Monday, July 27, 2015

Quote-tastic/Review--Miss me?!--The Bourbon Kings by J.R. Ward



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 Soooo the long awaited release of The Bourbon Kings from JR Ward is what we're all about today. This cover...totally made me drool. Inside it....not quite what I was expecting though riviting nonetheless. Two quotes today. One that made me sign and one that gave me a good gigglesnort...



Okay so this first one. Lane's been away from home for a few years and he's finally back and seeing his family and the staff and such again and this just cracked me up...
"Where you been? We haven't seen you here for a while."

As Miss Aurora cocked a brow to him, Lane cleared his throat. "I've been up North."

"My condolences," Stan said. "But at least you're back now."
And while I wouldn't really call this book a romance it did have some romancy sweet moments and this one so brought out the girly smile in me. 
Lane was on her the second her boots hit the ground, kissing her so hard that he bent her backward. When he finally let them come up for air, they were both panting.

"So...hi," he said.

"Did you, by any chance, miss me?"

"Every second." He straightened them up.



Sooooo The Bourbon Kings have arrived! And they were...intriguing!

The quick of it is that after a few years avoiding his family Lane has come home. And tensions are high. Not only with his return but getting ready for Derby week too--his family is huge in Society and runs a large bourbon company so they do it up big. Add in touchy relationships between both family and staff and all kinds of gritty scandalous family secrets trying to bust free and, yeah, it was quite the read as Lane settles in and tries to fix his past with one lovely gardener that works for the estate.

First off. This is what I'd call a Family Saga or Drama. There's really very little romance happening and like a lot of Ward's more recent Black Dagger Brotherhood books there are a LOT of storylines happening--Lane and Lizzie's second chance at romance, each of his siblings and their issues, his parents and their problems and storylines with staff. But, for me, it worked in this case. I don't really love that in the BDB books but here...it kept me turning the pages. Might have been that whole 'can't look away from a train wreck' thing? And this family is a total train wreck. Whew, boy! Very TV drama type thing happening.

Okay so, while there was a little romance between Lane (the returning son) and Lizzie (head gardener) it was a pretty small thread. The two had a thing years earlier that ended in a messy way and left them both a bit wrecked. Things are all kinds of screwed up between them especially seeing he's now married. Yeah. {don't worry, never felt cheatery}. I liked them together though and enjoyed their bits and pieces as they tried to figure everything out and deal with attraction and the past as well. There's not very much heat happening but some nice tension.

Most of the book was meeting family and staff, getting their backgrounds, seeing the lifestyles they lived and who all had drama with who. None of the people involved --the heroe's parents, siblings, staff, hero and heroine--were all that great at being people but the majority of them managed to have me at least not hating them. There was lots of drama, lots of extravagance, lots of deception and indulgence in vice. Things could get very ugly including a rape in a secondary storyline and other morally iffy things. It was hard to say "oh yeah, I love these people" because, really, not so much. But I still wanted more of them. LOL I know. It's one of those I guess you just have to read type things. It's that whole soap opera-y thing. They're just so bad you want to know what they'll do next.

All in all, The Bourbon Kings was...captivating. I just couldn't look away. The questionable characters, the Derby, the bourbon dynasty. Surprise twists that left me with my mouth hanging open. A tiny bit of romance and maybe redemption. I'll definitely read the next one but won't be picking it up for the romance of it since that was rather minor. Even though it wasn't quite what I was expecting Ward held me in her grasp once again and left me curious and ready for more from this stunningly family.

(oh there was a very weird use of yall in this one and using it as a singular instead of plural. Like if I said, hey Jamie yall (just Jamie) bring me that dish. Maybe a regional use? But definitely not something this Southern girl has ever heard which pulled me out of the story each time.)

Do you have a favorite read from Ward?
Or a Family Saga type book/series you'd recommend?
Any books you'd liked despite yourself?
 


So, what's YOUR favorite quote this week?
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