Sunday, August 14, 2016

The Angel's Share: The Bourbon Kings Series #2 by J. R. Ward

The Angel’s Share: The Bourbon Kings Series #2.  J. R. Ward. Penguin Publishing Group. July 2016. 432 pp.  ISBN#: 9780451475282.

William Baldwine is dead but was his passing a suicide or murder?  Lane Baldwine has discovered that his father has almost impoverished the family fortune.  Millions of dollars have been transferred but to where remains Lane’s challenge to discover.  Meanwhile, the family soap opera-like drama continues.  Lane is attempting to divorce his self-centered wife so that he can marry Lizzie, the family horticulturist, the latter relationship the only pure, true evidence of love in this novel replete with sarcasm, hate, lust, greed and so many more dissolute realities. 

Edward is the son whose father had him tortured and almost killed years ago.  He is now a crippled, broken man living in seclusion and more than content with the family’s present crisis.  At times he seems to know more than he should about his father’s demise but his apparent disconnect leads the family to other suspicious connections. The reader also wonders if his relationship with Sutton from a neighboring fortune family, will be cemented or torn apart.

There are opportunities for second chances for Gin and her daughter.  Mrs. Baldwyne lies in bed addicted to pain killers and mentally out of it and the reader wonders if this is her final destiny or if there is a chance at something better for her.  How is she tied into the disappearance of the family fortune?

There are relationships that look as if they are going somewhere but which then fall apart, leaving the reader flipping the pages to see where these complex patterns merge and cleave apart, always with a surprise factor injected into the ever-changing plot structure.

There’s also a fascinating description of the family’s centerpiece, Kentucky Bourbon, indicating how it’s made (revealing the origin of the novel’s title) and the love and care taken to create this masterpiece that is world-renowned.  This then is what built the family fortune and Lane brings us back to its creation and development, leading us to believe he just may be able to restore this mess with his gritty determination.

The Angel’s Share… is gritty, salacious, high-powered fiction that is sure to please readers galore!  Riveting romance, crime and contemporary fiction!


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