Sonoma Valley- Napa Valley Wine Country: Real Locations used in Just a Kiss novel

"I’ll take you there... Let me take you there…”

I had so much fun writing Just a Kiss.  It was the perfect excuse to tell a hot and sweet love story and set the tale in my home town. Grounded in romance and vino, my characters live and work in Napa - Sonoma wine country, an hour north of San Francisco. 

The Single Girls Wine Club series centers around three roommates who live in an historic estate in Sonoma Valley called “Bella Villa.” In future books, each woman, will be treated to a toe-curling love affair she never saw coming. 

There's a reason I'm known as "The Real Wine Wife" on Twitter! Many of the book’s venues are “real” wine country locations. I also use actual events and pour genuine wine whenever possible throughout my Single Girls Wine Club series.

So, without further ado, let's dive into a few story scenes from the debut book of the series, Just a Kiss.

Pour a glass of your favorite vino and let me show you around wine country…

*All of the photos are my own.

In Just a Kiss, Lulu Castelli is the landlord of “Bella Villa” but she's more like a friend to the three women who live there. The actual building is an exact replica of the family home “Count,”Agoston Haraszthy built for his family in the 1800s. It's now on the Bartholomew Winery property in Sonoma.

This is Sarah Dupont’s view in  Just a Kiss. In real life, the original owner of this estate founded Buena Vista Winery.   I remember the day I took this photo. I kept thinking, what if someone still lived here? What if she had roommates? What if she met the love of her life?

In Just a Kiss, Lulu Castelli is the great granddaughter of a famous winemaker very similar to Agoston Haraszthy.  Mr. Haraszthy, the self-proclaimed “Count of Buena Vista,” created California’s first premium winery in Sonoma Valley in 1857.

Just a Kiss is the first of three stories planned in The Single Girls Wine Club series. The novel centers on the love story of Sarah Dupont and Jamie Santino. 

The story begins when Sarah Dupont takes the advice of her best friend and moves to Sonoma Valley. She opens a café in the heart of town, on the Sonoma Plaza.

 

There really is a bakery-café on The Plaza.  I didn’t use the actual name because Sarah and Jamie do the kinds of things there that get “real” people fired. :) Sarah’s shop is called The Vine Café.

Do you notice the green awning in the photo above? Sebastiani Theatre is a California landmark and plays an integral role in the story because Jamie Santino is an actor.  Sarah meets him when one of her roommates convinces her to give Jamie baking lessons for an upcoming movie role.  

A much older crowd than Jamie Santino pulls in!  I snapped this from the café next to the theatre. I think they were showing a documentary about eggs.

 

All six of the gorgeous Santino brothers appear throughout The Single Girls Wine Club stories. In Just a Kiss, although Jamie Santino is the "star" of the story, you'll meet all of his brothers. Their family owns Napa Valley's Santino Family Winery.  So of course, I had to do some "research." 

Here I am hard at work at B.R. Cohn Winery...

Now, back to the tour…

The annual lighting of the Sonoma Plaza Christmas tree is mentioned in the book's first scene. My family attends this magical event every year.

Collage of various photos of Sonoma and Napa events. Top left is the annual lighting of the Sonoma Plaza’s Christmas tree. I'm standing in front of the plaza, facing the crowd.

 

Vineyard Colors: There's a moment in Just a Kiss when Sarah Dupont looks out her window and contemplates the future. This is what she sees.

I hope you enjoyed the mini-tour!  If you'd like to see more of wine country and Just a Kiss story scenes, check out my photo gallery on www.KateKisset.com here. 

             Buy Just a Kiss on Amazon.

About Kate Kisset: 

Former San Francisco radio disc jockey Kate Kisset has a passion for telling great stories.

After playing thousands of Pop, Country, Rock and Oldies tunes, for her primarily female fan base, she changed her tune and became an author. 

Just a Kiss is the first book in her wine country romance series, The Single Girls Wine Club.

She lives in Northern California and Santa Barbara with her family and rescue pup “editor” Luciana Parmigiana, where she hikes, reads, listens to music, and drinks wine. 

 

One Moment Changes Everything: He Walked In.

Isn't it amazing how sometimes, just one moment with the right person, can change your life's direction?

Sarah Dupont, the heroine of Just a Kiss, the first book in The Single Girls Wine Club series, has just moved from San Francisco to Sonoma Valley. She's starting to get her life back on track after breaking up with her fiance and has opened a new business on the Sonoma Plaza called the Vine Cafe.

Somehow, Sarah has let her best friend talk her into training actor Jamie Santino how to bake. Here, Jamie Santino, (one of the infamous Santino brothers of Napa Valley winery fame), walks into Sarah's cafe.

This excerpt is from the first chapter of Just a Kiss.

