Home to Whiskey Creek

Whiskey Creek #4

by Brenda Novak

Sometimes home is the refuge you need-and sometimes it isn't Adelaide Davies, who's been living in Sacramento, returns to Whiskey Creek, the place she once called home. She's there to take care of her aging grandmother and to help with Gran's restaurant, Just Like Mom's. But Adelaide isn't happy to be back. There are too many people here she'd rather avoid, people who were involved in that terrible June night fifteen years ago.

Ever since the graduation party that changed her life, she's wanted to go to the police and make sure the boys responsible-men now-are punished. But she can't, not without revealing an even darker secret. So it's better to pretend....

Noah Rackham, popular, attractive, successful, is shocked when Adelaide won't have anything to do with him. He has no idea that his very presence reminds her of something she'd rather forget. He only knows that he's finally met a woman he could love.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Chick Lit, Adult, Audiobook

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 30, 2013

About the author

It was a shocking experience that jump-started Brenda Novak’s bestselling author career.

“I caught my day-care provider drugging my children with cough syrup and Tylenol to get them to sleep while I was away,” Brenda says. “It was then that I decided that I needed to do something from home.”

However, writing was the last profession she expected to undertake. In fact, Brenda swears she didn’t have a creative bone in her body. In school, math and science were her best subjects, and when it came time to pick a major in college, she chose business.

Abandoning her academic scholarship to Brigham Young University at the age of 20 in order to get married and start a family, Brenda dabbled in commercial real estate, then became a loan officer.

“When I first got the idea to become a novelist, it took me five years to teach myself the craft and finish my first book,” Brenda admits. “I learned how to write by reading what others have written. The best advice for any would-be author: read, read, read….”

Brenda sold her first book, and the rest is history. Now a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, she continues to publish two or three novels a year, in a variety of genres.

Brenda and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are the proud parents of five children—three girls and two boys. Now that they are empty-nesters, she spends her free time babysitting her two grandchildren.

When she’s not with her family or writing, Brenda is usually raising money for diabetes research. To date, she's raised almost $2.6 million. Her youngest son, Thad, has diabetes, and Brenda is determined to help him and others like him. She also enjoys traveling, watching sporting events and biking--she rides an amazing 20 miles every day!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-...

Reviews

[Seda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aslında kitabı beklediğimden daha çok sevdim. Özellikle Noah’ın, Addy’ye ulaşma ve yakınlaşma çabalarına ve sonrasında olaylara yaklaşımına bayıldım.

Ama Addy’nin yaşadığı olayın, hem Addy hem de diğerleri tarafından bu kadar hafife alınması, 15 yıl geçtiği için kolay kabul edilebilir, affedilebilir ya da bir özürle telafi edilebilir gibi yansıtılmasını hiç sevmedim. Bu konuyla ilgili ne kadar terapi görürse görsün, ne kadar zaman geçerse geçsin Addy’nin bazı tepkileri kendi yaşadığı şeyi önemsizleştirdi. (Tom’la yaptığı konuşma gibi.) Sanırım en ve tek gerçek tepkisi Kevin’ı cafe çıkışında ilk gördüğü yerdi. Diğerlerinin önemsizleştirmesi o kadar sorun değildi ama keşke Addy açısından bu kadar ‘özür dilediler, geçti’ tarzında yazılmasaydı.🙄🙄

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

BE ADVISED... SPOILERS AHEAD... And also a rant. Be prepared!!!!


I had some major problems with this book and the content of it. The main character Addy returns home to help her ailing grandmother with her restaurant. She's kidnapped and thrown into a mine where Noah finds her. We learn quickly that the person who did it had something to do with Addy's gang rape when she was 16.

My main issue is how Addy was treated throughout the book. The stigma of rape is definitely real and a gang rape even more so and it was really prevalent in this book. I felt almost like the author was trying to convince me that in the end it was Addy's fault and she should get over it. The men who did it were "shocked" that she was still thinking about it. Even once the truth began to come out it still seemed like the author was determined for Addy to look bad. At the very end Noah's mom complimented Addy on being kind--- "I'm glad I've been around to see how kind you were to..." Wtf.... That just feels really wrong to me. The mom was just so happy that addy had forgiven these men and her for what they did. It should have played more like "hey I'm happy that you are getting justice and forgive me for being a judgmental bitch who questioned every part of your story and am only now happy because Noah threatened me." That works better for me!! Instead of "you are so benevolent bestowing your forgiveness on these poor men and moving on with your life" it's all in the turn of phrase.

It just left me with a weird feeling and just a wrongness. I don't know. Not sure I want to read more of this series.

[Meltem (ruyalarkitapligi) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brenda’nın en sıkıcı kitabıydı :( Yorum yapmaya bile gerek yok 🙄

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Difficult subject glossed over...

WARNING: Might be spoilers in this review.

I've read author Novak's books before and have enjoyed them. This one - not so much.

