Moonlight and Whiskey is a sometimes dark, sometimes hilarious, always sexy rollercoaster of read. Avery's voice is a lot of fun, especially when she's got a thing to say to someone who deserves to hear it. And Declan is all wicked sex appeal. Together, they clash, but also fit together perfectly, in more ways than one. The sex is fan-worthy hot, but the emotions that play out between this pair is every bit as gripping. The New Orleans setting adds to the steamy atmosphere. Throw in a band of sexy musicians, and yup, this is a page-turner.

First of all I really enjoyed this book. Really enjoyed the humor and the connections between the characters. The plot didn't try to hard make it feel "unrealistic". The only feedback I would give is: it seemed like some of Avery's remarks didn't need happen in some of the story line. We know she bad lil' chica but felt like it could've been toned down a bit. Also felt like this story need a epilogue with how it ended.

Moonlight & Whiskey is a compelling and exquisitely heartwarming romance filled with humor and true to life characters. It tackles the issue so many woman deal with: weight, body image and self acceptance.

Set in NOLA, Avery Barrows, decides to release her freak flag on vacation with her best friend, former model Katia.  After being knocked over by lead singer Declan McGinn , they embark on a week long fling until emotions and feelings begin to catch fire.  If you like stories to celebrate women's challenges with grace and sensitivity, you are going to love this book. I was dying to get home to continue to read this dreamy romance sparked with raw voom voom bedroom antics.

The story follows Avery Barrows' journey of learning how to accept the love Declan McGinn , lead singer of the rock group Blacksmith, tries to give her.  AVERY BARROWS IS CURVY, CONFIDENT AND OUTSPOKEN. Confident as a successful mechanical engineer. Outspoken as a coping mechanism in her personal love life. CURVY as she looks into a mirror. Avery is just a girl wanting to be loved and desired for who she is. Avery Barrows is ME! Avery Barrows is the other woman I want to be!  And Declan!!!! Oh my goodness he is everything and more you want in a book boyfriend.

This story jumps out in an amazing fashion from the first chapter.     A story with characters who feel like my best friends, fast moving plot and laugh out loud dialogue. If you like steamy AF romance with a side of curves, this book is for you. They have so much steam it might melt your kindle. The ending will leave you cheering with a big cheesy smile on your face. It touch my heart and moved my soul.  A True Winner!!!

MILE HIGH KINK BOOK CLUB hands down recommend this book for your carry-on

I shouldn't have liked this book. Truly, insta-love stories usually rub me the wrong way. I don't expect love stories in books to be realistic, but I like the characters to work for it a little. So, to say that my reaction to this book was a surprise, is truly an understatement.

Avery is taking a trip with her friend Kat to New Orleans - intent on having fun and maybe having a fling. Avery is tired of being the woman men leave, and the side piece to some guy's life. Upon arriving to their hotel, however, she is bumped into by a handsome Declan. And what proceeds from that chance meeting is definitely an adventure neither of them was expecting.

The reason why this almost insta-love story left me wanting to read without stopping was because of the chemistry between both of the characters. This was a definitely a "show not tell" story about emotions between two people who have been deeply hurt in their pasts. Neither expects to find love in the other. There is definitely a lot going on between Avery and Declan. The questioning of whether fated love exists, Avery's fears about her body and constantly being considered someone's side-piece, and Declan's venture into unknown territory - love and relationships.

It's truly a lovely book with a steamy romance and a surprisingly heaping amount of real life obstacles and fears. I recommend going into this story with an open mind if, like me, you get annoyed by the possible insta-love in romance novels. This one is definitely worth reading.

Moonlight & Whiskey is Avery and Declan’s story. Avery is a plus size engineer who is sick of the body shaming that she has been put through. Heading to New Orleans with her bestie, Avery is determined to give the middle finger to all the haters by having the time of her life. Then she meets Declan. Declan hits all Avery’s must-haves: tall, dark, handsome and brooding. With her vacation ending, Avery has some tough choices to make. Will she make the right ones? Or will she lose Declan and her chance for happiness?

It is very rare when a book knocks me off my feet. It is even rarer when that book keeps me off balance for the entire book. Moonlight & Whiskey did that to me. I loved it!!

I loved Avery. I knew I was going to like her when she was getting a Brazillian. My loving her was cemented by the fact that she was relatable. She did have her issues, though. She was afraid of being hurt and kept walls up. Her past with men was horrible. Some of the situations that she had been through made me tear up. Even in the present, she was treated horribly because she was plus size. Miss Piggy and chubs were two of the more awful ones that were in there. How she dealt with the people who put her down was epic.

