ARC Review: Home to Whiskey Creek by Brenda Novak

Home to Whiskey Creek

Whiskey Creek #4

Author: Brenda Novak

Publisher: Harlequin MIRA

Publication Date: July 30, 2013

~Synopsis~

Sometimes home is the refuge you need-and sometimes it isn't Adelaide Davies, who's been living in Sacramento, returns to Whiskey Creek, the place she once called home. She's there to take care of her aging grandmother and to help with Gran's restaurant, Just Like Mom's. But Adelaide isn't happy to be back. There are too many people here she'd rather avoid, people who were involved in that terrible June night fifteen years ago. 

Ever since the graduation party that changed her life, she's wanted to go to the police and make sure the boys responsible-men now-are punished. But she can't, not without revealing an even darker secret. So it's better to pretend.... 

Noah Rackham, popular, attractive, successful, is shocked when Adelaide won't have anything to do with him. He has no idea that his very presence reminds her of something she'd rather forget. He only knows that he's finally met a woman he could love.

~Prelude~

When I read the synopsis for this one on NetGalley, I was very intrigued and decided to request it. I didn’t realize it was the 4^th book in a series. However, they are all companion novels so I realized it was ok that I haven’t read any of the other books. However, now that I have read Home to Whiskey Creek, I am definitely interested in reading the first 3 books.

~Review~

Home to Whiskey Creek was a deep and thoughtful contemporary romance. Addie is traumatized as a sophomore in high school and moves away as soon as she graduates high school. She doesn’t return to Whiskey Creek for 12 years and she is only back to take care of her ailing grandmother and then wants to get the hell out of there. She has worked so hard to recover from the past and the last thing she needs is to see the people who almost destroyed her life or relive that nightmare. Noah is a successful mountain bike racer and owns his own bike shop in Whiskey Creek, his home town. When he comes across Addie, he feels something that no other woman has made him feel but she has barriers that even he struggles to break. Addie may be the woman to settle Noah down and he may be the man she can finally give her whole heart too. However, revelations about that night 15 years ago could tear them apart forever.

I loved Addie and found her to be a very strong character. She was traumatized by an awful event at 16 but she didn’t let it take over her life and consume her. She got help and she found a way to heal and put herself back together. While she can never forget what happened, she has learned to forgive and move forward. I admire her for being strong enough to go back and face her fears head on. It would be hard to see them with families and living normal lives knowing what they did. I loved her resolve with Noah too because she has always been in love with him and now that he is showing interest in her, she needs to keep him at bay and she does a pretty good job of it.

“The boys of Whiskey Creek hadn’t broken her yet. She’d survived. Again.”

Noah was definitely a character I could get caught up in. He was handsome, charming, sweet and successful. He is thought of as a player by his friends but he has just never found the right woman to fall in love, that is, until Addie falls back into his life. In high school, he was a few years older than her and really popular so he didn’t pay much attention to her. However, he notices her now and he feels something with her that he thinks could be real. He desperately wants to get to know her but she has a tough exterior and he isn’t sure he can break down her barriers. His life was forever changed that same night 15 years ago but in a very different way and he has no idea about the connection Addie has to it. When he found out the truth about what happened and it came out to everyone in town, I fell in love with him for sticking by Addie’s side and supporting her.

“And, oddly enough, he wasn’t thinking about how he could slip out of the relationship without hurting her when it was over. He was letting himself go, too, in a way he’d never let go before, and that made this very different.”

One of the things I loved about this book was that Addie’s trauma wasn’t some big secret to be revealed at the end. It was known right up front and I liked that because the plot was all about Addie dealing with her emotions about being back and her feelings for Noah. There was still a little mystery because someone was watching Addie and taunting her and the author did a really good job of keeping the intrigue and mystery alive with that. I also loved having the dual POV with Addie and Noah. I love being able to get into the mind of both characters and know what they are thinking and feeling in each situation.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Home to Whiskey Creek and it has me very intrigued to check out the other 3 books to get some insight into some of the characters that make a small appearance in this book. The book had great character and plot development and I was super satisfied with the ending and felt that the author wrapped up Addie and Noah’s story very well.

~IPOD Picks~

“Starts with Goodbye” by Carrie Underwood

“All Your Life” by The Band Perry

*An e-ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher and NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own and unbiased.*