Addy Davies is back in Whiskey Creek to help her elderly grandmother after being gone for 15 years. She has stayed away from town since the night she graduated high school and was gang raped. Not only that, as soon as she gets back into town, she is abducted and assaulted, thrown down a mine shaft, as a warning to keep quiet about the rapes.

And these terrible things are glossed over in this story. The police chief, the mayor, and most of the town wants to believe the worst of Addy and not much is done to track down the culprits of these terrible crimes until the authorities are absolutely forced into pursuing the matter.

Yes, this is supposed to be a romance and I can understand why the author would want to keep the subject matter lighter but crimes such as these against women can't be glossed over or held as insignificant.

There were many sections of the book that made me mad. It was an upsetting read, not a heartwarming romance.

I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this book.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[İlkim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dün başlayıp bu öğlen bitirdiğim, kendini inanılmaz okutan bir hikaye daha. Brenda Novak'ın kitaplarını yayınlandığı gibi sepete atmamın nedeni bu. Dili harika, sıkmadan yormadan sizi kasaba hayatına sürüklemeyi başarıyor.

[Giorgia Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful, awful message.
Awful portrayal of the trauma, guilt and repercussions of abuse perpetrated against women.

Awful how the heroine thinks of everyone else and how they are affected before her own self.

Awful how everyone else is quick to condemn the girl for ruining lives but not the men who ruined hers.

This book should be burned.

[Ash Wednesday · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 STARS

"Sometimes I wonder if it isn't harder to live with a lie than to be punished for the truth."

There are days when I randomly pick out books on the strength of their blurbs, not really caring much if it's right smack in the middle of a 10-book standalone-series (where there's no necessary continuity between books) or that I have no impression of the author's previous works from my friends.

So I guess I'll be coming from THAT stand-point.

After some belated research, Home to Whiskey Creek is the 4th book in Brenda Novak's contemporary romance series set in a small "gold rush town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas" but did a pretty decent job as a standalone if you can ignore the multitude of secondary characters who had some brief background drama description as they appeared in the story. I'm venturing a guess that they've had their turn in the spotlight and it's now Adelaide and Noah's turn.

The story kicks-off with Adelaide Davies trapped in the mine where she was gang-raped 13 years ago. Having run away from that tragedy while keeping her silence, she finds herself facing the very demons she has tried desperately to escape in the form of Noah Rackham, the very man trying to rescue her; the clueless, twin brother of one of the five that attacked her that fateful night.

I have a soft spot for small-town stories, the shared history of a community easily adds to the depth of the characters involved and this one was no different: the jocks, the cheerleaders, the nerds... the shy girl who comes back to town, beautiful and mysterious, catching the eye of her high school crush who never so much as glanced at her back then... it's just so easy to make a formula romance out of that. Plus all the angst potential in their back story?

Too much potential feels for one heart...

... yet none given my way.

There's something, clinical about how this story was told. There's a definite lack of passion and chemistry between both Addy and Noah. And no, the glossed over and fade to black sex scenes has nothing to do about it. For some reason, Addy has held on to her crush since high school because he's... nice? Cute? In order for me to believe she'd ruined her marriage over Noah, I think I may need something more than his impressive baseball skills to make me bite. Same goes for Noah who doesn't even remember Addy from school, but after getting rebuffed, is suddenly in love with her. For an adult contemporary romance with an issue as big as theirs, I would've expected something with a heftier emotional anchor to their story.

I found Addy as a heroine thin in depth. Her reasons for not speaking up about what happened before was planted on shaky logic but I did like how her moral dilemma was painted, particularly the possible current repercussions of her actions for something that happened a long time ago. The choices she had to make were truly difficult but her character was far too two-dimensional for me to commiserate with her and made her decisions less understandable to me than they already are.

Noah was a bit of a fail as a hero for me. Maybe it was the fact that he repeatedly refers to sex as "making love". Or maybe its the cheetah printed caveman costume (with wig!) during a Halloween party he wasn't planning on attending. Or maybe it was the spandex. No actual scene involved him in spandex but it does uh, impress upon the imagination.



He's a competitive biker and his side story involved his best friend who may or may not be gay and who may or may not be in love with him. There's a couple more jokes in there somewhere but I'm all out.

I'm glad that the book didn't solely focus on the weak love story between these two and did delve into some detail to their family issues and showed them as somewhat social beings. Some lengths were given to address Baxter's issues which I somewhat appreciated, though they were quite predictable. The other half of the story was the mystery on who brought Addy to the mine at the beginning. This took considerable twists and turns before the actual reveal which weren't bad but weren't that great either.

Overall, the book had tremendous potential that faltered in the bland main characters but was filled somewhat by Addy's interesting dilemma. What little I learned about the minor supporting characters didn't interest me enough to pick up the other books of the series but as for this one, a little less spandex would've gone a long way.

ARC provided by Harlequin MIRA thru Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Ⓐlleskelle - That ranting lady ッ · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️3.5 STARS⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Jonetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is a pretty brave undertaking in that it attempts to fuse a romance with some very tough social issues. For the most part, it succeeds in achieving that goal without sacrificing any part of the story.

