The Bonaveras Series by Patricia Paris

Antonio DeLuca knows exactly what he wants in life. Lucia Bonavera knows exactly what she doesn't. Destiny has something completely different in mind for each of them. Betrothed at birth but never having met, pragmatic inkeeper, Lucia, and sexy architect, Antonio, consider their grandfathers' thirty-year-old marriage pact a meaningless relic... moreAntonio DeLuca knows exactly what he wants in life. Lucia Bonavera knows exactly what she doesn't. Destiny has something completely different in mind for each of them. Betrothed at birth but never having met, pragmatic inkeeper, Lucia, and sexy architect, Antonio, consider their grandfathers' thirty-year-old marriage pact a meaningless relic. Neither had any interest in meeting the other, but when Antonio travels to the States on holiday, his grandfather blackmails him into visiting Lucia at her family's winery in the Virginia foothills. When he does, their mutual disinterest is replaced by an unexpected, yet undeniable attraction. When Antonio makes a decision that keeps him in the States indefinitely, Lucia decides she's tired of always playing things safe, and follows her heart, straight into Antonio's welcoming arms. But Antonio has a secret, one that impacts Lucia as much as him. A secret that could destroy her trust in him forever. less

Destiny is impossible to escape... Caterina Bonavera had a solid plan. To move up the line from sous chef at one of New York City's top restaurants and then open one of her own. Moving back to Virginia to help her sisters run the family winery had been nowhere on her radar... moreDestiny is impossible to escape... Caterina Bonavera had a solid plan. To move up the line from sous chef at one of New York City's top restaurants and then open one of her own. Moving back to Virginia to help her sisters run the family winery had been nowhere on her radar. But neither had landing the head chef's job at a popular local restaurant upon her return, only to find herself unemployed again after three years; nor getting romantically involved with a man who proved her ability to judge one's character hadn't gotten any better than her ability to fly by flapping her arms. Caterina's confident she'll get her life back on track with Serendipity, the boutique hotel and restaurant she and her oldest sister Lucia were opening at the end of the summer, but that's almost a year away, and meanwhile, she's forced to deal with Liam Dougherty, the surly contractor building the restaurant of Caterina's dreams. Liam gets along fine with everyone else, but it's clear to Caterina that he's disliked her since their first meeting, and she has no idea why. To complicate their already tentative working relationship, Caterina begins to develop an unwanted attraction to Liam. She tries to counter it by avoiding him, but then she discovers something that changes her opinion of him completely, and along with it, her desire for the one thing she wants most in her life. Will trusting Liam turn out to be another mistake when it comes to the men in her life, or have her prior mistakes been leading her to him all along? less