This is an amazing debut for this author! Declan and Avery's characters were a bit different from the usual which made this a real page-turner for me. I loved that Avery "appeared"to be comfortable in her own skin when in fact she had moments of doubt and that Declan saw the real person in Avery from the moment he met her. And Declan...wow, he is most definitely the dark, tattooed rocker-the perfect "match" to Avery's gasoline. I did miss the confident, sexy Declan that we meet at the beginning of the book, but that goes hand in hand with the broody, intense direction that this read takes the further you get into it. I would definitely read more from this author. I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC for NetGalley.

This book was broody and deep but equally light and funny! I absolutely loved the main characters and their journey to one another!

Avery and her friend are in New Orleans for a fun vacation. They are drawn to the Big Easy's nightlife and meet some very interesting people along the way. Avery meets a handsome singer and the two are drawn together in a mutual attraction. The story was appealing but I was drawn to the aspect that Avery was a "curvy" woman and had some anxiety about her size. She was not the "perfect" woman character like most are in romantic stories, she was a "real" woman like most people are today. The singer that she meets has no qualms about her size. It was refreshing to read about real people with real issues! This story line scored four stars for me!

Moonlight & Whiskey by Tricia Lynne will be available March 12, 2019 from Loveswept, an imprint of Random House Publishing Group. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

I loved this book! It's not very often you read a story about a "big girl", one who isn't 120 pounds, blonde, you know, what guys normally go after. A guy like Declan surely wouldn't want Avery. I had some trouble with his name, kept calling him Duncan. I really thought this book would be the same old story, drama, sex, drama, etc. But it was different. Avery truly finds out who she is. And gets the guys.

A take-no-s*** heroine, a rockin’ hero, and the city of New Orleans are the stars of the show in Moonlight & Whiskey. Tricia Lynne’s debut shows she has a lot of promise as an author – the way she writes about NOLA makes you feel like you’re really there. The city is a vivid, luscious character in and of itself and was unquestionably my favorite part of the book.

I really wanted to like Avery and there are some things I really did enjoy about her. Watching her come into her own in her professional life was fantastic and she has some body image issues that make her relatable. But aside from that, Avery is a bit much for me. She tends to go from zero to one hundred in no time flat, she and her best friend can be crass (and it takes a lot to put me off in that area), and she just felt too over-the-top all the time with very few breathers. Declan starts out the book a pretty hot hero (who doesn’t love a hero who’s a bad boy/skilled lover/kind soul?), but the deeper he and Avery fall in love, the more his demons are brought out. There’s a lot of talk of the light and the dark in Moonlight & Whiskey, especially as it relates to Declan, and sometimes I felt like I was getting repeatedly hit over the head with this particular theme.

The romance is filled with erotic moments, but once the book starts travelling down the light/dark path the passion turns into flat-out drama. There are times Avery and Declan work really well together, but I wanted something more substantial than what was given to make me believe in them as a couple given how quickly they fall in love. A lot of overused tropes start appearing as well in the latter half of the book (the big misunderstanding, pushing someone away for their own good, the heroine who is always overlooked yet two very different kinds of guys fall all over themselves for her, etc.). I don’t want to spoil the story, but many of the obstacles in the way of Avery and Declan’s happily ever after don’t feel organic. There’s a certain character’s interference in particular that just felt shoehorned in for added drama and honestly I just wanted to shake all the characters and tell them to calm the f*** down for five minutes. Call it reader preference, but for me if there’s high drama there also needs to be some balance or the characters start to seem immature and the entire reading experience is like being hit by a two-by-four.

As I mentioned before, Moonlight & Whiskey is Ms. Lynne’s debut and while I had issues with the characters and romance, there really are times in the story her writing was captivating. The way she brought NOLA to life ensures that I’ll definitely want to read another one of her books because I’m interested to see how she grows as an author.

This was a smokin' hot and intense roller coaster with complicated and stubborn characters and I thought it was an awesome read!

