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a_reader_obsessed's review
3.0
3.5 Finale Stars
This is a solid trilogy that takes all three books to solve the central mystery!
What I liked:
Jaime is a standout character here for me. Reyne has depicted him to perfection. He’s made some mistakes but foremost is his devotion and loyalty to Aidan. Aidan finally realizes that love is worth the risk and potential pain, and despite Jamie not telling him all the truth from the beginning, Aidan realizes around the 50% mark that it’s just not worth it to remain angry and deny himself another chance at happiness. Fucking finally!
What niggled:
Not much this time around. If you like age gap, second chance romance, with separation, and plenty of internal turmoil, then I think as witnessed by the many reviews praising all three books, one will have no problem loving this series. Though I personally find secrets and denying one’s feelings a bit tiresome, the ultimate payoff was a good one.
So I’m impressed with myself for accomplishing this series pretty much in one go. It was entertaining, and it kept me on my toes with the varied cases Aidan and Jamie work on, showcasing their skill and dedication to the job and to each other. Again, this is all set against the backdrop of the bigger story arc of taking down an international terrorist who in his personal quest for revenge, is eliminating those who’ve gotten in his way, including many people who Aidan and Jamie care about. Though not containing my favorite tropes, this was an overall win with the strong love and smex that was hot and explicit, all with a satisfying HEA!
This is a solid trilogy that takes all three books to solve the central mystery!
What I liked:
Jaime is a standout character here for me. Reyne has depicted him to perfection. He’s made some mistakes but foremost is his devotion and loyalty to Aidan. Aidan finally realizes that love is worth the risk and potential pain, and despite Jamie not telling him all the truth from the beginning, Aidan realizes around the 50% mark that it’s just not worth it to remain angry and deny himself another chance at happiness. Fucking finally!
What niggled:
Not much this time around. If you like age gap, second chance romance, with separation, and plenty of internal turmoil, then I think as witnessed by the many reviews praising all three books, one will have no problem loving this series. Though I personally find secrets and denying one’s feelings a bit tiresome, the ultimate payoff was a good one.
So I’m impressed with myself for accomplishing this series pretty much in one go. It was entertaining, and it kept me on my toes with the varied cases Aidan and Jamie work on, showcasing their skill and dedication to the job and to each other. Again, this is all set against the backdrop of the bigger story arc of taking down an international terrorist who in his personal quest for revenge, is eliminating those who’ve gotten in his way, including many people who Aidan and Jamie care about. Though not containing my favorite tropes, this was an overall win with the strong love and smex that was hot and explicit, all with a satisfying HEA!
jagiaquinto's review
5.0
Finished this in less than 24 hours! I literally started this one right after Cask Strength. I could not just let the story stop there. I had to finish it! And I LOVED IT FROM PAGE 1! Layla Reyne is my queen! Even though I've already read Cam and Nic's two books that are out (waiting impatiently for February) I have to read them again now with the context of Aiden and Jamie's story in my head! SOO GOOD! Highly recommend!
Update! 2nd Read - OMG! I loved this one, even more, the second time around I took my time on this read but I put it on and played Minecraft and it was amazing! Now I can't play Minecraft without thinking of the story!
Update! 2nd Read - OMG! I loved this one, even more, the second time around I took my time on this read but I put it on and played Minecraft and it was amazing! Now I can't play Minecraft without thinking of the story!
divapitbull's review against another edition
2.0
Really 1 ½ stars….but rounded up cause I think it may be a case of “it’s not you, it’s me”.
Barrel Proof is the 3rd installment in the Irish & Whiskey series and sad to say my interest and enjoyment took a bit of a nose dive in this one. I wasn’t feeling either the relationship or the story. It started out pretty good, with Jamie, Aiden and Danny following hot on Mel’s heels to Cuba to either help her take down a terrorist or find out that she IS a terrorist. Unfortunately, the initial excitement gave way to a very tedious terrorist plot that often stretched the bounds of credulity and eventually devolved into mind numbing – please make it end now – boredom.
