Whiskey Island

Whiskey Island #1

by Emilie Richards

One of the owners of the Whiskey Island Saloon, Megan Donaghue is brought face to face with the dark secrets of the past, when a chance encounter with Niccolo Andreani, a man determined to reveal the truth about an old murder that had profound repercussions on his family, sets off a series of events that could haunt the present. Original.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary Romance, Book Club, Ireland

507 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

I'm the author of seventy-something novels, including romance, women's fiction and mystery. When We Were Sisters debuted in June 2016, a stand alone novel about two foster sisters traveling back into their past together. I loved writing it and love the cover my publisher chose.

I'm also excited about my recent series, Goddesses Anonymous, which started with One Mountain Away and was followed by Somewhere Between Luck and Trust. The third book in the series, A River Too Wide, came out in July 2014. The Color of Light debuted in August 2015. Will there be more? We'll see.

I'm also putting up my newly edited romance backlist and love re-reading and updating them a bit.

Last year my husband and I moved from Virginia, to Osprey, Florida, the state where both of us were raised, met, and married. In the summer we live in Chautauqua, New York. I'm a quilter, knitter, kayaker, and the mother of four children, whom I regard as my greatest creative endeavors. And now there are four wonderful grandchildren to spoil.

Visit me at my web site, emilierichards.com, and my blog, www.emilierichards.com/blog. You can also find me at Twitter and on my Facebook reader page.

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a good book actually. I will admit it took me about 80 pages to get into - but once you get all the characters sorted and know who is who - it just gets better and better. It is actually two stories in one - current day and the other about 100 years in the past. I loved both stories, but probably enjoyed the story 100 years previous better - maybe only because i do love that sort of story. I do recommend - will probably take more than a weekend read, as it's close to 500 pages, but it has everything in it to keep you interested and draws you in to both stories. Extremely well written and entwined....

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane Eyre is my all time favorite classic book. Whiskey Island is my all time favorite non-classic book. :)
I generally do not like to re-read books. Once I know the story, I can't find the patience to read through it all again. This story, for some reason, is an exception. I think I've read it three times & each time I fell in love with it. The characters are so well thought out and the story lines so fantastically woven together. It is perfection in my mind.

[Sallie Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

Whiskey Island is both an historical romance and a contemporary one. The story unfolds on two timelines: 1881 thru 1884 and that magic millennial year 2000. Three to five chapters of the present (copyright 2000) and then three to five chapters from 120 years ago.

Megan Donaghue is the oldest of three sisters and running the family bar and restaurant on Whiskey Island (which is a real place at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on Lake Erie near Cleveland, Ohio ). The back story is of the Donaghue clan, when they were poor Irish immigrants working for peanuts at all the worst, hardest jobs to be had.

The story lines from both time frames are interesting, yet somewhat unbelievable, which shouldn’t surprise me as this author primarily writes romances. I’m pretty sure at this juncture in my life I’ve just plain outgrown them. But a good story for someone who enjoys love stories.

ATY Goodreads Challenge - Anniversary List - 2025
2021 - a book related to a code word from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Women's fiction is not romance. There are "formulas" for both types of books, but they should not be lumped together. Romances ultimately are about love and marriage. Women's fiction usually include romance, but the growth of the women characters is very important.

Emilie Richards has written a wonderful novel. There is definitely some happily ever aspects to the story, however there is much more. There is the history of parts of Cleveland, there is lots of information about Irish American and then there is the way that the three sisters grow and mature. All in all Richards has written exactly what I expect from women's fiction or a family saga.

Readers of those two types of books will be most happy with Richard's book. Readers of historical fiction will have to be willing to deal with the romance; romance readers will have to deal with all the personal growth and literary readers may not want to have their novel tied up so neatly at the end.

But, if you want a fun read, well written, that you can fall into and stay for awhile, I highly recommend Whiskey Island.

[Elizabeth Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this novel about an intergenerational Irish family growing up in the Whiskey Island
neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. The characterizations of the Donaghue girls--Megan, Casey and Peggy as well as their love interests Niccolo Andreati and Jon Kovats--were very strong, as well as those of Lena Tierney and the priest who took her in when she was being abused by her employer, James Simeon. This is not a short book, 507 pages, but the chapters were relatively short and very engaging. I bought two of Emilie Richards' novels at a big-box store and look forward to reading them and enjoying them as much as I did this one.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Still thinking about it after. Two books in this series. Whiskey Island is the first one and The Parting Glass is the second one. Really need to be read in order. Pretty quick light read, a tad long, but left you wanting to know more about the characters. Background of one immigrants current and past relatives and their struggles. You'll love most of the characters.

[Kristeen Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Round up to 4.5 stars.

[Karine SIMON · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ce livre a été publié aux Editions Mira qui fait parti du groupe Harlequin, ça m'a fait un peu peur au début, je dois l'avouer. Mais j'ai vraiment accroché à la plume l'Emilie Richards, qui nous livre ici un roman comme je les aime. En effet, il se déroule à deux époques différentes, la première à notre époque, puis nous basculons ensuite à la fin du 19ème siècle, nous découvrons alors l'histoire des ancètres de la Famille Donaghue, une histoire lourde est chargée de secrets.

[Ellen Thielen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best Emilie Richards that I have read! The Irish Donague family is followed both in the 1800s through a priests journal, and also in current day. The characters are amazing hardworking people, but not without failings. The depictions of 1800s Irish immigrants was believable as it was heart-wrenching. The present day Donague family are also interesting to follow. One of those books that you don't want to end...

