Margins
Crushing book cover
Crushing
2020
First Published
3.94
Average Rating
361
Number of Pages

Part of Series

Josh is a legend in his own mind, and Elle has no time for it. She has a job to do, and a winery hangs in the balance. But, unfortunately, it's his family winery. After a series of intense and ridiculous bad dates with someone she'd hoped would change her life, Noelle Parker finds herself with a new life and nickname in California's wine country. Blobby tongue may have changed her life, but not in the way she suspected. And now she'll fight to keep it, no matter who she accidentally rebounded with. ELLE I'm in the middle of my pitch, my breath catches, my body freezes, and I lose my words. Usually, nothing knocks me off my game. I'm a showman. But he's much more than nothing. He seems as shocked to see me as I am to see him. I look around and begin to babble. "What are you doing here?" He says in a raspy tone, "How are you here?" I shoot back to him, "How are you here?" He looks sideways and then shakes his head pointedly at me. I want this piece of business, and no glorified farmhand will get the best of me. So I slept with one of their employees—no big. I can recover. I blow it off. He steps forward, grabs a bottle of wine, and turns the label toward me. "My name is Joshua Lucien LaChappelle Whittier," he says. "You know nothing about me, Cosmo. And you can call me Josh." Visions of the LaChappelle/Whittier family tree choke me. It's the son who doesn't want the winery. Then he walks over and kisses his mother on the cheek. He places his hand on his father's shoulder before sitting. Oh, god. No. No. No. Oh no. I screwed their son—a lot. I screwed him a lot. I dirty screwed their son. I slutty screwed their son. I know what their son tastes like. Oh, god. Composure. I have to find it. I need this job. Focus. He will not get the best of me. I can do this. I don't lose, and I won't lose this piece of business or any piece of my heart to this intolerable and very hot man. Josh and Elle will either screw up each other's lives or... end up screwing again. Crushing is the story of two people who hate each other but rumor has it, with enough wine, anyone can fall in love. Set in Sonoma, California's Wine Country, this is the first book in the 5 Families Vineyard Series and, of course, the LaChappelle/Whittier Winery Trilogy.

Avg Rating
3.94
Number of Ratings
190
5 STARS
38%
4 STARS
34%
3 STARS
16%
2 STARS
7%
1 STARS
4%
goodreads

Author

Kelly Kay
Kelly Kay
Author · 22 books

I used to create "dreams" with my best friend growing up. We'd each pick a boy we liked, then we'd write down a meet-cute that always ended with a happily ever after. Now I get to dream every day, although it's a little steamier these days. And I've discovered I can and will write anywhere I can. Keep tuned to Instagram to see all the times I fit in a sentence or two. I'm a writer, married to a writer, mother of a creative dynamo of a nine-year-old boy and currently a little sleepy. I'm a klutz and goofball and love lipstick as much as my Chuck Taylors. Good things in the world: pepperoni pizza, Flair pens*, wine, coffee, laughing with my friends until my stomach hurts, a musician at the top of their game, getting lost somewhere I've never been, matinee movies on a weekday, the Chicago Cubs, a fresh new notebook full of possibilities, bourbon on a cold night, Fantasy Football, witty men, walking through the local zoo in the rain and that moment when a character clicks in and begins to write their own adventure. I'm just the pen.

548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2025 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved