{"id":12156,"date":"2019-10-19T15:20:14","date_gmt":"2019-10-19T19:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=12156"},"modified":"2022-08-14T09:19:35","modified_gmt":"2022-08-14T13:19:35","slug":"cask-strength","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12156","title":{"rendered":"Cask Strength"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cask Strength<\/a><\/em> (2017) Layla Reyne<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Aidan Talley and Jameson Walker are partners, and enjoying each others company. But nothing more. Just casual is all Aidan wants, because he doesn’t think he can survive the loss of someone else he loves.<\/p>\n

Jameson thinks he can handle “just casual” but if he’s fooling Aiden, he’s not fooling himself, and Aiden getting shot make it clear Jameson can no longer deal with just casual.<\/p>\n

I would\u2019ve killed Casanova myself if I had to sit in that glass cage with him today.\u201d <\/p>\n

Her face softened. \u201cAh, he\u2019s reverted.\u201d <\/p>\n

Jamie debated whether to say more, given the deniability she clung to, but she\u2019d opened the door with that comment. \u201cI\u2019d heard. I just didn\u2019t think…\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAidan\u2019s not good at lonely. Before Gabe, he was a player. No other word for it, and I say that with all the affection of a sister.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHe committed to Gabe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loved Gabe. He was worth giving up all the others.\u201d <\/p>\n

And you\u2019re not. Stomach heaving at the implication, he eyed the trash can.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If I already hadn’t had lots of sympathy for Aiden from the first book, I don’t think I would have been able to stomach Jameson still trying to salvage a romantic relationship. But Aiden was<\/em> all but destroyed when his husband was murdered so his fears are reasonable–especially when they both work in dangerous fields.<\/p>\n

The back story is important here. Jameson, Aiden, and Mel (their boss) are looking into the hit-and-run that killed Aiden’s husband as well as his partner. <\/p>\n

I was blocked from the investigation because of my personal connections to the victims. As soon as SFPD ruled it a hit and run, my predecessor closed the case. With the promotion pending and Aidan\u2019s injury rehab, I backed off. They questioned Aidan extensively.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The bigger problem is that Mel and Jameson are keeping secrets from Aiden.<\/p>\n

But ten to one, he had something major on Gabe and Tom. And if I have to tell Aidan the man he loved most in the world and the man he trusted to watch his back betrayed him, I need to be able to tell him why.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But they have to continue with their regular work, which means Jameson being sent under cover in the only way he could possibly go undercover: as an assistant coach at a 2A school, to look into gambling and identify theft.<\/p>\n

What I particularly liked about this story was that Jameson is good at coaching, so it’s a particularly believable under-cover assignment. The problem is that it reminds him just how much he misses the game he walked away from.<\/p>\n

There is a lot happening here, and I don’t recommend jumping in without having read the previous book. Partially because it makes it clear that Aiden’s past continues to influence his decisions, and also because of the mystery that goes through all three of the books. <\/p>\n

Publisher: Carina Press
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cask Strength (2017) Layla Reyne Aidan Talley and Jameson Walker are partners, and enjoying each others company. But nothing more. Just casual is all Aidan wants, because he doesn’t think he can survive the loss of someone else he loves. Jameson thinks he can handle “just casual” but if he’s fooling Aiden, he’s not fooling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,8,42,148,26,56],"tags":[50,187,544],"class_list":["post-12156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-mystery","category-police","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-boinking","tag-layla-reyne","tag-mm"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3a4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12482,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12482","url_meta":{"origin":12156,"position":0},"title":"Craft Brew","author":"Michelle","date":"February 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Craft Brew (2018) Layla Reyne (Trouble Brewing) Dominic Price and Cameron Byrne have been serious about each other for months, but Nic is so afraid that the gangster who holds his (estranged) father's debts will go after anyone Nic cares for, so he and Cam have kept their relationship quiet.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"craft brew","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/craft-brew.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12152,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12152","url_meta":{"origin":12156,"position":1},"title":"Single Malt","author":"Michelle","date":"October 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Single Malt (2017) Layla Reyne (Agents Irish and Whiskey) Aidan Talley is back at work eight months after the hit-and-run that killed his husband as well as his partner. His best friend (also his boss and his sister-in-law) has a new partner for him, but also a new case to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Single-Malt-Agents-Irish-and-Whiskey.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12475,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12475","url_meta":{"origin":12156,"position":2},"title":"Imperial Stout","author":"Michelle","date":"February 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Imperial Stout (2018) Layla Reyne (Trouble Brewing) Dominic \"Nic\" Price has been a lot of things: SEAL, JAG, and now assistant US attorney. But he didn't think he'd particularly been in love, until he meets Cameron Byrne, the FBI's kidnap and rescue expert. Cameron Byrne has played the field for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Imperial Stout","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Imperial-Stout.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12159,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12159","url_meta":{"origin":12156,"position":3},"title":"Barrel Proof","author":"Michelle","date":"October 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Barrel Proof (2017) Layla Reyne (finishes previous book) (literally scrambles to start this book) Don't even bother reading this if you didn't read the previous two. You have no reason to read this without the others, and you shouldn't, because she does a fabulous job building the characters and their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Barrel-Proof.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14031,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14031","url_meta":{"origin":12156,"position":4},"title":"Dine with Me","author":"Michelle","date":"February 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Dine with Me (2019) Layla Reyne DINE WITH ME\u2014 THE CULINARY EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME Tour the country and experience the best meals in America with a Michelin-starred chef as your guide. Two weeks, eight incredible meals, coast-to-coast destinations. A once in a lifetime opportunity for food and travel enthusiasts.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dine with Me","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Dine-with-Me.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12525,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12525","url_meta":{"origin":12156,"position":5},"title":"Dine with Me","author":"Michelle","date":"February 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Dine with Me (2019) Layla Reyne Miller Sykes rose in the food world until he had his own restaurant. But now the restaurant is closing, his best friend is getting married, and according to the doctor he has 6 months to live if he doesn't get his cancer treated. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dine with Me","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Dine-with-Me.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}