A Love Letter to Whiskey

A Love Letter to Whiskey by Kandi Steiner5 stars!!!“…no one warned me that once a whiskey girl, always a whiskey girl.”This was my first read by Kandi Steiner and it definitely won’t be my last, in fact, this book is one of my favourite reads of the year. Anyone that follows my reviews know I am an emotional reader, I relish an emotional read that will make me cry, I crave that emotional connection to a book, to characters, to their story as a whole and Kandi Steiner delivered this in spades, boy did she deliver.“Words don’t get written from a heart that’s never felt. They come from pain, from love, from unspeakable depths – and they were my only release.”Character connection, man did these characters come to life, from the first few lines Kandi Steiner held me captive for an entire book. I had been in a funk, I had tried to read for a fair few days, nothing caught my attention and for a girl that reads a book a day this was seriously bad, but I picked up A Love Letter to Whiskey and Kandi Steiner brought my mojo back with a vengeance. I devoured this book, I cried A LOT, I was frustrated A LOT but most of all, I loved A LOT. This is one angsty ride, one of the most angst filled books I have read in a while and I needed it. Those tears were cathartic, this story consumed me and for the first time in a while I escaped and these characters are ones that have a permanent place in my heart. They earned it.“Jamie was never officially mine, but I had always been his – ever since the first taste.”This book is filled with raw emotion, thoughts, feelings and actions that hit exactly where the author intended. Where two people that were destined to be together were their own worst enemy. The time was never right, their minds were never in the right place, but their hearts were, their hearts belonged to one and other. This story spans a decade, a decade of friendship, of love, of heart ache. A decade of hiding feelings and depriving the heart of who the heart wants, a decade of miscommunication, a decade of fear, a decade of tangible desire, lust and love seemingly unreciprocated by either party. Their frustrating walls that they both had erected were the biggest obstacle, one that I wanted to rip down brick by brick, but I needn’t have bothered, because Kandi Steiner did it for me, eloquently, beautifully, perfectly, frustratingly, agonisingly, tortuously slowly. But, this book was perfect, this was B and Jamie’s story.“But sometimes, even when we know something is bad for us, we do it anyway. Maybe for the thrill, maybe to cure our curiosity, or maybe just to lie to ourselves a little longer.”B and Jamie first become friends in high school, it was unusual for best friends to be the opposite sex, but these two just worked. Their friendship was tangible but you always knew that the chemistry they shared blurred the lines of friendship but these two were stubborn. A love born from friendship though is extremely special, you know that person inside out, you love them for their strengths and you love them for their weaknesses, you love them for their flaws and you love them fiercely and these two definitely did that. Sometimes too much love can be a bad thing and for me their fear of crossing that line and tarnishing what they had was the one thing that held them back rather than being the bungee cord that bound them together.“It turned out a Whiskey stain was just as permanent as ink, and I wondered if I would every truly was myself clean. Or if I even wanted to.”This book is brutal, emotionally brutal, my heart felt decimated so many times throughout but this was an honest portrayal of one of the most epic love stories I have read. The characters were real, their actions were real, their thoughts were real and it was this that made it that much more relatable. Their actions were not out of the realms of possibility, it could happen to anyone, it does happen ALL THE TIME and knowing this is what really captures your heart and pulls at every single heart string. I lived this book, I breathed this book, I felt everything in this book, these characters totally consumed me for hours. I had palpitations, I screamed, I wanted to batter these two but most of all, I loved them, wholly and implicitly. Both were adorable, both were pig headed, both annoyed the hell out of me at times, but both of them loved each other. Their love was at the end of the rainbow, neither chancing to find its end, they get there but will it all be too late?“I’m sorry that up until now, I saw you as something I should quit instead of something I should fight for.”I loved the references to Whiskey, for B, Jamie was Whiskey and the references to B’s love of Jamie and its connection to Whiskey the drink made for some truly memorable quotes. I cannot say anything negative about this book, for me it was perfection, in truth I could say I want more, but that is a good thing, I didn’t want to let these characters go. I wanted to stay in my B and Whiskey bubble.“Sometimes we’re more terrified of the good things in life than we are of the bad. We feel we don’t deserve them, or that they aren’t real, that they’ll disappear quickly and easily and we’ll be left in the ruins.”So in summary, if you want an emotional, angsty, beautiful, frustrating, epic read, then this is your book. Have tissues and a large glass of your favourite tipple to hand, bubble wrap your kindle, kick back and enjoy, I did and I still haven’t recovered.

