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A review by bookish_notes
Barrel Proof by Layla Reyne
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***