The set up
Adelaide (Addy) Davis returns home to Whiskey Creek after a 15-year absence. She's been living about an hour away in Sacramento but has never once visited her grandmother, Milly, the woman who raised her, since graduating high school. Addy was brutally assaulted by members of the baseball team when she was 16 and one of her rapists died that same night. Complicating matters is the fact that she had been in love with his twin brother, Noah Rackham, and she never told anyone in that town what had happened to her. The only reason she's come back to Whiskey Creek is to help her ailing grandmother run her restaurant.

The issues
The story begins with Addy's rescue by Noah after having been abducted from her bed and left in a mine miles away from home. While she still carries a torch for him, she doesn't want him to ever learn the truth about his revered brother because she believes it will hurt him and his family. Her return has made someone nervous and she's being threatened, probably by one of the four remaining men involved in her assault. Noah is very much attracted to Addy but she thinks it wise to not get too involved with him because of the secrets she's keeping.

We learned in the last story that Noah's best friend, Baxter, is gay and is deeply closeted because he's afraid it will affect his relationship with Noah and his family will ostracize him. Most everyone on their friends circle already suspect the truth, including him being in love with Noah.

What works about this story
There are many things tested in addition to the romance between Addy and Noah. This is a small town where secrets are difficult to maintain. Some of Addy's rapists are now respected members of Whiskey Creek and if the news gets out about what happened 15-years ago, it will polarize and divide the town. Attitudes about sexual orientation will also cause some conflicts in this fairly conservative town and Baxter's reluctance to be forthcoming about himself are well founded. Noah is at the center of all of these issues and compounds the problems by having been commitment shy for most of his adult life. He's asking Addy and Baxter to trust him to react appropriately when nothing about his past behavior gives them confidence to do so.

These are really tough issues that are realistically explored and presented. The solutions aren't easy and you won't see them neatly packaged by the end of the story...well some are but most we will have to wait and see. There was a delicate balance that was maintained through the end and I was emotionally connected the entire time.

What I wish I'd seen more of
I wanted more of Addy's point of view as to how she really felt about Noah. Most of her thoughts were centered on survival and protecting her secrets so I didn't have a strong connection to her adult feelings about him. I knew how strong her infatuation with him was as a teenager but the current issues and the past kind of blurred things...I couldn't get a clear picture of what she was really feeling. The romance suffered just a little as a consequence and wrapped rather quickly in the end.

The bottom line
I really, really like this book. We get to see a bit of the underbelly of Whiskey Creek yet the town survives. Addy is an extremely conflicted character who strives to do the right thing and may test your patience. I found myself unable to judge her, however, as she tried her best and did it somewhat alone. Noah is pretty flawed and at times, seeming somewhat shallow, but emerges in a good place. This is a meaty story to tackle in a contemporary romance and I love that these issues are part of the design. I'm also confident that we haven't seen the end of some of the issues these characters and the town confronted. Well done.

(I received an ARC from NetGalley)

[Neria_Luce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hayatımın hiç bir evresinde bu kadar bağışlayıcı olacağımı zannetmiyorum. Addy kadar özünde güçlü bir kadın karakteri uzun zamandır okumamıştım. Kitap boyu boğazıma oturan taşla okudum. Zor bir hayat ve zor seçimler. Birini severken bu kadar masumca acı çekmek ne acı. Novak sert yerden vurmuş. Sevdiğin kişi hayatta en nefret ettiğin kişiyi sana hatırlatırken hala sevgiyi içinde barındırabilmek zor olmalı. Kitap tam bir duygu bombardımanı olmuş. İyi ki okumuşum dedim bitince.

[Damla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Güzel gidiyordu ama sonu şaka gibiydi

[Willow Brook · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. I just love Novak's Whiskey Creek series. I don't find them typical of most romances out there. Often the H and h are at significant odds and/or barely involved romantically for a good part of the story. The books are great soap operas in the sense of lots of conflict (both internal and between characters), dark secrets, adversity, and trauma. The characters show growth and maturity as they take on these many challenges and overcome what are often extremely hard times to find love and happiness.

This book has more than its share of trauma, both past and present, as well as some PTSD and suspense/peril thrown in. At the beginning, I really didn't see how Addie and Noah were going to be able to get past all their baggage from the past and the stresses of the present, not to mention the big fat secrets that were tripping them up in their relationship. But they do get past all that should prevent them from staying together (and it is A LOT). My one quibble with Home to Whiskey Creek is the happy ending was just a bit brief. After all they had been through, it would have been nice to have a few more pages of showing them being happy together.

The book covers are a serious disconnect from the tone of the books however, with their old fashioned, sweet depiction of perfect couples. Meanwhile, the majority of these books are anything but sweet and the couples are very human -- strong, weak, brave, cowardly, but in the end overcoming adversities with perseverance, decency and love.

[Gamruk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serinin ilk kitaplarını okumadan son çıkan kitabını okudum evet kabul bu aralar biraz değişik bir moddayim. Narkozdan sonra boyle oldum ben hep :))

Kitabi sevdim daha doğrusu şöyle diyeyim yazımını, kurgusunu ve karakterlerini sevdim. Brenda Novak kesinlikle takibe alacagim bir yazar oldu. Ilk kitaplari da okuyacağım yakın zamanda.

