A review by lenny9987
Whiskey & Ribbons by Leesa Cross-Smith

5.0

In the wake of the BLM rallies last summer, I promised myself I would try to read more books by Black writers. I bookmarked and saved many of the lists making the rounds during the #BlackoutBestsellerList push and Whiskey & Ribbons by Leesa Cross-Smith was one of the books I bought that week after seeing it on a list of books by Black women. The heartbreaking premise was so powerful I added it to my cart immediately. But I also hesitated to start it for that same reason – I’ve got to be in the right headspace to face something I know is going to make me cry. And while Whiskey & Ribbons DID make me cry, there was so much hope and happiness in its pages that the heartbreak wasn’t as thoroughly devastating as I expected it to be. It shows how much grief really is a part of life and how it’s up to us whether or not we let loss destroy us – how much life is about choice even if death rarely is.

Two weeks before Evangeline gave birth to her son, her husband, Eamon, was killed in the line of duty. From the day Noah was born, Eamon’s adopted-brother and life-long best friend, Dalton, was there to help take care of both Evangeline and the baby – fulfilling a promise to Eamon. But six months later, when Evangeline and Dalton find themselves snowed in with Noah at Evangeline’s parents’ house, the two of them must finally confront where they stand with one another and with their grief.

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