Sarah is hiding behind the espresso machine here: -)

Read the full synopsis of my wine country romance novel Just a Kiss here.

For long excerpts of the story, more information about my projects, and reader's perks, join my private readers club, The Kissables, here.

Until next time, Kate. 

Under the Sonoma Sun

Maybe I'm just one of those people who have an overactive imagination.

Perhaps I just expect ideas will come to me and they do. Or, maybe, I'm just comfortable with having several story ideas running through my brain at any given time.  I am. :-)

For me, ideas or the inspiration for them, can come from anywhere, at anytime, from anything:

An idea can suddenly come to me when I'm watching a movie and the title somehow changes in mind.

Or a when family comes to visit and I take them to some of my favorite local tourist destinations.

Sometimes, someone else's story, from a long time ago, inspires me,

 

My character Lulu Castilli, in Just a Kiss, is the great granddaughter of a renowned winemaker.

Or a song lyric gets stuck in my brain.

Here are a few of the songs I listened to while writing Sarah and Jamie's love story in Just a Kiss: Sarah Smile, Something, Edge of Desire. The playlist is here.

There is a flower in my story that a character uses to explain how she feels about Sarah Dupont. I took this photo right outside my kitchen door.

Maybe all my years in radio taught me that there is no "bad" way to find an idea, just as there are no "bad" ideas.  

Open your eyes, listen with your soul and see what happens. 

Until next time, Kate xo  

Join my private group, The Kissables, here.

Wine and Words Wednesday: The Cafe Excerpt from Just a Kiss

Today I'm mixing two of my favorite Twitter hashtags: #winewednesday and #wordwednesday to bring you a quick Words and Wine post.  I can't think of a better place to mix words with wine than a wine country romance novel. :-) 

Sarah Dupont, the heroine of Just a Kiss, owned a very successful San Francisco bakery and thought her life was going exactly the way she planned.  She's in a fragile state at this point of the story, because she discovered her fiance in a rather "delicate" situation on top of her cherished pastry table with a co-worker.  After breaking off the engagement, and leaving her business in San Francisco, Sarah moves to the wine country town of Sonoma. 

This excerpt, from the first chapter of Just a Kiss, describes Sarah's new cafe:

Read the full synopsis of my wine country romance novel Just a Kiss here.

For long excerpts of the story, more information about my projects, and reader's perks, join my private readers club, The Kissables, here.

Until next time, Kate. 

Every Picture Tells A Wine Country Romance Story

Travel Tuesday Inspiration Story Board: Here's another location that inspired a scene in my upcoming wine country romance novel Just a Kiss.  

Sarah Dupont (the heroine of the story) owns a small cafe on the Sonoma Plaza not far from where this photo was taken.
The gorgeous sunflowers in the photo make a dazzling appearance in a party scene. The fresh veggies and herbs you see in the photo are exactly the kind of local produce Sarah sources for her recipes. 

Learn more about my upcoming wine country romance novel Just a Kiss here.
Learn more about St. Francis Winery in Kenwood here.

Until next time, xo Kate

How Kissable Are You?

kissable -[kis-uh-buh l]
adjective 1. inviting kissing (virtually and on the cheek) through being lovable.

I call my little gathering of readers, fans and friends my Kissables.

If you love romance, friendships and beautiful wine country settings, I know you'll enjoy my letters. My series is set in the Sonoma-Napa Wine Country north of San Francisco.

My last letter included the release date for Just a Kiss. The next letter includes an exclusive, free, Kissables-Only, sneak peek of the first chapter!

Just a Kiss (in Sonoma), the first book in my Wine Country Romance Series, The Single Girl Wine Club will be available on Amazon in less than 60 days.

Swag, Updates and Kisses by Mail are coming your way if you subscribe. I'd love to write to you.

Mom's A Sex Crazed Jungle Woman

Let's face it, sometimes mom doesn’t want candy and flowers from her husband, even on Mother's Day. Sometimes (after the kids go to bed), she wants to drink a little too much and get crazy.   

 

"Well, hello there handsome, I noticed you're wearing Led Zeppelin.."

Let’s not forget that we’re hot, sexy, smart, beautiful goddesses with needs and other, ahem, desires.
That rocket fueled need is what got us into this motherhood thing in the first place.
 

"Oh, this outfit? It's just something I had in my closet."

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting there’s a problem with honoring mothers and observing  Mother’s Day. I worshiped my mother and will miss her every day of my life.

I adore the snuggly side of love and pretty much live for my son's hugs and smiles.
   

I just don't want my husband to treat me like his mother and I don't know any woman who does. 
Just because we became moms doesn't mean that we shouldn't celebrate that sexy little vixen in all of us. xo


Visit me on my website anytime by clicking www.katekisset.com.