By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Jen Talty

Pinot Noir River spent his entire adult life trying to avoid the drama his family always managed to get caught up in. The secrets, half-truths, and downright lies nearly destroyed his parents, his siblings, and the family winery. Everyone is back working at The River Winery for the first time in years, and things are going smoothly. Hell, he’s even getting along with all his brothers and sisters. Everything is perfect. That is until a deadly discovery is unearthed in the vineyards, bringing an unwanted investigation and a sexy investigator who thinks he and the rest of his family know more than they are letting on.

Tamsyn Tuttle is no stranger to the River family, Pinot Noir, or their secrets, including the one involving her mother’s disappearance. Rumors had surfaced about an affair between her mother and Carter. A vicious verbal fight between Weezer and Tamsyn’s mother the day before she vanished has haunted Tamsyn for years. Now that her mother’s remains have been found, and on the River property, Tamsyn will stop at nothing to find the answers.

Her only problem is that she will have to break the heart of the only man she’s ever loved.

Tamsyn has mostly avoided all of the River’s children the only one who got under her skin was Noir. He was the one who always supported her in school when the rumors got out of hand. Every year and this one would probably be no exception, rumors as to who her father was and where her mother had disappeared to would surface. The big difference now is that her and Noir have a relationship, one he wants to make public. Tamsyn isn’t sure about that, her stepparents don’t like the River family at all, and aren’t very discreet about that fact.

Noir and Tamsyn have just woken up, Noir had missed family wide texts, and he has a letter from his twin Nebbiolo that he will get to share with his family before Merlot and Talbot’s wedding.

This is a favorite scene.

Noir had been the best thing that had happened to her in years. It had been unexpected. Every time they got together, she worried it would be the last. And yet, she was the one who couldn’t take the next step. The only person who knew about them had been Nebbiolo, and he wouldn’t tell anyone because that man barely spoke. He was quieter than Noir, and that was hard to do.

Was she really worried about the rumor mill?

Or what Anna was going to say about her dating Noir River?

She shivered.

Anna and Fred had raised her from the age of ten, when her mother had disappeared. Anna had her own brand of distaste for the River family and she had made it clear that Tamsyn was to keep her distance. That hadn’t been easy to do. She’d been drawn to Noir at an early age, but their quiet friendship remained on the fringe. Their conversations through middle and high school were kept private through messaging apps or hidden under the football stands. They didn’t speak often. It was only out of necessity when the rumors reared their ugly heads. Or when the kids were unusually mean.

But no matter what, Noir had always been there for her when she needed a friend the most. He never judged her or made her feel that her need for answers was crazy.

“Fuck it.” Tamsyn tossed back the comforter and reached for a towel. She wrapped it around her body and raced down the hallway, pushing open the bathroom door, but Noir wasn’t in there. “Noir? Where are you?”

“In the kitchen,” he said.

“Is Nebbiolo out there?”

“Nope.”

Securing the towel, she inched into the small galley kitchen.

Noir leaned against the sink holding a piece of paper. “You’re not going to believe this one.”

“What’s going on?”

“My fucking twin ran off with the dog trainer lady.” Noir lifted his gaze. “They got married yesterday. Nebbiolo says they will be back in time for Merlot’s wedding.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe he did this without at least me.”

“Weezer is going to fucking kill him and then maybe June, although I kind of like her and you have to admit, she’s good for your twin.”

“Good for him or not, getting married before my folks even officially met her isn’t smart.”

Tamsyn’s memories of her mother were few and far between, but one had stuck to her brain like superglue. She couldn’t shake it if she tried and right now, it played through her mind like a bad horror movie.

She and her mom had gone to town after supper for some ice cream, and Weezer had stopped them in the middle of the sidewalk. Her mother had her sit on the park bench a few feet away, but Tamsyn had heard and seen the fight.

Stay away from my husband and my family. You’ve caused enough damage. We all know the truth and you perpetuating the lie is hurting the people I love the most in this world. Stop it, or you will live to regret it.

Weezer’s words reached deep into her soul to this day. They wrapped around her heart, sucking the life out of her slowly, making it hard to breathe.

Her mom disappeared two days later.

Noir crumpled the paper and tossed it in the trash. “He expects me to tell my folks in case he’s late. I can’t believe that asshole. He knows how my mom gets when she’s left out of big things in her kids’ lives, not to mention, she’ll take it out on me. Blame me for letting him run off and get married to a woman he’s only known for a few weeks. And to someone she hasn’t even met yet. This is going to suck.”

“If ever there was a time for me not to come to a family event, this would be it.” Tamsyn ran her fingers across Noir’s shoulder. “But I’ll go. For you. As moral support. As your girlfriend,” she whispered, nearly choking on the last word. Caring for Noir came easy. He was kind, considerate, and put up with all her rules. Being his official girlfriend would be hard as hell, though.

Carter had never taken to the streets with the proof. He didn’t feel the need. He’d told her that if she wanted to, that was her call. He’d back her decision no matter what. So would his wife and the rest of the family. The only reason she hadn’t was it would open up a whole lot of speculation and gossip that she didn’t want to hear.

“That wasn’t very enthusiastic.” He chuckled, wrapping his arm around her body. “What changed your mind? This letter or me?”

