Maybe for You

July 30, 2018
McLaughlin’s satisfactory third Whiskey and Weddings contemporary (after Maybe This Time) features Army veteran Alexis, who’s grieving the death of her fiancé, and Jake, part owner (with Alexis’s brother, Dean) of Kansas City’s Stag distillery. During her final year of deployment in Italy, Alexis and Jake carry on a long-distance friendship, and upon her return, Alexis accompanies Jake on a two-week festival tour of making sales and seeking new contracts. Jake is determined to shed his playboy reputation and considers Dean’s sister off-limits; Alexis still mourns Nathan. However, when sparks fly, both agree to a fling before Alexis takes a CIA job in Virginia. An unexpected pregnancy, despite precautions, brings their affair into the open. Readers may feel frustrated by the artificial obstacles to Alexis making a commitment despite her advancing pregnancy: she’s certain that Nathan’s death means she’s not meant to have a family, and she worries that Jake is only staying out of obligation, despite evidence to the contrary. A tender subplot featuring Alexis’s ongoing caring relationship with Nathan’s family in Atlanta adds substance to this light but enjoyable story. Agent: Sarah E. Younger, Nancy Yost Literary.

August 1, 2018
A woman fresh out of the Army falls in with a lady's-man brewery owner while accompanying him on a publicity tour.Alex Parker has returned to Kansas City after her final deployment. Life is not what she expected, since her fiance died in a tragic accident a year ago, but she's happy to be back in the arms of her family. With a new civilian job lined up in Virginia, Alex has some time to spend doing nothing. But her time back isn't as helpful as she'd expected; being less busy than she was in the military is getting to her. Even after a year of friendly messaging with her brother's best friend and business partner following a brief but meaningful encounter just days after what should have been her wedding, Alex is starting to feel the weight of her grief. When an opportunity arises to accompany Jake on a two-week trip through the South to help promote the business, she jumps at something to keep her thoughts occupied. It doesn't hurt that she and Jake have gotten to know each other very well, and he's not bad to look at either. When the pair decide to act on their attraction, neither knows where it might lead them. In the third novel of her Whiskey and Weddings series, McLaughlin (Only with You, 2018, etc.) introduces us to a couple who could have used significantly more development, with and without each other. The friendship they develop during Alex's deployment happens completely off-page, so the reader is introduced to their dynamic at their reunion. Even with sprinkled reflections on conversations they'd had, the two people who interact in the moment seem to know each other much less than they should. This, combined with mediocre writing, leads to a less-than-stellar reading experience.Only for major fans of the series.

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