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A review by bookish_notes
Cask Strength by Layla Reyne
4.0
Whiskey and Irish are back, and the stakes are higher than ever. After an explosive end to Single Malt (both figuratively and a bit literally), Whiskey and Irish are at a standstill.
Their sex life is hot, but things are casual. Aidan is terrified of getting close to Jamie, the remnants of his past still keeping him from turning their heart eyes and feelings into a permanent relationship. And Jamie's okay with that, or so he tells himself. He knows that Aidan meets up with other guys when he's not with Jamie, but Jamie doesn't want to mess up what they have by telling Aidan he's falling for him. No, instead we have two very stubborn men who keep their feelings bottled up inside.
At the FBI, Aidan and Jamie are at the top of their game, but not much closer to finding out who, or why, Aidan, his husband, and his FBI partner were targeted months earlier. The case is moving slowly, and just when they start closing in on the truth, someone stops them from getting too close.
Jamie's been called to go undercover in the one position where no one would suspect him to be undercover, by returning back home to a D2 college to help coach their men's basketball team. The case revolves around betting on the basketball players and both Aidan and Jamie have only days to find out who at the college might be behind it.
I thought this case was easier to follow than the one in Single Malt. Each of the characters are fleshed out a bit more in this story, so when a name comes up as a possible suspect, I didn't have to go hunt down who that person was. I loved the undercover aspect of this story, because we got to see glimpses of a very charming Jamie in front of the camera and the person he might have been in those early days where he wasn't Agent Walker, and was just Whiskey Walker, basketball star. One thing I would love, is if there's an audiobook planned for this, is for there to be a narrator who can pull off Jamie's Southern drawl and Aidan's heavy Irish accent he uses for his undercover role as a sports agent for Jamie.
There are a few characters from Single Malt who make some appearances in this book, those who actually had significant roles in the first book, or those who were just simply mentioned in passing. I think the romance storyline is weaved into the story more than in Single Malt, and I enjoyed reading every bit of Aidan and Jamie's story.
Cask Strength does end with a very shocking cliffhanger that will leave you questioning everything you ever read in this series so far. I'm just beside myself that book three, Barrel Proof, isn't out yet for me to snatch up and read immediately. Cask Strength is out May 1, 2017 and is an exhilarating, edge-of-your-seat read!
***Thanks to Carina Press for providing me an ARC through NetGalley***
Their sex life is hot, but things are casual. Aidan is terrified of getting close to Jamie, the remnants of his past still keeping him from turning their heart eyes and feelings into a permanent relationship. And Jamie's okay with that, or so he tells himself. He knows that Aidan meets up with other guys when he's not with Jamie, but Jamie doesn't want to mess up what they have by telling Aidan he's falling for him. No, instead we have two very stubborn men who keep their feelings bottled up inside.
Walker's visible disappointment stung, but the burn was a necessary reminder not to get attached. No attachment meant no loss. Aidan was having a wee bit o'fun and aligning a blockade of other men - his last line of defense - against anything serious, anything heart and life shattering, with Walker.
Casual. They were just fucking around.
Liar.
At the FBI, Aidan and Jamie are at the top of their game, but not much closer to finding out who, or why, Aidan, his husband, and his FBI partner were targeted months earlier. The case is moving slowly, and just when they start closing in on the truth, someone stops them from getting too close.
Jamie's been called to go undercover in the one position where no one would suspect him to be undercover, by returning back home to a D2 college to help coach their men's basketball team. The case revolves around betting on the basketball players and both Aidan and Jamie have only days to find out who at the college might be behind it.
I thought this case was easier to follow than the one in Single Malt. Each of the characters are fleshed out a bit more in this story, so when a name comes up as a possible suspect, I didn't have to go hunt down who that person was. I loved the undercover aspect of this story, because we got to see glimpses of a very charming Jamie in front of the camera and the person he might have been in those early days where he wasn't Agent Walker, and was just Whiskey Walker, basketball star. One thing I would love, is if there's an audiobook planned for this, is for there to be a narrator who can pull off Jamie's Southern drawl and Aidan's heavy Irish accent he uses for his undercover role as a sports agent for Jamie.
There are a few characters from Single Malt who make some appearances in this book, those who actually had significant roles in the first book, or those who were just simply mentioned in passing. I think the romance storyline is weaved into the story more than in Single Malt, and I enjoyed reading every bit of Aidan and Jamie's story.
Cask Strength does end with a very shocking cliffhanger that will leave you questioning everything you ever read in this series so far. I'm just beside myself that book three, Barrel Proof, isn't out yet for me to snatch up and read immediately. Cask Strength is out May 1, 2017 and is an exhilarating, edge-of-your-seat read!
***Thanks to Carina Press for providing me an ARC through NetGalley***