This book picks up about 5 months down the road from the end of the last one. The guys are still working together and seeing each other personally. Their love life threw me off to be honest. I thought the last book ended with them in a good place. When this starts though Aidan is being a jerk. A huge jerk.....and I was not a happy reader.

Jaime is still working the case of the murder of Aidan's husband and work partner but Aidan doesn't know what he's found. Jaime continues to make huge discoveries and continues to hide what he's finding from Aidan. I was on pins and needles waiting for this to blow up in his face. The main case of this story though takes them back to where Jaime lived before and has him working undercover as a basketball coach. I liked this plot much better than the one in the first book. I thought this was less confusing and flowed much better. Their actions felt more realistic also.

There were both emotional and smexy scenes and I really felt the chemistry of these two together. Again, I felt this was stronger than in the first book. I've come to really like these two as a couple.

The book ends much as the first one did. Not necessarily a cliffhanger but definitely a big "oh my god, I didn't see that coming" moment. I'm quite curious as to how things will end. It looks like from the epilogue there will be one more book in the series. I'm kind of bummed about that cuz I think this had potential to be a longer series

I don't think this should be read as a standalone. It could be but you'd miss a lot of important things from book one. I like this series though and it's one I would recommend.

**ARC provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

First I have to say is book 3 out yet? Oh wait this one isn't even out yet, dang. I really like Whiskey & Irish. I didn't like the beginning where Aiden is dating/sleeping with other guys trying to prove to Jamie that they are not serious (I'm really glad that Aiden was not sleeping with anyone else, if he had been I probably would not have finished the book. Also, I didn't like the almost love triangle when Jamie went back home, w/his ex, as I don't like those in a story, some people this might not bother but it does me. This book is full of action and still full of emotional angst. OMG that ending? Never saw it coming. I'm just hoping that it's the one way and not the other. No I'm not telling you anything about it, you will need to pick up the book & read it for yourself.

Cask Strength,  Layla Reyne

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  romance, LGBTQIA

Well wow – I loved book one, and this second part was another fast moving, sensual read. There’s a couple of things that bothered me, I’ll get them out first, they didn’t affect how I feel about the book overall but need a mention.
Acronyms...Gah, I hate these and yet all books seem to be full of them. I'm not sure there's a way round them, can't write everything about each into a book or it'd get too unwiedly and dull, but mabye a glossary?
As a UK reader I’m not familiar with US legal systems and what the various alphabet agencies actually are, who does what, which takes precedence etc. and then dammit more acronyms crop up in the sports part of this book too.  Baseball/basketball/ice hockey all make up a huge part of US romance reads, and seemed to be filled with abbreviations that I’m unfamiliar with and don’t know what they mean.
Its bad enough trying to work out the plots, who’s who in the police dept, how the US college/uni system works, drafts, boosters and then for this read, betting systems. There are so many characters here its not easy to keep track. When everyone and every organisation ( or so it seems) are described with a mix of letters denoting who and what they are and do I tend to get just a wee bit confused ;-) Thankfully the paperwhite look up dictionary function can explain a lot!
Still, none of that stopped me loving this story, I could kind of guess many of them and got enough context to work most of it out. The storyline is strong enough to carry a few confusions without spoiling ;-)

Aiden, he made me so angry last time, I understood very well his grief, but dating others, determined to keep Jamie as casual when the tension between them just sizzles off the page, when he’s furious when anyone else looks Jamie’s way. C’mon man, just give in!
Then there’s Jamie and boy, he is one hot man. I love his intellect, his passion, both for his job, for IT and for sport, and we get a good dose of all here. He’s so good at what he does, yet manages to be sort of self effacing so he doesn’t come over as a braggart, except in times of humour.
Its clear he’s head over heels for Aiden, and very hurt by being kept at arms length. He’s been through a bad breakup before, and yet he’s willing to try again. Now he and Aiden are back in his old stomping ground, back in the sport he loves, and there’s a surprise for both of them when an old ex turns up.

There’s a lot of technical stuff here which went over my head for the most part... but which I understood enough to get the essence of what was going on and why.
The plot from book one that was running through as a secondary carries on here, and dammit – that ending! Just when I thought it was safe to stop reading Layla drops in a couple of lines which have me all upside down in my thinking once more.

Terrific storylines, great characters, serious heat (oops, typo spelt out head there at first, real Freudian slip that one!!)  – its a story to love!

Stars: Five, a great suspense, and sensual romance. roll on book three.  

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

Let me start with: I completely adored this installment. Beginning to end.