Early on Aiden finds out that Jamie was aware that his deceased husband and partner were being leveraged by the terrorist Renaud, and was in fact working in secrecy under Mel’s orders to investigate. And here comes the Drama Llama. Aiden, being Aiden (i.e. self-absorbed, emotionally immature, histrionic) runs wild with the Betrayal Card. Jamie knew that Gabe & Tom (husband & partner) had conspired with terrorist (Renaud) for 5 MONTHS – 5 MONTHS THAT THEY WERE SLEEPING TOGETHER!!!! 5 months during which they’ve been sleeping together and Aiden has been insisting it’s CASUAL and constantly throwing in Jamie’s face “drinks with Nic, dinner with Scott, hors d’oeuvres with Tom, Dick and Harry"….and somehow he thinks that he is entitled to some level of loyalty whereby Jaime goes against his direct supervisor and shares classified FBI information with someone he’s having CASUAL sex with?????? Jamie didn’t say it, so let me, “FUCK YOU”!
So, Aiden has a Scarlet O’Hara hissy and toddles off on a solo assignment because “I still love you but I’m soooo betrayed and I have to deal with my anger” (And did I say, “FUCK YOU”??? Cause seriously fuck you and the horse you rode in on and take your “goodbye sex” with you). Naturally Aiden’s solo assignment just so happens to put him smack dab in the middle of Renaud’s terrorist plot du jour. The story when it makes sense is a bit cliched and predictable and when it doesn’t make sense it’s sort of…. wait, what? Why would anyone do that???? The relationship - other than God Bless Jamie – I guess he can stand Aiden because he definitely hit my last nerve -does have a very happy ending and at times gets ridiculously schmaltzy.
Against my better judgement – it looks like my OCD is going to win out and I’m going to read the final novella and finish up the series. I’m probably going to regret it – it’s a Danny and Mel side story – and Danny is an even bigger drama queen than Aiden – so this ought to be good.
Barrel Proof is the 3rd installment in the Irish & Whiskey series and sad to say my interest and enjoyment took a bit of a nose dive in this one. I wasn’t feeling either the relationship or the story. It started out pretty good, with Jamie, Aiden and Danny following hot on Mel’s heels to Cuba to either help her take down a terrorist or find out that she IS a terrorist. Unfortunately, the initial excitement gave way to a very tedious terrorist plot that often stretched the bounds of credulity and eventually devolved into mind numbing – please make it end now – boredom.
Early on Aiden finds out that Jamie was aware that his deceased husband and partner were being leveraged by the terrorist Renaud, and was in fact working in secrecy under Mel’s orders to investigate. And here comes the Drama Llama. Aiden, being Aiden (i.e. self-absorbed, emotionally immature, histrionic) runs wild with the Betrayal Card. Jamie knew that Gabe & Tom (husband & partner) had conspired with terrorist (Renaud) for 5 MONTHS – 5 MONTHS THAT THEY WERE SLEEPING TOGETHER!!!! 5 months during which they’ve been sleeping together and Aiden has been insisting it’s CASUAL and constantly throwing in Jamie’s face “drinks with Nic, dinner with Scott, hors d’oeuvres with Tom, Dick and Harry"….and somehow he thinks that he is entitled to some level of loyalty whereby Jaime goes against his direct supervisor and shares classified FBI information with someone he’s having CASUAL sex with?????? Jamie didn’t say it, so let me, “FUCK YOU”!
So, Aiden has a Scarlet O’Hara hissy and toddles off on a solo assignment because “I still love you but I’m soooo betrayed and I have to deal with my anger” (And did I say, “FUCK YOU”??? Cause seriously fuck you and the horse you rode in on and take your “goodbye sex” with you). Naturally Aiden’s solo assignment just so happens to put him smack dab in the middle of Renaud’s terrorist plot du jour. The story when it makes sense is a bit cliched and predictable and when it doesn’t make sense it’s sort of…. wait, what? Why would anyone do that???? The relationship - other than God Bless Jamie – I guess he can stand Aiden because he definitely hit my last nerve -does have a very happy ending and at times gets ridiculously schmaltzy.
