The Slow Sip

Emily, a whisky Authenticator is asked to visit a property in Montana where a stash of prohibition era alcohol has been found. It couldn’t be the legendary lost Whiting Whisky could it? If it is how did it end up in Montana?

The narrative moves between modern day and the 1920s. I really liked the premise, part mystery, part romance. But there is something rushed about the story, it jumps quickly from one thing to the next and nothing is given time to settle. When I started it went straight in and I had to check I’d not missed a page or prologue. I much preferred the story when we time shifted to the 1920s. It was better paced and much more an interesting story. Overall I did enjoy this book.

Wonderful book. Very interesting and kept my interest from the first page. Fast passed and good read. Will definitely read this writer again.

Part mystery, part romance with some historical fiction thrown in, this story follows the investigation of what might be a found trove of missing whiskey. This jumps between present day and 1920s, which I was not expecting at first. It felt a bit disjointed for me but others may like this narrative structure.

"The forbidden love of an aristocrat and a bootlegger, a century before, holds the key to the mystery, and Emily and Marcus are about to find out that the past is not quite as it seems and has some major implications for the present. But searching for the truth brings them a lot more trouble—and a lot closer to each other than they bargained for."
This is a good mystery. It appeared that the last thing that was about to be unsolved was the location of the mysterious whiskey.
I haven't read a book by this author.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

This was a great read! It was the perfect romance I have been looking for. This is the first time I have read this author and it won't be the last. This was very well written and I loved the characters that she created and the plot was great I thought.
I just reviewed The Slow Sip by Kirsten Abel. #TheSlowSip #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]Edit

A story of hidden whisky & romance in present day Montana is tied to a 1920’s forbidden love story. The story begins in the present with Emily, a whisky authenticator, traveling to determine if the whisky stash is a legendarily lost whisky shipment. The story shifts to the 1920s backstory of how the whisky came to Montana. Both stories contain a love story. I preferred the 1920s story as the modern day one pairs two people who can’t, apparently, stand each other. Yet, they somehow end up together. No, thanks. The 1920s story develops with a strong storyline and resolves well. I liked that one very much.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read this ARC.
There was nothing about this book that I disliked. The premise is pretty engaging, and I like how it is partly a mystery, partly a romance. I particularly liked how the story alternated between the 1920s and the present. Overall, the book was enjoyable and not at all bad. Yet, I did feel it was a touch hurried in numerous parts, which puzzled me at times. Furthermore, the beginning of the book (I noticed someone else make a comment on this issue) was perplexing since I believed I had skipped pages, forcing me to go back and double-check that I hadn't. Even the beginning of the book feels hurried. But because I liked the writing style, I wouldn't say no to future projects.

Thank you Netgalley and Kirsten Abel for this arc. If you like whisky, small-town romance, mystery and thrills then check out his book now! I really liked the stories jumping between the modern day and 1920s when the mystery is linked.

Don’t let the title fool you, this book is not slow at all!

Emily has been hired to investigate a century old mystery involving a stash of whiskey and a piece of art. Are the dusty bottles really the long lost treasure?

This is a clean romance combined with a mystery and the story itself is actually pretty interesting. I liked the idea of parallel timelines and the mystery, even though it was easy to solve.

What I was missing was character development and depth. This book was simply too short for all its plots and subplots and there was not enough time to delve into them. As a result the romance wasn’t very romantic and the banter and emotional connections (not only the romantic ones) felt rushed and awkward.

There were two couples, Emily and Marcus in the present day and Sarah and James in the twenties. At first everyone was extremely rude for absolutely no reason, but it proved to be an excellent seduction technique. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The couple no. 1 gave me Beauty and the Beast vibes; Marcus was a grumpy, rich dude with good-natured grandparents-like servants who for some reason played matchmakers from the moment they met Emily. (Everyone seemed to forget that she was there to do a job!) Their romance felt forced and I didn’t really buy it. Luckily Emily kept reminding us that there was chemistry between her and Marcus because I wouldn’t have noticed it otherwise.

The second couple’s insta-love was too insta even for me, but their story was a lot more adventurous and entertaining so I enjoyed it more. I hated Sarah at first but she redeemed herself later, and James, despite his insta-love tendencies, was smart and very likable.

I didn’t love everything about this book, but it was a decent debut and I hope this author keeps writing!

Thank you NetGalley and Backlit PR for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. This review has been published on Goodreads on 20 Jan 2023.

I loved the concept of this book: storylines in two different time periods, connected by family and a famous, long-missing case of whisky. The mystery really pulled me in and I liked the main characters. I did feel that the story and the romance felt a bit rushed; I could have done with another 50+ pages to develop that further. The ending had me absolutely shocked and I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but it definitely got a reaction out of me!

A mystery, romance fitction about a valauble lost whiskey.
Begins in present day Montana but really begins in 1920.
Emily and Marcus work together to authencate the whiskey that was found may be valuble.
Good read.
Volynyarily reviewed.

This was a very light-hearted novel . I found the plot about authenticating whiskey from the prohibition era pretty interesting. It has a dual POV, one in the present day and one in the past. It has some mild romance between characters. I would have liked to see both relationships play out a little bit more than what was in the book. It felt like I was getting a surface level view of everything and wanted a little bit more.

In conclusion, the novel was very average and I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this one.

This was like a Hallmark movie in book form which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but definitely not for me. The mystery was very predictable, and the main plot was just weird/unbelievable. I highly doubt there’s a huge market for famous whiskey let alone entire companies that do nothing but authenticate them.

Cute story, quick read. I felt that the story was a bit rushed and the characters could have been developed a bit more. Nice cozy mystery, would be a cute Hallmark movie.

It was a jarring start - a little difficult to follow - but a fine book. Anyone who can write is brave & talented, but I didn't love the plot.

Thanks to Wild Rose Press, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book, I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily.

This book has an interesting premise that switches between modern day and the early 20th century. Emily is called to Montanna to authenticate the most famous Whiskey mystery in the world - the Whiting whiskey which features a rare and lost blend worth a fortune. When she arrives in Montanna she meets Marcus McLean, a cowboy with a bit of a chip on his shoulder who happens to be extremely attractive.

Sarah and James, meanwhile, meet each other in Inverness, Scotland in 1920. Sparks fly and they very quickly fall in love - a forbidden love since she is an aristocrat and he has just left the Navy.

We jump into the action pretty quickly and I got the feeling that there was a bit of detail I was missing because the book was so fast-paced as far as the romance was concerned. I think it's because of this that I didn't get the swoony feelings one usually gets when reading a romance.

The story was interesting but it was missing something in the telling.

3 stars from me.

I found this to be hard to follow and not particularly captivating.

I would’ve enjoyed more character development.

The Slow Sip is a dual timeline POV that starts with the MC, Emily headed to present day Montana to authenticate whiskey bottles that were recently uncovered at Marcus’ home. This timeline alternates with the 1920s and follows a love story between Sarah and James.
I preferred the 1920s storyline and writing significantly more. The love story was more authentic and the characters were more enjoyable. The storyline for Marcus and Emily felt forced and unlikely. Marcus was a horrible character and Emily kept secrets that seemed silly to keep, making her seem sneaky. I didn’t see any chemistry between them and could not get invested in their story.
I liked the way the two storylines connected at the end despite it being obvious early on but it still wasn’t enough to make me enjoy both timelines.
If the author had taken away the “love” between Emily and Marcus I would have likely rated this book four stars.