Bu kitaba gelecek olursam da Adelaide lise yillarinda yaşadığı bir olaydan sonra mezun olur olmaz Whisky Creek'ten tabiri caizse kaçar yıllar sonra büyükannesinin yardıma ihtiyacı olduğundan donmek durumunda kalır. Ancak eskilerde kalan ve düzenlerinin bozulmasını istemeyen bazı kisiler vardir ve bunlar Addy'e musallat olmaya baslarlar.

Genclik aşkı Noah ise beklenmedik bir sekilde hayatına girip çıkmak istemeyince isler karışıyor haliyle.

Addy'nin yaşadığı trajediyi saklamasıni, bundan utanmasini elbetteki bir yere kadar anladım, saygi duydum ama failleri olan 5 kisiyi bir türlü anlayamadım. Tom dışındakiler bildiginiz pişkinlerdi. İyi ki de sonda ortaya çıktı her sey de hakettikleri cezalari aldılar.

Noah ise bence çok tatlı bir adamdı. Her sey ortaya çıktığında da hicbir zaman Addy'i suclamadi. Objektif olup ailesine karşı gelebildi bence oldukça olgun bir karakterdi. Keske kardesi de oyle olabilseymiş.

İlginç bir kitaptı. Konu itibariyle biraz sıkıntılı oldugundan okuyup sevmeyeni de coktur kitabın eminim ama ben o 5'liyi saymazsak sevdim diyebilirim.❤

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful romance that deals with some really tough issues. When she was a sophomore in high school Addy attended a graduation party that ended horrifically for her. Addy left Whiskey Creek after graduation, never intending to come back. But her grandmother needs her help, so here she is, wanting nothing so much as to avoid the boys who raped her. Two days after arriving in town she is kidnapped and dumped into the very mine where the attack occurred. She's rescued by Noah, her high school crush, and brother to one of her attackers. Noah would like to get to know her better, but she wants nothing to do with him.

I really liked Addy. She had the courage to come back to Whiskey Creek to help her grandmother in spite of the horrible memories. She admits to herself that she would have loved to have gone to the police at the time, but because she feels responsible for the death of one of the boys she let it go. Being kidnapped and having her life and that of her grandmother threatened just reinforces that decision. She doesn't expect to be rescued by Noah, her high school crush and brother to the dead attacker. The last thing she wants is to get involved with him, but she discovers that her crush is still alive and kicking. She tries very hard to keep him at a distance, but he isn't cooperating. She feels that getting close to him is impossible with her secrets between them. And she can't tell him the truth without destroying his memories of his twin and tearing his family apart. I really wasn't sure how their relationship was going to work out. Addy was so conflicted because she really came to love Noah. She started out not expecting anything from him because of his reputation as a player, that he'd give up on her quickly. His kindness and care for her starts to break down her barriers, but she still can't tell him the truth. She feels she has to deny the love she feels for him in order to protect him and others. When the truth finally comes out I loved the courage she showed in facing everyone with what really happened.

Noah is a man with a reputation as a womanizer. He certainly has enjoyed the ladies, but lately he's started to feel like there should be more to his life. Seeing some of his friends find love and settle down makes him wonder if there could be someone out there for him. When he rescues Addy he discovers that there is something about her that really draws him. He has vague memories of her from high school, and he would really like to get to know her better. He is surprised when she doesn't want anything to do with him and wonders if he unknowingly hurt her all those years ago. He isn't going to give up on her though, and keeps trying. I really did like his perseverance. He's never been able to commit to anyone before and he finally realizes that it was because he'd never found someone who reached his heart. I also liked the way that he listened to his feeling that there was more going on with her abduction than she was admitting to anyone and was determined to protect her. When the truth came out he was stunned by what he learned and had to decide just who he was going to believe.

There was also a continuation of the story involving Noah's best friend Baxter. This too was dealt with in a very realistic manner. This is something that has been building for awhile and when it all came to a head both of them were left reeling. I really liked the way that Noah stood up for his friend. I look forward to seeing more of Baxter in the future.

I have to say that once again Police Chief Stacy has really pissed me off. His narrow focus on one person as a suspect in Addy's kidnapping was so wrong, especially with Addy's insistence that he had the wrong man. His actions later in the book are even worse. I really hope that one of these days soon he gets what is coming to him. I loved the way it was Dylan Amos, one of the people the chief hates the most, who finds a crucial piece of evidence.

[Dalimar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creo que es como 2.5 pero seré generosa,aquí todo era drama,más drama y más drama. Adelaide fue violada hace 15 años en una fiesta de fin de curso,por cinco chicos de los cuales uno murió,sintiéndose culpable decide abandonar el pueblo,pero regresa habiendo pasado más de diez años de su desgracia. Con un divorcio a cuesta,d un matrimonio que nunca prosperó por falta de amor de su parte.

