REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: TRULY, MADLY, WHISKEY by MELISSA FOSTER

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Truly, Madly, Whiskey

By: Melissa Foster

Releasing April 10, 2017
World Literary Press

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In Truly, Madly, Whiskey by Melissa Foster, Bear Whiskey has wanted Crystal Moon for months, but she seems immune to his charms. However, he's not about to give up on the woman that has claimed his heart and made him a little possessive. But the closer they get, the more she begins to remember why she hasn't been intimate with a man in years. Can she overcome her harrowing past, or will she push him away for good?

Normally, I love reading Ms. Foster's books and a story containing the friends to lovers trope, but I was seriously thinking about giving up on this one, because I found myself frustrated with the characters in the beginning. Yet, in saying that, I decided to put the book down for a bit and come back to it and once Crystal admitted everything about her past to Bear, I found myself flipping the pages determined to discover what action the hero would take to avenge what happened to her.

At the start with the main characters, I found Bear a little too possessive and exasperating with his attempts to win Crystal over. Why couldn't he be a little bit more patient with her, instead of pushing her into making certain she didn't forget who he was? However, Bear had his good qualities too and did redeem himself in my eyes with his protectiveness of Crystal; his affection for the secondary characters in his family and his best friend's siblings; and the fact that he finally decided enough was enough when it came to all that he does for his family and how he wanted to finally pursue what he really wants to do.

While Crystal, I couldn't help but empathize with her due to all that she's been through and I could understand why she couldn't commit to anything more than friendship with Bear until she was absolutely ready. However, I did get a tad frustrated with her too, because Bear was willing to give up control for her when it came to any physical intimacy between them, yet she continued to run scared. Also, I liked that she finally did what was right for her when it came to her mother. She didn't need such toxicity in her life when she had a wonderful guy in Bear and a brother that was finally willing to turn his life around and side with her.

Overall, Ms. Foster has penned a really good read in this book, encompassing a delightful array of secondary characters that entertained me just as much as the main ones; a sizzling romance that illustrated love can conquer any obstacle; and an ending that had me smiling, because Crystal finally faced her past and did what was right. Yet, it was the epilogue that wrapped this story up perfectly, as Bear was determined to make Crystal his forever, even if it meant hijacking someone else's special day. I would recommend Truly, Madly, Whiskey by Melissa Foster, if you enjoy the friends to lovers trope or books by authors Kelly Jamieson, Carly Phillips or Daisy Prescott.

OVERALL RATING

  

BLURB:

A new sexy standalone romance by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster.

Eight months is a long damn time to have the hots for a woman who keeps a guy at arm’s length. But Crystal Moon is no ordinary woman. She’s a sinfully sexy, sass-mouthed badass, and the subject of Bear Whiskey’s midnight fantasies. She’s also one of his closest friends.

Just when Crystal thinks she has her life under control, scorching-hot, possessive, aggressive, and fiercely loyal Bear pushes all her sexual buttons, relentless in his pursuit to make her his.

The more Bear pushes, the hotter their passion burns, unearthing memories for Crystal that are best kept buried. But there’s no stopping the collision of her past and present, catapulting the two lovers down an emotional and sexually charged road that has them questioning all they thought they knew about themselves.
 

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“Really, Bear. I can drop you at your place before I go to the fabric shop.” Crystal started the car, feeling more in control than she had inside the shop. She hated the way she’d frozen up when things had gotten hot between them. She wanted him. After putting herself through three years of therapy, dealing with not only the trauma of the attack, but the bullshit with her mother and the loss of her father, she was sure she could handle anything. She’d dated other guys since she’d left college without issue. Why did it have to be different with the only guy she wanted to be close to? It pissed her off that her past still owned a piece of her, and she needed to get over it before Bear got fed up and walked away for good.

“I have to go to the store anyway.” He flashed one of his smiles. “We might as well go together.”

“You need to go to the fabric store?” she said flatly, knowing he was bullshitting her. She realized her car smelled different, cleaner. The seats were shiny, the dashboard dust free. “Did you clean my car?”

“Detailed it,” he said casually, as if he did this type of thing every day. For all she knew, he did. “Changed your oil, topped off your fluids. You really need to do those things every three thousand miles.” He touched the doll hanging from her rearview mirror. “I dusted off this, too, even though I’m a little worried that it’s a voodoo doll.”

She wasn’t about to tell him it was a worry doll that she loved more than life itself.

“Bear.” She couldn’t suppress her smile about the voodoo doll as she drove toward the store. “You really need to stop acting like you have to take care of me. I appreciate you handling the inspection, which I’m paying you for, by the way. But you don’t have to do all these things for me. I already like who you are.” Even if I have a hard time showing it.

“I know you do,” he said, as cocky as ever.

Why is that such a turn-on?

“I didn’t do it to get your attention. Shit, six three, two thirty.” He flexed his biceps and winked. “You’re sitting next to Peaceful Harbor gold, baby. I’ve got your attention.”

She couldn’t suppress a laugh. “That you do, and probably half the women in this town.”

“Only half?”

He kept her laughing the whole way to the fabric store, and it was just what she needed. It really had been a long day. They’d hosted three parties, and one of the mothers was just about the most obnoxious woman on earth. She’d pushed her daughter toward pink frilly outfits for the first half hour, when all the little cutie had wanted was to dress up as a skateboard princess. Gemma realized Crystal was going to strangle the wench, and she’d calmly suggested the woman head down to Jazzy Joe’s for coffee. The rest of her day hadn’t been much better. Plus, she’d spent the morning overthinking everything about her relationship with Bear, which was probably why she’d freaked out when she’d really been dying to kiss him.

She parked in front of the fabric store. There were some things that just didn’t fit in the world as Crystal knew it, and Bear Whiskey clad in a tight black T-shirt that said Whiskey Bro’s across his massive chest, a pair of snug, low-slung black jeans, and leather boots strutting into Jennilyn’s Fabric was on the top of the list.

She pulled her list from her bag as his eyes coasted over the store. What was he thinking, coming with her? That was dedication she could not ignore. The epitome of commitment.

That is Bear.

My Bear?

She toyed with that as he draped his arm over her shoulder. She wondered what had taken him so long. She’d expected him to do it the second she’d stepped from the car, but he was probably in shock that they were actually going to a fabric store. She smiled to herself as he leaned closer and rubbed his nose along her cheek.

“Can I help you?” she asked with a laugh.

“You smell like jelly beans, and I happen to have a thing for sugary goodness.”

“You can’t seriously have that good a sense of smell.”

He pressed an unexpected, and deliciously warm, kiss to her cheek and reached into her purse, withdrawing a bag of jelly beans. “Hoarding? Or were we going to hide these later in your body and let me find them?” He moved his mouth beside her ear and whispered, “Blindfolded. With my hands tied behind my back.”

He nudged her deeper into the store. Holy crap. She’d stopped walking. Was she breathing? And was that a thing? Blindfolded? Hands tied behind his back? Oh, the control that would give her. She’d be at no risk of being overpowered. But would she want that much control? She imagined herself lying naked on her bed, watching as his greedy mouth moved over her breasts, down her belly, and she felt herself go damp.

No, no, no.

Ice cream. Ice baths. Cow poop!

Her body continued vibrating from the inside out. This was bad. Really, really bad. Like a virus she couldn’t shake. She needed an anti-Bear pill. Stat!

 

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Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance and new adult romance with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Melissa’s emotional journeys are lovingly erotic and always family oriented–perfect beach reads for contemporary romance lovers who enjoy reading about wealthy heroes and smart, sassy heroines.

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