Book Review: Bourbon and Lies by Victoria Wilder

I was teetering on the edge of a reading slump when I picked up ‘Bourbon and Lies’ by Victoria Wilder. Nothing was hitting quite right, and I was starting to get that restless, slightly defeated feeling all book lovers dread. You know the one; where you start five books in a row and feel nothing for any of them.

I didn’t go into ‘Bourbon and Lies’ with high expectations. Truthfully, I clicked on it because it kept popping up in my recommendations (kudos to the marketing, it was working). I figured I’d give it a few chapters, maybe find something passable to tide me over.

Here’s the summary:

“In Fiasco, Kentucky, there is one rule: never fall for a Foxx brother. Any woman who did, ended up dead—or so the rumor goes. Townies call it a curse. But I’ve lived it, and I won’t survive it again.

I’m not a cop anymore, but I’ve seen enough danger to know that Laney Young, the beautiful stranger who just showed up in my small town, is running from it. She’s lying about where she came from and what she’s doing here.

I don’t want her near my family or the quiet life I’ve made for myself. But my brothers have other plans. Now she’s everywhere–working at my distillery, living in our guest house, calling me ‘cowboy’ and skinny-dipping in my horse trough.

But it’s the way she dishes out attitude from that pretty mouth of hers that has me wanting things I’ve sworn to myself I’d never want again. I should push her away, forget how her lips taste, and ignore how she makes me want more out of life again.

When her past shows up and mingles too closely with mine, her lies begin to unravel. The rules don’t matter anymore. I mess up, dig too far, and get too close. Only two things have the power to keep her safe now: bourbon and lies.”

Funnily enough, I had just DNFd a book I’d been really looking forward to; one that promised rich Southern charm and whiskey-soaked romance. But the whiskey jargon in that one felt overblown and highbrow, and it ended up feeling like the protagonist was showboating rather than telling a story. I remember thinking, “Maybe I’m just not a whiskey girl.” And then comes this book; bourbon, bourbon, bourbon. But this time it was interesting. Victoria Wilder doesn’t just sprinkle bourbon into the dialogue like seasoning, it’s woven into the very fabric of the narrative. The heritage, the legacy, the weight of what it means to these characters… it’s actually quite beautiful. You feel the history in every glass… and every grudge.

‘Bourbon and Lies’ has all the hallmarks of a great small-town cowboy romance: dusty roads, complicated family legacies, slow-burn tension, and characters who love as fiercely as they fight. But there’s something fresher, sharper, almost more defiant in Wilder’s tone. This isn’t a saccharine story about a girl taming a bad boy cowboy. It’s grittier, a little messier, and all the more satisfying for it.

The writing has a kind of ease to it, enough grit to make the emotional beats hit, but with moments of softness that make you believe in the chemistry. Wilder doesn’t lean too hard into clichés, and the romance simmers in a way that feels genuinely earned.

I’ll definitely be continuing the series, and if you’re a fan of small-town dynamics, emotionally layered characters, or just looking for something to pull you out of a slump like it did for me, then ‘Bourbon and Lies’ is absolutely worth a shot (pun intended).

Written by Sarah