We're back again with another installment of The Bourbon Kings. Read on to find out why The Angels' Share earned a three bookmark rating. Read my review of The Bourbon Kings (book one).
Publisher: NAL | Penguin Audio
Release Date: July 26, 2016
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: ebook: 426 pages | Audio Length: 12 hours 35 mins
Narrator: Alexander Cendese
Source: Audible
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Review Date: April 26, 2017
Rating: 3 bookmarks
Synopsis: In Charlemont, Kentucky, the Bradford family is the crème de la crème of high society—just like their exclusive brand of bourbon. And their complicated lives and vast estate are run by a discrete staff who inevitably become embroiled in their affairs. This is especially true now, when the apparent suicide of the family patriarch is starting to look more and more like murder…
No one is above suspicion—especially the eldest Bradford son, Edward. The bad blood between him and his father is known far and wide, and he is aware that he could be named a suspect. As the investigation into the death intensifies, he keeps himself busy at the bottom of a bottle—as well as with his former horse trainer’s daughter. Meanwhile, the family’s financial future lies in the perfectly manicured hands of a business rival, a woman who wants Edward all to herself.
Everything has consequences; everybody has secrets. And few can be trusted. Then, at the very brink of the family’s demise, someone thought lost to them forever returns to the fold. Maxwell Bradford has come home. But is he a savior...or the worst of all the sinners?
Release Date: July 26, 2016
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: ebook: 426 pages | Audio Length: 12 hours 35 mins
Narrator: Alexander Cendese
Source: Audible
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Review Date: April 26, 2017
Rating: 3 bookmarks
Synopsis: In Charlemont, Kentucky, the Bradford family is the crème de la crème of high society—just like their exclusive brand of bourbon. And their complicated lives and vast estate are run by a discrete staff who inevitably become embroiled in their affairs. This is especially true now, when the apparent suicide of the family patriarch is starting to look more and more like murder…
No one is above suspicion—especially the eldest Bradford son, Edward. The bad blood between him and his father is known far and wide, and he is aware that he could be named a suspect. As the investigation into the death intensifies, he keeps himself busy at the bottom of a bottle—as well as with his former horse trainer’s daughter. Meanwhile, the family’s financial future lies in the perfectly manicured hands of a business rival, a woman who wants Edward all to herself.
Everything has consequences; everybody has secrets. And few can be trusted. Then, at the very brink of the family’s demise, someone thought lost to them forever returns to the fold. Maxwell Bradford has come home. But is he a savior...or the worst of all the sinners?
The drama continues! In the second installment of this three book saga, Lane and Lizzie again take center stage and seem to be the center-point of the story. All of the family take on larger roles in the book and Lane's siblings get a fair amount of time. Ward gives us lots of detail on each of their story lines. Edward and Gin are mostly equally on the page, and Maxwell gets a moment of his own. I enjoyed that we delved deeper into the history of the family and we start to uncover even more family secrets. We get closer and closer to finding out who killed William Baldwine.
For me, this was a slow start, but once the plot got moving, I was all in. I don't read many of these types of novels (contemporary romance), but I was holding out hope for my girl, J.R.Ward. I just adore her Blackdagger Brotherhood Series, so of course I wanted to give this trilogy a shot and I'm glad that I did.
Because we get to see into the lives of so many characters, the story is told in third person. The voices (literally) and on the page were different enough that there was never a cause for confusion. The character POV was clear at every point in the story. As I mentioned earlier, Lane is the most prominent POV as he's essentially morphed from the playboy to the head of the family, which is fitting. In addition to his narration, Lizzie (Lane's girlfriend), Edward (eldest brother), Gin (little sister), Sutton, Samuel, Jeff, Mack. and a few more slip into telling the story from their POV. This relates to a soap opera indeed! It really reminds me of the good ole days of watching Dallas or even Days of Our Lives. Tons of family drama and intercepting story lines.
Let's talk about the narration. Alexander Cendese overall does a decent job. I like his work and he has a nice voice that fits well with a Southern accent. My one critique is the falsetto sounding voice for Lizzie. It bothered me fore a while, then I was able not to focus on it, but I wish he could have elevated his voice for her without going full on falsetto or at times shrill. On the upside, he nailed all of the male voices.
In my opinion, the romantic scenes weren't over the top, so listening in a car, at home or work on a speaker won't embarrass you. This is an adult read, so it does get a little bit spicy depending on your comfort level. If you have young kids around, you may want to pop in a pair of ear buds. I consider this title headphones optional.
In my opinion, the romantic scenes weren't over the top, so listening in a car, at home or work on a speaker won't embarrass you. This is an adult read, so it does get a little bit spicy depending on your comfort level. If you have young kids around, you may want to pop in a pair of ear buds. I consider this title headphones optional.
I also found it unique and interesting that J.R. Ward used a bourbon related term when naming this book.
The Angels' Share: A good whiskey is likely to lose approximately thirty percent of its original volume by the time it is ready for bottling. The expression The Angels Share refers to the quantity of the whiskey or wine, which is lost to evaporation during the aging process
Another cool thing to note is that you don't have to read The Bourbon Kings to enjoy The Angel's Share. Ward does a great job refreshing us on the previous happenings in a way that is passive and not an info dump. My book club discussed this title last month and two of the members had not read The Bourbon Kings and they still enjoyed this title and didn't feel lost at all. I'm not sure if the third and final book will work out in the same way as I am hoping and expecting a lot of forward movement in the plot, but you can definitely jump in with The Angels' Share if you like.
I'll be finishing out this story in August when The Devil's Cut hits the shelf. If you enjoy contemporary romance with lots of family drama, this is right up your alley.
The Angels' Share: A good whiskey is likely to lose approximately thirty percent of its original volume by the time it is ready for bottling. The expression The Angels Share refers to the quantity of the whiskey or wine, which is lost to evaporation during the aging process
Another cool thing to note is that you don't have to read The Bourbon Kings to enjoy The Angel's Share. Ward does a great job refreshing us on the previous happenings in a way that is passive and not an info dump. My book club discussed this title last month and two of the members had not read The Bourbon Kings and they still enjoyed this title and didn't feel lost at all. I'm not sure if the third and final book will work out in the same way as I am hoping and expecting a lot of forward movement in the plot, but you can definitely jump in with The Angels' Share if you like.
I'll be finishing out this story in August when The Devil's Cut hits the shelf. If you enjoy contemporary romance with lots of family drama, this is right up your alley.
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| Get the Audible version here: 