Regresando es golpeada,secuestrada y abandonada en una mina,dónde fue violada,pero es rescatada por el que fue su gran amor de adolescente que resulta ser el hermano gemelo del violador que perdió la vida. Ella vive baja la amenaza constante de quienes no quieren que hable,pues ya todos tienen su vida hecha y varios se han convertido en hombres respetables dentro del pueblo.

La historia prometía mucho,pero la autora no supo como darle sazón al asunto,lo mezcló todo de un amanecerá que no me dejó conforme y para completar,el final me dejó más inconforme aún. Fue como muy precipitado,lindo si,como toda novela romántica. Pero el libro fue muy largo,dándole vueltas al mismo asunto y al final,lo más interesante pasó sin pena ni gloria. Además la reconciliación entre los familiares fue muy poco creíble.

Demás está decir que esperaba más de la historia y de su desenlace.

[Luv_a_good_story · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book really bothered me. I couldn't believe how much forgiveness there was for such a heinous crime. And that she could just see those people around town? I don't get it.

I am revising my rating down from 2 stars to 1 star. I am disgusted at the end of this book. How could they not take this crime seriously? They really all wanted to be friends at the end? And I was so enjoying this series until this point.

[Katherine 黄爱芬 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tema penyintas perkosaan memang jarang-jarang ada di novel romance, dan sampai sekarang yg membekas di hati saya masih Breath of Scandal-nya Sandra Brown. Dan tokoh Addie ini mengingatkan saya pada novel ini, tapi dgn versi jauh lebih ngeselin dan mengecewakan.

Di awal, diceritakan Addie terperosok dlm tambang tua dan ditolong oleh Noah Rackham. Addie ini ternyata alumni SMA di Whiskey Creek dan baru pulkam. Aneh juga kan bukannya disambut oleh confetti dari warga Whiskey Creek, yg ada Addie dicemplungin ke dlm tambang itu. Tentu saja ada org yg berniat Addie mati saja disana. Dari awal saya sudah merasa agak aneh dgn sikap Addie yg tidak menginginkan ditemukan pelaku yg menculiknya saat dia tidur dan dilempar ke tambang tsb, tetapi Addie dgn getol menyelidikinya sendiri ibarat Sherlock amatir, terutama tersangkanya adalah 4 orang yg pernah memperkosanya 15 thn yg lalu yg didalangi oleh Cody Rackham, kembaran Noah, yg sekarang sudah tiada. Saya agak heran dgn sikap semua org di Whiskey Creek ini yg jelas-jelas berusaha melindungi reputasi Cody yg sudah lama mati ini, serapat mungkin padahal dialah ketua bajingannya.

Saya gak habis pikir dgn sifat Addie yg sok-sok berkorban ini, yg tidak mau jadi pemecah belah keluarga Rackham. Apa dgn begitu Addie jadi perekat keluarga ini? Sikap Addie yg bikin sebel dgn mau tapi enggan dgn Noah bikin saya gak sabaran. Katanya Noah cinta lamanya Addie sejak lebih 15 thn yg lalu dan Noah-lah alasan Addie sampai bercerai. Ini kacau banget premisnya bagi saya. Lagi asik-asiknya mengulik soal perkosaan koq tiba-tiba jalurnya diubah seenaknya oleh author? Ibaratnya mau ke Ancol tapi diturunin di Senen ini namanya.

Dan yg lebih watdepuk adalah saat Noah dicium oleh sobat baiknya yg ternyata gay, Baxter. Para fans MM pasti muntah berjamaah saat baca adegan ini pastinya. Setau saya sih, radar pria gay gak se-ngaco Baxter itu deh. Pria gay pasti tuned dgn pria gay juga, bukan meyakini pria straight bisa menjadi pria gay.

Sisi bagus novel ini justru di klimaks ending cerita... justru Noah yg agak "menyelamatkan" plot cerita yg sudah kacau ini, yg tetap gigih membela Addie, padahal Addie-nya udh kabur ky Siaw Liong Lie yg patah hati meninggalkan Yoko. Bedanya, alasan Siaw Liong Lie kabur itu jauh lebih masuk akal drpd alasan si Addie ini yg lbh mirip sinetron aja.

[ஐ฿υκєτஐ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seride ki diğer kitaplardan daha derin bir konusu var kitabın.Daha dram ağırlıklıydı ama yine de güzeldi.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adelaide Davies is returning to her hometown to help her aging grandmother with her restaurant. This isn't a happy homecoming to Whiskey Creek. Years ago while Adelaide was barely 16, she was brutally attacked by a group of boys at a party. Those boys are now men with lives, families ,and they still reside in Whiskey Creek. Now she must pretend that it is all in the past, until she is assaulted again and warned never to reveal what truly happened that fateful night.

While mountain biking, Noah Rackham discovers Adelaide Davies suck in the old mine. Being her rescuer isn't enough and when Adelaide rebukes his advances, it becomes almost a challenge to win her over.

Adelaide's secret could destroy a lot of lives, but most of all, it will destroy anything that sparks between her and Noah. Adelaide can't seem to help herself when it comes to Noah.