Declan was sex on a stick. He had me from the minute he walked into Avery. My mental image of him was well kinda like Jason Momoa. No one else existed for him except Avery. I loved that. I also liked that he, too, was relatable. He did awful things in the past. Things that he was still atoning for. He wasn’t perfect. That made him more real to me.

There is a lot of sex in Moonlight & Whiskey. A lot of sex. A lot of different types of sex. Anal. Vanilla. Sex in public (twice). Sex in the shower. Blowjob in front of friends. The author did not hold back and I loved it. Normally I don’t like it when half of the book takes place in bed. But in this case, I was OK with it. It didn’t take away from the book. Mainly because Avery and Declan were getting to know each other on a personal level while going at it like rabbits.

I loved the secondary characters also. Jamie, Matt, Shaun, Kat. They were as fleshed out and relatable as Avery and Declan. I will admit that I was confused with the whole Matt, Declan, Avery pseudo-triangle until it was spelled out at the end of the book. At that point, I went, “Oh okay, now everything makes sense.” But up until that point, I was oh so confused.

I want to get into the end of the book. Oh man, I have so many opinions about what happened between Declan and Avery. But, I can’t because I’d be giving away some major spoilers. I will say that I would have thought the same thing as Avery. I also would have done the same thing also.

You will need tissues for the last few chapters of the book too. There will be happy tears. There will be surprised tears. There will be mad tears. Let’s cut to the chase, you will be a blubbering mess. I know I was. The author did a fantastic job of wrapping up the Avery and Declan’s storylines. But I do hope that she goes on to write Jamie/Kat’s story and Matt’s story. They need to be told.

I would give Moonlight & Whiskey an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is explicit language. There is moderate violence. There are triggers. They would be body shaming, self-esteem issues, the death of a parent, and alienation of a parent. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Moonlight & Whiskey. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank the publishers, the author, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Moonlight & Whiskey.

All opinions stated in this review of Moonlight & Whiskey are mine.

Thank you to NetGalley who provided this ebook to me in exchange for my honest review.

Avery Barrows is a successful woman in a male-dominated profession. Her sharp tongue and hard approach is an interesting complement/ contrast to her soft body and desire for more. Moonlight and Whiskey tells us the story of Avery and what I see, as her journey of discovering her true self. It’s about really believing that she loves what she loves about herself and balancing her competing, conflicting feelings of confidence and vulnerability; caring and dismissiveness, want and indifference.

Lynne opens the book strong, giving the readers an immediate flavor of the main character. I felt the main character had many dimensions, she was hard and soft, her personality was layered without “trying” and that was part of why I really liked the character. We see a striking difference of how she handles herself professionally and personally. It is all very interesting. We see Avery overcome her insecurities, making herself completely vulnerable (which is not normal for her). We see her humor and her ability to be fierce, even with herself, for that is who she needs to be most diligent with.

Without divulging spoilers, I really liked the way Lynne leads the readers on the same journey as her characters. The storyline made sense and flowed nicely.

Avery is a relatable, likeable character. The character is very realistic in dealing with things life throws at you. She works hard to keep her emotions in check, and I love the self- love this book promotes.

My only feedback is that sometimes Avery’s harsh comebacks and quick curses felt less natural in some places than others. We get it- she’s a bad-ass but in some places, and I mean in only one or two places, did I feel it was repetitive. Again- not a dealbreaker. Other than that, for most of the book- it worked and helped you understand the emotional layers of Amber’s character.

Overall, this was an easy read that held my attention. The characters were likeable and relatable. Tricia Lynne spent the right amount of time developing Avery and Declan so the reader can connect with the characters and enjoy their story. There is certainly plenty of room for Lynne to prequel this book or make this a series.

If you enjoy romance novels, I recommend this book. It is an easy read and quite enjoyable. I do hope Lynne considers expanding this novel into a series as these characters are screaming for their stories to be told! If we are all so lucky for Tricia Lynne to give us more, I will be right there to read each and every one!

Totally love this hot emotional roller coaster.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometimes a book takes a while to get you warmed up to the story. And there are others that you immediately know it’s gonna be a knockout.

Moonlight & Whiskey is one of those books I just knew was going to be amazing from the very first chapter.

As a big beautiful woman myself I have to say that I usually shy away from reading books about women who are larger in size. It’s not because of the shape of the woman but mainly because of how the author adds in the negativity surrounding their weight.

I didn’t really notice in the synopsis that Avery was a larger woman, or it didn’t sink in, so once I started reading I thought it was going to be disappointed.