Avery and Declan had sizzling chemistry. It could be flirty and playful, off the charts hot and sexy, as well as emotional and tense. Avery has a fiery attitude and is full of spunk, I liked her instantly. Declan is super sexy and has this edge to him I really liked. There are inner demons to be fought and personal battles to deal with and I really liked how it all unfolded while learning their histories and embracing their personalities. This story is very insta-lust and I pretty much embraced that aspect to fully enjoy it. Overall it really worked even though there were a few things that felt over the top. When I say this story was hot, I mean it was cold shower worthy… these two together were on fire!

There's a nice cast of characters from Avery's best friend to Declan's bandmates. I liked all the different dynamics and relationships that were happening and how that played into the story. I'd love to see the best friend get her own story, I really like what was set up in this one.

The writing was good, there was a decent pace and nice descriptions. There's drama and angst, emotion and heat, I thought it was really well rounded. Avery and Declan could both be pretty hard headed and some times that back and forth between them got to be a little much but they got there in the end. It was a great HEA!

I thought Moonlight and Whiskey had great entertainment value and was hooked! It was exciting to read. This was my first time reading this author and I'd definitely read more. Great way to kick off a series!

This was a HOT book! I really enjoyed the curvy, confident heroine. She was a little extra and I loved it. This was a quick and dirty story with a great love story set in one of the best cities in the world: New Orleans! I will definitely be reading more by this author.

Really enjoyed this romance story.
Love the characters,dialogue twists,romance.
A story about finding love and believing that you are good enough to get it from unlikely people
Great romance.
Voluntarily reviewed.

I read this book straight through in one sitting. It was that good. Its brash, gutsy at times a bit rude and crude. But i liked it. Other times its angsty, deeply philosophical, unapologetically romantic. And i liked it! This book had so much more depth to it. The main characters, Avery and Declan are real hotheads with hidden soft sides. I love that Avery is an engineer!!! Way to go, girl! Declan is a talented musician. When they come together sparks fly.
The writing was well done, characters were believable and fun to watch.
Highly recommended!

Appreciation to NetGally for arc in exchange for honest review.

Moonlight & Whiskey
By Tricia Lynne

The romance reader world is quite large. You are always seeing blurbs about new books and being encouraged to follow new authors. And if you’re like me, yeah, you’ll occasionally try out a new author but mostly you stick to your tried and true. At least until that new author gets some traction. I heard the buzz around Whiskey & Moonlight. Especially about the first couple of scenes (and believe me they were NOT wrong) so I took a chance and decided to give this book a go.

Usually, this is where I give a snippet of the book. You know tease you into wanting to read it for yourself. Read the blurb for the book. READ IT. It is that and SO MUCH MORE. From the very beginning, this book had me. I want to be Avery. Her…personality, spirit, mojo? I don’t know what to call it but it leaped off the pages. Tricia Lynne did such a fantastic job, not just painting a picture of the main characters, Avery & Declan but the sub-characters? JUST AS WONDERFUL. Not only were the characters phenomenal but the way Tricia Lynne built the story and the locations and the ambiance….all of it just melded together into perfection.

I will finish by saying for her first book Tricia Lynne knocked it out of the park, home run, touchdown, whole in one and all those other sports analogies that mean this book IS THE SH*T! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll pull out a notebook to write down all the great phrases tossed around in this book!! As for me? I’m going back to read it again!!!

A sweet and sexy story of love and demons. Avery and Declan collide and the sparks fly. They set out on a tenuous journey of discovering each other. Coming from places of self doubt and past disappointments neither are willing to commit anything more than their bodies and a short term relationship. Fate has a different plan for them and they have to adjust. It is a steamy, angsty read that will blow your socks off. The scenes are vibrant and beautiful and will leaving hankering for a trip to find your own sweet ending.

Choking on angst and cliches

I would like to thank Tricia Lynne, Loveswept/Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book definitely wasn’t to my taste. I requested it several months ago and can’t remember what appealed to me about it to begin with, but I don’t usually get into the sexually graphic, angsty, uber urban young-and-free type of books that are trendy in romance the last several years. The exception could be Jay Crownover’s books, but I haven’t read one in a long while. Maybe if I read one now I’d find them pretty angsty, too. (Which reminds me to check the library for new ones… *runs search* *gasps* There are! Yesss….) I guess I have a hard time relating to that type of story, being a reserved rural farm girl surrounded by family and friends who hold their traditional values in a white-knuckled grip. Plus these books tend to be spilling over with angst, immaturity, and melodrama, all of which I have little patience for. On top of that, a lot of them read like fanfiction—which is why many of them are ebooks.

