Length: 19,000 words
Blurb
In a small town about an hours' drive outside Dublin, there’s a whiskey distillery.
Jim has worked in the distillery as its business manager since he returned to his home town after getting his degree. Whiskey is a slow business and rural life is quiet, but Jim takes it in his stride. That is, until the handsome and mysterious Mr Aiden Rooney moves into a room above the local pub and sets off a flurry of gossip.
Aiden’s an artist, and his devil-may-care attitude is a revelation to Jim. But he still lives in a small town in rural Ireland, and he’s not even sure if he wants to be out and proud. The choices they make could change everything, if only Jim dares to follow his heart.
Review
I
read the first line of the blurb for Whiskey Kisses and knew I had to read the
book. A story set in Ireland and about whiskey…bring it on!
And,
I wasn’t disappointed; Whiskey Kisses turned out to be a sweet
and heartwarming comfort read with a wonderful cast of characters and two
adorable MCs.
Jim
has had to overcome the consequences of an accident which have left him with one
mostly useless arm and also made him somewhat of an outsider in his own family.
Not that they judge him for that, but as it is, he’s reluctant to add his
attraction to men as yet another thing that makes him ‘other’ from the people
he lives among. As a result he is not out and has no inclination of changing
that situation. Until that is, he meets and falls for Aiden.
The
attraction between Aiden and Jim is instant and their relationship doesn’t take
much longer to develop. Of course, living in a small town means that secrets
can only be kept for so long and whether or not Jim’s family and neighbours
will be accepting of his homosexuality remains to be seen.
The
above description might lead you to conclude that this will be an angst filled
tale, but you would be wrong. While it is true that Jim has to face his fears
and overcome them, it’s not a major plot point. This is more a case of delaying
the big revelation until Jim had a good, impossible to deny, reason to face the
music.
In
fact, this is mostly a wonderful and charming description of two men who are
clearly meant to be together finding their way to making it happen. Yes, there
are one or two moments during which Jim finds himself face to face with
prejudice and lack of understanding, but they aren’t the focus of the story;
merely a reflection of today’s reality.
I
thoroughly enjoyed making Jim and Aiden’s journey with them in this short but nevertheless
complete story. Beautifully written, Whiskey Kisses gave me about an hour’s
worth of delightful reading.
Anna Martin is from a picturesque seaside village in the south west of England and now lives in Bristol. After spending most of her childhood making up stories, she studied English Literature at university before turning her hand as a professional writer.Apart from being physically dependent on her laptop, Anna is enthusiastic about writing and producing local grassroots theatre (especially at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she can be found every summer), visiting friends who live in other countries, Marvel Comics, learning new things, and Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk.
Although her most recent work is in the LGBT Adult Fiction genre, in the past Anna has worked on a variety of different projects including short stories, drabbles, flash fiction, fan fiction, plays for both children and adults, and poetry. She has written novels in the Teen/ Young Adult genre, Romance, and Fantasy novels.
Anna is, by her own admission, almost unhealthily obsessed with books. The library she has amassed is both large and diverse; "My favourite books," she says, "are The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood." She also several well-read copies of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park books and re-reads the Harry Potter novels with almost startling regularity.
Anna claims her entire career is due to the love, support, pre-reading and creative ass-kicking provided by her closest friend Jennifer. Jennifer refuses to accept any responsibility for anything Anna has written.
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