REVIEW: Home To Whiskey Creek by Brenda Novak

Home to Whiskey Creek

(Whiskey Creek #4)

by Brenda Novak

4 HEARTS

From Goodreads

Sometimes home is the refuge you need-and sometimes it isn't. Adelaide Davies, who's been living in Sacramento, returns to Whiskey Creek, the place she once called home. She's there to take care of her aging grandmother and to help with Gran's restaurant, Just Like Mom's. But Adelaide isn't happy to be back. There are too many people here she'd rather avoid, people who were involved in that terrible June night fifteen years ago.

Ever since the graduation party that changed her life, she's wanted to go to the police and make sure the boys responsible-men now-are punished. But she can't, not without revealing an even darker secret. So it's better to pretend....

Noah Rackham, popular, attractive, successful, is shocked when Adelaide won't have anything to do with him. He has no idea that his very presence reminds her of something she'd rather forget. He only knows that he's finally met a woman he could love.

Home to Whiskey Creek is the 4th series by Brenda Novak and the first book in this series to make me want to scream. Mind you, I think this is a good thing. When a book can bring forth so much emotion that I am mad reading it, it's a good book.

Addie Davis has come back to Whiskey Creek. After being assaulted by a group of boys during a graduation party Addie left and never looked back. A boy lost his life that night, so it was easy enough for her to hide her trauma and fade into the background. Now, she's back to help her aging grandmother and leave again as soon as she can. Her being back has stirred up some old fears for those that were involved that night. She was abducted from her bed and deposited in the very mine that changed her life forever. She doesn't believe her abductor wanted to scare her, but she would've died had it not been for Noah finding her. Noah is the last man she wanted to save her life and the last man she needs back in her life. The old flame that she carried for him back in high school was still there, but Noah has to be off limits for more reasons than one.

Noah Rackham couldn't believe his ears when he heard a woman yelling for help and it seemed to be coming from the exact mine where his twin brother lost his life the end of their senior year. Finding Addie at the bottom of the mine was bad enough, but he could tell she didn't just tumble down there on accident. But, she wasn't talking no matter how hard he tried. Still, she triggered a fierce protectiveness in him that he's never felt for any woman. Let's face it, he isn't known as the guy that will never commit for nothing. Using all of his charm and resourcefulness Noah does all he can to convince Addie to give him a chance. He knows she is attracted to him and he's definitely attracted to her. He just has no idea what's holding her back.

Finally, finally the group of friends from Whiskey Creek step up and support Noah without trying to run his love life. And they picked a perfect time to do it. No one has ever needed to feel love and supported the way that Addie did. The topic of rape is so hard to deal with and seeing how she was treated by so many was appalling. I found myself wanting to take some of these people and shake them. If I would have read one more time "that it happened in the past and she turned out fine, so let it go" I think I would've screamed.

Noah was exactly how every man should behave in a situation like this. I admired his sense of justice and his loyalty to the one that deserved it. Addie's sense of forgiveness is above and beyond. I don't know how she did it, but it was good to see it helped her piece of mind to do so.

Thank you to NetGalley.com for the loan of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Hotness Rating 

3 out of 5

REVIEW: When Summer Comes by Brenda Novak

When Summer Comes

(Whiskey Creek #3)

by Brenda Novak

4 HEARTS

From Goodreads

One day, Callie Vanetta receives devastating news

She needs a liver transplant. But her doctors warn that, in her case, the chances of finding a compatible donor aren't good.

Determined to spend whatever time she has left on her own terms, she keeps the diagnosis to herself and moves out to her late grandparents' farm. She's always wanted to live there. But the farm hasn't been worked in years and she begins to fear it's too much, she'll have to return to town.

One night, a stranger comes knocking at her door... He's an attractive and mysterious drifter by the name of Levi McCloud who offers to trade work for a few nights' shelter. Callie figures she doesn't have anything to lose. He needs a place to stay until he can fix his motorcycle; she needs an extra pair of hands. The arrangement seems ideal until what was supposed to be temporary starts to look more and more permanent. Then she realizes she does have something to lose — her heart. And, although he doesn't yet know it, Levi stands to lose even more.

