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A review by mspilesofpaper
Whisky Business by Elliot Fletcher
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc.
April used to be a world-famous actress but her career is mostly reality TV and commercials nowadays, so she jumps onto the chance to go back to her place of birth - the Isle of Skye - where she has to figure out what to do with her grandfather's whisky distillery. Malcolm works as the distiller since April's grandfather died and isn't too fond of her, or people, in general. He would prefer it if the starlet would just go back to London and her career to avoid facing the possibility that April might like him.
Whiskey Business is set in Scotland (Isle of Skye) and is (more or less) a second chance romance with the difference that April and Malcolm haven't seen each other in years but have been sweet on each other as teenagers. I wanted to like it because I thought that a Scottish author might do justice to the location and I like the "grumpy/sunshine" trope but the book just fell flat. It's boring as nothing happens; there are hints of drama but they are brushed away in the next paragraph and are always solved with sex. Aside from the lack of drama, the book made me feel nothing. I believe that books should make you feel something but Whisky Business misses the mark by miles. Also, the fucking playlist. I gave it a listen and it's nice (very pop/folk heavy) but it's utterly predictable and using song titles as chapter titles gives me flashbacks to the time when it was common for fanfiction on Tumblr.
My main four issues:
1.) The writing. I'm sorry but it's badly written and the author's written Scottish accent was confusing. I can understand the Scottish accent but this ... it just feels like a US-American wrote it, which is strange because the author seems to be Scottish.
2.) The characters. Both are boring people but the MMC is just a horrible human being in general. Yes, Mal's and April's first meeting as adults is based on "first bad impressions" trope but he's so fucking mean because of lies, miscommunication and stereotypes. Mal believes that she's a shallow, vapid person because of her celebrity status and because she never cared for her sick grandfather (and never appeared to his funeral), and thinks like it for ~60% of the book until she cries, and suddenly he realises that he's an ass. Also, he has anger management issues and acting like a cave man (or an "alpha man") when "rescuing drunk April" isn't sexy. April is ... she's a people pleaser and should go to therapy as well. He treats her awfully for the majority of the book before he offers some half-hearted apology that she accepts rather quickly because "I know him"? Girl, grow a backbone, please.
3.) The romance in general. They have no chemistry. It's pretty much "I liked you as a teenager but never acted on it" and now, they act on suppressed emotions. Mal treats April like garbage for the majority of the book before he offers her a measly apology, some half-assed breakfast and the "I want you" speech, which she all accepts relatively quickly, and then they just have sex. The last 30% have zero substance because whenever there's a potential issue (cyberbullying, jealousy, money issues, April's future and past, ...), they just fuck it away. Their romance has no substance and is based on sex to the point that she's sore (as they fuck two times a day with multiple orgasms) but yet, they still continue fucking. Their entire relationship is instant-lust, instant-love and based on physical attraction. Aside from that, the author tried the "hot & cold" trope, which just gave me whiplash. Especially with Mal who's like "I want her"/"I don't like her"/"I want her"/"I want her gone". For someone who's supposed to be an adult, he acts like a child.
4.) All the heavy topics. Cyberbulling? "Yeah, I ignore these comments". Toxic family relationship? "Oh, he's sick, I have to forgive him now?". April's acting career? "Oh yeah, #metoo but yolo, I have a better agency now". Societal expectations of young women in the entertainment industry? "Yeah sucks, but it is what it is". If you include such big topics, do it well or do not include it.
PS: The setting on the Isle of Skye is such a scam and doesn't add anything to the plot. The only times it is relevant are for a) tourism, b) "it's an island, dating is difficult here" and c) one hiking scene. I would have expected a bit more and it gave me the feeling of a lack of research. If you would remove the location from the book, the book itself wouldn't suffer much from it. Especially since a) you have tourism everywhere, b) a difficult dating scene can also be used for small-town romances, and c) hiking can also happen in other regions, just swap the Old Man of Storr out for something else.
