Bourbon & Lies by Victoria Wilder
18+ Contains Adult Content
Bourbon & Lies follows Laney, who ends up in Fiasco, Kentucky, after witnessing something no one should have to witness. There is one rule in Fiasco: never fall for a Foxx brother. Any woman who did ended up dead – or so the rumour goes. Laney ends up living at the Foxx’s Bourbon Distillery, much to the dismay of Grant Foxx, the grumpy ex cop. Grant & his two brothers own the distillery, and only Ace, the eldest brother, knows why Laney is there. Grant, being an ex-cop, knows when someone is lying or withholding the full truth, and he is determined to find out who Laney is and why she is there. The only thing is the pull Grant feels towards her, Laney is quick-witted, feisty and has him losing his mind. He doesn’t want to get close to her, but Grant & Laney end up gravitating towards one another, and when Laney’s past shows up, a Foxx brother is at risk of the “curse” striking again; the only thing that can save them both is bourbon & lies.
Not your honey, cowboy
•Grumy x Sunshine •Forced Proximity •Small Town •Slow Burn •Protective Hero •Romantic Suspense •Dual POV •Found Family •Witness Protection •HEA
•Violence •Death •Descriptive Gore •Discussion of captivity •Violence towards women •Gun violence •Violence against animals •Discussion of deceased parents & family •Reference to sexual assault •Discussion of cannibalism •Discussion of homicide •Main characters dealing with PTSD •Vulgar language •Descriptive open door sex scenes.
No cowboys around here. You’ve got horsemen and bourbon boys in Fiasco.
Seems like you might have some assholes too
My friend Debbie recommended this book to me as a part of my 12 Friends…12 Months…12 Books challenge. I was super excited when she did, as last year I received this book in my Smut & Sip subscription box and had been intrigued but hadn’t picked it up yet. I was then in Asda and saw the paperback for a fiver at the beginning of February and knew that I was reading it this month, and I am so happy I did.
That’s it, honey. Look at me.
The pace of the book is good, I wouldn’t say it’s fast paced, but it’s also not slow…can you have a medium pace…I dunno, it was a good pace lol. The romance was slow burn, but not in the sense that some slow burns leave you sitting there going, “just bang already!” This felt natural, like how it would be in the real world. Yeah, when Laney first sees Grant, she notices he’s hot (the cover on the book makes him look so not hot), and likewise Grant notices she’s hot, but they don’t instantly fall in love; they are instantly intrigued by one another, which I feel is very typical of real-life behaviour.
“Life’s too unpredictable to worry how tidy it should be.” He nudges my arm with his elbow. “Get messy.”
The book is definatly character driven, but there was a good plot there; it wasn’t just about them falling in love. The plot goes over the “Foxx curse”, Laney being in witness protection, and the trauma of what she saw and what is out there, maybe looking for her. So while it did centre around the two main characters, there was more than just them. Speaking of which, the side characters also stood out quite well, each having their own strong personalities. Which sets them up amazingly for their own books.
“But in case you misunderstood me, honey. When I woke up with the taste of you on my tongue and the smell of you in my beard, I considered you mine.”
Laney is funny and has no filter, which had me laughing out loud. She is happy and willing to start her life over and give living in Fiasco a damn good go. She becomes close friends with Hadley, who is Lincoln Foxx (Grant’s brother )’s best friend. Hadley, on behalf of Ace (the eldest Foxx brother), goes shopping to buy Laney some things when she first gets to Fiasco. She picks up groceries and toiletries, and a dildo because she knows her girl will need it, haha. Hadley was the main side character that stood out to me, and I cannot wait to read Bourbon & Proof, which is Ace & Hadley’s book. I actually just before writing this treated myself by buying the next 2 books, but shh, don’t tell my husband, haha.
“This woman who has no filter and calls me cowboy is the person I want to do life with. I don’t need more time to tell me something I already know.”
Grant is rather grumpy; he doesn’t speak much, normally talking to people in grunts and head nods until Laney. As said further up, Grant is an ex cop, and unfortunately, his girlfriend, who was also a cop, was killed on the job, which led Grant to retire. This was one of the reasons he found it so hard to give in to his want of Laney. Grant blamed himself for not getting to Fi fast enough the night she died, and ever since has been surviving, not really living, until Laney appears with her hilarious, bratty attitude. While reading this Grant, to me, is super sexy and hot and just yummy…the book cover, however, makes him look not so yummy, haha, this is probably my only negative, haha. Also, Grant has his K9 dog Julep, who is the real hero of the story, and you will love her!
Go find her, girl.” I give her a whistle. And a command she hasn’t heard from me in a long time. “Jules, go! Protect”
I liked the small town setting of the book; it was cute and quirky. I found myself trying to imitate a Southern American accent while reading the book, in my head, of course, there is no way I could do it out loud, haha. I really enjoyed Victoria’s writing style, and like I said, I’ve just bought myself the next two books. I also want to have a look at the other books she has written.
Pour me some good bourbon, cowboy and let’s go for a ride
Overall thoughts
I highly recommend this book. If you like small town settings, grumpy x sunshine with spice and suspense, you will eat this book up. It will have you laughing, kicking your legs and wanting to move to Kentucky to go drink some Bourbon lol. I am super grateful to Debbie for recommending this book to me, and I can’t wait to read more.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