But the opposite happened. While the author did include some negative connotations and confusing views about weight, the main difference I think was more in the fact that the main character was very sure herself.

Yes, she had a hard time excepting someone would appreciate her curves over someone else. But she was willing to work through it, for the most part.

I think what got me the most excited about this book was the balance between the two characters. They both had issues but it didn’t drag down the story. I loved the balance and the humor between the entire group. I loved the support of the band members and how they had each other’s back. I loved the immediate care and love for one another throughout.

Did these characters piss me off about their “differences and problems”? Hell yes. I wanted to reach out and smack them! But there was something about the authors writing, a deep connection these two felt, the steamy scenes, and just the overall enjoyment I got out of the story that made this a five star read for me.

Moonlight & Whisky is steamy, sexy, emotional, and just a delight to read, I am looking forward to more from this new author.

Avery Barrow has been struggling for a long time to succeed in business as well as life dealing with some deeply ingrained self-esteem issues. Because of childhood difficulties, and that demon all women seem to face of not being happy with their weight, Avery has built up walls to protect her heart. When she goes on vacation to New Orleans with her best friend, Katia, magic happens in the form of Declan McGinn, a bad boy rocker. From the outside, they would seem like opposites. Avery is a mechanical engineer who has spent much of her adult life trying to break into the heavily male-dominated field. Avery must reign in her natural tendencies of a brash mouth, penchant for sexy clothes, and fighting back against those taking advantage of her at work in order to succeed at her firm in this chosen field.
Delcan McGinn has his own dark spaces of the mind to deal with, and he has definitely led the cliché life of a sexy, tattooed rocker avoiding relationships and any kind of commitment while being with a myriad of women. He and Avery come together in an explosive way both physically and emotionally. Set in the magical and mysterious Crescent City, the food, music, and at times wild setting influences Avery to let her true personality take wing.

Avery’s issues with her weight cloud much of her actions and reactions because as a plus size woman, she feels constantly criticized and undervalued. She can’t believe a man like Declan would really go for her mainly because of past romantic experiences. In order for Avery and Declan to truly come together, each must be willing to risk their hearts and give up living in the emotional straight jackets of the past.
This story has sassy writing, some wicked humor, and very protracted steamy scenes. It’s a bit of a mashup of Women’s Fiction and Erotica which is a somewhat unusual combination of genres. As the title suggests, drinking and the ensuing behavior plays a significant role in this story which could be a trigger issue for some. Quite a lot of high drama interspersed with a sensuous backdrop makes this book appealing to those who are looking for this kind of read.

DNF 14%

Okay, obviously I'm the odd one out since so many people enjoyed this book. So take that for what it's worth.

I could look past the cursing and attitude Avery had, even though it was tough. But that wasn't what bothered me the most. Avery and Kat were just far too immature to my liking. This is supposed to be a book about two successful business women. I can't wrap my head around a woman who makes six figures acting like this. Cursing, telling off a guy who accidentally bumped into, lifting her shirt over her head in the middle of a street, grabbing a guy's balls simply because they were talking to her? I could see if the guys weren't taking the hint and threatened them, but come on. They didn't give the guys a chance, nor did they ask them to leave before both women assaulted them. They were in a crowded bar, they could have screamed and made a scene if anything before resorting to violence especially since the guys hadn't even touched them (nor did they threaten to).

I liked Declan's character and my god he deserves a metal for even trying to make something work with Avery.

DNF

There are things I LOVED about this book - for example, anyone who knows Bushmills 18 is one of the best whiskeys out there gets love from me - but I was never completely pulled in. While I loved the idea that Lynne played with of everyone have light and dark sides - Avery's felt really mercurial and the whiplash I got from trying to follow her verbal and emotional gymnastics was... a lot.

Also, if someone is "curvy" but then they loose 15lbs and are no longer "curvy"? My eyebrow raises. However, Lynne explored Avery's body image issues admirably and I will not tire quickly of seeing heroines not described as "athletic" on my page.

The sex scenes - by the way - require a fan, a stiff drink, and a deep breath. Holy shiiiiiiiiite the lady knows how to write her way around a bed.

Oh my goodness!! Where has this author been my whole life?!?

This is the first book by this author, but it will not be my last!!

This is the story of Declan and Avery, and holy hell what a fantastic story this is!!

What starts as a girls weekend becomes so much more!

Avery is my new hero! A curvy girl with a sharp tongue, hard fist and yet has the self doubt and insecurities that girls with curves sometimes have. I absolutely loved she was a girl with curves, a full figured gal.  Her inner voice was like an echo to me.  I could totally relate.

