I had a lot of fun with this story. I loved getting to learn about the small town. Both of the two main characters had very dynamic storylines and past that came together very intricately. They posed as connections and also struggles throughout the story. I loved the side characters in this story and made the found family trope so so strong. It was beautiful to see the heavy emphasis on woman-owned small business and just the support of small businesses in general. Who knew that a sex shop and a winery would be such a perfect pairing!
There were interesting dynamics between the two main characters, like unnecessary lying, denial, and a bit of miscommunication. These themes did kind if ruin the story, but it seemed like it was all easily forgiven and the characters were able to move past that in different ways. This was the second book in a series and reading this first, I feel as though I was missing out on the backstories and dynamics of the characters. I feel like I would have benefited from reading the first one first. One of the really interesting plot points of the story was the ghost that haunted Lace’s sex shop and I feel like we could have used a lot more of her!
I would definitely recommend this book to friends! I think this book would be great for people who love the friends to lovers trope, found family, career aspirations, single parent, and small town lore. I would recommend someone to read this book after reading the the first one in the series.
Thank you NetGalley, and Kelly and Tana Fireside for trusting me with this ARC to read and review.

I appreciate the inclusive language and the diverse characters and the interactions within the story. If you are looking for an easy read that is fairly lighthearted I think you would enjoy this story. I appreciate what this story tried to do but it seemed to fall flat for me. The prose seemed to jump around between Lace and Tessa and the chapters were fairly disjointed.

if you know me, you know how much i love second chance romance (and milfs!!!) and whiskey & wine had both, so it's safe to say i had a great time reading this book! tessa and lace's friends-to-lovers story is developed wonderfully and it's easy to see why they'd be so good together and how they fall in love throughout the course of the book. the only reason i didn't rate this higher is that i felt like lace went from her "3 months only" rule to basically proposing to tessa a bit too fast for my liking, and her commitment issues didn't feel fully fleshed out. but it's a very minor issue in the grand scheme of the book and i still loved it overall! i received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up
Thanks to Netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review
This was a fun read. The writing sometimes didn't feel it flowed as much as I wanted. The plot was fun and the characters were cute. I like sex toy shops and wine and this involved both!

dnf.

the writing was clunky, the exposition forced, the romance unbelievable, the conflict so foreseeable and contrived I couldn't force myself to continue. lesbians deserve better

This book hits a lot of small town cosy romance tropes.

Tessa has moved from California to Owen Station, Arizona to restart her life with a new vineyard after a divorce. Lace runs an adult toy shop in Owen Station and is happy with never dating anyone past the 3 month mark. The women grow close as they both work to support each other through business expansions. And while everyone around them seems to have figured out that they would work well together, Tessa and Lace seem to be a bit slower on the uptake.

I love watching competent women support each other. I also love wine and viticulture, so I’m here for watching a new wine maker succeed. It was noticeable that there were very few non women characters, but if your first response when you pick up this book is to go “but what about meeeeen?!?!?” this book probably isn’t going to be something you are interested in anyway. Also I’ve read enough Omegaverse that totally erase women entirely, so while I tend to prefer a bit more balance generally, there’s space to have books that lean one way or the other.

At this time of year, if you are interested in a small-town cosy romance book that isn’t too high on angst, but are NOT interested in a something that is an explosion of tinsel and holiday cheer right in your face, this might hit the right notes for you.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

I absolutely loved the setting of Owen Station and I'd love to visit it again. The women empowering women, inclusivity and love at the heart of the town was an absolute joy to read. The side characters were a complete highlight of the book and I could do with more of them.

However, Lace and Tessa were just not it for me. Between the poor communication and childishness of two grown adults I was really put off them. The friends not trying to catching feels to grand romantic gesture happened in such a ridiculously short space of time that I went from pretty invested in them to not bothered about the success of their relationship.

I also felt like the title would have worked better if Lace had more to do with whiskey than just saying she liked it a few times while the wine portion was integral to the plot. Saying that though, I did absolutely love Frisky Business, I think it's a great setting for a book.

I also loved the side story of Elizabeth, it was a cute plot weaved throughout that added to the romance.

"Whiskey and Wine" by Kelly Fireside and Tana Fireside offers readers a delightful mix of female empowerment and a dash of romance set against the backdrop of a vibrant Arizona town. While the strong presence of female characters is a notable strength, I found myself wishing for more chemistry between the two main characters, Lace and Tessa.

I found Lace and Tessa to both be dynamic characters with clear goals and passions, making them refreshing protagonists. The supporting cast, including friends and the town's frisky ghost, adds depth to the story and contributes to the overall atmosphere of female empowerment.

However, the chemistry between Lace and Tessa felt somewhat lacking. While their friendship is well-established, the transition to a romantic relationship didn't quite hit the emotional notes I anticipated. The progression of their connection seemed somewhat subdued, and the romantic tension that typically fuels such relationships felt subdued, hindering my ability to fully invest in their love story.

A friends to lovers stories. True to the trope, the main characters had feelings that ran deeper than either would admit to each other.
The story was a very slow burn. Not my favorite but was still well written.

