"Maybe This Time" A whisky and Weddings novel by Nicole McLaughlin
I loved this story.. Jen and TJ what wonderful characters. They broke my heart. They made me laugh. I am so very glad I read this story. A contemporary romance that has your emotions going up and down and all around. Life can deliver some hard knocks, and sometimes what you think you want or how things are,,, well it just isn't so after all.

A really good take on the childhood sweethearts and hidden crushes turning into love trope – both main characters’ craving and yearning for each other, especially the hero, TJ, was really touching.
I also love the Beta hero, a bit geeky, but so earnest, loyal and protective. He and the heroine are opposites somehow, but they understand and complement each other very well.

I enjoyed this read by this Author!

I fell in love with the characters, setting, friends-- and the second chance at love romance! And that ending.... SIGH!!! I LOVED IT!!!!!

I look forward to reading more by this Author!!

4 stars from me.

Recv'd a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book by this author I have read and it was quite enjoyable. The characters were cool, the plot was entertaining, and the conflict strong. They have secretly liked the other since high school and twelve years later he is her boss. Now since high school, she has had a chip on her shoulder towards him, too. She overheard him say some nasty stuff when they were in school and she hasn’t forgotten it or let him have one peaceful moment. She is feisty, and likes to give him a hard time all the time. He has liked her for years but now that he is her boss he tries to keep his distance and their back and forth verbal spats don’t make it easy. But when he sees her with a rival bar owner, he can’t sit by silently any longer. Their chemistry was fiery, which isn’t surprising based on their back and forth verbal fighting. She is so insecure in why he might actually like her and her defense mechanism is to push away. They were sweet to watch work through their struggles and come to terms with their love for each other. It was an enjoyable story.

Maybe This Time is a phenomenal contemporary romance by Nicole McLaughlin. Ms. McLaughlin has given us a well-written book, a nice smooth read. The characters in this book will tug at your heartstrings in this second chance romance. Kudos to Ms. McLaughlin for the outstanding characters. Jen is crushed when the community theater she works for closes. She is forced to take a temp job working for the Stag Distillery. TJ is one of the owners of the Stag Distillery and broke Jen's heart when they were kids. Their story is an emotional rollercoaster of drama, humor, hurt feelings, worry, sizzle and misunderstandings. I enjoyed reading Maybe This Time. This book captured me at the first page and kept me glued to my kindle until the end. Maybe This Time is book 2 of the Whiskey and Weddings Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

I voluntarily read an Advance Reader Copy of this book that I received from NetGalley.

A sweet contemporary romance novel. The cover does not do this one any justice! A must read

Okay, if you're going to have a cutesy, light and fluffy cover and a vanilla backstory, don't start off the book in high school when the leading lady of the story asks the leading man if he jacks off with his left hand. Boy, did that throw me for a loop. And then, the heroine just has a bad attitude pretty much non-stop. It was super off-putting and I abandoned ship pretty quickly. Hook the reader with something to like about the heroine before you hit them upside the head with negativity and sarcasm. Yikes. This book, or rather, this heroine, was not for me.

Sweetie cute read. Definitely a beach read. Fun likeable characters you want to get to know.

I'm all for unexpected heroines. Snarky, rumpled, shy, awkward ... bring them on.

But I felt that this book was a real mismatch of cover and story. I downloaded this expecting to get a sweet, romantic wedding story. Instead, I get a first chapter set back in high school where the main character banters with the probable love interest by making jokes about how he jerks off. Okaaaaay. Fast forward and she's a tattooed bartender and he has a girlfriend.

It's possible I could have liked this book if I'd gone in with different expectations. Maybe the cover should have showed the sleeve of tattoos on Jen's left arm...

