Whiskey & Ribbons

By: Leesa Cross-Smith

Narrated by: Larry Heron, Joe Bearor, Tunisia Hardison

Set in contemporary Louisville, Leesa Cross-Smith's mesmerizing first novel surrounding the death of a police officer is a requiem for marriage, friendship, and family, from an author Roxane Gay has called "a consummate storyteller".

Evi - a classically-trained ballerina - was nine months pregnant when her husband Eamon was killed in the line of duty on a steamy morning in July. Now, it is winter, and Eamon's adopted brother Dalton has moved in to help her raise six-month-old Noah.

Whiskey & Ribbons is told in three intertwining, melodic voices: Evi in present day, as she's snowed in with Dalton during a freak blizzard; Eamon before his murder, as he prepares for impending fatherhood and grapples with the danger of his profession; and Dalton, as he struggles to make sense of his life next to Eamon's, and as he decides to track down the biological father he's never known.

In the vein of Jojo Moyes' After You, Whiskey & Ribbons explores the life that continues beyond loss, with a complicated brotherly dynamic reminiscent of Elizabeth Strout's The Burgess Boys. It's a meditation on grief, hope, motherhood, brotherhood, and surrogate fatherhood. Above all, it's a novel about what it means - and whether it's possible - to heal.

©2018 Leesa Cross-Smith (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Whiskey & Ribbons

Excellent read. Suspenseful, thrilling, tender and heart wrenching. Very well written and recommend to those who enjoy a love story w/twists and turns. Thanks Leesa Cross-Smith, I truly enjoyed this book. The readers also did a very good job.

Beautifully Tragic and Heart Healing

Leesa Cross-Smith is an incredible writer with the purest heart. Her love for her characters is so genuine that I fell in love with all of them too.

Walking with Evi, Eamon, and Dalton through this journey was beautiful, heart breaking, intimate and filled with so much compassion for everyone involved--including the reader. This book is the rare gem that doesn't need to resort to salacious themes or "people doing bad things to each other" in order to keep the reader engaged. This is a book about regular people who love each other as family, friends, and partners who have to navigate life together & relearn how to live in the wake of intense sudden loss.

Listening to the story read by three different actors made the book even more special because each voice brought their characters to life so vividly.

I would recommend this book and this author to anyone who loves the quiet of a snowstorm, the smooth vibes of piano music by a fire, and the warm slow burn of a good Kentucky Whiskey.

One of the best audiobooks I have listened to

I found the first chapter akin to being thrown in a pool without notice. Keep listening. The format is so positively creative. The characters are rich and woven together with the strings of so many emotions. One of best audiobooks I have listened to in years. Finished it in less than two days.

I didn't want it to end!

I LOVED this book. Usually, I read books from the self help or memoir genre. I read this book because a friend had read it, and I was looking for a break from the norm. Oh my! Whiskey & Ribbons did not disappoint! I had all the feels from sadness, love, hope, joy, sensuality, shock, etc. I truly didn't want it to end!

Real Life

I loved the 3 main characters telling the story. I don't think if enjoyed this dialogue so much before. The story was sad, exciting, humorous and very real. This is a must read. Lydia Robinson