The chemistry is strong and the plot was intense.*phew*

Totally adding it to my #FavoritesOf2017.

If you know me, you’ll be pointing at Jamie right now, saying: “That guy! He’s soooo your favorite!” — Yes, he definitely is!

I super love, love, love Jamie.

There’s something extremely sexy about someone who knows his computers in all the legal and illegal ways. He’s smart but not a show-off and has this sweet, playful and caring side! Swoon-worthy.

I've come to like Aidan more and more with this installment. He’s still got that somewhat interesting air about him, he also comes across as less broody and more self-accepting, or rather, the initial feeling that he’s betraying his late husband with this newfound affection for someone else has vanished. Thank Heavens! :)

Instead he's being too hard on himself, trying with no avail to keep the relationship he's started with Jamie casual, which is hurting the other man in the process.

With their relationship in the focus and dual point of view we get to see both guy's thoughts and feelings and honestly? I can relate to either side.
Falling in love is scary.

Keeping secrets from that person is a heavy load to carry.

➷

Cask Strength picks up five months after the final events of Single Malt.
The writing is smooth, detailed and events and characters are consistent. The imagery is vivid and I thought the guys's feelings were genuine and relatable.

There were tiny little twists and surprises but the most dramatic are yet to be revealed in book #3!
I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline and, once again, thought the plot was pretty intense and highly entertaining. As I said before, I really like what the author did here, the way she thinks, how everything’s somehow connected.

There’s suspense and emotion, wonderful dialogue and extremely sexy sexy-times *wink wink*

The romance felt as real and intense as previously (if not better!!) and the chemistry was palpable— one of the best.

Honestly though, I truly love how the Author works. I have read a lot of crime-y books, you know about FBI agents and police officers and so on, and I can truthfully say this has been one of the most interesting and engaging series / plots so far.

➷



Sadly the book ended yet with another cliffhanger!

Ohhh, the suspense...

I hope August comes quickly, bringing along the 3rd (and final?) installment.

SO VERY EXCITED TO FINALLY GET IT IN MY HANDS!
I can only highly recommend this series to everyone!

Will talk my friends into giving it a go as well, because it's worth it :)



▽


Many, many thanks to the publisher who kindly provided a free copy for an honest and impartial review.

Whiskey and Irish are back, and the stakes are higher than ever. After an explosive end to Single Malt (both figuratively and a bit literally), Whiskey and Irish are at a standstill.

Their sex life is hot, but things are casual. Aidan is terrified of getting close to Jamie, the remnants of his past still keeping him from turning their heart eyes and feelings into a permanent relationship. And Jamie's okay with that, or so he tells himself. He knows that Aidan meets up with other guys when he's not with Jamie, but Jamie doesn't want to mess up what they have by telling Aidan he's falling for him. No, instead we have two very stubborn men who keep their feelings bottled up inside.

At the FBI, Aidan and Jamie are at the top of their game, but not much closer to finding out who, or why, Aidan, his husband, and his FBI partner were targeted months earlier. The case is moving slowly, and just when they start closing in on the truth, someone stops them from getting too close.

Jamie's been called to go undercover in the one position where no one would suspect him to be undercover, by returning back home to a D2 college to help coach their men's basketball team. The case revolves around betting on the basketball players and both Aidan and Jamie have only days to find out who at the college might be behind it.

I thought this case was easier to follow than the one in Single Malt. Each of the characters are fleshed out a bit more in this story, so when a name comes up as a possible suspect, I didn't have to go hunt down who that person was. I loved the undercover aspect of this story, because we got to see glimpses of a very charming Jamie in front of the camera and the person he might have been in those early days where he wasn't Agent Walker, and was just Whiskey Walker, basketball star. One thing I would love, is if there's an audiobook planned for this, is for there to be a narrator who can pull off Jamie's Southern drawl and Aidan's heavy Irish accent he uses for his undercover role as a sports agent for Jamie.

There are a few characters from Single Malt who make some appearances in this book, those who actually had significant roles in the first book, or those who were just simply mentioned in passing. I think the romance storyline is weaved into the story more than in Single Malt, and I enjoyed reading every bit of Aidan and Jamie's story.

Cask Strength does end with a very shocking cliffhanger that will leave you questioning everything you ever read in this series so far. I'm just beside myself that book three, Barrel Proof, isn't out yet for me to snatch up and read immediately. Cask Strength is out May 1, 2017 and is an exhilarating, edge-of-your-seat read!

***Thanks to Carina Press for providing me an ARC through NetGalley***

I can not wait for the next book in the series. This book sucked me right in and I finished it in record time.