I am a huge Lauren Dane fan but sadly this one just wasn't my favorite. I enjoyed the characters Maybe and Alexsei he was a gorgeous bearded man and Maybe was this spirited funky ball of fun.  First a few things I didn't like I couldn't get into Maybe's name it was so frustrating every time it was used I didn't like it. I didn't like that it seemed rushed and time was skipped. 
I could not stand how awful Maybe's childhood was and that she had to deal with such terrible people.
What I did enjoy was how tuff and protective Maybe was and I loved how Alexsei loved and protected Maybe because she was always worried about someone else besides herself and Alexsei had her back.

I review on goodreads and amazon. My review on goodreads will be up 9/9/17 and for amazon it'll be up on 1/30/17

3.5 stars
good lead/start to a new series. while I didn't love this book, I liked it. It held my attention from start to finish. I will read the next in the series

Amazing book!  It was sexy and intense! Read it in one night.  Characters were very well developed

Alexsei likes to keep his girl happy, "he snorted. “I have no plans to separate you from my ****s.” Alexsei gets turned on over the strangest of things, "he couldn’t help smiling. Christ, there he was actually getting a hard-on because she was mad and giving him grief in that prim voice." Alexsei tries to be sensible, “you’re having a very serious argument with yourself. It’s not necessary because you can tell me and then if you need an argument I can give you one. Then we can work out our differences with makeup ***. We haven’t had that yet.” I really liked this book, I fell in love with Alexsei.

Full review to be posted on Literary Escapism (owner will schedule accordingly).  But, man what a cliffhanger! I'm dying to know what happens with Maybe and Rachel's father.  Another great novel from Lauren Dane!!

What a great way to kick off a series!!!  I am a big fan of Lauren Dane's so I was thrilled to dive into Whiskey Sharp: Unraveled! 

Maybe Dolan and Alexsei Petrov have been good friends with each other for a long time!! With Maybe and Alexsei finding themselves very single their friendship turns into an attraction. Being that Alexsei is Maybe's boss at the barber shop he owns, they both were a little leery of jumping into a romantic relationship...but some things cannot be denied!  Maybe and Alexsei both come from dysfunctional families and they understand each other more than most, but could that also be the obstacle that stands in their way?!!??  Wowzer!!

Lauren Dane always writes the best heroines and Maybe Dolan could quite possibly be my favorite thus far!  From the beginning her spunk and sass was apparent, but as I got deeper into the novel I understood what an incredibly huge heart she has as well.  Of course Alexsei was such a stand-up guy and I found myself keeping my fingers crossed that they would realize what an awesome thing they have together (and hopefully not mess it up)!  I love journey Lauren Dane had in store for them!  Whiskey Sharp: Unraveled is a 4 star novel that everyone should check out!!  I CANNOT wait for the second installment of this series!!

I adore Lauren Dane's stories and am so glad I had a chance to read Whiskey Sharp! It is just fabulous!
Great characters full of layers and back stories. Beautiful love story that leaves you breathless. And a set-up for what I pray will be book 2 that leaves you more than a little desperate!

The concept of a whiskey bar/men's barbershop was a cool one and I loved that both main characters were barbers, but these things were underdeveloped as the majority of the plot revolved around family drama, trauma, and conflict.

Maybe and Alexei felt a little insta-love despite a two year gap in time between their introduction and relationship, but it was steamy and kept me reading. I felt like I was missing some plot about Maybe's sister's abduction, but perhaps this will be explored further in the next title in the series.

Intriguing, but not sure if I'll keep up with the series.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Unraveled,  Whiskey Sharp 1, Lauren Dane
Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Romance

I love Lauren's writing, both contemporary and paranormal. This book though has left me with mixed feelings. I really enjoyed it but there are parts I'm a little confused about.
 
It felt for much of the start that I was reading about maybe a spin off book ( and hey, I did that completely unintentionally!) It seemed to me that the characters should have felt familiar to me, that if I'd read another series I'd know them - you know, how in connected books its like reading about old friends, except I didn't know these guys, hadn't met them before so the mix of who was who and how they connected was a bit weird til I got to grips with it. 

