With her latest novel, Maybe for You (Whiskey and Weddings #3), author Nicole McLaughlin has done it again. I have read many of her books, although none of her series necessarily in order, but they are all great standalones with smooth, believable storylines and plots, and well-developed characters that you can’t help but love.

Alexis Parker has just lost her fiancé and is now trying to find meaning in life, a life that will be nothing like the one she had planned. She spends a little time at her brother’s distillery and connects as a friend with one of his partners, Jake Cooperon. Then the story moves forward a year. This is a perfect plot device. A year seems like a long time except for this story we don’t care about all the details of Alex’s final military assignment, we just know that a year is long enough after losing her finance Nathan to maybe move on. Nathan’s memory will always be precious and treasured but it’s okay to keep those memories while making new ones. And now we wonder if some of those new memories might be with Jake. Jake was Alex’s best friend while she was gone the past year. They kept in touch via email and social media and she poured out her heart to him. It felt safe because they were “just friends.” Now she’s back and she wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that friendship, even though she does feel a strong attraction to Jake that she hadn’t realized was there. Jake also values their friendship and would never hurt Alex, but he’s starting to feel little vibes as well. They partner on a Stag Distillery cross-country promotional tour and the fun begins. Jake has a reputation as a playboy that he is trying to shake. Alex has never been one for one-night stands. But can they resist? And what exactly would that mean? Are they ready for more than a fling?

This is a sweet, sweet story that I did not want to end. Alex is afraid of losing more people in her life that she loves and resists becoming close. Jake has always felt that he disappointed those he cared about, didn’t measure up, and has held back. But their tender feelings for one another are so obvious you want to just push them together and say “There!” The plot moves along smoothly with some fun and exciting twists and turns and a very pleasant surprise at the end.

I was provided a copy of Maybe for You from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it and all of Nicole McLaughlin’s books.

Alexis Parker, sister of Dean, is back stateside after a year-long deployment in Italy. For the past year she has been in mourning for her fiance, Nate, who was killed in a helicopter accident just weeks before their wedding.

Coming back to her family and her brother and his two partners in the distillary, she still hasn't really faced her grief and the loving couples all around her are like salt in a wound.


When Jake goes on a two-week tour with the Whiskey RV to check out some festivals and try to drum up some more business for their product, Alex decides to go along.

Her brother is horrified and lets Jake know up front that nothing better happen with his baby sister. But how long can a girl hold out stuck in close quarters with a hunky and so sweet guy?  Not too long I can tell you!

I have so enjoyed this series. There is something damaged in all of these characters but they all have learned to lean on each other and to not let the past define who they want to be in the present.

This was an emotional and sad and happy and hopeful story of forever love and what makes a family.

Well Done!

Netgalley/ St. Martin's Press  August 28, 2018

I am new to this author and when given the opportunity , decided to give her a try.
The story centers around Alexis Parker and Jake Cooperon. Alexis recently lost her fiancee days before their wedding. Jake is a friend of her brother’s as well as one of his business partners.
Shortly after her boyfriend’s death , Alexis leaves for Italy for her last year of deployment. Upon her return to the USA she starts working for her brother.
Needless to say, it’s an emotional story about loss, and heartbreaks . During all of this, Jake has been not only a friend but also a confident. It’s obvious he has feelings for her.
I have to confess, after a while , I just wanted Alexis to whine less and get over her grief. Jake on the other hand, was a great character.
For me , it was more of a 3.5 star rating book.
I was entrusted this book by Netgalley and St Martin’s Publishing. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

This review is a difficult one to write because Maybe For You wasn't a bad story and it was well written. Jake was great and I really felt for Alexis but this story was just too sad for me. I appreciated what she went through and understood her grief but I just don't want to spend hundreds of pages of wallowing in someone else's grief. Especially when we missed out on all the building of Alexis & Jake's relationship. I would have loved to see those emails and texts they sent while she was Italy to see the building of everything.

I really wanted to like this story but it was only okay for me.

