Whiskey War by Stacy Lynn Miller is a historical set in the dangerous years of Prohibition.
Soulmates Dax and Rose are finally together after being forced apart for years. They survived the harrowing experience at Devil’s Slide, but everyone involved is greatly affected by the violence and death. Dax wants to help her sister May with the failing restaurant May’s husband Logan sent them to months ago, but that help inadvertently brings him back to run roughshod over everyone around him
The women are sick of having to hide their love everywhere they go, even at home, and danger grows from the competition across town. They’ve had to fight off Prohibition gangsters and the law before, but they’re up against a bigger foe this time.
Writing
Typically the second book in a series is a little weaker, as it’s mostly a bridge between the slam bang beginning and nail biting end, but this book is a solid entry. There are still a lot of tensions from several fronts, not least Dax and Rose being frustrated by finally being together but having to hide their love. One of the things that sets this book apart from the first is the expansion of the character Grace, the glamorous movie star who has money, clout, and a deep love for Rose. She understands Dax is the only one for Rose, but her continual struggle to step aside seems like it could slip at any time. Charlie the mechanic has an interesting and heartbreaking arc, and two surprising couples emerge.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
Grace taking a larger part in helping Dax and Rose and May save their business and fend off the violent prohibition gangsters was a lot of fun for me. She’s powerful in her own way but there’s a continuing question of whether she can totally get over Rose, who was a fun time lover for years. The two new couples make the book feel even more well rounded, and I loved the atmosphere of the Foster House basement. That sort of swank safe space did use to happen back then, but it’s rarely mentioned, much less used as a major plot point.
Violence and power struggles create a lot of tension, and the whole book has a waiting for the other shoe to drop feeling. It’s tiring but well worth the effort. Most of the book is dealing with the after effects of the first book and setting up the climax at the end. This time that action lasts longer and is even more dangerous to the characters I came to love by then. The author has a real knack for keeping a reader on the edge of their seat.
It was great to read a second book that is just as good as the first one. I felt like a reader could start in the middle with this book, but a lot of the angst everyone is feeling would be diluted by not fully understanding their backstory. There’s still danger and love and a great story that is definitely a fun read. I’m having a difficult time getting over Charlie’s heartbreaking story. Her role is larger in this book, and I’m seriously looking forward to the next book so I can find out what happens with her, and the rest of the gang.
Heads Up
It’s Prohibition gangsters, so there is a lot of violence and threats of violence. There is a sexual assault.
The Conclusion
Dax and Rose were torn apart for a good deal of the first book in the series, and in this one they are finally together but suffering from not being able to live fully as a couple. The Prohibition gangster threat has grown to a level that threatens not only the women and their extended family, but the whole town.
Even though this is the second book of the series, there is plenty of love and danger and tensions for Dax and Rose to navigate. Their found family expands giving them more support than before, but frustrations from many angles makes it difficult for them to enjoy their reunion. Now that I’ve read the first two books I am counting the days till the third installment arrives. This is a wicked good series.
Excerpt from Whiskey War by Stacy Lynn Miller
Livid didn’t come close to describing Grace Parson’s mood. Hours earlier, Rose Hamilton had been dangling precariously over the cliff at Devil’s Slide. The only thing preventing her from falling into the ocean waves beating the jagged rocks below was Grace holding on to her right hand and Dax Xander’s firm grip on her left. If not for Dax’s strength after Grace’s grip had given way, she would be crying over Rose’s battered body at the morgue now, not hanging up her drenched coat and fixing her a stiff drink in her hotel room. And Grace rested blame for the entire nightmare squarely at Frankie Wilkes’s feet.
Grace was aware of Frankie’s drive to make Half Moon Bay the West Coast tourist destination for the rich and famous, but she hadn’t known how far he would go to make it happen. Her eyes were now wide open. His ambition had turned into unimaginable greed, driving him to do the unforgivable—put the woman she loved in grave danger. She had no option but to correct her enormous lapse in judgment—after tending to Rose.
“Here, drink this.” She handed Rose a tumbler she’d filled with a generous portion of whiskey. “It will calm your nerves.”
“I’m fine, really.” Rose accepted the glass, but her hands didn’t shake as much as Grace expected they would following a near-death experience.
“Well, I’m not.” Grace snatched the tumbler from her hand and downed its contents in three large gulps. The whiskey burn took the edge off enough to allow her to put herself in Rose’s shoes. She would be unconscious from fright if she had been the one hanging by a hand over a two-hundred-foot drop. But Dax had calmed her with a single touch moments after pulling her to safety. Even the blind could see her effect was more potent than all the illegal whiskey in the state.
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Series: The Speakeasy Series
Whiskey War
Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 978-1-64247-460-2
Publisher: Bella Books
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