This series just keeps getting better and better. When Summer Comes is the 3rd book in the fabulous Whiskey Creek series by Brenda Novak. This peek into our group of friends in Whiskey Creek is a bit different than the previous two. Although, they all have depth and deal with more than just romantic encounters, this book deals with life and facing your own mortality. Throw in a sexy handy man and the story is softened enough to make you sigh in more ways than one.

Callie Vanetta is dieing. Now, she just has to find a way to tell the people she loves most. You would think being given the diagnosis of non-alcoholic liver disease and being told without a donor you will be dead by the end of the summer would be the worst thing you could ever face, but to Callie that's the second worse thing. Telling her friends and seeing their pity is going to be much worse. That's why when a stranger shows up at her house late one night asking for help she gives it to him. Normally, she would fear for her safety, especially knowing he was hiding from the police, but knowing your days are numbered changes your perspective. She can tell he's hurting and fighting demons that he'll never beat on his own. She's just the woman to help him. Why not? At least she can die knowing she helped someone and did something good. Losing her heart to him wasn't in the cards at all, but some things just can't be controlled. Now, she has one more person to keep her illness from. Thank goodness, he'll be long gone before she can't hide her disease anymore.

"I think we should be careful." "To hell with careful!" he growled. "Love and war don't work that way." "How do they work?" "It's all or nothing."

Levi McCloud just wants to be left alone. Going from town to town and living the life of a nomad is working for him. As long as he keeps moving maybe he can outrun his past and the horrors that are following him. Being attacked by a pair of pit bulls and having to beg for help at a farm in the middle of the night was definitely not on his agenda. Meeting the beautiful owner of the house and offering to stay on as a handyman is unthinkable. But, he feels he has no other alternative. Not only did she save his life, but she got his motorcycle out of impound and fixed it. He is staying just long enough to work off the debt and then he's moving on. Or at least that's what he keeps telling himself. He has never wanted to stay in one place so bad in his whole life. Callie is like no one he's ever met and she makes him wish for impossible things. He can't stay and ruin her life, but leaving just may kill him.

I was so annoyed with Callie in so many parts for suffering alone. As a friend I would be so angry. But, I get that she needed control over something in her life. Even though, I sympathized with her friends I really wish they would learn to mind their own business when it comes to one another's love lives. In this book as well as the last 2 they have so much to say about who their friends fall in love with and consider themselves the final say. Whey are they going to learn?

Hotness Rating 
3 out of 5

REVIEW: When Snow Falls by Brenda Novak

When Snow Falls

(Whiskey Creek #2)

by Brenda Novak

4.5 HEARTS

From Goodreads

After growing up in cheap motels, moving from town to town with her sister and mother, Cheyenne Christensen is grateful to be on her own. She's grateful, too, for the friends she found once her family settled in California. But she's troubled by the mystery of her earliest memories, most of which feature a smiling blonde woman. A woman who isn't her mother.

Although Cheyenne has repeatedly asked for explanations, the people who could help aren't talking. Cheyenne is set on finding answers, but without so much as a birth certificate, it won't be easy.

Things get even more complicated when her closest friend is attracted to the man Cheyenne has secretly loved for years. For Eve's sake, she decides to step aside—which lands her right in the arms of Dylan Amos, oldest and baddest of the hell-raising Amos brothers. He's the kind of guy she's sworn to avoid. She can't afford to make a mistake, not when she finally has a chance to learn who she really is and change her life for the better. But…maybe there's more to Dylan than she thought. Maybe letting him go would be a bigger mistake.

Ack! When Snow Falls is the 2nd book in the Whiskey Creek series by Brenda Novak. I didn't think I could like a story better than the first one, but I do! I couldn't read this book fast enough.

Cheyenne Christensen is the good girl of the group. Raised by a nomadic, grifter mother she was so happy to finally settle down in Whiskey Creek as a teenager when her mom was diagnosed with cancer. She vowed to be the opposite of her mom and drug addicted sister. It's not an easy vow to keep somedays. With her mom in the final days of her diagnosis and not a nice patient Cheyenne is running herself ragged. It doesn't help that all her friends have left for a Christmas cruise and she's all alone dealing with memories of a nicer life that her mom swears she is making up. Yes, her sister is still there, but some days her sister needs as much help as her mom. Surprisingly, the town badboy becomes her biggest help. In a weak moment, she ends up in his bed and gives him her virginity. It was just one night, right? She has to find a way to fight her attraction and keep it from her friends.