As soon as I was able to get my hands on “A Love Letter to Whiskey”, I was not disappointed!!!! I couldn’t have been more enthralled with this story. I devoured the book and read it at every chance I could. I cant wait to go back and re-read this story. I laughed, I cried, and I felt the sorrows and romance in every word that Kandi wrote.B and Whiskey, aka Jamie, were their own worst enemies. Both doubt the other, both found solace with one another. They were constantly fighting a losing battle and it was heartbreaking to the see all the trials and tribulations the couple fought through. With every high cliff they reached, they found the deepest of oceans to fight through. Their relationship was hostile, it was explosive…it was the epitome of every relationship. There are times you go through life and think to yourself… “Will this really work?” “We will be able to get through this?”, and you do. You fight through everything. Its exactly how Whiskey and B are they.They both want to be with one another so badly but there is always a wall between them. They both made mistakes when it came to the other and they both were able to realize those mistakes. Their love for one another may not have been perfect, but it was their own version of perfect. We had the pleasure to follow their story through high school, through college and well into the adult years. The web that Kandi created of their lives is heartbreaking beautiful. You get tangled in holes and in the strands and you think to yourself, “Will this work? How is this going to turn out?” There were times I had to stop and take a deep breathe because I was afraid of what may happen but I couldn’t stop reading. I had to go back.Both characters were so strong. They were beautiful in their own ways, They were strong and independent. Their relationship, which as you’ll see, starts as best friends and you can really see their playful nature and how they really mesh with one another. I loved seeing the fight that both characters have in them. They persevered through a lot and while yes it is a story, there is a lot that many people go through in their own lives.A Love Letter to Whiskey was heartbreaking, it was beautiful, it was amazing. This isn’t the first book I read by Kandi and it most certainly wont be my last. She has grown so much in her writing and I eagerly wait to see what else she can give to us. I was kept on the edge of my seat with the book and I recommend this book to everyone. I recommend any book by Kandi because they are all amazing!!!!

Heartmelting, interesting, makes you remenber alway that love you let go and never fought hard enough. You cry,you laugh you become one with the pages and feel everything till the end.

I sit here trying to decide what to write. I loved and hated his book. It was frustrating and aggravating but, amazing and heart stopping all at the same time. B drove me crazy! She loved Jamie and yet she would never allow herself to be with him and it almost killed me. I could not put this book down, I needed to know what was going to happen and now that I'm done, I still feel whiplash from it. It hurt me every time B was hurt and every time she hurt Jamie in return. I loved Jamie and I couldn't understand what the hell was wrong with B. I wanted, no, I needed them to be together and every new interference in their lives made me worry they never would be and that was so painful. This book was an emotional rollercoaster and I loved every feeling it brought out of me. Like all of Kandi's book I don't think I will ever forget it.

Pour être tout à fait honnête, j'ai été incapable de lire ce roman en entier. Je suis assez sensible et dans certains cas, c'est trop dur. Je n'ai lu que les premiers et les derniers chapitres. Les mots m'ont frappé en plein cœur. Actuellement, je suis en train d'essuyer mes larmes pour ne pas pleurer en public. Certains livres n'ont pas besoin d'être lus en entier pour en reconnaître la qualité et s'il y a une chose que j'apprécie plus que tout, c'est ce sens des réalités. La vie est ce qu'on en fait, mais croire qu'on a le contrôle des événements est une erreur. Peu importe combien on la fuit, la souffrance fait partie du quotidien et quelqu'un d'heureux est incroyablement béni. Il faut être capable de pardonner et ça aussi ça fait mal. Merci pour ce roman, très franchement. Je ne pense pas que je vais l'oublier de si tôt.

Gaaaaah! This book was unbelievably frustrating, very emotional, beautifully poetic, and wholly addictive! I couldn’t put the darn thing down!“I’m not sorry I kissed you….but I’m sorry I did it when you weren’t mine to kiss.”Brecks AKA “Just B” saw Jamie first but didn’t have time to call dibs on him before she fell over, and then saw him fall for her best friend. She’s happy that her BFF is happy, and even happier that Jamie wants to be her friend. The particular way he looks at her – he SEES her. They have much in common and spend time together doing their own thing and, in time, they become best friends, too. But the lines always remain blurry between them.“We had always existed in the in-between, and I guessed we always would.”As the years go by, they move in and out of the friend zone. The timing is NEVER right for them. However, no matter what life throws at her, Jamie was her whiskey – her addiction. They were never right, but they were never wrong either. They just were.“You couldn’t be with me when you were broken, and now that you’re standing on your own, you still can’t be with me. So if I can’t have you at your worst, and I can’t have you at your best, then when do I get you?”I have so much to say about this book but I’m struggling for the words. It has ALL the feels. B is strong yet weak, insecure yet confident, brittle yet tender – she’s a whole package of contradictions. Jamie is SUCH a nice guy, caring, thoughtful, vulnerable but, my god, passionate and sexy! Their chemistry is hot, compulsive and irresistible. Such an amazing read!!“We’ve always blamed timing, but the timing has always been right – we just never listened.”I felt such yearning for them, their situation, the wasted years. This book is definitely not just about the destination, but the journey. A must-read for this year!!

Thank God it's over, I've never been so stressed with a book, anger, palpitations and tears. How can two people who love each other hurt each other so much?! I didnt get it! 10 stars for Kandi Steiner's writing, whom I've loved since reading Black Number Four! 3 stars for this angsty, complicated love story. This books puts the reader through the ringer. Unrequited love, cheating, love, lust, anger, pain, selfishness, revenge ugh! B had such a twisted view of love and relationships and who could blame her,and then the first guy she falls in love with doesn't notice and falls for her best friend! WTH?! Hell to the No. Somehow I just couldn't forgive or like Jamie. That initial meeting turned me off him. His blonde fetish and manwhoring through college. Really wished we could have had a chapter or two from his POV!If you love angst "Thoughtless" style, you will love this brilliantly written book!