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Before we jump in, don’t forget to join us TOMORROW, May 1 at 7:30 p.m. CST for #virtualbookclub. Participants do not need to read (or finish) Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, but they do have to be amenable to spoilers. Click here to register so we can email you the link!

Sometimes you make a plan and it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.  Perhaps we’re forcing it a bit today, or perhaps not.  Let us know what you think in the comments.  

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, or in February, whichever, we had our last in-person planning meeting for Heart.Wants.Books and we decided, in all of our wisdom, that we needed to share with you a title that is near and dear to our hearts to help us all celebrate the Kentucky Derby.  Fast forward several weeks and the Kentucky Derby, historically held the first weekend in May is now scheduled for Labor Day weekend, in September.  Sad. Face.  Fast forward to the week of this post, and there is now a virtual Derby happening on actual Derby Day (yup, we’re traditionalists, that means May 2, and yes, Nikki has already referred to the September date as “fake Derby Day”).  Churchill Downs is hosting a #KYDerbyAtHome party and will match up to $1 Million in donations for COVID-19 emergency relief efforts.  To aid the celebrations, NBC will have a special broadcast including the 2015 Kentucky Derby, which began American Pharaoh’s Triple Crown Run, and Churchill Downs’ first ever virtual horse race.  The Kentucky Derby: Triple Crown Showdown will be a computer-simulated Derby race featuring 13 past Triple Crown winners.  Festivities begin TODAY at www.KentuckyDerby.com and all this makes me want some Old Forester like nobody’s business. Yes, I know Woodford Reserve sponsors the Kentucky Derby, but Old Forester was a staple at my favorite Derby party so that’s what I want. Regardless, the official Derby website has cocktail recipes with both bourbons, among other libations.

Anyway, so yes, a title to celebrate the Kentucky Derby, while we are in spring and wearing more hats as we take advantage of social distancing to train our hair for less frequent washings (just me? That’s fine), we’re sticking with Tradition! [Tradition!] (yes, a la Fiddler on the Roof).  So, finally, I’d like to introduce you to The Bourbon Kings by J.R. Ward, which also makes me want to drink bourbon, just like the Derby.  We first heard about this book Fall 2018 when blog favorite Sarah J. Maas recommended Ward’s Consumed on the Today Show.   We take suggestions by authors we love and people with good reading taste very seriously, so I read Consumed and promptly suggested it to Ashley.  Then, one fateful day last spring, Ashley and I were planning a buddy read weekend (yes, this became a regular thing not so very long ago) and after evaluating our assorted TBR lists and checking for titles we could both check out from our respective digital libraries, we landed on The Bourbon Kings even though it was a trilogy.  Is this a great way to select titles?  Not always, but it generally works for us.  We don’t always love the books, but we do generally enjoy the experience of reading them together, discussing and dissecting them, and then moving on to something new, sort of like a mini book club with immediate responses.  This book though, the trilogy actually, was very enjoyable.  

The Bourbon Kings is the first title in a trilogy about the Baldwine family, which runs and owns Bradford Bourbon.  The cast of characters includes four adult children and their parents, along with the staff of their family estate, Easterly, several close friends, and other members of Charlemont Society.  As the book opens, the Easterly staff are getting ready for the family’s annual Derby Brunch to celebrate the 139th running of the Charlemont Derby.  (Yes, Charlemont, because while the settings are fictional, folks who know a bit about Kentucky realize what’s based on what, and just for info, 2020 is the 146th running of the Kentucky Derby.)  The first book is focused on the return home of Lane, the second oldest of the Baldwine children.  He doesn’t want to come home, but “he had to see his momma… that was what Southern boys did…” when their momma is in the hospital.  The story that follows reunites  family, friends, and lovers, reminds them why they left Easterly in the first place, as well as shows what they missed while away, and throws the reader into the stress and glamour only “the most important seven days on the calendar” can create for a high profile and decadently rich Kentucky family.

As we do join in the midst of party preparations, we jump in with this motley crew and the story unfolds scene by scene across the three books.  With each title, the story continues and the plot thickens.  There is a sense of mystery at Easterly, complete with lots of drama and plenty of skeletons in the closets just waiting to be revealed.  The Bourbon Kings is wild like a ride in Samuel T’s convertible and smooth like four fingers of the Bradford Family Reserve.  I’m so tempted to give spoilers, but I do believe this is a book to jump into knowing as little as possible about the plot.  By the end of the trilogy (and somewhat by the end of the first book), I wanted good things for these characters (most of them at least), and I definitely wanted to join the ones I like in the parlor for a glass of family reserve, and that dear readers, is one of the most fun kinds of books!