Dylan Amos is the town badboy. As a child his mom died of a drug overdose and his dad is in prison for stabbing a man in a bar. He stepped up to raise his hellion brothers and has earned quite a name for his self. It doesn't matter to the town of Whiskey Creek that he hasn't done anything wrong in years. He will always be one of the hoodlum Amos boys. Because of that, he never imagined he would get the chance to act on his long time attraction to Cheyenne. Imagine his surprise when she not only comes on to him, but she gives him her virginity. He can't believe his luck, but then the games begin. Cheyenne comes to him at night, but then fights her attraction by day, insisting on hiding their association. Can he hold on long enough to convince Cheyenne that no one will ever love her like he does?

"I'll do whatever I can to get you what you need." "What's love, if not that?"

Dylan was so hot and everything you would ever want in a guy. Cheyenne annoyed me so many times with her callous disregard of Dylan's feelings. Although, I totally get where she was coming from. Her mom was abusive and neglectful in health and even worse in sickness. She never had a life to be proud of and the fear of losing the respect of her friends because of Dylan's reputation paralyzed her. She stepped up and did the right thing in the end and that's all that mattered.

Hotness Rating 

3 out of 5

REVIEW: When Lightning Strikes by Brenda Novak

When Lightning Strikes

(Whiskey Creek #1)

by Brenda Novak

4 HEARTS

From Goodreads

Simon O'Neal's causing trouble again. And it's up to Gail DeMarco to stop him.

Gail DeMarco left Whiskey Creek, California, to make a name for herself in Los Angeles. Her PR firm has accumulated a roster of A-list clients, including the biggest box office hit of all—sexy and unpredictable Simon O'Neal. But Simon, who's just been through a turbulent divorce, is so busy self-destructing he won't listen to anything she says. She drops him from her list—and he retaliates by taking the rest of her clients with him.

Desperate to save her company, Gail has to humble herself by making a deal with Simon. The one thing he wants is custody of his son, but that's going to require a whole new image. He needs to marry some squeaky-clean girl who'll drag him off to some small, obscure place like Whiskey Creek….

Gail's the only one he can trust. She agrees to become his wife—reluctantly. But she isn't reluctant because he's too hard to like. It's because he's too hard not to love!

When Lightning Strikes is the first book in the Whiskey Creek series by Brenda Novak and what a first book it is. I couldn't read this book fast enough.

Gail DeMarco has made a mess of her life. As the owner of a PR firm she deals with all kinds of egotistical, self entitled rich celebrities. It's never been a problem for her to navigate this world until Simon O'Neal came into her life.

Set on a path of self destruction Simon is heading for meltdown right in front of the world. As one of the hottest actors out right now the public is happy to be witness to anything and everything Simon O'Neal. Gail refuses to be a part of this and not only drops Simon as her client, but makes a public statement about Simon and his behavior. Now, she's scrambling to save her business. Everyone is quickly leaving her for other PR companies for fear of losing future acting jobs if associated with her. If only she could've kept her mouth shut, but that wasn't to be. She's always been attracted to Simon, but couldn't stand by and watch him destroy himself.

Simon's life is imploding and he's not helping things at all. He wants to get a grip on it all if for no other reason than to get his son back, but it seems too impossible. Now, things are even worse. A rumor is cycling that he's assaulted Gail and it could be the nail in the coffin of his custody case. Of course, Gail is willing to speak up that this isn't true, but it very well could be too late for anyone to think it was anything, but the truth.

Presented with the solution of marrying Gail, the very woman he was supposed to have harmed, and showing the world that he has settled down and changed could be what he needs to get his son back and gain back control of his life. The couple just has to hold on for 2 years, long enough for the judge and the public to believe the marriage is real, then they can go their separate ways. Gail's clients will come back on the recommendation of Simon and Simon can get his son back. They've always rubbed each other the wrong way, but it's only a couple of years, how hard can it be?

This book was awesome! Simon was so hot in a misunderstood, tortured way. I loved how Gail was so strong and no nonsense, yet aware enough to see past Simon's bad boy act and helped to save him from himself. I loved how both characters dealt with Gail's friends and family. The way they treated Simon annoyed me at times, but I get it. He didn't have a good reputation and they loved Gail and didn't want to see her hurt. Off to read to book 2.

Hotness Rating 

4 out of 5