A Love Letter to Whiskey by Kandi Steiner
5 stars!!!
“…no one warned me that once a whiskey girl, always a whiskey girl.”
This was my first read by Kandi Steiner and it definitely won’t be my last, in fact, this book is one of my favourite reads of the year. Anyone that follows my reviews know I am an emotional reader, I relish an emotional read that will make me cry, I crave that emotional connection to a book, to characters, to their story as a whole and Kandi Steiner delivered this in spades, boy did she deliver.
“Words don’t get written from a heart that’s never felt. They come from pain, from love, from unspeakable depths – and they were my only release.”
Character connection, man did these characters come to life, from the first few lines Kandi Steiner held me captive for an entire book. I had been in a funk, I had tried to read for a fair few days, nothing caught my attention and for a girl that reads a book a day this was seriously bad, but I picked up A Love Letter to Whiskey and Kandi Steiner brought my mojo back with a vengeance. I devoured this book, I cried A LOT, I was frustrated A LOT but most of all, I loved A LOT. This is one angsty ride, one of the most angst filled books I have read in a while and I needed it. Those tears were cathartic, this story consumed me and for the first time in a while I escaped and these characters are ones that have a permanent place in my heart. They earned it.
“Jamie was never officially mine, but I had always been his – ever since the first taste.”
This book is filled with raw emotion, thoughts, feelings and actions that hit exactly where the author intended. Where two people that were destined to be together were their own worst enemy. The time was never right, their minds were never in the right place, but their hearts were, their hearts belonged to one and other. This story spans a decade, a decade of friendship, of love, of heart ache. A decade of hiding feelings and depriving the heart of who the heart wants, a decade of miscommunication, a decade of fear, a decade of tangible desire, lust and love seemingly unreciprocated by either party. Their frustrating walls that they both had erected were the biggest obstacle, one that I wanted to rip down brick by brick, but I needn’t have bothered, because Kandi Steiner did it for me, eloquently, beautifully, perfectly, frustratingly, agonisingly, tortuously slowly. But, this book was perfect, this was B and Jamie’s story.
“But sometimes, even when we know something is bad for us, we do it anyway. Maybe for the thrill, maybe to cure our curiosity, or maybe just to lie to ourselves a little longer.”
B and Jamie first become friends in high school, it was unusual for best friends to be the opposite sex, but these two just worked. Their friendship was tangible but you always knew that the chemistry they shared blurred the lines of friendship but these two were stubborn. A love born from friendship though is extremely special, you know that person inside out, you love them for their strengths and you love them for their weaknesses, you love them for their flaws and you love them fiercely and these two definitely did that. Sometimes too much love can be a bad thing and for me their fear of crossing that line and tarnishing what they had was the one thing that held them back rather than being the bungee cord that bound them together.
“It turned out a Whiskey stain was just as permanent as ink, and I wondered if I would every truly was myself clean. Or if I even wanted to.”
This book is brutal, emotionally brutal, my heart felt decimated so many times throughout but this was an honest portrayal of one of the most epic love stories I have read. The characters were real, their actions were real, their thoughts were real and it was this that made it that much more relatable. Their actions were not out of the realms of possibility, it could happen to anyone, it does happen ALL THE TIME and knowing this is what really captures your heart and pulls at every single heart string. I lived this book, I breathed this book, I felt everything in this book, these characters totally consumed me for hours. I had palpitations, I screamed, I wanted to batter these two but most of all, I loved them, wholly and implicitly. Both were adorable, both were pig headed, both annoyed the hell out of me at times, but both of them loved each other. Their love was at the end of the rainbow, neither chancing to find its end, they get there but will it all be too late?
“I’m sorry that up until now, I saw you as something I should quit instead of something I should fight for.”
I loved the references to Whiskey, for B, Jamie was Whiskey and the references to B’s love of Jamie and its connection to Whiskey the drink made for some truly memorable quotes. I cannot say anything negative about this book, for me it was perfection, in truth I could say I want more, but that is a good thing, I didn’t want to let these characters go. I wanted to stay in my B and Whiskey bubble.
“Sometimes we’re more terrified of the good things in life than we are of the bad. We feel we don’t deserve them, or that they aren’t real, that they’ll disappear quickly and easily and we’ll be left in the ruins.”
So in summary, if you want an emotional, angsty, beautiful, frustrating, epic read, then this is your book. Have tissues and a large glass of your favourite tipple to hand, bubble wrap your kindle, kick back and enjoy, I did and I still haven’t recovered.
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Popular Highlights in this book
But sometimes, even when we know something is bad for us, we do it anyway. Maybe for the thrill, maybe to cure our curiosity, or maybe just to lie to ourselves a little longer.Highlighted by 894 Kindle readers- Words don’t get written from a heart that’s never felt. They come from pain, from love, from unspeakable depths — and they were my only release.Highlighted by 766 Kindle readers
- I saw him first, but it didn’t matter. Because he saw her.Highlighted by 686 Kindle readers
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A Love Letter to Whiskey: A Friends-to-Lovers Romance
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Reviews with images
ANGST AT ITS BEST
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 starsI have been a Kandi fan for several years and I have had ALLTW on my Kindle for just as long but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to read it. I knew it was going to gut me and in true #AngstQueen fashion it did, but the burn wasn't quite as bad as I feared and in the end I was left with a warm, smooth finish.If you aren't a fan of angst and can't stand to be in almost constant turmoil I encourage you to find another read. But if you love your heart in a vice knowing that an HEA is coming, then curl up with a whiskey neat and dive into this love story for the ages.I wanted to bring in the New Year with a bang and A Love Letter to Whiskey delivered."Sometimes we’re more terrified of the good things in life than we are of the bad. We feel we don’t deserve them, or that they aren’t real, that they’ll disappear quickly and easily and we’ll be left in the ruins.""I read romance because it’s fun to fall in love. And with romance books, I get to do it over and over. I get to be different types of lovers, I get to feel the heartbreak of love and the successes. Love is the most powerful and real emotion we feel, and I think it’s sort of magical that we can experience some of the greatest loves of all time through books."
Top reviews from other countries
Amy Thomas
This book left me with the best kind of whiplash!
Reviewed in Canada on June 6, 2019
