Casalvento: House of the Wind- Italian Vineyard Inheritance (4.5 Stars)

Recently, I finished reading Casalvento: House of the Wind by Gudron Cuillo. This book is about Erika Germoglio, who lives in New York City. Just as things in her life really feel like they are falling into place, she learns that she’s inherited an Italian vineyard. Before long, her whole life is turned upside-down.

What You Should Know

This book is hard for me to rate. I feel like it has a really great plot, although, for the most part, it was pretty predictable. Yet, the dialogue is off. That’s about the best way that I can explain it. I feel like the author needed someone to go through and help with some of the dialogue that just didn’t feel real. I do feel like it got better throughout the book, so keep on reading if you find yourself cringing a bit at the dialogue for the first 10 or so chapters. The author is from Austria, so I’m going to assume that English is probably not her first language. That might be why the dialogue is a bit off.

I feel like the plot itself is pretty close to being a 5-star book. Unfortunately, the dialogue brought down the book’s quality.
I feel like the characters were well-created. The ones that we’re supposed to like, we like. The ones that we aren’t supposed to like, definitely are not likable. The descriptions of the vineyard and other areas in Italy are good.

Reader Warnings

This book does not have any swearing or violence. When it comes to sexual content, I wouldn’t exactly consider it “clean,” but it’s on the milder side. It does talk about a character having an affair, and at 88% of the way through the book, we get a few beginnings of sex scenes, mostly along the lines of things such as, “And then they made love” or the characters talking about their desire to have sex.

Yes, this is a book about a lady who has inherited a vineyard. Because of that, many of the characters do drink wine. This is often done as a relaxation technique. Excessive drinking is not glorified, but if you are offended by alcohol consumption by book characters, you’ll want to pass on this book.

Overall, this is a book that I would recommend. If you can get past the weak dialogue, this really is a fun, enjoyable book. I won this Kindle book through a Goodreads Giveaway in late August.