“You,” she said. “What Nebbiolo did has nothing to do with it. That should make me run for the hills.”

“Merlot’s going to rip him a new one if he doesn’t show. He and Talbot have waited a lifetime to be together. They deserve to have the whole family together for this.”

“You two have never really gotten along great with him. Why is that?” The River family dynamics had been difficult to understand, and she’d tried. While her friendship with Noir over the years had been mostly one-sided, dealing with her issues, she did occasionally listen to his problems. However, because she’d never been close to any of them, all she had to go on was rumors, unearthed secrets, observation, and her cop instinct.

Those four things were incredibly contradicting.

The rumors and unearthed secrets made the River family look like a bunch of criminals and liars. But as each rumor was debunked, and each secret revealed, it turned out the Rivers were victims of circumstance, something she could relate to.

Her observations and cop instincts told her that they were just another dysfunctional family that loved each other and would do anything to protect their own. That deep down, they were good people with good intentions, but had a wacky matriarch that often did things ass-backward, which didn’t make her look good and often affected her children and husband negatively.

“Nebbiolo and I have always been the black sheep of the family. While everyone else wanted to be part of the family business, even when it was going to hell in a hand basket, we wanted nothing to do with it.”

“But you’re working full-time there now,” she said.

He laughed. “Things are very different now that the truth of how we got the winery from Eliza Jane’s family is out in the open. That really affected my folks. It almost destroyed their relationship. Their business. Everything.”

“I still don’t get it. I mean, Merlot didn’t work for the family business. He was a parole officer for years before he came back.”

“That’s true, but when Malbec and Chablis quit, he felt abandoned. And my mom wouldn’t trust him without his older brother and sister. Nebbiolo and I might have been young at the time, but we saw it all, heard it all, and we wanted nothing to do with it, so we carved our own path and Merlot didn’t like it. He wanted us here to protect Zinny and help Mom. We walked away, and he felt like we took Zinny with us, leaving Mom high and dry. That’s not what happened, and we’ve since cleared the air, but sometimes Merlot has a hard time letting go of things. He likes to run the winery his way. We butt heads a lot. However, we’re working it out. This will put us back a little, and it pisses me off that my twin is leaving me holding the bag. He’s been a selfish prick lately.”

“I’m sure everyone will understand that you had nothing to do with your brother’s actions,” she said.

Noir let out a dry laugh. “You don’t know my family. They look at me and my twin as one person sometimes. Like we share the same brain. He and I have always done everything together. But these last few months, we couldn’t be further apart. My twin has been making me crazy. I don’t want to live with him anymore, especially since he got that dog.”

“The only reason he got Sasha was because he thought June was hot.” Tamsyn took a step back and opened her towel, exposing her naked body.

Noir’s eyes grew wide and a slow smile spread across his face.

“Come on. We’re going to be late if we don’t go shower,” she said.

“You don’t have to ask me twice.”

Tamsyn dropped the terrycloth and raced off down the hallway with her heart beating like a hammer in her chest. She could admit to herself that she cared deeply for Noir. Being with him— privately— had been easy. Natural. They laughed at all the same things. Their conversations weren’t clunky or awkward. The silent moments weren’t deafening. There wasn’t anything about him she didn’t like.

However, being with him in public would undoubtedly bring an earthquake that would shake this town like it had never been rocked before.
Jen Talty. A Little Bit Whiskey – Jen Talty (Kindle Locations 194-261). Kindle Edition.

As the hour of the wedding approaches, Weezer is making plans for the Holiday Showcase in the aftermath of the fire at Silas and Claudia’s place. Anna, Tamsyn’s stepmother, interrupts with some accusations of a plot. She even goes so far as to demand Tamsyn leave with her. While Tamsyn does escort Anna to her car, she doesn’t leave. Anna brings up some vicious rumors, and Tamsyn stands up to her and discloses her relationship with Noir. Anna is can I say horrified? She definitely has issues.

The wedding goes off without a hitch, and Noir accepts the offer of the cottage on the vineyard, since Nebbiolo wants their apartment. Then things start going crazy.

A body found on the property, is identified as Elizabeth, Tamsyn’s mother. Then even more weird things start showing up.

This is an edge of your seat mystery, with the relationship between Tamsyn and Noir at the forefront. However, things seem to revolve around Weezer and Carter as well.

I love this winery and the River Family. I hope Jen will write Nebbiolo’s story. I really need to know everything about it.

5 Contented Purrs for Jen!

Jen Talty

Welcome to my World! I’m a USA Today Bestseller of Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Romance, and Paranormal Romance.

I first started writing while carting my kids to one hockey rink after the other, averaging 170 games per year between 3 kids in 2 countries and 5 states. My first book, IN TWO WEEKS was originally published in 2007. In 2010 I helped form a publishing company (Cool Gus Publishing) with NY Times Bestselling Author Bob Mayer where I ran the technical side of the business through 2016.

I’m currently enjoying the next phase of my life…the empty NESTER! My husband and I spend our winters in Jupiter, Florida and our summers in Rochester, NY. We have three amazing children who have all gone off to carve out their places in the world, while I continue to craft stories that I hope will make you readers feel good and put a smile on your face.