Against my better judgement – it looks like my OCD is going to win out and I’m going to read the final novella and finish up the series. I’m probably going to regret it – it’s a Danny and Mel side story – and Danny is an even bigger drama queen than Aiden – so this ought to be good.
wildfaeriecaps's review
5.0
This book was everything I could have possibly wanted it to be. After all the struggle, the hard won ending felt more than deserved. And to be honest with you, I felt totally vindicated in my side-eye of a character from book two. As with Fog City and Perfect Play, I know this series is going to be a frequent re-read for me. There's just something about Layla Reyne's books that tick all of my boxes.
bookish_notes's review
5.0
Initial Reaction: This was a wild, exhilarating ride from start-to-finish!!! Couldn't have asked for a better series conclusion!
Full Review:
I am just filled with all the feels right now. This book was a wild, exhilarating ride from start-to-finish. There is romance in this series, and it's so sweet and heartbreaking, but then there's the INTRIGUE. I'm not usually one for mysteries. It's weird, because I do watch an absurd amount of cop dramas and the like. But, somehow that never translated into books for me. Well, to prove me wrong, this Agents Irish and Whiskey series have just sold me on everything I'm not used to reading.
Way back when I read book one in this series, Single Malt, I said that characters seemed to be introduced left and right and I had no idea who was who. So, for anyone else who felt that way? Now would be a fantastic time to go back and re-read the first two books if you're binging your way through this series right now. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this in my previous reviews, but these books are not standalone novels. The stories are very connected. And while the romance itself is pretty HFN, book two, Cask Strength, ended with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger and I've been dying to read Barrel Proof ever since.
This book starts off shortly after the ending of Cask Strength. Melissa is suspected of working with the enemy and Aiden and Jamie are in a rush to find her. Everything that started before the events in book one have been building up to this book. Aiden's FBI partner and his husband dying in a car crash is no accident and the man responsible has plans up his sleeve that takes this story down twist and turns that I never saw coming.
Jamie has kept secrets from Aidan and everything reaches a boiling point. Aidan needs a break and decides to go undercover, finally putting both his law and business degrees to work. However, nothing that happens is ever incidental when it comes to the terrorist Renaud, and he has plans that are much more conniving than I would have expected.
I don't want to spoil anything, so apologies if this review is super vague. But I will say that a lot of characters are brought back, or mentioned at least, from previous books, while new characters are introduced in this one as well. What surprised me is how much I loved some of the new characters. I would not mind at all if we saw a spin-off with the FBI hacker Lauren, or with AUSA Nic.
As for this series, I love Aidan and Jamie. They absolutely broke my heart in this book, but they still manage to be sexy and almost nauseatingly cute together. I loved the ending. For a few seconds there, I thought I was going to be mad at the ending, but then it ended up being really lovely. So, five stars for this book and I can't wait to read more of Layla Reyne's books in the future!
And something random, but one of my favorite non-spoilerish moment from this book:
***Thanks to Carina Press for providing me an ARC through NetGalley***
Full Review:
I am just filled with all the feels right now. This book was a wild, exhilarating ride from start-to-finish. There is romance in this series, and it's so sweet and heartbreaking, but then there's the INTRIGUE. I'm not usually one for mysteries. It's weird, because I do watch an absurd amount of cop dramas and the like. But, somehow that never translated into books for me. Well, to prove me wrong, this Agents Irish and Whiskey series have just sold me on everything I'm not used to reading.
Way back when I read book one in this series, Single Malt, I said that characters seemed to be introduced left and right and I had no idea who was who. So, for anyone else who felt that way? Now would be a fantastic time to go back and re-read the first two books if you're binging your way through this series right now. I don't know if I've ever mentioned this in my previous reviews, but these books are not standalone novels. The stories are very connected. And while the romance itself is pretty HFN, book two, Cask Strength, ended with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger and I've been dying to read Barrel Proof ever since.
Partners, always.
