Agents Irish and Whiskey Books In Order

Publication Order of Agents Irish and Whiskey Books

The name ‘Agents Irish and Whiskey’ refers to a series of novels written by Layla Reyne. The stories are what could be termed as gay books because they deal with male homosexual characters.

The Agents Irish and Whiskey series is written with the purpose of transcending the ‘gay books’ moniker. Layla’s goal is to write a series of mystery novels that are as universally loved and accepted as any other series of mystery and detective novels.

+The Story

As one might expect, the Agents Irish and Whiskey series tells the story of two FBI agents by the names of Irish and Whiskey. Irish and Whiskey are written to be somewhat different characters that are drawn together by an inexplicable spark.

Jameson Walker was an athlete, a baseball champion to be exact. Also called Whiskey, Jameson has since decided to inject all his efforts towards his work with the Cyber Crimes Division of the FBI.

Aidan Talley is an Irish Expatriate. When he is first introduced to readers in the first novel in the Agents Irish and Whiskey series, Aidan, also called Irish, is trying to recover from a recent tragedy.

After losing his husband and partner, Aidan’s return to the FBI comes as a surprise, mostly because the nature of the events that befell him should have left him permanently sidelined. Upon returning to the FBI some months later, Irish and Whiskey join forces to solve a series of devastating crimes.

Irish has a personal stake in the matters as they unfold, primarily because he comes to learn that the accident that ended the lives of his partner and husband wasn’t an accident. Some nefarious foe orchestrated the entire occurrence and now Aidan wants revenge.

Aidan is only able to investigate his hunches because he has a sister-in-law for a supervisory agent. Even then, Aidan is only permitted to carry out his investigation on the down low. If no one knows what Aidan is up to, then they won’t care.

Irish has little choice but to trust his new partner Whiskey. The pair initially struggles to work through their differences. Irish is still a little sore emotionally. He is also closed off, unwilling to let others into his heart lest he loses them and suffers the same grief that assaulted him when he first lost his husband and partner.

Whiskey struggles to tiptoe around Irish’s wounded heart even while doing his best to get ingratiated into the grieving man’s soul. Over time, the pair learns to overcome their personal differences as a healthy respect blossoms between them.

The Agents Irish and Whiskey series reads like any other collection of mystery and detective novels. Despite their personal issues and the demons the protagonists struggle to overcome, each book finds Agents Irish and Whiskey learning to put their lives aside for the sake of a case.

There’s always a criminal whose reign must be stopped, and Irish and Whiskey have to learn to operate as an effective team to make the world a better place despite the personal obstacles that stand in their way.

Crucial to the plot of the Agents Irish and Whiskey series is a terrorist by the names of Renaud. Renaud is responsible for the death of Irish’s husband and partner. And when he learns of Renaud’s involvement in the tragic loss he experienced, Irish makes it his mission to stop the lunatic.

However, Renaud remains largely elusive throughout the series’ run. Every time Irish seems to corner the terrorist, it turns out that Renaud was one step ahead. Irish must rely on the support of his partner to get the man who caused him so much heartache.

Layla Reyne doesn’t really do anything new in this series. The structure she sets up here, that of two enforcement agents who must overcome their differences to achieve a common goal, this while slowly coming to realize and accept their feelings, has been done before.

However, no one would ever accuse Layla Reyne of treading the same water as the authors that came before her. Layla puts her own spin on the romantic mystery/detective genre. The strength of her story lies in her ability to blend romance with mystery.

Neither aspect is ever stronger than the other. The mysteries bleed into the romance and the romance bleeds into the mystery. More importantly, neither aspect ever overpowers the other. No one would ever accuse the Agents Irish and Whiskey series of growing so romantic that the mystery elements are drowned out, and the reverse is also true.

The author’s ability to explore the emotional journey of her characters even while throwing them into harrowing tales involving unrestricted criminals has elicited many commendations and praises for Layla.

The author blames her love for television for the success she has achieved as a writer. Layla Reyne has been inspired by Television shows like Castle and The X Files to tell the stories she delivers.

Some of Layla’s television inspirations are pretty easy to spot in her novels.

+Single Malt

Aidan Talley’s life ended eight months ago. It was then that he lost everything. The car crash took his husband and partner, and no one would have blamed Aidan for walking away. But that was the last thing he wanted to do. When a chance to return to the job he loves comes his way, Aidan wastes no time in grabbing it.

Jameson Walker has had his eye on Aidan for a long time. Twelve years his junior, Jameson jumps at the chance to be partnered with Aidan. The best agent San Francisco has, Aidan is initially unsure about his partnership with Jameson.

However, he is forced to put his judgments aside when a cyber-threat emerges. Jameson is no pushover. He is quite talented and he knows it. Unfortunately, those abilities have a tendency to set him apart and it isn’t long before Aidan realizes that he will have to make an extra effort protect the enthusiastic young man.

+Cask Strength

Jameson and Aidan are the best team in the FBI, and the rate at which they are closing cases is frightening. When the terrorist Renaud begins to close in on them, leaving quite the number of corpses along the way, it only makes sense for Aidan and Jameson to leave town on an undercover assignment that will see them dismantle an identity theft ring.