Maybe for You by Nicole McLaughlin is both sad and a happy journey. A young woman loses her parents, and then her fiance. Alex feels like she can never love anyone for fear of losing them. Yet she is falling in love with her best friend, Jake. Jake is known for not having relationships. But with Alex, it feels right. Being with her, Jake feels happy. He now has to prove to her that they're made for each other. Happiness can exist once more. But the journey will be totally chaos. 

Nicole McLaughlin's book made me cry and laugh. The characters just have a way of pulling my heart into their life story. They swept me up into their beautiful chaos. Love, fear, and new beginnings...that's what this book explored. Plans can be difficult. One path closes but another one opens. Alex is a strong yet determined woman to show that she can move forward. Losing a loved one is never easy; however, she held her own. Jake was the good man. Always being there for her, Jake made me swoon from page one. He is this irresistible man that every woman dreams about...overall, I highly recommend this romantic tale to all readers.

Even though this is book three of the series, it didn't really feel like it. To be honest, I didn't realize that it was part of a series until I went to the author's website.

To say that Alexis Parker had a bad year is an understatement--she lost her fiance to a helicopter accident just months before their wedding. Both her and her fiance are in the military. Alex in the Army and Nate is--was in the Air Force. The plan was to have a short leave where the two could get married in Alex's hometown before spending a year long joint deployment in Italy.



Instead, Alex is heading to Italy alone. The only saving grace is Italy does have any memories of Nate. She went to visit all of the places they planned to go. Any time she was emotional, she messaged Jake, her brother's business partner and company playboy. The entire year Alex was in Italy, she was messaging Jake through Facebook Messenger. They didn't go more than three day without communicating to each other. Jake was Alex's rock--her sounding board. But now her deployment is over, she's coming home. For how long? Who knows? Ok, she does but no one else does. She has already interviewed and accepted a position in the CIA in Arlington Virginia. Halfway across the country from her brother who has raised her since her mother and father died.

Jake is picking Alex up from the airport. He has never been so nervous in his life. He keeps rubbing his hands across his jeans. Most of their conversations have been superficial on his end but he listens to Alex's feelings and emotions. He knows that she still loves her dead fiance. But that doesn't stop him from dreaming about her. Wondering what she's doing. Now, she's in the same town. It's awkward. Jake wants more from Alex. He wants what his best friends have--a stable relationship. Ha! That's funny from the resident playboy. The next promotional tour for their whiskey label is about to begin. Jake is grateful. He needs to get away. Jake feels underappreciated and sometimes stupid. All he does is marketing and social media while Dean runs distribution and TJ does the finances. Alex suggests that she tags along with Jake. She wants to travel more and get out of Dean's house more. Dean being in the happy-couple all over the house with his fiancee.

The more time Jake spends with Alex, the more he's falling for her. He doesn't turn Alex down when she asks for a fling during the tour. But Jake gets more than he bargained for. Alex is almost scared away from a revelation. How can Alex have a relationship with Jake when she still loves Nate. Will Nate's ghost ever leave her alone?

A broken heart, wrecked with grief and feel as if life is not worth living and then out of no where the one thing you thought would never happen again happens! Couldn't put this book down!

Alex is sad, really sad. And she has reason to be sad and depressed. Her parents died in a car crash when she was a young teen and she was raised by a loving, overly protective half-brother. Then her fiance died in a plane crash weeks before their wedding. So everyone feels badly for Alex. I feel badly for Alex. But that doesn’t mean I enjoyed reading a whole book of her being sad, crying, moping, and not knowing what she wanted out of life. Maybe that is what real grief is like, but it isn’t exactly what I want a deep-dive into.

Her new BFF is her brother’s good friend and business partner in their whiskey distillery business, Jake. She and jake have been messaging each other for the year since her fiance’s death while she’s been in the military stationed in Italy. She is supposed to be just retired from the military and to have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and that other hot spot - Italy. It never felt real that she was a former soldier. She was the most unbelievable military veteran in any modern romance that I have read. The only references are that she is fit and used to sleeping with other people so snoring doesn’t bother her. Really? For someone who served in two war zones.

