On the Rocks

Kandi Steiner is everything. Her books are everything. Her writing is everything. She knows how to paint a picture and make you feel like you have been dropped into a book right next to these characters, she makes it feel like they are your friends. When you dive into one of her books you don't even want to come out for air. 

I received an ARC for this book, and I am so so grateful for that. I would have read it anyway, but to get it early is special, and it was everything I hoped it would be and more. Releasing June 13th!!!

"Noah Becker is nothing but trouble. That's what Mama told me when I was a kid, kicking his pew in church and giggling at the games we'd play. It's what the town said when his father died and the Becker brothers went wild. And it's on repeat in my mind the day I walk into the whiskey distillery where he workds to buy a wedding gift for my fiance. He's trouble. Dirty, sweaty, rude trouble. No matter how many times I repeat it, I can't escape Noah in our small Tennessee town. And the more I run into him, the more he infuriates me. Because he sees what no one else does. He sees me- the real me. The me I'm not sure I'm allowed to be. I'm Ruby Grace Barnett, the mayor's daughter. Soon to be a politician's wife, just like Mama and Daddy always wanted. Soon to fufill my family's legacy, just like I always knew I would. Until the boy everyone warned me about makes me question everything, like whether the wedding I'm planning is the one I even want. Everyone says Noah Becker is nothing but trouble. If only I had listened."

"I didn't mean to ruffle her feathers, but damn if I didn't like getting under that pretty bird's skin."

I loved everything about this book. I loved the small town family feel, I loved the characters, I loved the angst, and I loved the feels. Ruby Grace came back to town to plan her wedding. A wedding she would never tell anyone,but she wasn't even sure she wanted to have. She had dreams for herself that she had put on the back burner for her fiance. She hadn't even thought twice about it until Noah Becker. Noah made her question everything.

"Anyone can lead an ordinary life, child," she'd said to me one lazy afternoon. "But the best adventures are reserved for the ones brave enough to be extraordinary."

I really loved Ruby Grace. She infuriated me, more than once, but I still loved her. She was young, but she had an old soul. She knew what she really wanted in life, but was willing to put all of her dreams aside to make her family happy. I loved that when she was with Noah she stripped all of that away and just became herself. She had a whole world ahead of her, she just needed to take the time to realize that in order to go out and make something for herself she needed to put aside the feelings of others and think about herself for once. 

"Because no matter how I tried to deny it, I wanted her to be mine. It was silly to even think it when we hadn't so much as held hands, but I felt it- some sort of deep possessiveness over a girl I'd never have."

Ohhh Noah, he was so swoon worthy. He was the best kind of book boyfriend, dreamy and brooding. He was a family guy through and through and he loved his mama. He was everything. He was hard working, helped raise his brothers after their dad died, and he felt this need to protect Ruby Grace, even though he didn't know why. He was every bit fantastic. Even if I couldn't have her, if I couldn't kiss her or touch her or pull her into me and shield her from every unwanted harm- just looking at her was a blessing. I felt her presence swell into my chest, filling me up in some way that I never would have realized before. Because I didn't know I was empty. Not until she poured into my life. 

One of my favorite things about this book was that I loved all the other characters too, not just Ruby Grace and Noah. I loved Betty, the little old lady from the nursing home, who was fiesty and meddlesom but in the best way. I loved Ruby Grace's best friend, and I loved all the Becker boys and their mom. It was a fantastic book full of great characters that you wish you had in your hometown, in your real life. 

This romance was a slow burn in the best kind of way. You were dying for them to get their shit together, but you also wanted Ruby Grace to find herself in the process. I was so sad for Noah as he had to sit back and watch her plan a wedding to another man, and I felt my heart break with Ruby Grace when secrets started to unfold. I wanted to badly for them both to get the happy ending they so desperately deserved. It was almost agonizing reading the things going on around them that they felt like they had no control over. 

"No, you see me with your soul." She swallowed, eyes flicking up to mine before they fell back to my mouth. "And I feel you with mine."

The sexual chemistry between these two was so steamy, I felt like I couldn't bear to read another page if they didn't finally kiss. Kandi is amazing at that, writing a love so powerful, a chemistry so hot, that it just burns from the pages. It was heartbreaking, it was agonzing, but it was so worth the wait. 

"I didn't realize how much a kiss could feel like a vacation. I didn't realize how much a person could feel like home."

Overall, I'm giving this one 5 STARS. In true Kandi Steiner fashion, she made your heart ache, but in the best way possible. She made me cry, she made me laugh, and she made me swoon. She is an amazing storyteller, these characters were amazing, and this book was amazing. I can't wait to read what she does next.