[Suzie Quint · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read and liked another book by Emilie Richards but this, not so much. It's a dual story with one contemporary romance and one historical romance. About halfway through, I realized I didn't care one whit about the contemporary characters and only marginally about the historical ones, so I skimmed the second half of the book just to find out who murdered the villain.

Skimming is never a good sign.

[Marnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book was quite slow at times, I did end up liking this novel of one family holding together in present time and learning of their strong heritage from past.

[Jenny Byers · Rating 3 out of 5]

****SPOILER*** Don't read this if you don't like spoilers! This is not a review. I write these as notes to myself to keep track of what I have read.

I read this because I liked the first Goddesses Anonymous book, and reviews of this one were positive. I also was intrigued to read something based in Cleveland, my hometown. There was a good amount of historical narrative around Irish immigrants in Cleveland, along the lakefront. The descriptions of poverty were harrowing, including the powerlessness of poor women. The part of the plot about the abuse of a main character by her horrible, evil boss was hard to read. But he gets taken care of by his victim! I am okay with the romance aspects of this author. It is a pleasant change to read about good men, and know that the couples will be fine in the end.

Next I will read the next in the Goddesses series.....

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lake Erie's Irish community of Whiskey Island used to be a shanty town dependent on the coal/steel barons. This is a complicated story starting with 3 sisters - descendants of two of these Irish immigrants. The oldest, Megan, still runs the family saloon. A series of incidents bring her sisters back to Whiskey Island saloon. Some things that start happening cause them and their friends to probe her ancestors history to fin their secrets. The old parish priest left a journal, now being transcribed by an ex-priest who's unwittingly drawn into the sister's lives. An unwanted pregnancy is tied to a current pregnancy.

Well done - very long. Really draws you into the history of the area and the Irish immigrants and how their faith has been passed on.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a former Clevelander, I enjoyed reading about modern day and 19th Century Cleveland. I still need to research the real Whiskey Island and find out what was real and what was fiction. I preferred the parts of the novel that took place in the 19th Century and wished those parts were longer rather than the focus being on the modern day. I also liked how it showed the Catholic priesthood in a good light. Certainly, the priesthood deserves the criticism it receives based on decades of covering up sexual abuse. However, many good men have been priests and provided counsel and support to their parishoners, and it was nice to be reminded.

[Elizabeth Meadows · Rating 3 out of 5]

A copy of this book has been sitting on my shelves because I've been working on reading through Emilie Richards books for the past year or two. I recently found this abridged audio version on the Audible Romance Package and thought it would be a good way to sample the book to see if it's something I will like. I thought is was okay and I probably will read the full version at some point, but I don't think it checks off enough of my "boxes" to make it a book that I will really love.

For a romance, it's fairly gritty, but the characters are interesting. And I'm sure the full version of the story will explain a lot more.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought from the glowing reviews that this would be a stand-out romance. Not so much for me. I thought it was OK; I enjoyed the story of the Irish ancestors more than the present day narrative. The modern characters were just not that interesting to me. One thing that bugged me was the amount of work the sisters put in (willingly) to run the family bar. Even after a full day of cooking, waitressing and babysitting, they thought nothing of volunteering for more, like bar tending. Yikes. Made me tired just reading about it!

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story told in this book, the present story as well as the one from the past. All the characters were well developed and defined and I was engaged throughout. My rating is a 3.5 stars rather than four but only because in this specific publication all the quote and apostrophe marks were displayed as question marks? I almost returned the Kindle unlimited edition and gave up until my brain learned to adapt to the abnormality. It did detract from the reading but who knows, may have caused me to slow down and pay better attention. I certainly couldn’t skim through.

[Janet Friesner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book by Emily Richards was copyrighted in 2000 and I thought it might be a reread but if it was I have to honestly say I did not recognize a single bit of it and it was excellent. One of the best books I have read in a long time. And the good thing about it, it has a sequel which I will read next.

[Linda Murphree · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Good read

I had a hard time getting fully involved in the story st the beginning. Lots of characters and history to keep up with. But as the story developed it became difficult to put down. The story of Irish immigrants,wealthy vs poor, love of family, all of this and more part of the story.

[Kerrie Hatcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This dual timeline story is entertaining. The book contains a mystery, a little romance, a missing person (or maybe two??), sisters, and is a very interesting story to escape into. I really enjoyed reading Whiskey Island.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

surprising. i picked it up because the title mathed a challenge prompt and because it was available as an ebook from my library. I thought i was going to like it fine, but ended up loving it more than that!
intriguing beautiful story.

[Mildred Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a page turner

This story made me feel, anger, and sadness. It felt real. The injustice and unfairness of the life of a poor person. But it leaves me with hope that there is purpose behind the struggle.

[Kay Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good story. It had a lot going on and moved along well. I would read more of her books.

[Joyce Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It held my interest the whole way.

[Giorgos Μouroulis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story! Excellent description, full of details! I suggest this Social content book to all of you!

[Cliff Baechle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction featuring an Irish family in Cleveland running a bar now while looking back to the arrival of many of Cleveland's Irish in the 1880's.

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one excellent story. Wow.

[Keith Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable run of the mill book. Great holiday read.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The part about the autistic child was very interesting. I liked Peggy's story.

[Megan Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! The books you find at garage sales! This 2000 generational saga about Whiskey Island in Cleveland tells a story about the Irish immigrant experience. Very good.