Jake is actually a very nice guy. He has a reputation as a player, but he’s nice and charming and not really seeking out the women. They just seem to find him as he travels the country giving out free samples of their whiskey at parties, fairs, and bars. Yeah, why wouldn’t that attract young, drunk women?

He likes Alex and wants to get closer to her. They supposedly spent a year texting with each other that drew them very close together. But we don’t get to read any of those texts; we’re just told that she wrote him messages about her emotions and he told her about what he was doing back in Kansas City. So he already was falling for her because what guy doesn’t love reading a year’s worth of messages about a woman grieving for another guy.

Then they travel the region on his whiskey tour and she spends more time grieving and emoting. I got tired of her, but Jake fell more deeply for her. If you’re up for all the literal grief and sadness, then this is a book you’ll enjoy.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Can two seemingly misfits find the happiness that has eluded them together? After having lost her parents in an auto accident and her fiancé in a military helicopter accident, Alex is now working on figuring out where to go in life as well as which career path to follow. Jake has always felt he did not belong anywhere: his family, his school, and now his partnership in the whiskey distillery. After her brother offers her a marketing job at Stag Distillery, Alex, at a loss for what to do with herself and her life, agrees to accompany Jake on a cross country promotional tour. Though Jake has promised her brother he would remain a gentleman throughout the trip, once they hit the road, things change dramatically for both. The pair plans to keep their fling confined to the RV, and what her older brother does not know will never hurt him. What they do not realize is that, as Jake concludes quickly, they make a perfect pair together. Jake’s biggest problem now becomes whether he can convince Alex of this and to shake up her life a bit, making a path for them together.

Alex definitely has had a difficult and sad story, as can be seen throughout this story. For his part, Jake recognizes this and is overwhelmed by her sadness, wanting to help her any way he can. Their friendship soon grows into more, which was interesting and understandable. I found it fascinating to see how each character coped with the sadness in their pasts and how it affected them and their lives. I could understand why they became friends and more, as each had his/her own demons with which to contend yet chose to help each other. Jake, a known playboy, acted responsibly and thoughtfully, so I could see why they became a pair so quickly and why they wanted to not spread the word of their relationship everywhere. The author definitely handled this with a great deal of care and sensitivity. Still, it was interesting to read about how they handled a crisis that came up in the story, and how that only brought them closer together. All is all, this is a story about loss, friendship, romance and definitely love. It makes a good, easy read, though being a bit of a sob-story. As I said, one strong point of the book is the sensitive way the author handled it all. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

This isn't the first time I have read a book by this author Nicole McLaughlin and it certainly wont be the last. I love her writing. This book is beautiful written about loss and finding love again. This book has hope for lost souls. This book would be a great read no matter where you are. Except to laugh out loud reading this book Maybe for You. This author didn't disappoint in this tale. You will fall in love with Alex, Jake and the whole crew.

Love, love, loved this book. I loved Alex and Jake so much - especially Jake. Alex has experienced a lot of sadness in her life from her parents dying to losing her fiance and she works hard to be content. She and Jake bonded while she was overseas, through messaging on a regular basis. I loved that their relationship was truly friends first and it took a little more effort to act on the physical attraction. These two were truly made for each other, and their story hooked me from the first chapter (to the point, I really want to read more about them.)

While there are two other books in this series, this was the first I'd read and now I'm anxious to go back and read the first two.

I loved this book I found it N emotional story but left me feeling really happy will be looking for more books from this author and will be recommending it to, friends

Lots of trouble can surely erupt when a guy falls in love with his best friend’s sister, including a punch in the mouth and some surly dialog. That is part of the story between Jake and Alexis when they fall into a relationship that they think will only be a temporary, two week thing.
I enjoyed this story about a woman needing some time away from her troubles and a guy who needs to change his playboy ways. Alex lost her fiancé a year ago when he was in an armed services accident. Jake works with her brother at their distillery as the media guru and PR guy but his philandering ways have finally caused trouble for the distillery. When Jake asks Alex to accompany him on a two week PR tour, neither one expects it to also be a romantic tour. The deal is supposed to be done when they return but love and fate have other ideas for them.