This book starts off shortly after the ending of Cask Strength. Melissa is suspected of working with the enemy and Aiden and Jamie are in a rush to find her. Everything that started before the events in book one have been building up to this book. Aiden's FBI partner and his husband dying in a car crash is no accident and the man responsible has plans up his sleeve that takes this story down twist and turns that I never saw coming.
Jamie has kept secrets from Aidan and everything reaches a boiling point. Aidan needs a break and decides to go undercover, finally putting both his law and business degrees to work. However, nothing that happens is ever incidental when it comes to the terrorist Renaud, and he has plans that are much more conniving than I would have expected.
I don't want to spoil anything, so apologies if this review is super vague. But I will say that a lot of characters are brought back, or mentioned at least, from previous books, while new characters are introduced in this one as well. What surprised me is how much I loved some of the new characters. I would not mind at all if we saw a spin-off with the FBI hacker Lauren, or with AUSA Nic.
As for this series, I love Aidan and Jamie. They absolutely broke my heart in this book, but they still manage to be sexy and almost nauseatingly cute together. I loved the ending. For a few seconds there, I thought I was going to be mad at the ending, but then it ended up being really lovely. So, five stars for this book and I can't wait to read more of Layla Reyne's books in the future!
And something random, but one of my favorite non-spoilerish moment from this book:
Could he get out of a building where all the guards knew him? Fuck him and his Southern-bread manners, always greeting everyone.
Shit.
***Thanks to Carina Press for providing me an ARC through NetGalley***
jacqueleenthereadingqueen's review
4.0
4 stars
And the hits just keep on coming for Jamie and his partner Aidan. This book was packed with as much mystery and guns blazing action as the others. Another couple of unexpected surprises were in store as well. I like a law enforcement book that keeps me guessing, while still rooting for the romance between the MCs. Sometimes the author usually gets one or the other right but this series as a whole was on point with both. We finally get our hard won HEA in this 3rd installment. I can't help but stick with my inital assessment that these boys are no Ty and Zane, but thoroughly enjoyable none the less. I also hope to hear more about a certain Kidnapping expert and DA in a future book. * fingers crossed *
And the hits just keep on coming for Jamie and his partner Aidan. This book was packed with as much mystery and guns blazing action as the others. Another couple of unexpected surprises were in store as well. I like a law enforcement book that keeps me guessing, while still rooting for the romance between the MCs. Sometimes the author usually gets one or the other right but this series as a whole was on point with both. We finally get our hard won HEA in this 3rd installment. I can't help but stick with my inital assessment that these boys are no Ty and Zane, but thoroughly enjoyable none the less. I also hope to hear more about a certain Kidnapping expert and DA in a future book. * fingers crossed *
jennifox's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
fresholivebread's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Jamie and Aidan continue their terrorist hunt, and all secrets are out. Aidan's reaction is reasonable and how he processed his feelings of betrayal, anger and love was handled well. I also liked that the conflict didn't drag on at all, as Aidan realises soon after that his feelings for Jamie outweighs any anger he held!<. Aidan is at his strongest here, and Jamie is the ever-constant genius hacker sweetheart.
Every moment of them together is wonderful, even the angst and the emotional turmoil. Their chemistry is remains amazing (they really get down and dirty), they're so fiercely protective of each other, and their love is 100% precious. The action part is very tightly packed, frantic almost, but it's a fun roller-coaster ride with really great side characters. Fantastic and lovely HEA to boot!
Every moment of them together is wonderful, even the angst and the emotional turmoil. Their chemistry is remains amazing (they really get down and dirty), they're so fiercely protective of each other, and their love is 100% precious. The action part is very tightly packed, frantic almost, but it's a fun roller-coaster ride with really great side characters. Fantastic and lovely HEA to boot!
inkiereads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Barrel Proof is the final book in the Irish & Whiskey trilogy, and it starts off with a bang. My heart was shattered in a million pieces in the first 20% of the book, and it got slowly put back together throughout the rest of the suspenseful storyline. Not without plenty of twists and surprises, of course! I love Jamie and Aidan so much, and I’m very happy I have more books with them to read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Death, and Violence