Distiller's Choice

Have been following this series from the very first book. I love how Ms. Bramseth takes small town living and blends it with big city problems. The characters are dealing with issues that can be faced anywhere just on a smaller scale. The thing I enjoy most about The Bourbon Springs collection is that Jennifer Bramseth writes it in a way that allows the reader to pick up right where the previous story left out. Yes, the stories center around the making and selling of liquor but at the heart of the story are characters that have lived through heartbreak, love and tragedy. That depth is what makes these books so great. Distiller's Choice is the latest in a captivating series. Received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Before I start my review I want to let you know I am a huge fan of the authors work and I LOVE this series and all the characters which is why I was so excited to get this book and read it. This book is the longest one in the series and I can totally see why, Walker and Cici take six months to really get to know each other before they date and when they do start a girl/boyfriend relationship it is full of rocks thrown in their path. This is not a simple boy meets girl story but is relationship with lots of curves balls thrown at it. It was quite a journey and I thought the author did an amazing and wonderful job writing this story and keeping the characters true to their personalities. That said I did not love this story like I loved the others in this story. And I am going to go into detail so don't read further if you don't want some spoilers.

Cici and Walker are wonderful characters. Cici hs always been a favorite ever since she helped Rachel in book 1. She is a good friend and a good person and she is well liked and loved by the people of Bourbon Springs and I love her too.

Walker on the hand is introduced in previous books when Hannah hires him as a master distiller. He is fresh off a divorce when she hires him and the second he see's Cici he falls for her. That was six months ago and when this book starts they have a solid friendship with lots of lust on both sides.

She barely agrees to date him when Hannah announces they need to hire a Heritage Director aka public relations director and the top applicant is Walkers ex wife. At that stage Walker should have said "hell no I came here to escape her" but he doesn't and all the way until they hire her everyone offers him that out and he never takes it. He is trying to be a mature guy and say I don't care either way and even if that is true, why bring your ex to town and your job and make your current girl friend nervous and maybe even to protect your exes feelings when you are now with someone else. This was a train wreck waiting to happen and he should have stopped it.

Cici has issues and she was very honest with Walker about those, one is her father dumped her and her mother for his first wife and two her ex husband dumped her for his former girl friend. So Walker's ex and him working with her and having her become a part of their lives was not a little thing. She deals with Jana, the ex extremely well and Walker is well aware of her issues and how hard it is on her.

Now I love Cici so what Walker does to her I could not forgive. He is a newer character to me so I am not loving him like her and so what he does in the second part of the book made me HATE him. Jana the ex gets into a terrible car accident and even though they are divorced she makes him her medical decision maker while she is in a Coma. He can agree to it or palm it on distant relative and he accepts it. He takes care of her and spends time at her bedside for weeks while she is in the hospital. He doesn't see much of Cici because he is busy with this ex of his who everyone knows loves him and wants him back. Cici deals with all this very well. I know I wouldn't have and then and this is where the hate starts....he has her move in with him because she has no one else to take care of her. Yep you read that right he invites his ex to live in his home while he nurses her back to health and Cici does not dump him and she event helps out. This is where I lost all understanding for both of them.

After the ex says I love him to Cici she see's him comfort the ex and only then does she dump him and he is mad because she is being immature and jealous. UGH!! I was so mad at him. Then it only gets worse....

Eventually Jana goes to stay with Hannah and then her distant relative at the end of the book and thats where she should have gone all along. The book had a sweet ending but I could not get past what Walker did to Cici. He never cheated on her and he never fell in love with his ex but he did stupid things and hurt Cici when he knew this was a HUGE thing for her and I could not get past that.

I’m going to be very honest here, Distiller’s Choice is going to be a very difficult review to keep the spoilers out of. Oh, not because I can’t figure out how to do that — but because of the emotions that this story will bring out. The Bourbon Springs series just gets better with each new story. Like the well aged beverage the series is named for the taste, the feel and the emotional connections simply get stronger the deeper into this small town and its residents we get.

CiCi is a well established, deeply loved character and it’s time for her to shine in her own story. She has rules of engagement for very real reasons. The rule of never dating divorced men has been gotten around with Walker. But it was there in her mind and heart for a reason, now her trust and faith in Walker and their relationship will be put to the test.

Walker’s ex-wife will come to town taking a newly created position at the distillery. Let’s get this out there right now, she screwed up bigtime and Walker will never forgive and forget but she is still in love with Walker. Keep that in mind. Even though CiCi and Walker are a new couple now, the doubts start to take shape in the back of CiCi’s mind. And when an event happens that puts Walker and his ex-wife in very close quarters for an extended period of time… those doubts take on a stronger meaning.

Distiller’s Choice is an extremely emotional story – and I cannot see how the reader can avoid taking sides on this one. For me, the word “choice” in the title plays a huge part in CiCi and Walker’s story. Walker had choices, so many choices, that he could have made differently. There were so many times I simply wanted to smack him upside the head and say don’t you see what you are doing here. But of course he never heard me (or I didn’t smack him hard enough).

I loved this story. The depth, the emotions, the tension – all of it made for an amazing story that is very real to life. None of us get to go through this life without complications from the past messing with our present. If only we could. So having Walker’s ex-wife deep in this story simply brings that fact to the forefront. Yes, in my opinion, Walker could have handled a lot of things differently – but, would he have been the same charming character if he had? I don’t think so. His choices made sense to him, even when I didn’t agree with them.

I don’t believe you can read Distiller’s Choice without getting truly emotionally involved with the people in this story. I know that I got mad, annoyed, flabbergasted and sad along the way. I highly recommend this story to any reader of romance. It is powerful, engaging and will perhaps make you think about your own choices in life. Besides entertaining us, isn’t making us think a side effect of a really good story? I think so. Pick up this one and get ready for an emotional ride.

*I received an e-ARC of Distiller’s Choice from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*