Awesomeness! I really hope we see more books in this. Maybe even the mother Jake meets at the airport to Charlotte's ex? It was a lovely story of Alex dealing with loss and finding new love.

This is a voluntary review and I do not get paid for this review.

Nicole Michaels/McLaughlin can do no wrong for me... awesome stories. awesome writing. I love her and I'll always be in her fan club!

The book has a good plot even though never like it when people have to deal with grief. I did end up loving the story and my favorite character is Alexis. The story is about Alexis whose fiancé Nate dies two weeks before their wedding. Her brother offers her a marketing job at the Stag distillery and Alexis agrees to accompany her new co-worker Jake Cooperon a Stag on A promotional tour for the company. Jake and Alexis agree to do a no strings attached kind of relationship while on the road. I hope you like the book as much as I did.

Alex has had a difficult time, but while waiting for her next job to start she helps out Jake while he’s on the road selling their liquor label. I loved how the characters weren’t perfect and didn’t have all the answers, but worked it out as the book continued. I also loved the secondary characters that were included in the book and the epilogue. Great read no matter what season!

This is the first book I have read by this author.

This worked fairly well as a stand alone book though readers of prior books will undoubtedly get more out of it.

Alex was annoying and whinny for most of this book.She needed a therapist not a relationship.Her reactions to things came off as immature to me.She got better but I preferred other characters.

Jake was better but came off as a bit flat.He was the more mature of the two.His transformation from a playboy to one woman man seemed fairly realistic. Though the tension between Dean and him because of Jake's attraction to Alex grew tiresome.

I didn't connect to the hero and heroine in this book.I adored Charlotte though.As I haven't read the others this is based on this being read as a stand alone.

Alexis and Jake have a chance to really get to know each other when they decide to correspond with each other during her one year tour in Italy. Alex is still in mourning after losing her fiance', Nate, 2 weeks prior to their wedding. She views going to Italy as a chance to mourn him while also making future plans that are based on what she wants. When she returns home, she and Jake go on a road trip for the business Jake, her brother (Dean) and TJ have called "The Stag", which sells their home made brews. Jake is considered a commitment phobe and actually takes some flack from his business partners prior to his departure for his womanizing ways while on tour with their product. Jake takes their criticism seriously and vows to change his ways. Alex offers to go with him and tells the others it will help so she can babysit him. Jake has always felt inferior and there were times that Alex didn't take that into consideration at all. Their relationship really was kind of one-sided with her demanding what she wanted and not giving much thought to how others around her felt. She was kind of childish at points and it rubbed me the wrong way at times. Yes she suffered a great loss, but she didn't get to throw toddler tantrums whenever she felt overwhelmed by life. I thought Jake was a great guy throughout and felt he was more than deserving of happiness. It was nice to see him grow as a person.. I hadn't read the other books in this series but had no issue following along. It was a good, solid read and had me intrigued with the other books in this series.
I received an ARC from St. Martin's Press for my honest review.

To me the Whiskey and Weddings series, centered around three hunky men who own a distillery, has been amazing. Dean, TJ and now Jake are realizing they cannot live without their special women, Charlotte, Jen and Alexis, by their side. Jake has been the most interesting in that he seemed to be the most misunderstood of the three guys. He, obviously, has issues from younger days that make him feel 'less than' Dean and TJ, but he does not realize they do not feel that way at all. Each of them brought their personality and strengths to The Stag.

We first met Alexis in book one during Dean and Charlotte's romantic journey. A year after the death of her fiance, she is ready to move on with her life for the most part. Unknown to brother Dean, she and Jake have kept in touch during her year deployment and have a friendship through social media. Jake has supported her, unconditionally, through her year of mourning making a special place for him in her heart.

Part of Jake's job is public relations and sales though the company RV. Alex had wanted to do some traveling before going to work for the CIA and asks to go along on his upcoming trip. Needless to say, stuff happens. They decide it is temporary and they are both adults. Well, their journey is a journey that leads to their HEA, but not without some difficulty along the way.

Nicole McLaughlin is truly one of my favorite authors. If you have not read any of her books, begin now!