Whiskey, Words and Whispers
(Sweet Tea & Trouble Book 1)
by Sawyer Bennett
In the delightfully nosy town of Whynot, North Carolina, secrets and sweet tea never stay cold for long. When sparks fly between two locals—one returning home and one with secrets to hide—the gossip mill isn’t the only thing turning up the heat.
Penny Pritchard thought she’d traded in small-town chatter for political banter when she left to build a big career in Washington, D.C. But when her beloved Aunt Muriel needs help running Central Café—the local hotspot for gossip, grits, and good intentions—Penny comes home with a suitcase full of high heels and denial about just how much she’s missed this place.
Enter Sam-Pete Rochelle, the easygoing bartender at Chesty’s with a smile that could make a girl forget her rules and a secret bigger than the town itself. Everyone thinks he’s just the guy pouring whiskey and fixing the jukebox. No one suspects he’s actually a wildly popular, very rich, and very anonymous author of steamy fantasy romance novels.
When the truth is revealed and it’s time for Sam to stop hiding behind his pen name, Whynot loses its collective mind. The church ladies are clutching their pearls, Floyd’s hosting a “Banned Books & Bourbon” club, and the mayor’s calling an emergency meeting about moral decay. And Penny? Penny is learning firsthand that Sam doesn’t just talk the talk where his books are concerned. Sam excels at walking the walk, if you know what I mean.
Now, Penny is torn between her two worlds. Does she go back to the career that provides a sense of fulfillment and purpose or stay in the small town with the man who writes about epic love stories and might just be her own real-life happily ever after?
A laugh-out-loud, heart-swoony friends-to-lovers romance about second chances, southern charm, and finding the courage to write your own story—one rumor at a time.
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
Honey, Whynot’s got three reliable sources of information— Facebook, the prayer chain, and the gossip mill.
Whynot’s gossip network runs faster than broadband and twice as loud. If NASA ever needs to transmit data to Mars, they should just hire the men and women of this town and give them a group text.
Even though we’re sitting in the same room, she’d say… ‘Roy… tell your son that I am thoroughly embarrassed by this.’ And then my dad would sigh and turn to me sitting two feet away, and say, ‘Son… your mom is thoroughly embarrassed by this.’
You can’t call love sinful when you’ve been praying to find it since 1974, Lorraine.
That boy’s smile could melt the butter clean off a biscuit.
Love’s like humidity— you don’t notice it till it’s already in your hair.
My Review:
This story was good fun from start to finish. Sawyer Bennett is a crafty scribbler and has conjured a rib-tickling tale bursting with pleasantly enjoyable and colorful wit that kept a delighted, highly amused, and gratified smirk on my face throughout perusal. It was a total treat to read an engaging and well-written story where the characters are thoughtful, supportive, and kind towards each other, and aren’t constantly in conflict.
Written in my favorite dual POV, the banter was clever, razor-sharp, and intelligently perceptive, flowing from dynamic and vibrant characters with uniquely quirky and intriguing descriptions. The main characters were independent, strong, and the type of people I’d love to know and hang with daily. I need more of this in my life and will be haunting Ms. Bennett’s listings so I don’t miss out on future volumes.
New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author Sawyer Bennett draws on real-life experiences to create relatable stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From contemporary romance, fantasy romance, and both women’s and general fiction, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone. A former trial lawyer from North Carolina, when she is not bringing fiction to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to her very adorable daughter, as well as full-time servant to her wonderfully naughty dogs.