☆☆➹⁀☆3 stars☆➹⁀☆☆
What it’s about:
Bourbon Sins: On the streets of New Orleans, sins are committed every night.
My name is Jett Colby and I save tarnished souls.
In the downtown, under the glittery lights of Bourbon Street, I found her in cheap lingerie, flaunting her body for callous men and money. From the lace of her cheap lingerie, to her garter belt, I knew she had to be saved. She had to be mine. Broke and destitute with no way of out, she had no choice but to come to me and into my club. She had no other choice but to become a Jett Girl.
But see, that’s the thing about this city; you might think that under the dazzling lights and illusion of salvation, she’s the one that needed saving. When the glitter fades and the dirt is washed away, the one worth saving just might be me.
Bourbon Deceit: The walls of my club hold many secrets. Depravity. Sin. Justice.
Come in; debauchery can be yours for the cost of a lap dance and a night of pleasure.
And I own every last part of it. But she’s my weakness, and thankfully she followed me through the insolvent streets of New Orleans, giving me her loyalty and her heart. My desire for her dominates my every thought, but my broken past could destroy us.
There are people trying to bring me down. Two malicious men stand in the way of what I want: to own it all. It’s either Lot 17 or Goldie, my Jett Girl.
I have to make a choice and for once, it won’t be easy.
Bourbon Kingdom: Under the neon lights of Bourbon, money is everything.
Justice, faith, and power. They’re the key to my empire and she holds them all in the palm of her hand. Falling for her was a mistake; she stole my heart and consumed me. I was addicted, and she left me weak and vulnerable to my enemies.
They’re everywhere.
Now she’s gone, turning to my enemy’s business partner; the man I’ve hated my entire life. She said she’s protecting me. She said it won’t be forever.
But how can I believe her?
Lies, deceit and deception. They’re the sins driving us apart.
In a city that never sleeps—in a place where scandal hides behind every dark corner, my Jett girl might never be mine again.
Bourbon Truths: Every choice you make in life comes with a consequence.
I was once on top, I was the professional boxer to be afraid of. I had everything I could possibly hope for. I was happy, satisfied, content . . . until one night.
One off day. One wrong reaction. I killed a man. The sound, the blood, the stagnant air, it’s forever imprinted in my mind and now dictates the way I live my life.
Desolate with nothing but my penance to pay, I didn’t expect to have my world flipped upside down when Lyla seductively strutted into my life. I want her. I need her. I crave her. But I don’t deserve her. People like to celebrate the day they were born, I like to celebrate the day my soul died.
This is my story of repentance.
My Thoughts:
Meghan Quinn’s Bourbon Series is now fully published. It consists of four books: Bourbon Sins, Bourbon Deceits, Bourbon Kingdom and Bourbon Truths. The final book, Bourbon Truths, is written as a standalone, spinoff even though it basically picks up where Bourbon Kingdom ends.
I enjoyed the first book in Meghan Quinn’s Bourbon Series. The premise for the series is great, but I felt that as a series, it was too drawn out. The books are overly filled with drama, angst and sex scenes in order to lengthen the story. There are several aspects of the story that were insufficiently explored. Further development of these plot points would have made the story more interesting and richer. Inclusion of more details on Jett’s father’s plans would have given the story more suspense and foreboding. Natasha, Jett’s prior love interest, is mentioned frequently; in book one, Jett fears for her in her relationship with Rex, but she is not mentioned aside that. The loss of a girlfriend doesn’t seem to be a big enough reason for this life-long grudge. There is mention of a “mole” in Jett’s organization, but that is neither explored nor revealed; that one aspect of book 2, Bourbon Deceits, had me on edge wondering which Jett Girl was jealous enough to become a traitor. Needless to say, it was disappointing that a mole was neither explored nor identified. The other Jett Girls are not given much background until the last book, Bourbon Truths, and while presented as women down on their luck and given a chance at an education and self-improvement, when socializing after work, they talk like cheap prostitutes. Ms. Quinn might have given them the foulest mouths east of the Mississippi in order to infuse humor, but for me, it made for less endearing characters–especially as the story progressed.
The Jett Colby character is golden; he may be imperfect and wounded, but he is probably the purest of all the characters. Goldie is crass and vulgar, and that only worsens with the progression of the storyline. I really couldn’t get into that character—she fell on hard times after Hurricane Katrina, but her character is written as if she was born and raised in the gutters of NOLA. Even though she is given finishing/manner lessons, her etiquette doesn’t improve. While Goldie’s colorful descriptions of both male and female anatomy are probably supposed to be humorous, I found them to be distasteful and detracting from the storyline.
Kace is enigmatic and brooding until the last book in the series, Bourbon Truths. In that final book, readers get some details about Kace’s past and present. He becomes a three-dimensional character whom readers can care about and understand.
The writing style and story structure in the final book, Bourbon Truths, is the most complex and interesting. Kace’s story is presented in dual time lines, and there are multiple points of view. Additionally, the author finally gives her some of her secondary characters a little back story. In my opinion, the best written book in the series.
Jett is clearly a loyal friend and champion of the underdog. His loyalty and belief in his best friend, Kace, is heartwarming. The women he takes in have definitely improved their situations in life, but in the end, Goldie is as much Jett’s savior as he is hers. Overall, 5 stars for the story premise, 2 stars for pace and plot development, 3 stars for characters. I enjoyed the series, however, I strongly feel that with good editing, this series would have been a solid standalone novel.
One of the genre descriptors (from Goodreads) is BDSM, however, BDSM is only mildly inferred. The vividly described consensual sex scenes do make this series a NC-17 read.
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