I loved the setting, the barbershop/bar and Alexsei's family living next door to Maybe and Rachel. It grounded the characters, gave them a base where they acted naturally and felt very real to me. I was hoping Rada would be more of a b itch...but that's me, love a "good" bad character...
I enjoyed how Alexsei and Maybe sparked of each other, the tension between them, Maybe's unashamed confidence in asking for what she wants, whether its a job, food, a date. Yet when it came to Rachel she was trying to support her but actually hiding things from her, almost taking away choices in her determination to be a good sister, a solid help. There were times when i felt Maybe was a little too abrupt, a bit too in-your-face, but I guess that's a reaction to her past, a need to assert herself. Its either knuckle under or take charge, and she's take charge. 
Alexsei was pretty controlling but not to the point he didn't consider what others needed, what their own wants were, he had a great balance, though I understood why Maybe needed to ensure he wasn't like her father. 

Its an interesting, steamy story, some quite dark issues with Rachel's past attack, and the awful upbringing Maybe had, and the treatment she still got from their parents. I couldn't help wondering - just where did that start and why? Why treat them so differently? I felt for that poor kid Maybe was. 
I didn't really see either why Rachel was considered "disabled". Yes, she had a horrific encounter, and its left her with some kind of PTSD, but physically she seems fine, its been three years and though I understood her security fears - I think anyone would, and the lasting mental effects it seemed her parents were still considering her as just out of hospital. Why? 

It was a big, slow built to the end drama, but for me that was over far too quickly, a kind of it's-OK-for-now feeling, but we know there's going to be so much more. I guess that's for book two, and hopefully we'll see more of Alexsei and Maybe there. 
I felt a bit underwhelmed though, wanted a little more concrete action for an ending even though there's two more books to come. Its not a cliffhanger, just felt very unresolved. I was even trying to "turn" the page on my kindle seeing if I was missing some pages it felt that unfinished. 

Stars: four, almost a five, a few parts where I was a little confused at the beginning but mainly that ending stopped it 

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

I received an advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lauren Danes' contemporaries have become an insta-read for me. While her heroes and heroines may work in "edgy" fields, their dedication to family and friends is perfect for readers who love the close-knit feeling of small town settings. It has everything I want: well-done supporting characters as well as a steamy romance.

Maybe has been cutting hair and trimming beards in Alexsei's shop for two years. And for two years, they've covertly been casting eyes at each other, through broken engagements and one-night stands. When they finally take that first step, they're already friends, but the attraction between them is far beyond just friends. 

What I liked: Maybe cuts hair and is a punk drummer! She loves her sister! Alexsei is bearded and loves his big sprawling extended family, and adores Maybe.
What I didn't like: I felt like the subplot with Maybe and Rachel's family was weird, shoehorned in, and not entirely explained. I'm hoping it's expounded upon more in Rachel's book.

So, in no particular order - my thoughts.
"Maybe" is a quirky name, and I DO love all things odd and eccentric... but having a lot of sentences and paragraphs start with the WORD maybe made for a lot of re-reading to get proper context. I feel like the name was chosen to be eclectic and any other name could be substituted to make reading easier - the back story to the name wasn't that interesting and something else could be just as easily written.
Also, personally, I'm not a fan of the whole hipster scene - so while Alexsei was a fabulous male character, he didn't do it for me the same as Ms Dane's other fine men. I kept picturing a guy in bracers and bowties, meticulously cut hair and skinny pants ... and meh. His ACTIONS were sexy, but every time I pictured him my attraction fizzled. Again, that's totally me.
The main conflict in the story seemed to be a mean Dad. Yeah, that sucks. But in real life, most people would cut their losses, and refuse contact. The end. Dragging out her Daddy issues to 3+ hours was frustrating for me to read, so I didn't find myself terribly enamoured with her, either.
On the other side of the coin, the secondary characters totally tickled my fancy. Wonderfully written, quirky and comfy and witty - pure Lauren Dane - they really stole the show for me. So because most of my issues with Alexsei and Maybe's story were personal opinion I am really interested in reading this series further.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC copy. I read and am giving an honest review.
Lauren Dane is an author of contemporary romance and Unraveled does not disappoint. If you enjoy quick, uncomplicated reads this author is for you! She writes great romance and has another winning series with Whiskey Sharp. Dolan and Alexsei are two spicey characters that you will want to keep reading more about.

3.25 stars

I wanted to read this book because Lauren Dane's contemporary romances are basically an insta-read for me, and I have reread most of them multiple times. She generally writes strong unabashedly sexual heroines, wonderful friendship groups/family/chosen family, complex heroes, and has a lovely way with light D/s. Her heroines (and sometimes her heroes) often have trauma histories, which are part of the story but not central in it, and generally woven into the story in ways that feel respectful and complex, without handwaving them away. 

This book hits many of those marks, and for the first third of the story, I reveled in the familiarity of Dane's style and worldbuilding and the way she sets up stories and draws character. This book has a couple references to characters from other books, which made me grin. That kind of thing is part of what I enjoy about reading so much of an author's work. 