Whiskey and Wine is a sapphic best-friends-to-lovers story. Lace owns a sex toy shop and Tessa is a winemaker. They both have deeper feelings than friendship for each other but are worried about endangering the friendship. Ultimately they do after a slow burn and it's HEA.

I wanted to love the story more than I did, but I do appreciate the e-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.

Spicy 2 stars
Overall 4 stars

This was a great slow-burn romance about finding love again post-divorce. This book is prop independent women. What it means to fall in love with your best friend and be your authentic self when you don't have to worry about the pressures of dating and relationships. It's a quick and easy read. I will say the spicy scenes don't happen until chapter 12 in the book and there are only 15 chapters. The character development was just right, not too fast and not too slow. No cliffhangers and I only wish they had gone into the Tessa divorce a little more.

Received this book as an ARC from Netgalley.

2.5 stars!

This took me a minute to get into. I didn't love the characters at first but as the novel goes on, my opinion started to shift. I overall liked their relationship dynamic and that they started out as friends but their communication skills could use some work.
I kind of loved the aside characters a little bit more than our main couple and it makes sense that they have their own book (that I will definitely be picking up). Overall while I did enjoy it, it wasn't my favorite and I really don't have much to say. I will likely read more from this duo but it's not high on my priority list.

Thank you NetGalley and Bold Stroke Books for the ARC!!

A 2 star read for me.

This book looks at Tessa and Lace, two ‘best friends’ with something bubbling beneath the surface. I enjoyed the characters, particularly Maddison, however I found that the portrayal of Tessa and Lace was a little immature for my liking and a lot of back and forth.

The build up to the main story line was quite long winded, with too many pointless conversations which could have been straight to the point to reduce the length of the book.

There was some spice in the book, and it was written okay, but could have done with less jokes and conversations throughout these parts of the book.

For me, I found the chapters too long, I like having breaks every now and then especially if I am reading before bed however these were over 10 pages long.

I found that the book covered some really important and relevant topics, this was my first female to female romance read, and I did enjoy it. The conversations around girl power had great foundations but fell a little flat for me and seemed to be come back for every bad thing that happened in the book.

Overall I finished the book fast which is good, and thought the opening line of the book was great.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Stokes Books for sending me this ARC for my honest feedback.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️
🍷🥃🍇📱🐕

Whiskey and Wine is a romance book about two best friends falling in love. I really enjoyed this book - you could tell that it was written by two women who have a very similar story.

I loved how our two main characters, Lace, a sex-toy shop owner, and Tessa, a winemaker are total opposites, making them complete each other. They are strong independent women who have gone through many things in their pasts that make them weary about falling in love again. Lace is scared of hurting a potential love interest, so she has a rule of not dating longer than 3 months, and Tessa is way too busy to even think about dating anyway.

But these two basically date each other from the moment they meet, and everyone can see it, except them. I was really happy to read their story. I also loved how we get to the conclusion of Mrs Owens's story, which is continued from the first book, Vintage and Vogue. ( and of course Sena and Hazel)

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of the ebook. This review is left voluntarily.

This wasn't my favorite, but it was ok. I'm sure it will however, appeal to someone else.

Thank You Bold Strokes Books, and NetGalley.

The first half of the book fell a bit flat for me and I was tempted to dnf. But, despite the writing not being groundbreaking, I ended up liking the characters, even if they felt quite underdeveloped.
I don't think I would have read this if NetGalley hadn't given me a free arc, but it was still enjoyable and I had some fun.

I was provided this ARC by the publisher via NetGalley.

I could not get into this book. The writing is fine but I immediately feel like too much has happened with these characters already before the book starts that I can’t get invested in their story. I can’t see how the prologue connects (I DNF’d at 25%) and the time difference between chapter one and two feels extensive. Unfortunately I’m just not feeling this book at all.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with this free ebook for my review!

I really wanted to love this book and was so excited in the beginning (prologue) about the characters. As the story went on everything just felt very 2D and flat. There wasn’t a lot of descriptions about the characters or any world building to help you connect to any of the characters.

I didn’t feel like Lace and Tessa had a lot of chemistry and thought it was strange that they felt so connected and close in love with each other but rarely ever saw one another. The story was a little too slow for my liking and I found myself fighting to get to the end.

I think the overall concept and details (women empowerment, LGBTQ+ love, women-owed businesses) was great but the story feel very short.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Lace business is going well to the point she wants to expand so having a relationship long term is not in her plans well because she was in relationship before and hurt that person she believes she not meant to be in relationship so she only do three month of fun and sex. Tessa is running a successful vineyard while raising her daughter who turns out to be great business partner she got out a relationship that left her wary of starting anything with anyone. Lace and Tessa became friends and basically spends every moment together which why the town thought they were together and think they be great but only if they both get out of their way. I enjoy this read I love how everyone is supportive the love scene between Lace and Tessa was fire.

Read in one sitting - easy, lovely read.
Tessa and Lace have a great friendship. They totally vibe - encouragement and support, humor and just good feelings. Healing. Acceptance of oneself. Loved it.