Someone in town doesn't want Adelaide to stay and threatening messages start to arrive. Who attacked her? What will they do to protect their secret? Can someone who commits an evil act still be a good person?

Home to Whiskey Creek is about a young woman facing the tragedy of her past while seeing the perpetrators every day. The violation and continued personal attacks are cruel and upsetting. Although I found this story riveting, I had a very hard time accepting and justifying the final conclusion/outcome to this story. That being said...

Home to Whiskey Creek was an entertaining story with a great mystery to boot. It kept me glued to the pages and invested in the outcome. This was a great read and a wonderful addition to the series.

I received this ARC copy of Whiskey Creek from Harlequin MIRA in exchange for an honest review. This book is set for publication July 30, 2013.

[Danielle Gypsy Soul · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book didn't work for me as well as the previous books in the series. I liked the plot/drama of the story but I wanted more from the characters. First, I never felt the connection between Noah and Addy. Addy had a crush on Noah when she was in high school but I couldn't imagine how that translated to her never getting over him and it ruining her marriage. It was a crush, he never even noticed her. Speaking of him not noticing her, I didn't feel the connection from Noah's POV either. He is a man who has never been in a committed relationship and yet we are to believe that in two weeks he fell hard for her. I found myself wishing that they had a strong relationship/foundation in the past that they could re-build on to make this romance believable. The other part of the story I had a hard time with was that Addy was just a bit too forgiving. Not only did she forgive the past gang rape but she also forgave them trying to terrorize her and trying to turn the town against her. IMO that was just a little too much. I did however really like that Noah believed her and supported her even against his family. Although I didn't buy the happy ending at the end where all was forgiven between Noah, Addy and his parents. His parents said and did some harsh things to the woman he loved so I'm not sure I believed the whole put the past behind us so quickly. I lost all respect for Noah's dad and felt like that should have been more of an issue.

[Sulis Peri Hutan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review bisa juga dibaca di http://www.kubikelromance.com/2017/03...


Home To Whiskey Creek bisa dibilang paling favorit dari lima buku pertama yang saya baca, saya sampai nggak bisa berhenti baca dan nyesek banget bacanya. Buku ini sangat emosional dan misterinya dapat banget! Di masa lalu, Adelaide Davies sangat mengagumi Noah Rackham, dia adalah penggemar dan pendukung nomor satu ketika Noah bermain bisbol. Addy adalah adik kelasnya dan tidak tergabung dalam kelompok pertemanan Noah, dia siswa yang biasa saja dan pemalu sehingga keberadaanya tidak terlalu menonjol. Noah memiliki saudara kembar tak terpisahkan bernama Cody, mereka berdua sama-sama populer dan jadi idola, hanya saja Cody lebih terkenal karena playboy, tidak jarang mengkonsumsi alkohol dan narkoba, kebiasaan yang tidak banyak diketahui orang lain.

Pada saat pesta kelulusan SMA angkatan Noah, sebuah musibah menggegerkan Whiskey Creek, Cody meninggal karena longsor tambang di pegunungan yang letaknya tidak jauh dari tempat tinggal mereka tersebut. Warga terlalu sedih, fokus mereka hanya kepada Cody, tidak banyak yang tahu kejadian sebenarnya pada saat itu. Padahal, selain peristiwa yang memakan korban tersebut, ada seorang gadis yang diperkosa secara bergantian oleh empat pemuda di tempat yang sama. Ada korban lain yang membawa dampak psikologi bagi dirinya selama bertahun-tahun tanpa ada yang tahu.

Rahasia tersebut tersimpan rapat selama lima belas tahun, sampai Addy memutuskan kembali karena ingin menemani neneknya, Milly, yang sudah tua, ingin menjual restoran miliknya dan mengajaknya tinggal bersama. Kembalinya Addy setelah sekian lama menjadi ancaman bagi beberapa orang, agar dia segera pergi dan tidak kembali lagi. Bahkan dia sampai dikurung di tambang tua dan terjebak di sana, kalau saja tidak ada seorang pesepeda gunung profesional dan pemilik toko sepeda di Whiskey Creek, Crank It Up yang kebetulan lewat, maka Addy akan menyusul Cody.

Sebuah kebetulan bagi Noah Rackham menyusuri tambang tua yang sudah ditutup, tempat yang meninggalkan luka perih bagi dirinya, dia mendengar suara dari dalam tambang. Setelah susah payah menolong perempaun yang terjebak dan memiliki luka yang cukup mengenaskan, dia malah mendapatkan perlakuan yang tidak ramah. Addy menghindari dirinya dan tidak ingin bertemu lagi. Noah yang sekarang terkenal playboy sangat penasaran dan malah aktif mendekatinya, dan dia bersikeras untuk menemukan orang yang sudah melukai dirinya.

