i liked this book. it was cute and the humor was on point. i liked the characters and the plot (it was predictable but nice all the same). the story was fast paced, which i appreciated.

I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.
Really enjoyed this book!
It was just what I needed after reading something bad just before this. This was not too heavy or all fluff. It was just right.
The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because I hated the fact that Sam's family was acting as if Sam should not have any animosity towards his backstabbing brother. He was suppose to be happy that his brother and ex were getting married.
I think Sam and Holly was a good couple, even if they started out as faking it. But it quickly turned real.
But I just hated his two-faced backstabbing brother. I seriously think he hated Sam by the way he treated his brother.
And surprisingly by the end I kind of felt sorry for Sam's ex.

I enjoyed this book! A quick, fun easy to read romance! Sarah Robinson has been added to my "must read" list.

3.5 stars

*I had the absolute privilege of getting an ARC from the publisher, Author Collective 2022, and Netgalley and I could not be more grateful. All thoughts and comments are my own.*

Sam is a sexy Southern playboy used to getting his way and Holly is a strong, self-sufficient, woman that has learned to survive through hell and high water. Sam Wylde is trying to overcome the drama pending nuptials of his cheating ex that is marrying none other than his very own younger brother. Sam's solution is the tempting event planner, Holly. Holly just so happens to be in desperate need of money and insurance due to her chronically ill sister. Sam sparks a deal for a fake relationship where he needs her to play along to keep everyone from "Oh, poor Sam"-ing him and he will help her get a big job and really good insurance for her sister. But as things go in romantic stories, the relationship doesn't end when the doors close behind them and suddenly what's fake doesn't feel fake anymore.

Overall, the story is sweet. Sam had a lot going on that he needed to deal with and Holly was a strong woman that wasn't going to bend to any antics. I'm not going to lie, I wanted to hulk-smash Sam's family, his brother and ex in particular.

The smexy times were pretty entertaining but I felt that overall the chemistry/flirty characterizations fell a bit flat for me. I like the characters and it is an entertaining read, I just wanted a little bit more from the characters.

I am looking forward to more from the author.

Sam has a couple of problems. He needs to promote the new whiskey that he and his brother have created, and he needs a date to his brother's wedding. His brother is marrying his ex, and Sam is perfectly happy with that. He's not happy that other family members think that he needs sympathy, and even worse, to have them trying to fix him up.

Holly overhears Sam when he is talking to a friend about this. She also has a problem. She needs a job, and it just so happens that she is a promoter. She also has a sister with a serious illness, who needs health insurance. The two of them strike a bargain - she promotes his whiskey and goes to the wedding with him as his new girlfriend, and he provides health insurance for her sister (and she has a job).

It's a cute story and I enjoyed it. I received an e-arc of this book from Author Collective 2022 via NetGalley, and voluntarily read and reviewed it.

Note: This is an expanded version of the book released in 2019 titled 'Wylde Fire'.

This was a light, but relatively predictable book with plenty of romance. The proposition for a fake relationship seemed a little weird as a plot line but it worked. The characters were pretty well written and mostly likeable. I'd consider trying another book from this author, although it's not my normal genre.

Second Shot of Whiskey is a light hearted, sweet and amusing romance that gives you all the feels and had me reading it in one day. Robinson’s writing flows, her characters are fun and I really enjoyed this story. I’ll be thinking about these characters and what happens next with each of them.

A story that has a fake relationship in order to offset the real relationship of his ex marrying his brother, awkward. Sam needs to get the word out about the Whiskey so he hires party planner Holy who has had a crush on him since high school but Sam was so hooked on his ex he did not see anything including her being with someone else. Now working with Holly and then doing the fake finance once his feelings become real he runs from his feelings and everything else including her. Holly agrees to marry Sam because she needs the insurance for her sister who she is taking care of. Sometimes this story is really sweet and other times you feel like Sam needs to deal with all of his issues. Overall I liked most of the characters felt slow a few times.

This one was a lovely read. I really enjoyed reading this one. I just love this kind of books.
4 stars read for me

Sam. Holly. Perfection! I loved this book so much...the characters, the world, the story itself. It's just all completely awesome and a great start to a new series!

I'm not a big romance reader but every now and then, everyone needs a goodshot of whiskey and romance. Sarah Robinson has given us some realistically drama prone characters and set them up in a high pressure, last second to get it done, situation where they must convince each other and themselves that there is no chance of romance here. I may not be a huge romance fan, but I'm definitely a Sarah Robinson fan now.

Sam needs a date for his brother's wedding, Holly needs insurance to cover her sister's medical bills. A deal is struck and the pair are 'married'. But what neither expected was to fall for their fake spouse.

I'm a little torn about this book. There were some pros to the story that made it good, but also some cons that made me question it.

Pros ✅️
I liked the characters. Holly and Sam are two fun people, and they had some pretty good chemistry. There were a few concepts to the plot that made it interesting and unique for the author.

Cons ❌️
The story is a very basic fake marriage trope. It's also slightly unbelievable. Holly is the only event planner in NASHVILLE that can plan this big party? Besides the believability, the conflict is almost nonexistent. There were no ups and downs, no drama, nothing to keep you excited about reading. Any issues that did arise were fixed pretty quickly.

this was a whole lot of fun! a meet-cute that turns out to be a job offer. a delicious man with a delightful plan (who doesn't love a fake relationship trope? )
Sam and Holly have smoking hot chemistry that you can feel, and the story unfolds with a few twists and turns. some confusion occurs, of course,, when Holly meets Sam's brother and arranges a function for him. Let's just say that the brother is not my fave person.

Sam is a sexy dreamboat, and thankfully Holly knows it. Read here for a fun and sexy story.

I felt this book had been padded out a bit too much. I have since learnt it was a short story!
The storyline was a bit flaky but is kind of the norm for this genre, I.e. some together quickly then fall madly in love.
I did think Nanna was a character and I would have liked to had more involvement from her to add more comedy.

I am fairly new to Sarah Robinson but her books haven’t disappointed me yet! This was fun and very steamy fake marriage romance that was hard to put down. Sam presented Holly with an offer that would benefit both of them and it turned out better than both of them thought it would. Their chemistry was undeniably there from the start and loved how their relationship grew in time. This is a well written book that will hold your attention.

Thank you to NetGallery and to Season Publishing for providing me with a copy of the book for my honest review.

This was a fun, escapist, story even if it's a bit hard to get past the traitorous brother storyline, that was a lot.

Oh boy, this was a mess.

None of the characters were convincing, massively lacking depth. In an attempt to create some motivation and background for Holly, the author just threw everything at her, including the kitchen sink: car accident, dead parents, a sister in a coma, and now to top it all off, money problems with trying to provide the best care for her sister.

Not that the storyline makes much more sense from Sam's point of view. He's starting a brand new whiskey brand and needs a big splashy launch party to be a success, but at the same time he also somehow already has a national distributor lined up. So why the need for the party? Oh, so Sam and Holly can run into each other.

And at about a quarter of the way through, all the conflict is gone. Sam has his distributor and a massive launch party all organised, and thanks to his completely insane marriage proposal to Holly, her financial issues are solved as well. So all that's left is some repetitive banging between people with close-to-zero chemistry.

This was a miss for me - I felt it was a little childish and not quite what I expected, I finished it but it wasn't a favorite for me.

This was a great escape book and I enjoyed the plot. I look forward to reading more of the series.
Many thanks to Author Collective 2022 and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I read this book originally under the old title, however it never hurts to go back and read a book that touches you. Sam and Holly are the opposites, however they work together to get Wyldfire Whiskey in the hands of the right people for a successful introduction.
There is more to life than love and whiskey in this book it is the perfect mix