Does this one fit that bill? In my opinion, yes. The book revolves around characters who could power the east coast with their angst, and the story is full of cliches:

Overly sensitive lead characters who blame their failings on mommy and daddy issues? Check.

Rich characters who don’t care how much money they’re spending? Check. (To be fair, it’s mentioned that the heroine, at least, grew up on a budget and keeps to one herself when she’s not spoiling herself on vacation. I can let that one go, even though she earns a six-figure salary. But the others? Not so much. I mean Jesus, I could become a billionaire and a $3,000 dinner or $1,300 vinyl would still make me feel ill.)

Spunky best friend sidekick who encourages the heroine to be irresponsible and calls it “fun”? Check.

Rock band composed of super hot guys who could make it big but choose not to because the only people who want to be famous are egotistical losers who have nothing else going for them? *deadpan stare* Check.

A supposedly strong woman letting a man get away with being an asshole because he’s sex on a stick? Check. I don’t care if he was just trying to rile her because he had some weird kink for getting dressed down by her. He was pretty much encouraging her to be an asshole, which made them both assholes. While it was amusing to watch her snap back at him—the first couple of times—the dignified thing to do would have been to just get up and walk away because she had better things to do and better people to spend her time with.

The leads jumping to RIDONKULOUS conclusions about one another having been intimate with other people, which makes no sense and undermines the intelligence they’ve shown up to that point? Check.

One or both of them spiraling down beyond rock bottom in a super pathetic fashion that nullifies any respect I have for them? Check.

One or both of them being disgustingly arrogant and rejecting the other to save him or her from a terrible relationship and therefore life? Check.

Hero and heroine talking marriage the moment they make up, which is totally out of character? Check.

Characters regularly talking about songs and bands, most of which I’ve never heard of nor give two shits about? Check.

*sigh* Yeah. I can only assume this manuscript got picked up because Lynne’s writing style is fantastic; she knows how to use words to great effect. Narrative-wise, though, this was incredibly lazy storytelling. After only about a third of the way, I started checking my progress to see how much was left. By halfway, I was skimming if not skipping pages. I have to wonder if a developmental edit was done on an early draft; if so, that was money down. The. Crapper.

As for specific gripes, here are a few that topped the list.

That first chapter where we get to watch…crap, what’s her name? *thinks hard* Shit. *looks it up* Avery. Where we get to see Avery have her ass waxed—that was completely unnecessary. Not because I’m a prude, but because it was largely useless to the narrative. 1: It didn’t need to be mentioned that Avery liked to watch porn, because that information has nothing to do with the plot. It barely had anything to do with her character. She could still have stood transfixed and appreciative while she watched that couple have sex in the alley; it could have been explained then that she simply enjoyed visuals, which there’s no shame in, just as she casually mentioned it to Declan later. 2: Getting waxed—or at least our witnessing it—was similarly unnecessary. Other than a few crude comments about feeling sweat in her butt crack, her lack of hair down there is never brought up again that I recall, not even during the many graphic sex scenes.

Sure, that first chapter was making the point that she was willingly stepping outside her comfort zone in an effort to—well, to more or less relax and have fun, though I don’t consider ripping the hair off my lady bits to be either relaxing or fun. That point could have been made in ways that suited the character and the narrative better—such as her forcing herself to leave her desk and walk away from work despite fires cropping up that she would normally bend over backward to put out. If Lynne wanted Avery’s arc to involve standing up to the jerks at work, that’s cool, but you have to show us the starting point, or we’re not going to appreciate the end point; that climax won’t affect us. Yeah, she was always on her phone and went to that odious party, but we should have gotten a glimpse of her ugly work life right off the bat. You have to demonstrate the “normal world” before the character goes on their journey so the reader can gauge and appreciate the changes.

