Photo credits: alan-labisch-327956-unsplash Edited by Vaishali Title: Whiskey Secrets Series: Whiskey and Lies #1 Author: Carrie Ann Ryan Publisher: Self published Year of Publication: 2021. Genre/Themes: Contemporary Romance, Format: E-book - kindle app R E V I E W ... As the title attributes, Whiskey, Pennsylvania is a town familiar with the history of its name, and within Dare Collins's so called bar and restaurant, the patrons do love their flights of whiskey. We're familiar with the unreadable guy trope which our hero wears dismally, but flip that on its head and we have an unreadable heroine in Kenzie Owens too. These two are a pair of secret keepers. And at the Whiskey Inn where the drinks flow and the upmarket small-town business booms, our troubled love interests swallow down those secrets, washed down with a swill of the town's namesake. Dare Collins is a dual business owner in a small town kept afloat by tourist intrigue. He runs the Old Whiskey Restaurant and Bar, has a steady, bustling job, tireless parents and a string of siblings who love, push and bite like every down-to-earth family. The love is strong between the Collins's but Dare only wished that were enough. He’s got chips on his shoulders and lead in his heart. He's a trapped man. By a custody agreement that has him settling for much less than being a full-time father, and never quite recovering from the dips and craters that pushed shadows into his eyes. He's a resigned man who accepts his hand while it's the same force that punishes him where he stands. With the sense that he's always one mistake away from ruining his life and one bad choice away from losing his son. Whiskey Inn is about to go through some major changes and Kenzie Owens is one of them. She’s hired by Dare’s parents as a provisional innkeeper to oversee this new transition. To their bartending son however, she's an unnecessary intrusion to an already established family affair. Kenzie won't let a man trumped up on his own affront shake her though because her reasons for being in Whiskey, Pennsylvania are her own. They'll also remain a secret. Composed and collected In the worksphere, she doesn't know that she'll ever be of that like in this second beginning at life. I've been meaning to try out a Carrie Ann Ryan novel for some time now. Whiskey Secrets is the debut to the Whiskey and Lies series of standalones. It's also a spin-off to Ryan's Montgomery Ink series (which I haven't read). Dare Collins is our hero, 'ruggedly handsome and growly' by his own admission and miserably intense and Intensely miserable by my own. He's a painstaking good father who wasn't given the time and opportunity to be a great one. He's bitter about the way his life unraveled, even if he is grateful for what he has. As for our heroine, she’s never quite known the right kind of love. She compromised a life she loved for a man who leisurely drew the spirit from her bones. After surviving a controlling relationship, Kenzie resettles in small town Whiskey, shaking off a past she had the courage to walk away from. Since life had pushed her through some disturbing years, she’s ready to reshape and begin anew. The slow burning romance in this story has real reason to burn slowly - this pair need it that way, to feel without too much feeling. It's why they agree to a relaxed benefits relationship. The intent is always to uncomplicate what could become complicated, but you can guess where this is headed. There's a gradually rising intimacy between them - it's all gentle vigilance, torn feelings, resistance to crystal clear want, looks and thoughts that snake without attack. I love that we have a gruff alpha male lead who asks before the first kiss, who doesn’t push the heroine's limits and especially doesn't railroad a lady into anything she doesn't want to do. When Kenzie opens up about her past, I loved that Dare was an emotional support for her and I appreciated the desire to move slowly within the romance. This, readers, is believable representation. While the love is strong at Whiskey Inn I wished it were stronger between Kenzie and Dare. I believed in their crawling chemistry, but when emotionally resisting characters make peace with a casual fling and eat their living, albeit confused, feelings until the near-end, we don't witness them in the throes of an actual relationship. Or even in making progressive headway. That's what I missed. It was a series of keeping it light, express flaws and intimate complications draped in longing without really talking. It also doesn't particularly fill a reader with warm fuzzies when both MCs keep referring to their relationship - or non-relationship - as a mistake. Kenzie and Dare are both emotionally Internalised characters who aren't fantastic communicators - professionally yes, personally not as much. Dare was the bigger problem for me even so. Kenzie makes a clear effort at moving on from what maimed her, whereas Dare seems loathe to see beyond what happened to him. They want to drown some sorrows in each other? Go ahead, my lovelies. They want to feel free in a way they can both handle? I encourage you to, oh fictional ones… I understood the character indecision, the need to play it sealed and safe, that they're not sure what they want from life anymore. Here’s what I also expected; more communication, more shape and form from them as a love pair in a romance novel, and as an added extra, just that supplemental something to make them shine. Dare especially groused and grouched with a very confused head on his shoulders. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy this romance though. I rated this solidly because the atmosphere is down-to-earth, the story consistent, the individual POVs excellently developed and the writing prompt, clear and written with a caring hand. And those bedroom scenes? Well, they definitely satisfy. The author doesn't weaken the realities of hard work in this story - running a business/multiple businesses and at the same time making family a priority. It's pervasive to read about heroes and heroines who magically have all the free time in world at their disposal. We know that’s not exactly how real life works. Well, in Whiskey they know this too. This town is a work-hard community and here's what I especially loved: Kenzie and Dare, as individuals, as characterised, are excellently written - with separate lives and complications. I did desperately want to see them progress in length as a couple, nevertheless, because the romantic/emotional developments (to me) were suited more towards the half-baked, half-assembled side of things. The conflicts in the Whiskey Secrets are earnest with an emotive interior that gives this story its bona fide depth, and Ryan annexes it all with a casual, plain-spoken writing style that pronounces the sober overtones and flows as smooth as they say whiskey does. The domestic complications felt real and the Collins’s family kinship was a focal point. There's an especial attention to detail throughout this story that succinctly pulls it together, and it’s the within the first few pages, where the author details the backstory to this town, that I perked up to this scene and what the central characters would bring to the intimate locale. Bear in mind that this one is a bit more prose-laden than dialogue-heavy. A tell tale that has a reader settling a foot upon the break and leaning back to ease into the drift of this lean-back romance. I did feel let down by a plot that generally teases up the idea of secrets; one that always intimates something more without materialising it, but in any case Whiskey Secrets is a saucy-sweet, measured romance that’s all trial and error, mistakes and misdirection. Reservation and fitfullness. To give what’s easy and to take more of the same. Delighted by my decision to pick up and read my first Carrie Ann Ryan romance, I make my Ryan debut one to recommend. The central characters are great and with flawed leads, healing is a staple behest. While I wouldn’t call this a gripping read, I can tell you to ready yourself for a family-angled sunrise in Whiskey Secrets, where matters of the hurting, recovering heart are big, remote and untold. I gave this book 3.5 stars - A side note: I opened this kindle copy up to a dedication and acknowledgements that made my heart hurt. The author discloses the loss of her husband during the process of editing the final draft of Whiskey Secrets. I wanted to use this space to send my deep condolences to the author and her family. To lose like that can rip a person in two and I hope she finds faith and safety in her writing, if nowhere else. I sincerely hope the skies rain golden drops of stardust upon you for every day that feels the hardest. C O N T E N T W A R N I N G: Mentions gambling and recalls domestic abuse. Some discussions/memories/thoughts surrounding controlling relationships. An instant of on page physical assault. A few detailed/steamy sex scenes and profanity. The male lead struggles with survivor’s guilt coupled with the struggle of not getting to be enough or a bigger part of his son’s life. --------------------------------------- M Y R A T I N G S Y S T E M: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read --------------------------------------- E X T R A T H O U G H T S: *I did waver between a 3.5 and 4 star with this one but after thinking it through i went with a mid-range but solid rating* 1) I get that Dare and Kenzie aren't in a serious relationship through most of the book but it is clear that they have honest feelings for each. However, whenever Dare sums up everything in his life that's so important to him, he never mentions Kenzie. As much as she's been through, I don't want to feel that the heroine is a bit of an afterthought. Also I struggle with MCs who never quite talk about their feelings until the end - confused as they might be. They do share their pasts with each other in two separate conversations but that’s about it. I want to see them as a couple; see how they'd work as a couple and just soak in the fuzzy feelings of being together. But as Dare and Kenzie had to take their own road there, I did respect the space and time they needed to sort through their feelings. 2) I would have liked to understand more about the main characters’ backstories. We get to know the main ‘secrets’ (which we’re constantly teased about but are perhaps more played up than they need to be). I wanted to know other things like what, if anything, happened to Kenzie’s parents for instance, to expose the happier parts of their past and for Dare and Kenzie to just casually get to know each other. Even if I wanted a fuller view of their pasts (positive or otherwise) and for them to just talk about anything, their POVs are executed well. 3) Would have liked more grovelling from the hero and the final few scenes quickly pack away the story. 4) There are a few name swaps. 5) Great to see no female hate with exes! 6) Yes to the dirty-talking Dare :D I love interacting with fellow readers, reviewers, bloggers and writers. Hearing about reader opinion is the fuel to my reader appetite, so get in touch and comment below! SHARE ON FACEBOOK L E A V E A C O M M E N T A N D L E T' S T A L K A B O U T |
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February 2024
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