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Description:

When teacher Julie Stanton moves in with Richard Webb, the last thing she expects is that their romantic evening together will end with her walking out, still clutching the bottle of wine she had hoped they would drink to toast their new relationship.

But then Julie and the bottle of wine part company, setting the stage for a series of glimpses into the lives and loves of 12 other couples in every stage of romance. Beginnings and endings, passion and antipathy, sometimes sexy but always memorable, each story ends with the passing of the bottle. By journey's end, you will get a voyeur's view into the love lives of 13 compelling heroines who never quite manage to pop the cork.

Excerpt:

The house was in darkness. Linda turned on the light and smiled. The alcohol was making her feel quite unlike her normal self. She went to the stereo, put on Bolero and turned the volume up loud. She noticed the empty beer can in the lounge and the unwashed plates in the kitchen, but chose to ignore them.

"When I've got him eating out of my hand, like Helena said, things'll be different," she said softly, stripping off her clothes and leaving them where they fell on the living room floor. She opened the bag and donned the wisps of black lace with shaking hands, careful not to snag the flimsy material. Black fishnet stockings and a red suspender belt completed the effect.

She teetered up the stairs in her high heels and opened the bedroom door, turning on the dimmer switch so that the pink shaded lights brought a soft glow to the room. The music followed her, its insistent repetitious melody increasing in volume and urgency. Linda waited at the foot of the bed, her hands on her hips, as her husband?s breathing became irregular and he made small wakeful grunts. As Bolero reached an excited crescendo, Barry opened his eyes.

Customer Reviews:

Perfect book for a rainy day! I thoroughly enjoyed traveling along with the wine as it made its way into and out of the homes and lives of Luben's interesting cast of characters. From the moment that Julie Stanton headed out the door, bottle in hand, until all was said and done, that simple bottle of plonk journeyed seamlessly from place to place while its temporary owners got on with the business of living. A fun and easy read, yet the story never fails to entertain. I'd highly recommend curling up with this one on a lazy afternoon.

This lively and exciting novella takes the reader into the living rooms of ordinary households, where we discover that they are anything but ordinary. Jacquelynn Luben has very cleverly integrated the progress of a bottle of wine from one social event to another with the lives of the people we meet along the way. All these people are linked by the wine but the transition from one situation to another is seamless. We discover that a superficially normal world is full of secrets and lies, intrigues, humour and tragedy. And what happens to the wine in the end? Now that would be telling...