Next, the switching POVs. This was a major red flag of inexperience. You can’t start switching POVs between the heroine and hero in the last quarter of the book. If you do, it better be for a damn good reason, otherwise it’s sloppy, jarring, and irritating. If you wanted us to see things from Declan’s POV, you should have started that shit at the beginning. Starting it at the end like that was just…really weird. It was also weird when Declan suddenly developed self-esteem issues toward the end, at the party. For over half the book he was an alpha male afraid only of falling in love—another cliche—then one pompous jackass in a suit looks down his nose at him and he figuratively curls into a ball, rocking and blubbering about how he’s not good enough for her? God, that was annoying. Embarrassing, even.

Lastly—because I really don’t want to think about this book anymore—if you’re going to have a heroine who’s plus-size and, more importantly, have her plus-size-ness be a big part of her character and factor into her relationship with the hero, go big or go the fuck home. Don’t give her a “relatively flat” stomach or one small roll when she sits or say she’s got a mere thirty pounds on a model. A six-foot model who’s retired and doesn’t have to count calories yet is still pretty goddamn thin is—what? 120, 130? 140, tops. Add thirty pounds on a woman who’s taller than average at five-seven? Overweight, yes. Chubby, absolutely. Shake-the-ground-when-you-walk fat? No.

In that vein, you wanna know what really pisses me off? The cover. The woman is completely hidden. All you can see is her hand, jawline, and part of her shoulder, all of which look pretty damn slim to me. It’s just sad, a story that revolves around a self-love theme doesn’t even reflect that theme on the cover. Because thick women don’t sell, huh? No one wants to have to look at that in the bookstore. I mean, barf. *rolls eyes*

My advice to Lynne would be to study story: theme, setup and payoff, rule of three, arcs for both character and narrative. She’s a great writer, obviously talented, and she could become a wonderful novelist with some practice. It’s just unfortunate people are going to pay to read that practice. Also, get a different developmental editor. Or seek one out if you skipped it.

My advice to the publisher? Put a fucking plus-size woman on the cover of a book that’s about a fucking plus-size woman. Jesus Christ. Also, putting an ampersand in the title is really annoying for metadata. Just use the word “and.”

noapologybookreviews.com

This fun title had me in the emotions from the beginning. Avery is a take no prisoners leading lady. She's brash, snarky and self deprecating. I was waiting to see what she would say next after she first opened her mouth. Declan is the man for her... From their meet cute to the first rockstar performance, you can feel the pull between the two of them. There is frustration as their own insecurities manage to cause problems at every single opportunity, but when you combine these two with Ms Lynne's ability to make New Orleans a living, breathing character, you've got a winning combination. This is one of my favorites this year. I'd love to see what happens with the other Blacksmith characters I fell in love with.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say this book will make it to my Top 10 of 2019. I know, I know...it’s only February but I can not adequately say how much I loved this book. NOLA is my favorite city and I felt like I was right back there reading this book. The descriptions brought me back to my time on the French Quarter. The characters are beautifully rounded and leave me praying that we get more of them in future books. Declan and Avery’s love story was beautifully written!

Meh. I've read better, and I've read worse.
This wasn't anything new or fresh. You've got the badboy rocker with demons and the "not like other girls" girls who are soulmates and you know exactly how it'll all play out. It started losing me around 60% with all the dark-side-light-side and "demons" talk. I also didn't care for how crass/crude the characters were. It's not my cup of tea and felt unnecessary.

Good story, engaging characters. I liked the Nola setting. The juxtaposition of the main character’s work and play personas was interesting..

By day Avery is a straight laced business woman, who keeps her true self under wraps, for fear of her co-workers seeing the real woman that lies beneath her modest pants suits. In her work world she knows you have to keep your head down, work hard, and don't make waves to become successful, and she has mastered that. But at what cost?

With her upcoming vacation she plans to let loose a little, and let the woman trapped beneath the suit out for a bit to breath. Which also means the suits will be staying home in her closet, and her sexy clothes will be on full display, and hopefully play nicely into her little plan. She needs the company of a man, and she is hoping her well accentuated curves will lure one in. But nothing could have prepared her for the uber sexy, tattooed rocker that finds his way into her heart and her bed...

Moonlight and Whiskey is a sizzling debut that satisfies on many fronts! It comes brimming with loads of angst, sexiness, and gut-wrenching emotion to give your heart a good squeeze and leave your knees weak. This engaging story line and it's sassy, confident heroine kept me enthralled from start to finish, at times she had me feeling like I was right along with her on her little adventure. I just cannot say enough good things about this one, the writing was impeccable, characters were superbly crafted, and it spoke volumes to my heart and fed my spirit! Highly recommend!!

I requested an advanced copy of this title from NetGalley, and I am leaving my honest and unbiased opinion.

Talk about laughter and pain pulled together in a beautiful blend of erotic banter, raw sex, and fast building romance/friendship.
You have Avery a thirty-year-old female engineer trying to make partner at her firm. Highly unlikely but she keeps dreaming. Oh yeah, and working her ass off cleanup all the men’s messes on top of doing her own work. In fact, this vacation she is finally going on with her college best friend will be a working one.
Katia, ex-model and now the photographer is not happy she can’t say no or won’t say no as Kat likes to say. Kat is somewhat royalty in New Orleans where they are going on this trip. So, this trip is all on her say. Avery is prepared to be excited. But she knows that even though Kat’s not living the life of a model and she eats and is much happier she still outweighs her in boobs alone.
Both love the other for who they are flaws and all no matter what. Avery just had a hard time being Kat’s DUFF (designated ugly fat friend) all through college. And all though they have code on how to handle the guys now doesn’t hurt any less being the one the guys hit up for info on her. Or asked out to get info or so you would put in a good word for them.
Killing Avery’s spirit worse than her father did. Then add her last ex-and you have a huge disaster for destruction. Who really wants that? So, she is not back on the saddle so to speak. 😉
Then she gets bumped into by Declan and her whole world is turned upside down by this sexy tattooed demigod. And when he can’t seem to take his eyes off her lips her rack even after she gave him a dressing down for not watching where he was going, she knew there was chemistry. Then he asks her out though that’s too fast.
Kat says yes for her though. See how the romance begins and all the humor and heartache in between go. This is intense and fast-paced. Wires get crossed when fear of relationships get talked about.
I give this: 5++++ stars. Provided by netgalley.com.

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Wow, I loved it! From the very first page, this novel just sucked me in and would not let me go till the very last one. I just loved Avery, I loved her confidence and her sass. Declan was all that and a bag of chips. I loved the chemistry between the two. It was so good. I love when a novel can make you laugh, feel like your heart is going to break and then leave you with a smile on your face. This novel did that for me. I loved it! I can't wait to see what this author writes next.

Moonlight & Whiskey by Tricia Lynne is sin and spice and everything naughty and nice! It had me laughing out loud and shedding tears.

This is the first book I read by this author and it won’t be the last.

A story of learning how to love oneself flaws and all.

Avery works as an engineer. She is very staid and plain but she also moonlights as a sassy, sexy, foul-mouthed woman. On a trip to New Orleans, she plans to let loose her playful and care-free side.

Here, she meets Declan, sexy and kind, he is also the lead singer of a rock band. He also seems “in” to her. But is he really?

As the heat and passion rises between Avery and Declan, so do their protective walls. Will they be brave enough to believe in themselves as well as the epic love that awaits them if and when they do?

From the first chapter, I was engaged. I saw myself in Avery. Being a bigger woman myself, I could draw parallels and understand her motivation, reasoning and fear.

Avery was funny, sassy, sweet and an absolute firecracker! I loved her character even though I must say, there were times where she made me angry.

Declan, OMG! He is such a sexy man! A man that we all aspire to have. He helps his woman feel like a woman. He also helps build confidence where it lacks in Avery simply by treating her the way a woman is supposed to be treated.

This couple without a doubt was meant for each other.

I also cared about the secondary characters in this book and hope they will each get their stories told.

This was a funny, down to earth read with all the feels. A story of being happy and comfortable in your own skin and of reclaiming your power as a woman to feel sexy and desirable at any size.

An amazing read not to be missed!

I received an ARC via NetGalley of this book. All thoughts an opinions are my own.