Setelah sekian lama berusaha melupakan masa lalu, kehadiran Noah membuat Addy bimbang, dia ingin segera meninggalkan Whiskey Creek, tapi ternyata perasaanya sejak dulu tidak berubah, dia masih menyukai lelaki tersebut. Hanya saja kalau diteruskan maka perasaanya akan membuka rahasia yang kelam, di mana akan mempengaruhi hubungan Addy dan Noah.

Buku ini seakan memaksa pembaca untuk tidak beristirahat dari rasa penasaran. Sejak awal sudah disuguhi adegan yang berbau misterius, ancaman-ancaman yang ditujukan kepada Addy, dan tentu saja Addy tidak bisa melaporkan kejadian tersebut karena akan menguak rahasia yang selama ini dia pendam sendiri, Addy pun memutuskan untuk menyelidiki sendiri siapa yang mengancamnya, hanya perlu membuktikan dari tiga orang tersangka. Di sisi lain Noah sangat penasaran dengan Addy, kenapa dia menghindarinya? Kenapa dia sangat menarik? Noah ingat sosok Addy jaman sekolah dulu, dan sekarang dia sangat berbeda, sangat cantik tapi menjaga jarak.

Jangan ditanya kisah cintanya, terasa banget bagaimana Addy sangat mencintai Noah. Konflik lainnya selain cinta terlarang tersebut dan mencari tahu siapa yang mengancam Addy, pada bagian Addy sendiri dia merasa menjadi pesaing seseorang untuk meneruskan restoran Just Like Mom's, ditambah Addy memiliki ibu yang sering bergonta-ganti suami sehingga sejak kecil dia lebih dekat dengan neneknya, trauma yang dialami Addy selama bertahun-tahun juga belum sembuh benar. Noah sendiri juga tidak sepi masalah, hubungannya dengan Baxter tidak begitu baik, bahkan mengancam persahabatan mereka. Rahasia yang dibawa Addy juga akan berdampak pada keharmonisan keluarga Noah.

Secara keseluruhan, Home To Whiskey Creek salah satu yang recommended dari serial ini karena dari awal sampai akhir dipenuhi misteri dan konfliknya kuat banget, jadi cobalah baca. Ada beberapa adegan dewasa tapi tidak ditonjolkan, sepertinya untuk rating yang bikin kepasanan, untuk serial ini hanya mentok pada 1.5 kipas saja.

Namun, untuk ceritanya yang penuh liku, saya kasih 4 sayap untuk Addy yang kuat!

[Kristal Kitap · Rating 2 out of 5]

İşlediği konu fazla basitleştirilmiş, bir özür ile geçiştirebilecek bir olay gibi lanse edilmiş. Bu kadar ciddi bir konu işleniyorsa sonuçlarının da ciddi olması gerekiyor.

Çok zor bitirdim. Hatta son sayfalara doğru sadece diyalogları okuyarak ilerledim. Satır araları kendini çok tekrar ediyordu. En başında okuduğum şeyleri tekrar tekrar okumak beni çok yordu.

Ayrıca sakız gibi uzayan konular sona doğru çorap söküğü gibi ilerledi. Hikayenin işlenişi fazla dengesizdi.

Okumaya neden bulmak için yetersiz bi kitap.

[T.Y. Mazer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brenda Novak’tan bir sürü hikaye okudum ancak bu gerçekten iyiydi. Karakterlerini zaten seviyorum ama aksiyon ve gizemli kurgusunu ayrı sevdim.

[Ana Martínez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este el cuarto libro que leo de la Saga. Aunque se enreda mucho con una trama de intriga, la manera de relacionarse Addy y Noah me ha gustado mucho. Todo lo relacionado con Baxter me ha encantado, salvo la relación con sus padres

[Jane Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like the heroine keeping a secret for stupid reasons, even though I liked everything else.

I am really enjoying this series and plan to read them all. Some are better than others. I like the author’s character and relationship development.

STORY BRIEF:
Addy was raped by 5 boys when she was 16. Addy never told anyone and did not save any evidence. She left town at age 18 and did not return until 15 years later when her grandmother needed her help running the diner. On her first night back one of the rapists attacks her and throws her down a mine shaft to die. Noah happens to be riding by on his bike and hears her cry for help. He saves her. Addy won’t tell the police anything useful to find the guy because she is still trying to keep the secret.

Addy always loved Noah from afar and now he is interested in her. But Addy refuses to be with him and won’t tell him why for 90% of the book. Her reasons were: 1. She did not want to hurt Noah’s family’s good memories of his brother Cody who was one of the rapists. 2. She thought it would be too stressful for her grandmother. 3. She feared no one would believe her because the remaining rapists were good citizens and Cody’s father was mayor.

OPINION:
I did not like Addy’s motives for keeping the secret. It was frustrating to read. She loved Noah, they had sex, then she left and would not return his calls. This repeated. He could not figure out why. Her reasons for keeping the secret were stupid. Yes 16-year-old girls do stupid things. But it wasn’t fun to read a 31-year-old continuing to keep a secret.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Swearing language: strong but rarely used. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 5 mostly referred to with no details. Setting: current day small town Whiskey Creek, California. Copyright: 2013. Genre: contemporary romance.