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Jen Mackenzie's life has been even rougher than usual lately – her mom has cancer, and she lost her job when the local community theater had to shut down due to lack of funding. Luckily, she has been able to get a job at the Stag, a popular distillery and wedding venue. The catch – one of the Stag's owners is TJ Laughlin, Jen's crush from school, who nevertheless always had a way of making her feel bad about herself. TJ has also always had a crush on Jen, and he can't hide it anymore. TJ wants to take care of Jen and convince her to trust him and let him in.

This story seemed more wish fulfillment than realistic. <spoiler>TJ's ability and eagerness to solve every problem Jen has, and Jen's mom's miraculous recovery were two of the more blatant examples.</spoilers> I would be interested to see how their relationship would be 10 years down the road. If you are looking for escapism, this is a good story to take your mind off of life.

I found this second book in the Whiskey and Weddings series tough to review. While I enjoyed most of the story and really liked TJ and even the secondary characters, I often had a tough time liking Jen. Jen's personality at times was just too difficult to like. And while she had a tough life, sometimes her snarkiness was just too much. To the point that I have no idea what a nice guy like TJ saw in her. Fortunately Jen had her moments when she was likable, enough of them that I was able to overall like the story. I would look for more from this author and this series just because I really enjoyed the secondary characters.

This is the second book in this very enjoyable series set in a boutique whiskey distillery/bar/wedding venue, The Stag.

Three guys own the distillery, Dean, TJ and Jake. The first book was Dean's story, this one is TJ's story. TJ has had a 'thing' for Jen, their bar-tender and temporary receptionist since they were in school together, but Jen has always thought TJ didn't particularly like her and they have always had a bit of a snarky relationship where Jen enjoys winding TJ up, even though she has also really liked him since school. I really loved Jen's character, she had such attitude!

Jen is really struggling with lots of things, her Mother has cancer and even though she is trying to be there for her they have never had a real Mother/daughter relationship, she lost her job in a community theatre when they lost their funding and had to close down, and she is really struggling money-wise and lives in a horrible apartment block, with her Mother in another apartment in the same complex.

But she really enjoys her bar-tending job and finds that she surprisingly likes her receptionist job helping out with weddings at The Stag and is a very people person, even though she really misses her theatre job.

Then events conspire to throw TJ and Jen together more and more, and TJ finally admits his feelings for Jen when it looks like she may have another admirer, and they start getting closer. Of course there are hiccups along the way, but they are both strong characters and work through things eventually.

Very easy reading series with some great characters. I look forward to reading the next book about Jake.

I received an advanced reader's copy of this book.

Jen, the heroine, had quite a bit of emotional baggage to work through in this story. There were some aspects of her character and actions I didn't quite relate to but I found her interesting nonetheless. I liked watching her progress and how she put her life back on course. I liked the hero, TJ, and how he became steadfast in his support of Jen. It was nice to see them reach their HEA.

This is the second book in the Whiskey and Weddings Series. 

Jen has had a hard life growing up on the wrong side of town and developed a hard shell around her heart. In high school she was the odd one. Until the entire school found out she had a talent. All she wants is to act and sing in theater and when that dream closes she does the best she can to take care of her mother and herself, but she's made some bad financial choices and she's suspicious of any kindness towards her.

TJ seems like the perfect guy. Rich parents, huge home, owns his own business and is in all accounts perfect. But what he sees is his distant, philandering father, his alcoholic mother and feeling like he will never measure up to his siblings.

Can two slightly damaged people open their hearts to love? Well you have to read the book!  This was a good read. I love the characters, there was a lot of depth there and I can't wait to see who is next to take the plunge in the next book!

Well Done!

Netgalley/St.Martin's Press   February 27,2018

Maybe This Time by Nicole McLaughlin is the 2nd book in her wonderful Whiskey and Weddings series. I really enjoyed the first book, and after finishing this one, I loved it equally as well.

Jen Mackenzie, our heroine, is a tough and independent young lady, who barely makes ends meet. She works at the Stag (whiskey distillery) as a bartender, and also fills in to help with bookkeeping and phones. The distillery has plenty of room to rent out space for weddings, etc. Jen lost her fun job as a lead singer in a local theater that closed down. At the Stag, the three young owners like Jen and want her to stay, even when the girl on maternity leave comes back.

