The Bourbon Thief

By: Tiffany Reisz

Narrated by: Kim Staunton

Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's Summary

Betrayal, revenge, and a family scandal that bore a 150-year-old mystery.

When Cooper McQueen wakes up from a night with a beautiful stranger, it's to discover he's been robbed. The only item stolen: a million-dollar bottle of bourbon. The thief, a mysterious woman named Paris, claims the bottle is rightfully hers. After all, the label itself says it's property of the Maddox family, who owned and operated Red Thread Bourbon distillery since the last days of the Civil War, until the company went out of business for reasons no one knows...no one except Paris.

In the small hours of a Louisville morning, Paris unspools the lurid tale of Tamara Maddox, heiress to the distillery that became an empire. Theirs is a legacy of wealth and power but also of lies, secrets, and sins of omission. Why Paris wants the bottle of Red Thread remains a secret until the truth of her identity is at last revealed, and the century-old vengeance Tamara vowed against her family can finally be completed.

©2016 Tiffany Reisz (P)2016 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited.

Mixed Feelings

I have to start off by saying that up until now I have absolutely loved everything Tiffany Reisz has written. This book I'm not so sure about. I found myself bored in some parts and totally captured in other parts.
The book had enough twists and turns and surprises to keep me listening, but seemed to be a story aimed at older teens and young adults. Lots of angst and melodrama that seemed to stretch credulity at times; even Levi didn't seem to be much more than a teen-aged boy in spite of his age.

Kim Staunton was OK with the delivery of thew story except I found it difficult to know who was speaking at times. This meant I had to back track to work that out.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

One if the best 11+ hours spent listening!

I bought this audio book by mistake! And once I started listening I could no stop! I listened the 11 hours 49 minutes in two days!

The narration is outstanding; Kim Staunton is one of the best storytellers I have ever heard, and this book is a beautiful story about power, love, bourbon, horses, racial conflicts adultery, incest, and sex.

Best used Audible credit in a long time!

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Very interesting story and full of surprises!!!

My wife and I read this book together. We both enjoyed the storyline and the many surprises. Sometimes we were on the edge of our seats!!! While for the most part we enjoyed Kim Staunton's narration, we felt that she was not able to fully capture the nuances of each character. We kept having to rewind to figure out who was talking. I would also like to add that just because we enjoyed this book does not mean there are not parts that did not frustrate us. But I think they all lent to make it the interesting story that it was. No matter how much we yelled at the characters they just kept going down their own paths. :-) We hope there is a part two to this book. Well done Tiffany.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Scandal, revenge, murder, blood, sex and money!

Would you listen to The Bourbon Thief again? Why?

OH. MY. GOD. YES. What I love the most about Tiffany Reisz's books is that they have secrets hidden behind every word and they can only be found by rereading her books. I will repeat The Bourbon Thief at least three or four more times. I need more of these amazing characters. I need more of this taboo story. I need more of revenge. But most of all, I need more of Tiffany's words. She has a way to write that captivates me, makes me think deeply and makes me fall in love more and more with her. I don't think I will ever get enough of Tiffany's books *sighs* PURE PERFECTION.

What other book might you compare The Bourbon Thief to and why?

To be honest, no other book I've ever read compares to the Bourbon Thief. The story is unique. The past, the present, the romance, the drama, the shocking storyline. Everything was like nothing I've ever read before, and I thank Tiffany for that. It's been almost three years since I started reading Tiffany's books and she always surprises me. With her Original Sinners Series, which I love deeply and madly, and of course with her other non sinners books. But this book, The Bourbon Thief has something different from her other novels. It's not romance, but it has romance. It's not erotica, but the sex is as amazing as it was in The Original Sinners. It's cathegorized as historical, but I'm not sure if a story in the 80's is historical perse. But... The Bourbon Thief is all that: It's a romance novel, with highly erotic content, that tells a story from the past. It's a thriller with censored content that will shock you, make you scream but you won't want to put it down until you know how this story will end.

Which character – as performed by Kim Staunton – was your favorite?

This is a hard question to answer. Kim Staunton did an outstanding performance. Her inflexions for every character was perfect. Her voices for the female and male characters fitted perfectly to their personalities and to the circumstances they are living. But if I have to choose I'd say Tamara was my favorite character. She was young but that didn't stop her from doing what she had to do to protect herself, to get her revenge, to acheave what she wanted. She suffered the unimaginable but she also experience the extraordinary. And she never broke. There were moments when I thought she was going to give up, I thought her young age was going to come up and she'd act childish or immature, but she never did that. She's the best, she's my hero, she's my god, well, I'm just quoting her *chuckles* But seriously, she's amazing.

Who was the most memorable character of The Bourbon Thief and why?

Tamara.

Any additional comments?

I recommend this book to everyone. Everybody has to read it. From Original Sinners Fans to romance readers, to suspense readers, to historical readers, to erotica readers. EVERYBODY. I warn you, around 25% you'll be shocked but don't stop reading, keep going and you'll get to experience one HELLUVA story that will captivate you and keep you on edge until the very last word if this book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Starts slow but picks up quick

One the story gets going it's one you can't put down. Enjoy!! I loved it!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Meh. If you're looking for predictable smut, you have found it

This book was recommended to me, and I will now look at that referrer with new eyes. If you're looking for a Harlequin romance style book to read while you're on the beach, this is it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A masterpiece of storytelling!

I loved this book! I'm fairly new to this author's writing, but this was not at all what I had expected. The story starts with Paris stealing a bottle of bourbon and turns into a masterpiece of storytelling.

"You’re real good at asking questions and terrible at giving answers.”
“I’m trying to figure out what to say.”
"Tell the truth. That shouldn’t be too hard.”
“The truth is the hardest thing to say.”

As Paris tells the story of the bourbon, I got lost in this book, immersed in the past. This story had some amazing twists and left me wanting to know even more. Paris gave us the story of the bourbon and the story of Tamara and Levi, but now I want to know more of the story of Paris!

“And bourbon’s like the truth, you know.”
“How’s that?”
“The first taste burns, but once you get used to it, it’s the only thing you want in your mouth.”

The audiobook narration by Kim Staunton was awesome! She really put the Kentucky into The Bourbon Thief!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

More Romance than Fiction

I agree with another reviewer who said this reads like a romance. So many sex scenes. I'm not a prude, maybe it's just listening to it that makes it seem like they're having sex every two minutes vs reading a hard copy. I was excited because this got such good reviews but I found this to be just a mediocre story.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A great performance and heart breaking story

This was my first Audible "read" and I wasn't really too excited about Audible but decided to give it a try and I'm really glad I did. The Bourbon Thief had been on my TBR for a while so I decided to use my free credit to get it. I loved the story and couldn't put it down. I even teared up a little when it was over. I can't say too much about the plot without giving anything away. Some people may not be happy with how it turned out but I was completely satisfied. I'll be reading more from Tiffany Reisz.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Can't go wrong with this author!

Anything by Tiffany after this read. I read all her Nora series before and wasn’t sure what to expect when reading this but it is entirely different and entirely as enjoyable. Holy moly.

What a fabulous story line and how Tiffany writes is just so compelling and intoxicating. Love all her narrators.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Disappointing

I've listened to a lot of Tiffany Reisz's other audio books and really enjoyed them but this was disappointing.

It was ok

I wasn't really taken by this. A story about someone who gets what they want, all the time.