Because emotions can sneak up on us, and these are emotional times, be warned –  This does have open-door romance scenes, but it’s much more than a romance novel and categorizing it is hard.  We’d say it’s a Modern Southern Family Drama/Suspense/Romance. The author has admitted that her inspiration was the soap opera Dallas, but set in Kentucky. There is emotional abuse throughout and physical abuse in the last book.  The family the book centers around primarily makes bourbon, but also has ties to thoroughbred horse racing.  The characters drink a lot of bourbon, and other cocktails on occasion.  It might seem like they are alcoholics, but most don’t display the classic symptoms of alcoholism, and honey, if you had to deal with the things they are dealing with, you’d probably be drinking to forget your problems, too. 

Ashley said at some point as we were reading this trilogy that it feels like a modern day North and South (John Jakes, not Elizabeth Gaskell, although I do enjoy that as well) and she is 100% correct.  All the people are gorgeous, they have more money than they should be able to spend, and they have no idea how good they have it.  Even the staff (well, most of them at least) enjoy what they do and are relatively pleased with their positions, until the chips start to fall and the story unfolds masterfully. 

While we had theories throughout, some held, and others didn’t.  The gambit of emotions was run, and it was all real, even if it was not always relatable (yes, I’d like to take the phantom drophead for a drive please).  As we both are from the South, there are pieces we view with nostalgia that others may not enjoy as much (bourbon, horse racing, soul food, and more), or maybe you will.  In the end, it’s a well told story with an ending that could have only been improved by enjoying it with a rocks glass of Bradford Bourbon Company’s Family Reserve (and I do like a nicely tied bow at the end of a book – this was almost enough).  

These books are layered, the characters are dynamic, and the setting is strong.  This trilogy was our first and second time picking up this author and we’ll be back for more.  This is highly recommended to readers who love a good family saga.  While this story only lasts weeks, it takes three entire books to tell, and I’d love to see one more (yes, it would read like an extended epilogue, and no I don’t care).  If you enjoyed The Bourbon Kings, keep going to The Angel’s Share and Devil’s Cut.  If book one wasn’t for you, then two and three probably aren’t either.  If you like a soap opera in book form with a strong setting, solid writing, and characters who are real even if their situations don’t seem like it, this is for you. 

I think my biggest desire after finishing these books was to either lurk around them and see how the story proceeds for my favorite characters and all those connected to Easterly or to get to hang out with them as it progresses and see who they become when the new normal has set into place in Charlemont.  It also left me wanting to go to Churchill Downs and watch the Kentucky Derby in person!  Perhaps this fall I’ll at least find myself at a fun watch party!

~ Nikki

Ashley here with a few tidbits of information because I don’t have anything to add regarding the review portion of this trilogy. According to GoodReads I began reading The Bourbon Kings on 30 March 2019 and finished Devil’s Cut on 5 April 2019. That’s one thousand two hundred seventy-eight pages in 7 days. (Actually less, because there are a couple of days of my not reading while Nikki caught up. Reading and cuddling with cats was my job in California, ok?) These books brought up so much nostalgia and homesickness for me, which were big reasons why I consumed them so quickly. These books have created one of Nikki’s and my favorite ‘inside jokes.’ Upon the occasions when the Baldwines must come into contact with law enforcement, their good friend Mitch always seems to have their backs and everything under control. He’s a man of few words, Mitch, but his favorite phrase is “I gotchu” and upon every occasion that Nikki and I can possibly use it, we do, and the required response is “Thanks, Mitch.” There’s always a sense of pride and satisfaction to help a sister out.  These books also caused a lot of discussion about how some Southern gentlemen actually give some effs about what they look like, and we’re talking about stylish clothes, exemplary grooming, and impeccable manners, not body shape. Lawd ha’mercy when those men talked about their bespoke seersucker suits it makes a girl catch feelings (Nikki: and also desperately miss being able to attend church on Easter). So, while bemoaning the Adams’ lack of such Southern charm in our lives, we wondered how to instill such habits into the next generation of Southern Gentlemen. My answer was one word: cotillion. I don’t think Nikki’s littles are ready for what’s in store for them, but their future roommates and life partners will praise the day we read The Bourbon Kings. And you, dear readers, should too, as it was the impetus of this lovely little place on the interwebs called Heart.Wants.Books.

~Ashley