Declan!! Oh my sweet heaven, that man is the bomb! He is everything you could ask for in a book boyfriend.  He is rough, he is swoony and oh so smexy! The steaminess of this man is off the charts!

Avery and Declan's chemistry is hotter than hot!  Their moments together are epic! 

This is a love story that is gritty and raw and oh so beautiful in it's complexity! 

You can feel the walls that both main characters have constructed around themselves and can understand why.

I also fell in love with the secondary characters and hope that they get their own stories!

I can't tell you how much I loved this story and could not put it down!

Raunchy sex and hard rock bad boys make for a real page Turner. Declan and Avery really tear up the sheets and each other while keeping it real.

I got an ARC on this from NetGalley a while back and what with the holidays i just wasnt able to get to it. BOY OH BOY was that a BAD choice! I CANNOT BELEIVE i had this book just sitting there! I loved this book! I loved the characters! I could relate to everything the main character Avery felt for not being a skinny model type and trying to feel comfortable in her jer skin! I wanted to know these people i wanted to hang out with these characters. Heck, i wanted to friend them on faceboook! This is a must read. This book makes us “soft” girls believe there is someone out there who will love us for us!

Goodness.. you know an author has talent when they are able to make you feel all the emotions the characters are going through as if you as the reader were going through them yourself. I can not begin to explain how much I loved this story, how much I could put myself into Avery’s shoes and cry right along with her. I’d always thought that the whole idea of soul mates was a bunch of nonsense but the way that the author weaves that into the story line, it made a believer out of me because the way that these two characters were connected from the beginning? Pure magic.

I loved it so much that I’d so be willing to read a sequel of this book, I’m so not ready to let go of Avery and Declan. 😭

This was a love/dislike book for me. Love the concept, the fact that Avery isn't the typical female character neither the size or temperament. She's a woman in a male-dominated field whose smart and have a hot temper and a mouth like a sailor. I even loved that fact that her and Declan relationship and loge for each other progressed rather quickly However, I didn't care for the attempt at a love triangle between Avery, Declan and Mattie and I didn't care for the excessive amount a drama that plays out midway through the book. Other than a few points I liked this book and liked that it wasn't your typical romance

Wow... this book was so good. It had me hooked from the first page to the last .
I loved Avery, with her wickedly smart mouth, her way she didn't let anyone walk on her( well that's after she finally found herself) to the way she loved her friends fiercely.
Declan was the gorgeous, front man for his rock band. He had demons just like Avery.
They were made for each other..... demons and all, afraid of commitment, had secrets in their pasts but ultimately were soul mates.
Such a great book. Now I need the rest of the characters stories. Books for Katie, Mathias ( yes he has done Demons in his closet I'm sure of it) and the rest of the band.

As daring and seductive as the city of New Orleans itself, this is a story of a woman opening up to herself...and also to a smoking hot rock star with a panty-incinerating Irish accent.

This has always been a city of transgression and possibility, which makes it the perfect backdrop for these characters' journey.

A little bit kinky and a whole lot of fun!

I received an ARC of this book through #Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

No disappointments here. Truly a steamy read, with the things you’d expect in a good one, with some twists. HEA sort of, but it is worked for. The build up is HOT, with plenty of realistic things happening, other chracters to fall in love with, and moving along all the time, never feeling dull or slow.

Avery is curvy, smart, sassy and strong, all the awesomeness needed in a leading lady. Declan, witty, broody, sex on a stick. There early wasn’t much that I didn’t love about this book. The banter of smart*ss comebacks and the joking sexual innuendos thrown around among the close friends may be a little much for those looking for a more sweet, conventional type of romance. If that is your preference, this one may not be for you, but it certainly did it for me!!!

I am super excited about this author and for the books that MUST be coming to complete stories for some of the other characters!!!

I really enjoyed this debut! Avery was a strong independent woman and Declan was to die for! I look forward to reading more by Tricia.

I loved the opening scene of this book, a wax job! Hysterical and it hooked me in, took me for a hell of a ride then spit me out with a few tears at the end. This is my kind of book! This book is amazing and so creative. Such a fun plot line that is so original and it feels so true or real life like. The restaurant scene where the chef comes out and talks to them and makes them a one of a kind dish, so creative! The red hot chemistry between Avery and Declan. The graveyard was so hot and not at all what I was expecting!! The author does an amazing job of infusing life into these characters. I really hope there are more books in this series the author is so talented and I can’t wait to read more!