Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - A Love Letter to Whiskey

You do not have the experience, knowledge base or right to write from that point of view? (FYI: I learned this AFTER getting 200 pages in because…)
Secondly, the FMC “B” is INSUFFERABLE! She makes no sense as to why she’s making the decisions she makes - she claims to have these important people & doesn’t appropriately utilize them or their insight & I feel like

writing a black woman that self-sabotages to this extent & is an addict AS A WHITE WOMAN has undertones of internalized racism.

I read through small pieces of the book to get what I wanted & it was STILL disappointing. Both main character make demands of each other without action EXCEPT for when

they’re cheating on people to be together.

Like honestly?! How are these characters aging without showing any growth?!?

I read this on the recommendation from Larissa Cambusano & this is the first time she has EVER let me down.

Content Warnings

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I have wanted to read this book and any work from Kandi Steiner for years. When I was gifted my Kindle this Christmas and saw this on Kindle Unlimited, I was so excited. This book was good, but it wasn’t a five-star read. I wanted more, was that selfish of me? Were my standards a bit too high?

It’s crazy how fast the buzz comes back to B after not seeing Jamie in so long, but he stood there on her doorstep, just like he had one year before. Expect this time, there was no rain, no anger, no wedding invitation – it was just them. It was just Jamie – the old friend, the easy smile, the twisted solace. It was just B – pretending that she didn’t want to taste him, realizing too quickly that months of being free of him. But first they are going back to the beginning of this story and how Jamie and B ended up like this. B saw Jamie first. But it didn’t matter because he saw B’s best friend. B and Jamie were best friends, and they couldn’t be together, but they couldn’t stand to be apart. And if they weren’t truly lovers, but they were much more than friends, what are they exactly? This is B’s love better to Jamie; she only hopes that he will read it.

If you want an angsty story with brilliant storytelling, Kandi Steiner will be for you. Her writing makes you so frustrated and leaves you wanting more. This love story was all consuming, but you also wanted to bang the two MCs heads together. They were so frustrating and obviously part of the slow-burn and angsty storyline is a bit of miscommunication, but I just wanted to grab them both and tell them they are both idiots. Jamie was a complete sweetheart and I adored him from page 1. This edition was the five-year edition, so it had a second book called Love, Whiskey which was from Jamie’s POV, and I loved seeing it as to why he waited so long to get back in touch and how much he was also craving her. I loved how was always telling her how special she was whether it was as a friend, enemy or lover. I just adored him. B took a while to grow on me, obviously for the first half of the book it was B and Jamie meeting which was in high school and I felt like the impulsive decisions because she couldn’t have Jamie rubbed me the wrong way and the way they both trauma dumped, like no wonder they were both worried about getting together. Even though this book had a happy ending, I'm glad that it took a while and showed how honest some relationships can be and that it’s not perfect and takes a few tries to get the relationship you want. But also that you need to explore and learn if that’s relationship is for you.

The only thing I didn’t like because of both books being in one and A Love Letter to Whiskey being bigger and first, it felt like a lot of repeated information. Like we knew about her dad at the beginning, okay move on but then she would just be thinking about why they can’t be together and then bang dad’s issues come back up. Some issues just felt like they got priority and repeated at times.

But overall, for my first Kandi Steiner book, I enjoyed it and I cannot wait to read more of her work.

Content Warnings

fanchera's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.75

Content Warnings

erafact's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Content Warnings

karina_dreamsinwords's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No

1.5

This doesn't reflect how I feel about Kandi as an author, however I wish there was more discussion on the important topics within such as SA & addiction. I would've loved to see character development instead of just the repetitive back and forth with B & Jamie spanning too many years. Tbh, I didn't connect or care for the main characters so that could be the reason I didn't vibe with the story much at all.

Such a bummer, but I won't stop reading from Miss Kandi!

Content Warnings

natafiguu's review

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

this book was a hard read, it took me over a month to finish. this has to be one of my ultimate favorite fomance books ever. it takes you on a journey and you really watch these characters grow up and change and go through different stages in their lives from highschool all the way to 30. it's such a sweet book, but definitely very sad and i'd say there's less romance at the latter half of the book but it fits the plot in a way. i feel like there definitely could have been more, but at a certain point it's not about the two characters falling in love, it's about the fact that they already recognize the love that they have for each other. i think this is a very special book and i hold it close to my heart, but definitely don't read it if you want an "easy" or light romance.

Content Warnings

rubiecore's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

2.5 stars? 2 stars? dare i say the only slightly enjoyable parts were the smut scenes 🤭 anyway, this book was like watching a train wreck. but as badly as i wanted to look away i couldn’t, my eyes were glued in place by my friend who was deeply enjoying the sight. the only reason i didn’t dnf is bc i wanted to see it through so i could talk to her ab it bc she recommended it to me. i’m so so so so over it. i read romance novels for fun!! this wasn’t fun!!

also i know this book is literally called “love letter to whiskey” but all of the alcohol metaphors got very old, very fast.

this book also includes the cheating trope, which i have never really read before this so i was willing to give it a try (obviously i don’t condone cheating irl but i like mess sometimes okay). and i honestly wouldn’t have hated it if it didn’t happen THREE TIMES. like at some point i really just couldn’t bring myself to care. you both suck. glad you finally have each other.

i skipped through most of the novella bc i read it once why would i read it again and while it was kinda nice to have jamie’s pov and some clarity on their reconciliation and relationship afterwards, i just didn’t care anymore!! 😁

i know it’s incredibly easy to slip into a reading slump after pushing through a book you didn’t like at all but if anything i feel like this had the opposite effect. i now feel the need to go and read More books that are (hopefully) better than this one out of pure spite.

Content Warnings

More...