soon. They had only known each other a few weeks.”
Peggy J. Hering takes us easily on the vaste fields of Burgundy at the beautiful Jeton estate that owns a winery for more family generations, yet with a secret to hide, where we find Nicole Jeton caring for the winery and allowing little time for herself and her desires.
I enjoyed their looks too, a blonde and a brunette together always spices things up.
I find the landscape truly amazing and the integration of the characters into it is quie without a trace, like a slow flow. Nicole’s character reveals strength of will built from the need to prove the world that the Jetons are not known only for the murder that happened a long time ago, nor for the ghost of Eva, murdered by her brother, that keeps hunting the chateau and Nicole by keeping away the dangers.
Camille Cartier is a very down to earth individual, a woman who knows her own will and desires, lives in Paris and works as an editor for a firm, she gets to know Nicole at one of her cousin’s Marguerite’s parties and finds her incredibly attractive and somwhow wants to follow her wherever she may go.
““It’s not always like this for me,” Nicole whispered. She had such emotion in her voice that Camille wasn’t sure if she would cry or not. “I feel so different with you. So different.”
She kissed Camille slowly, letting the softness of their lips arouse them both all over again.
Camille squirmed delightedly under her, holding Nicole’s face in her hands and loving those blue eyes that seemed to come to life so easily.”
Nicole needs to fight with the ghosts of her past, present and future as she want Cammile and seduces her, somehow everything comes without warning at an unnapropriate moment in her life as her father is dying, the winery can be lost because of her brother, who wants to take all the family money for himself and with his new lover to go and create a new winery in California, yet somehow Nicole got used to her brother’s habbits to disappear for few years to spend money and then return and ask for more in the name of the first male born.
Antoine is Nicole’s best friend and cellar master of the Jeton winery and Lalo’s (Nicole’s brother) former lover remained at the chateau and winery to help out and somehow integrate and find a familly in Nicole.
Nicole is stubborn and unselfish and only thinks of the family’s well care, yet her true love seems to be slipping through her fingers, because she somehow doesn’t want to involve Cammile in her familly’s mess. Yet, Cammile knows she’s in love with Nicole from their very first night together and Nicole also knows from Cammile’s very first touch that her touch means love and wanting and Cammile is ready to help Nicole in whatever case is necessary. The two women have their upp’s and down’s while Antoine helps them to get together and solve things out.
“I just wanted to hear your voice again. Have I made a terrible mess of things? Don’t answer,” Nicole said quickly. “I know I have.”
Thoughts of the gypsy came to Camille, and the insistent warning of prevailing evil surrounding them made her snap to attention.
“You’re in danger, Nicole. I know it. I can feel it.” She didn’t have the nerve to say a gypsy had told her so.
“Danger? Don’t be silly. Everything is fine here. That woman in your apartment earlier,” Nicole said sheepishly, “who was she?”
Camille listened closely, but didn’t quite connect with the question for a moment. She was still in shock at hearing from Nicole again so soon. Camille smiled as she remembered. Nicole’s confession of being so possessive.
Could she be jealous? Camille mused. How wonderfully juvenile. “That was Monique.” The words my sister would not pass through her lips. Not yet anyway. Nicole had to make the next move. “Monique and I came to the party together.”
“I see,” Nicole said crisply. “How long have you known her?”
“All my life. We’re very close.” It was not like Camille to play these adolescent games, but she felt as though Nicole had brought it all on herself. As she stood there among the various assortment of raincoats and furs, the word evil again stayed fresh in her mind, amplifying itself as she touched the door. Nicole was in danger. Evil could mean so many things. It could even be Eva, she thought suddenly. Aren’t ghosts and spirits evil?
“How is Eva?” Camille asked urgently.
“Eva is fine. It’s quiet here now. She’s restless when Lalo is around, so he stays at the
winery with his new friend.”
Maybe Lalo was the evil the gypsy had referred to, Camille reasoned. She claimed to have seen a tall, handsome man in the crystal ball. Camille rolled her eyes. Am I really believing this? she wondered, but somehow it just seemed silly to take chances.
“You’re in danger, Nicole. I’ll be out of town tomorrow, but I’l call you. Please be careful.”
“Where are you going?” Nicole demanded. “Camil e,” she said desperately, “please. Who is this Monique person? Are you going away with her?”
In the end, I enjoyed that what happened between Eva and her brother Phillipe has been repeated trhough the generations as inherited by Nicole and Lalo, when he tried to strangle his sister because he couldn’t overcame her talent for wine nor for her strength to keep up the familly name.
““Eva comes to me often,” she whispered. “She’s there in the chateau, walking the halls at night. She was there when I showed you my grandfather’s portrait.”
Camille trembled in her arms, and Nicole pulled a blanket up over them.
“She likes you. Don’t be afraid.” Nicole tightened her arms around her. “After my grandfather strangled her, he was never the same. It haunted him the rest of his life and he never quite recovered from it.”
“Did you ever hear an explanation about why he killed her?”
“Several. The most commonly discussed has been
jealousy,” Nicole said. “Philippe was jealous of Eva’s ability to run things without him. He would disappear for weeks at a time. No one knew where he was. There were rumors of a mistress and then rumors of foreign exports, but he never confirmed anything. Eva took care of the family business whenever he was gone. There was no one else able to do those things then. Their parents were old, and there were other children who were much younger.” Nicole’s voice was soft but steady. “One night Philippe returned after having been gone for a month. He rode up on his horse and stormed the stairs of the chateau to the second floor. He and Eva had a terrible quarrel. When the servants found them Philippe still had his hands clamped around her throat. She was dead.”
Camille buried herself deeper into Nicole’s arms. “What happened to him? Did he go to jail?”
“Nothing happened to him. The family kept it a secret for years. With enough money you can buy silence.” Nicole kissed the top of Camille’s head again and rubbed her cheek against her hair. “Lalo, my brother, always wanted to be like him,” Nicole continued softly.
“He’s wanted that more than anything. When he was younger Lalo would stare at the portrait for hours. He combed his hair the same way. Often wore similar clothes. He was so proud of the resemblance between them. He sees Philippe as this masculine hero who built the family fortune from nothing. My grandfather grieved for his sister for many years.
They apparently had been very close when they were younger. Philippe finally married and became the man my father idolized and talked about. The Philippe Jeton the villageremembers wasn’t a murderer. He was a hero. And that’s the man Lalo wants to be like.
The hero.” Nicole hugged her again and laughed. “But Eva’s spirit never let any of us forget what really happened that night. Lalo has trouble accepting Eva’s place in our family’s history. I always remind him that there would be no Jeton Vineyards if Eva hadn’t kept things going when Philippe would disappear for weeks at a time. My father eventually came to realize that I was right. Eva belongs there in the chateau as much as any of us do. Even now.”
https://inkmarksonemptydreams.com/201...
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