------------------------------------------------
THE SERIES:
This is book #4 in the Whiskey Creek series. Each book can be read as a stand alone, but there is a flow of characters through the books which makes it nice if read in order. Here are my ratings for them.

My Favorites (4 ½ or more stars):
#0.5 When We Touch - 102 page novella
#1 When Lightning Strikes
#5 Take Me Home For Christmas
#8 This Heart of Mine

2nd choice (3 ½ stars):
#9 A Winter Wedding
#2 When Snow Falls - It was hard to feel hope or anticipation. Chey would not allow herself to act on her feelings. She kept her feelings “secret” for most of the book.

3rd choice:
The main plot was one character keeping a “secret” for most of the book. I did not enjoy the lies. In some stories I did not like the reasons for keeping the secret.
2 ½ stars. #3 When Summer Comes
2 stars. #4 Home to Whiskey Creek
2 ½ stars. #6 Come Home to Me - secret baby
3 stars. #7 The Heart of Christmas - Hero is on the run from bad guys. When heroine asked questions he could have answered in generic terms but he was silent. That didn’t feel right to me.

[Cheryl M-M · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you choose hard-hitting themes like rape, gang rape, homosexuality and the reactions of society to those topics, then perhaps you should ask yourself if you chose them to take a stance on the issue or just to make your story fluffier.
It is a very thin line between keeping the happy-end-hunting reader satisfied and keeping the storyline with those topics realistic enough that they don't become a fictional travesty.
Of course it is nye on impossible to not let those topics be tainted by personal opinion when writing about them.
Noah's reactions to Baxter were quite frankly often very homophobic and his taking that penultimate choice out of Baxter's hands wasn't selfless. The way Noah dealt with Baxter and his family was selfish, it was not his decision to make.
As for the gang rape I think it is fairly realistic to think that in a small town (and in society in general) most people will tend to blame the victim rather than the perpetrator.
Unfortunately this is still a major fallacy in our society.
In regards to that, the ending didn't really gel well for me. I don't really want to reveal any details. Needless to say life is not a snow globe with snow that settles smoothly on the ground without leaving a trace of any prior disturbance.
It just isn't.
I can see why readers enjoy Novak but I think the author has tried to write a controversial story within the framework of her usual style and for me it didn't work well at all.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brenda Novak's books do not disappoint and this one is no exception. Addy is thrown into an uncomfortable situation when she has to return to Whiskey Creek to help out at her Gran's restaurant. Fifteen years ago she was brutally attacked by members of the baseball team at a graduation party in a local mine. She left after graduation and never returned. She didn't want what happened that night to come to light because of the how it might affect her grandmother and her involvement in another tragedy that night. The story starts off with a bang when Noah is riding his bike around the mine and hears Addy yelling for help in the mine. Someone abducted Addy from her bedroom at Gran's house and threw her in the mine in hopes of scaring her from telling about the attack fifteen years ago. The story is suspenseful and emotional as a relationship develops between Noah and Addy. She is scarred from that night and has years of counseling to help her overcome her trauma. The overall situation was realistic to me as Addy is dealing with it and yet she sees how bringing everything out in the open will affect not just the people involved that night but the families that are now involved fifteen years later. Someone continues to threaten Addy by leaving notes on her car. I tried to figure out who it might be the whole time and that is what makes a novel so good to me. I couldn't see how it would end but Ms. Novak did a great job!

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fourth book in the series, A Whiskey Creek Novel. Had I known that before agreeing to review this book, I may have skipped over it. So glad I didn't! Although this isn't the first, or second, book in the series, I had no problem following the characters or plot. The story held me captive from page one and I was sad to see it end, but end it continues. Book 5, Take Me Home for Christmas, will be available November 2013.



Many teenagers have either been the victims or the perpetrators of horrible crimes while in high school. How many go unreported? How does the horrible incident affect them in adulthood? Brenda has focused on one such incident while giving the readers an insight into the emotional and psychological trauma that goes hand-in-hand.



I loved this book! If you have not read any of Brenda Novak's books yet, start with this one! You won't be disappointed!



My rating: A+

5 out of 5 stars



Available July 30, 2013

ISBN: 9780778315452



I received a complimentary ecopy of Home to Whiskey Creek from Harlequin Romance and NetGalley for my honest review.

[Darcy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had issues with this one. I felt bad for what Addie went through, hated that she felt she had to hide things, but could understand why she did. I even hated how Addie felt like she had to stay away from Whiskey Creek and her Gran. What bothered me was how she seemed to excuse the boys for what they did to her in the past, even as the terrorized her in the present. Noah was also an issue for me. I didn't like how he was portrayed as a man-whore at the start, hated how he reacted to Baxter's big surprise (Baxter deserved better!) and hated he treated Addie at first, like she should fall at his feet. Noah was better towards the end when he listened to Addie's story, then went to all the parties involved to get their side too, to figure out what really happened.

[Ann Lorz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much like this series. It's at times busy but very believable. For my full review go to my blog. http://romancingthereaders.blogspot.c...