April used to be a world-famous actress but her career is mostly reality TV and commercials nowadays, so she jumps onto the chance to go back to her place of birth - the Isle of Skye - where she has to figure out what to do with her grandfather's whisky distillery. Malcolm works as the distiller since April's grandfather died and isn't too fond of her, or people, in general. He would prefer it if the starlet would just go back to London and her career to avoid facing the possibility that April might like him.
Whiskey Business is set in Scotland (Isle of Skye) and is (more or less) a second chance romance with the difference that April and Malcolm haven't seen each other in years but have been sweet on each other as teenagers. I wanted to like it because I thought that a Scottish author might do justice to the location and I like the "grumpy/sunshine" trope but the book just fell flat. It's boring as nothing happens; there are hints of drama but they are brushed away in the next paragraph and are always solved with sex. Aside from the lack of drama, the book made me feel nothing. I believe that books should make you feel something but Whisky Business misses the mark by miles. Also, the fucking playlist. I gave it a listen and it's nice (very pop/folk heavy) but it's utterly predictable and using song titles as chapter titles gives me flashbacks to the time when it was common for fanfiction on Tumblr.
My main four issues:
1.) The writing. I'm sorry but it's badly written and the author's written Scottish accent was confusing. I can understand the Scottish accent but this ... it just feels like a US-American wrote it, which is strange because the author seems to be Scottish.
2.) The characters. Both are boring people but the MMC is just a horrible human being in general. Yes, Mal's and April's first meeting as adults is based on "first bad impressions" trope but he's so fucking mean because of lies, miscommunication and stereotypes. Mal believes that she's a shallow, vapid person because of her celebrity status and because she never cared for her sick grandfather (and never appeared to his funeral), and thinks like it for ~60% of the book until she cries, and suddenly he realises that he's an ass. Also, he has anger management issues and acting like a cave man (or an "alpha man") when "rescuing drunk April" isn't sexy. April is ... she's a people pleaser and should go to therapy as well. He treats her awfully for the majority of the book before he offers some half-hearted apology that she accepts rather quickly because "I know him"? Girl, grow a backbone, please.
3.) The romance in general. They have no chemistry. It's pretty much "I liked you as a teenager but never acted on it" and now, they act on suppressed emotions. Mal treats April like garbage for the majority of the book before he offers her a measly apology, some half-assed breakfast and the "I want you" speech, which she all accepts relatively quickly, and then they just have sex. The last 30% have zero substance because whenever there's a potential issue (cyberbullying, jealousy, money issues, April's future and past, ...), they just fuck it away. Their romance has no substance and is based on sex to the point that she's sore (as they fuck two times a day with multiple orgasms) but yet, they still continue fucking. Their entire relationship is instant-lust, instant-love and based on physical attraction. Aside from that, the author tried the "hot & cold" trope, which just gave me whiplash. Especially with Mal who's like "I want her"/"I don't like her"/"I want her"/"I want her gone". For someone who's supposed to be an adult, he acts like a child.
4.) All the heavy topics. Cyberbulling? "Yeah, I ignore these comments". Toxic family relationship? "Oh, he's sick, I have to forgive him now?". April's acting career? "Oh yeah, #metoo but yolo, I have a better agency now". Societal expectations of young women in the entertainment industry? "Yeah sucks, but it is what it is". If you include such big topics, do it well or do not include it.
PS: The setting on the Isle of Skye is such a scam and doesn't add anything to the plot. The only times it is relevant are for a) tourism, b) "it's an island, dating is difficult here" and c) one hiking scene. I would have expected a bit more and it gave me the feeling of a lack of research. If you would remove the location from the book, the book itself wouldn't suffer much from it. Especially since a) you have tourism everywhere, b) a difficult dating scene can also be used for small-town romances, and c) hiking can also happen in other regions, just swap the Old Man of Storr out for something else.