Review: The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz

From the internationally celebrated author of the Original Sinners series comes a brand-new tale of betrayal, revenge and a family scandal that bore a 150-year-old mystery

When Cooper McQueen wakes up from a night with a beautiful stranger, it's to discover he's been robbed. The only item stolen—a million-dollar bottle of bourbon. The thief, a mysterious woman named Paris, claims the bottle is rightfully hers. After all, the label itself says it's property of the Maddox family who owned and operated Red Thread Bourbon distillery since the last days of the Civil War until the company went out of business for reasons no one knows… No one except Paris.

In the small hours of a Louisville morning, Paris unspools the lurid tale of Tamara Maddox, heiress to the distillery that became an empire. But the family tree is rooted in tainted soil and has borne rotten fruit. Theirs is a legacy of wealth and power, but also of lies, secrets and sins of omission. The Maddoxes have bourbon in their blood—and blood in their bourbon. Why Paris wants the bottle of Red Thread remains a secret until the truth of her identity is at last revealed, and the century-old vengeance Tamara vowed against her family can finally be completed.

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What I thought about The Bourbon Thief

The Bourbon Thief is a standalone southern gothic tale from Tiffany Reisz.  Now I loved her very successful Original Sinners series, and The Headmaster, another gothic tale that reminded me of books I read when I was much younger.

The Bourbon Thief starts out about bourbon -- the theft of one very expensive bottle kicks off the action, but what follows in this "story within a story" is a tale of forbidden attraction, deceit and revenge.  The romance elements, while present, take a back seat to a story that is more about love and fate. 

Paris Christie tells a story to Cooper McQueen regarding the Maddox family, and the young heiress Tamara Maddox who just happens to be in love with the older stable boy. It doesn't end well. I'm purposely keeping it vague so that you can enjoy every last detail on your own.

When I read Tiffany Reisz, I know I'm going to get some complicated characters and some awesome writing.  But what I love the most about her writing is the way she reveals the story and how she presents the events by weaving little bits together until you see the whole picture.  The Bourbon Thief does just that and its awesome.

This book is very different from the Original Sinners series in content and it was great to read Ms. Reisz weave her magic with new characters.  I'm eager for more standalone stories from this author.

ARC provided for review.

About the Author
 

Tiffany Reisz is the author of the internationally bestselling and award-winning Original Sinners series for Mira Books (Harlequin/Mills & Boon). Tiffany's books inhabit a sexy shadowy world where romance, erotica and literature meet and do immoral and possibly illegal things to each other. She describes her genre as "literary friction," a term she stole from her main character, who gets in trouble almost as often as the author herself.

She lives in Oregon. If she couldn't write, she would die.

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