TJ Laughlin is one of the owners, and has always had a secret crush in her back in their school days. Jen comes from the wrong side, always poor, and even now she finically has it hard, since she is trying to take care of her mother, who is undergoing chemo for cancer treatments. Mother and daughter give each other a hard time. TJ comes from money, and he doesn’t care where Jen is from. He tries to be nice, but her independence and hiding her own secret feelings for TJ makes her always reply sarcastically. She doesn’t believe that TJ would even look at her, and her behavior with s him is defensive

They both had their own family issues. TJ did not have a good relationship with his father, who was not a nice man. Jen also did not get along with her mother, but now she tries to help, but her mother is hard and giving up on life. Despite their personal issues, they both are hard workers, and respect each other.


What follows is a slow built romance between two people who have known each other all their lives; each with different backgrounds and both unable to see what was right in front of them. I really enjoyed a TJ and Jen finally act on their feelings. TJ was such a sweet & great guy; I loved him from the start. Jen was fun and sassy, but s bit stubborn being unable to believe that TJ would really be interested in her.


Nicole McLaughlin did a beautiful job bringing both of them together; so well done, as I loved every moment. The secondary characters were also great, especially Dean & Charlotte (previous book heroes). Maybe This Time was a fun, sexy, entertaining romance that also had some serious issues with families. Whiskey and Weddings is a enjoyable and fun series that you should be reading. I suggest you start with the first book, Maybe I Do.

This book is a chick lit story, that is a fun & easy read. Check it out!

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for a copy of this book. A modern romance between a female with a difficult history but lots of talents and a successful businessman. A good light read.

This story has both cursing (including f-bombs) and on-screen sex. If those will cause you to leave a bad review, you should probably skip this one.

If you take one thing from my review, let it be this – Nicole McLaughlin can write a super hot kiss. I read a lot of sexy books but I was in awe of this author's ability to write a kiss. I highlighted and returned to the kiss at her desk more than once because it floored me how beautifully – and sexily – the whole scene was written. Five star kisses.

This was a really strong story with very strong writing. There was a lot of drama from start to finish, but even though a lot of calamity happened, it never felt over-done or eye-roll worthy. There were a ton of heart-felt moments that made me sigh happily but also a few that made my eyes want to leak when I read them. TJ and Jen's relationship was so incredibly adorable. I loved how they built their relationship organically (their first date was so unique but so, so perfect) even when they were forced into close proximity. Although I struggled with TJ, I loved the ending of this story. It was everything I wanted. (***SLIGHT SPOILERS TO END OF PARAGRAPH***) My only issues with this book were how cold and callous Jen was about her mom's life outlook for the first half of the story. Wow. While her frustration was totally understandable, I was hoping she'd stop judging her mom for being so bone-deep depressed about having cancer. Thankfully, their relationship got better and she gained insight into both her and her mom's behaviors. I also struggled with TJ's secret – that's what kept this from being a five star read. I understood why he felt like he had to keep it but I've got to admit, that would have been a deal-breaker for me because that was a huge and horrible thing to keep from Jen. That she forgave him shows just how much she'd grown since the beginning of the book.

If you enjoy a book about two really imperfect characters who come together and smooth out each other's rough edges and become stronger together than they were apart, you should read this book. I look forward to more from this author.

I requested and was generously granted an ARC via NetGalley and the publisher. I very much appreciate the opportunity to read this book.

This is just a wonderful book. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed the story. It is a must read. I just loved TJ.

This was a well crafted story about two people with long term issues attempting to work it out together. Jen and TJ were both flawed but endearing in their growth on the path to love. The sex was over the top, however, and detracted from the story. Other than that it was an engaging offering from Nicole McLaughlin.