Happy Hour    by Michele Scott Order:  USA  Can CreateSpace, 2009 (2009) Softcover     Reviewed by Joan Burton Happy Hour is the story of four friends who meet twice a month on Sunday evenings for wine, food, and conversation. They are always ready to lend a helping hand, an ear to listen, or a shoulder to cry on. No matter what, they are honest with each other and believe in each other. Kat is a sommelier and restaurant owner with her chef husband Christian. Kat has two sons by her first husband and a stepdaughter from Christian. She is trying to balance work with the complexities of a blended family. She wants her boys and Christian to bond, but there always seems to be a problem with one or the other. Now her mother is coming for a visit and Kat is not happy. Her mother walked out on the family years ago and Kat was left to pick up the pieces. Kat adores her father, but wants to know why her mother left. Will she be able to handle the truth? Danielle is a vintner whose husband divorced her for a younger woman. She has two daughters and her eldest has just returned home from school with shocking news. Danielle wants to support her daughter's decision but she doesn't want to see her ruin her life. An old boyfriend of Danielle's has returned and she is surprised she still has feelings for him. Will he be able to help Danielle accept the changes in her life and give her the love that has been missing? Jamie is a single mother of a young daughter. She is dealing with the death of her husband, caring for her senile mother-in-law, and facing financial ruin. She is a writer for a local wine magazine that is restructuring, and she feels her life closing in on her. She meets, sexy, younger, Tyler, but is filled with guilt and self doubt. Will she be able to accept this new love and let go of the past? Alyssa is an artist and gallery owner. She has a secret from the past that she has kept locked away but it has suddenly surfaced to become her future. Now Alyssa is trying to tell her friends that she has an eighteen year old son who needs answers about the past. Will she be truthful and tell him all, or just what he needs to know? These women of Napa Valley will capture your heart. You will laugh with them and cry with them. It is a story of the power of friendship and survival. Happy Hour is believable. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Contemporary books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews