My Thoughts: The Bourbon Kings by JR Ward

For generations, the Bradford family has worn the mantle of kings of the bourbon capital of the world. Their sustained wealth has afforded them prestige and privilege—as well as a hard-won division of class on their sprawling estate, Easterly. Upstairs, a dynasty that by all appearances plays by the rules of good fortune and good taste. Downstairs, the staff who work tirelessly to maintain the impeccable Bradford facade. And never the twain shall meet.

For Lizzie King, Easterly’s head gardener, crossing that divide nearly ruined her life. Falling in love with Tulane, the prodigal son of the bourbon dynasty, was nothing that she intended or wanted—and their bitter breakup only served to prove her instincts were right. Now, after two years of staying away, Tulane is finally coming home again, and he is bringing the past with him. No one will be left unmarked: not Tulane’s beautiful and ruthless wife; not his older brother, whose bitterness and bad blood know no bounds; and especially not the ironfisted Bradford patriarch, a man with few morals, fewer scruples, and many, many terrible secrets.

As family tensions—professional and intimately private—ignite, Easterly and all its inhabitants are thrown into the grips of an irrevocable transformation, and only the cunning will survive.

Knowing me is to know that I am a bit obsessed with JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I have been reading those books for years. While her writing isn't perfect and her characters are sometimes a little over dramatic, I love it all. So it was safe to say that I was pretty excited to hear she was coming out with a novel that involved a wealthy southern family- The Bourbon Kings. With this new novel I was expecting deceit, secrets and betrayal. With all of that, I was also expecting a good story, and unfortunately- I didn't really get that- ugh, it completely pains me to say that!!!

The synopsis of the story suggests that The Bourbon Kings is Lane and Lizzie's story about finding their way back to one another after years apart- due largely to misunderstandings and a meddling family. However, there is SO MUCH MORE going on in this story, and Lane and Lizzie's story is kind of just thrown in willy nilly. It felt very rushed. This part of the story was SO dry it was awful! There was just to much going on in this book. So many characters with their own little dramas. So many secrets and lies (I don't mind secrets and lies, but there were to many to keep track of in this book). I had the hardest time keeping track of who was who, and who did what to whom. It was to much. Honestly, I think this would make a pretty interesting TV show- but it would need to be done right- otherwise it would just get cancelled- like after the first episode.

Overall, The Bourbon Kings is one big ole' soap-opera. So dramatic and over the top. I just couldn't like it- and I tried. In saying that, I will probably give the second book of this series a try and see if she flushes stuff out a bit more. Perhaps there was just a lot to introduce in this first novel and the second will be a bit more rounded- what can I say, I love the WARDen and I refuse to lose hope.

~Happy Reading Everyone!