THE ANGELS' SHARE is book two in J.R. Ward's new
contemporary soap opera-ish series, The Bourbon
Kings. This is a very different series than Ward's
beloved Black
Dagger Brother books. The
Angels' Share, and The Bourbon Kings series, are
contemporary books that have some romance in them, but the
focus is more on the multi-generational family and their
massive problems as they teeter at the top of the viperous
food chain as a
Kentucky Bourbon empire. Wow, these people have P-R-O-B-L-
E-M-S. It's like a train wreck. I don't want to watch,
but it's so mesmerizing that I can't look away.
That being said, book two did not make me as uncomfortable
as book one, THE BOURBON KINGS. Is that because I knew
what I was getting into as I started it, having already
devoured book one last year? That's probably a little bit of
it. But somehow, THE ANGELS' SHARE was just not quite as
compelling to me. In THE BOURBON KINGS, I feel like I
spent half the book shaking my head, and saying to
myself, "Wow, these people are SO screwed up." I only
shook my head in morbid astonishment for about 20% of the
book this time. Maybe I am expecting the over-the-top
dysfunction the characters exhibit and just rolling with it
better this time. As with book one, when I finished book THE
ANGELS' SHARE I found it hard to articulate what was so
engrossing about these whack jobs. It's the 80s soap
opera Dynasty writ large in the 21st century, and I think
something in humans makes us want to vicariously roll
around in other people's misery, especially if we feel they
should know better and DO better than what they
actually
are doing.
Ward is such a talented writer that I love the story,
even as I dislike almost all the characters. There are a
number of mysteries, including the possible murder versus
suicide of the patriarch of the family, and the possible
embezzlement of a massive amount of business and personal
funds. There are several romances entwining through the
books, several of which definitely feel star-crossed. The
lush descriptions make Kentucky and the rarefied bourbon
aristocracy spring to life. The taut interactions between
the many battling characters keep the tension ratcheting
ever higher. Ward's THE ANGELS' SHARE is an utterly
mesmerizing glimpse at the lifestyles of the flawed rich
and the famous that we should all be glad we aren't
living.
#1 New York Times bestselling author J. R. Ward
delivers the second novel in her Bourbon Kings series—a
sweeping saga of a Southern dynasty struggling to maintain a
façade of privilege and prosperity, while secrets and
indiscretions threaten its very foundation…
In Charlemont, Kentucky, the Bradford family is the crème de
la crème of high society—just like their exclusive brand of
bourbon. And their complicated lives and vast estate are run
by a discreet staff who inevitably become embroiled in their
affairs. This is especially true now, when the apparent
suicide of the family patriarch is starting to look more and
more like murder…
No one is above suspicion—especially the eldest Bradford
son, Edward. The bad blood between him and his father is
known far and wide, and he is aware that he could be named a
suspect. As the investigation into the death intensifies, he
keeps himself busy at the bottom of a bottle—as well as with
his former horse trainer’s daughter. Meanwhile, the family’s
financial future lies in the perfectly manicured hands of a
business rival, a woman who wants Edward all to herself.
Everything has consequences; everybody has secrets. And few
can be trusted. Then, at the very brink of the family’s
demise, someone thought lost to them forever returns to the
fold. Maxwell Bradford has come home. But is he a
savior...or the worst of all the sinners?
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