The Sparkling One (The Marcelli Sisters of Pleasure Road, Book 1)

I am a huge fan of Susan Mallery - anything she writes or has written i will purchase. This is a great book continuing the storyline of the Marcelli Sisters in Wine Country. Be sure to check out all the books regarding the Marcelli's, you will not be disappointed. EXCELLENT BOOK!!

If you enjoy reading as a break from the everyday chalenges of the world, this series is perfect. There is typical family interaction, great characters, huge amounts of humor that will make you laugh out loud, and sufficient romance to make you feel good at the end. Enjoy!

The Sparkling One by Susan Mallery is a great introduction to a great series. I have read them out of order and it gives a little away but not enough. This is series tells the story of four sisters who are from a Italian/Irish wine making family. This story tells the story of Katie the oldest sister who falls for Mia's fiance father. Great dialogue -- I love the family. Check out the whole series; The Sparkling One (1),The Sassy One (2),The Seductive One (3), The Marcelli Bride (4),The Marcelli Princess (5 coming out 2007).

Event coordinator, Katie Marcelli has just landed a major coup - to organize a huge charity fund raiser. As an added bonus, the man in charge is a sexy lawyer named Zach Stryker. Nothing can take her off her high; not even her loud boisterous family when she gathers with them for her youngest sister's engagement party. To guard from the numerous pleas to settle down and find herself a man, Katie mentions a possible romance with her new client. Imagine her surprise (or horror) to find that Zach is the father of the groom, and of course her family manages to further humiliate her when they mention that they have heard all about Zach, to his amusement. Zach also has a secret up his sleeve - he hired Katie in hopes she'd be indebted to him enough to help him break up the engagement of his 18 year old son (who was born when Zach was 17). Katie doesn't bow to his threats, and they suddenly find themselves attracted to each other. While she doesn't agree with Mia's choice to get married so young, she doesn't want Zach interfering. The first Marcelli saga is a really engaging and sizzling story that probes into the relationships between Katie and Zach; Zach and David; David and Mia; as well as the entire extended Marcelli family headed by the staunch patriarch "Gramps", who wants nothing more than a male heir to whom he can pass on the family vineyard.

I think Susan Mallery has really come into her own in with this new series. I enjoyed the story very much and can't wait to read the other 2 books.I come from a large family but I found the Marcellis a bit off-putting. The grandfather, especially, is pretty unlovable. I hope he gets better in the next books. The older Marcelli women are kind of cute. I liked how they all pulled together to help Katie out in a major crisis. However, it was the story of Zach and Katie that I enjoyed the most. I like that the story unfolded over months rather than a week or two. (One of my pet peeves is forever after occuring in just a few days). The respect they had for each other from the beginning was wonderful. Even as they disagreed on what to do about the young engaged couple. Her sister, his son. Both 18. Yikes!Another thing I like was the progression of the relationship of the youngsters. It was presented in a pretty lifelike manner, I feel. I don't want to spoil the story for anyone who hasn't read the book so I won't detail the outcome of their engagement. Let's just say I'm glad things worked out the way they did. It was nice to see the women working together the way they did. Gramps could learn a lesson there. Not a likeable man.It was good to see that Katie didn't back down in the face of Zach's unsubtle attempt at blackmail. She is my kind of heroine. Smart and determined without falling into the TSTL category. (Another pet peeve) She has her fears and that makes her very human and easy to relate to.All in all, I do recommend reading this book. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.