The hero's family is just wonderful and complex and was one of my favorite things about this book. The heroine is very strong and unabashedly sexual and also has these hints of vulnerability that were lovely. I adored her so much. This book also shines in its depiction of the workplace setting for the romance, I loved the way the barber shop was described, the slow burn of their connection at work, and the moment when they decide to really go for each other. I also loved how much of the romance happened at work, the ways we saw their connection grow in that setting.

The heroine is a trauma survivor, and is currently being harmed by her abusive parents. This isn't  only abuse in the past, its also very present tense, and that shifts how the story feels. It doesn't feel like a hopeful narrative about a survivor reclaiming her life and finding love and support, it feels like a character who is abused all throughout the story and barely chooses to take steps to protect herself til the very end. The support of the hero, her workplace, the family that adopted her as a kid and that adopted her as an adult, none of that feels nearly as hopeful, because its part of a life where she is still being harmed. It makes this a very different kind of narrative than the others I've read by this author. A darker, less hopeful narrative, one that feels very weighed down by the abuse. 

I wanted to root for them as a couple, as I do think they are good for each other and I did enjoy some of those moments in the story. I had a hard time because with how dark the story felt, because of the continuing abuse, and how it was a shadow over the story for almost all of it. It made it more a painful read than an enjoyable one. I did really like the ways that the heroine is shown grappling with whether certain aspects of the hero were signs that he might be like her abuser. That felt like such a real and important aspect of romance for a survivor, one that resonated a lot for me. 

This was exacerbated by the ending. In other work by this author, whatever present day threat that existed related to the trauma gets resolved to a place where as a reader it feels like the heroine is safe. This book does not do that. It ends with a clear imminent threat to the heroine that is not yet addressed. And not just to her, but to her sister as well. (Who is the heroine of book 2.) This ending, and how fast the story resolves after a confrontation with the abuser, left me feeling very unsettled as a reader, moreso than with a usual cliffhanger. I am supposed to be happy for the couple together, but instead am just worried about the heroine & her sister. 

The sex scenes felt less joyous and held less heat for me than some of Dane's other work, though the chemistry between the MCs was really glorious. I think they may have been overshadowed by the darkness in the story. I was still reeling from the big conflict near the end, and the last sex scene felt off for me as I was reeling. 

I was troubled by the way the sister was represented. She is a survivor of intense trauma, one that changed the direction of her life, and she clearly has PTSD and there are vague references to mobility issues as a result. She is frequently framed as disabled and needing support, and often as someone who needs protection and cannot make independent choices. This is challenged somewhat, but even though the heroine recognizes the importance of her independence, she also struggles to support it and often wants to make choices for her and act as a shield for her, and put her needs first. This kind of dynamic is loaded because she's disabled, in a way that it might not be otherwise, and it made me uncomfortable to read, as a disabled person with PTSD.  This book is a lot about protection, and recognizing the need to step back and let people make their own choices, even if you want to shield them, but this theme feels a bit underdeveloped in this particular relationship. (It is better developed in the romance arc.) I am glad to know that the sister gets her own book (Jagged, book 2), and from the blurb on the author's website, that book is a lot about her insisting on independence. 

This is a bit of a departure from what I've come to expect in Dane's contemporary work, particularly in the level of darkness of the story, and the ending, and for me as a reader, the book suffered some for it. It may partly be due to my knowing her contemporary backlist so well; for a reader coming in prepared, or without expectations, it may work quite well. 

(The trigger warnings below reveal significant information about the plot that is found out very late in the story.)


Trigger Warnings 
References to kidnapping and torture in the past. Detailed description of an incident of child sexual abuse in the past, with the child getting blamed for the abuse by her parents. Many detailed descriptions of child abuse, especially emotional abuse, but physical abuse and neglect as well. Many detailed descriptions of stalking, threats, menacing, controlling behavior and emotional abuse of adult child by parent, including use of misogynist and whorephobic slurs. A secondary character who is a kidnapping survivor with PTSD and minor physical impairments as a result of the trauma, is frequently treated by family members as helpless, needing protection, and as someone who doesn't get to make her own choices for herself; this is challenged somewhat by her and other characters in the book, including the heroine. The book ends with an imminent threat to the heroine and to this characters independence, and a plan but no action taken to secure either of them from that threat. (I'm assuming, based on the description for book 2 on the author's website, that this choice is about setting up book 2 in the series, which centers this character.)

We always buy Lauren Dane for our library.  She has the perfect blend of heat and heart.