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Publication Order of The Bourbon Kings Books

The Bourbon Kings (2015)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Angels' Share (2016)Description / Buy at Amazon
Devil's Cut (2017)Description / Buy at Amazon

Bourbon Kings is a series of epic romance novels written by J.R. Ward. The books follow the exploits of a wealthy family in Kentucky that is plagued by a litany of personal and professional problems.

+The Story
J.R. Ward’s fame was built upon her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, a collection of urban fantasy novels dripping with vampires and the supernatural. So it came as quite the surprise to her fans when she announced the Bourbon Kings, a family saga that would cast Ward’s passion for the undead aside in favor of a grounded tale of family and romance.

The Bourbon books take place in Kentucky. At their center is the Bradford Family. The Bradfords have ruled the bourbon capital of the world for a long time. Their signature beverage has earned them prestige and privilege.

And over the generations, they have accumulated and sustained the sort of wealth that most people can only dream off. Sequestered away in their sprawling estate of Easterly, the Bradford clan pursues lives that are as tumultuous as they are luxurious.

The Bourbon Kings’, the first novel in the series, throws the spotlight on Lizzie King, the head gardener at Easterly. The Bradford family adheres to a strict class system. As such, when readers first meet Lizzie, even though she plays a prominent role in the affairs of the Estate, she does not question her place in the family.

Within the confines of Easterly, you have the people upstairs who not only manage the important affairs of the family but also enjoy the good fortunes that come with their station.

The people downstairs, on the other hand, the staff, work tirelessly to maintain the Bradford façade. An unspoken rule declared a long time ago that these two classes of people would never cross paths.

Lizzie broke that rule when she fell for and had an affair with Lane, one of the less restrained sons of the Bradford family. Their romance ended terribly and Lane left Easterly, seemingly for good.

When the playboy returns to the Bradford Estate with his glamorous wife, he reignites in Lizzie all the hurt and the shame that she fought so hard to overcome.

The drama that ensues between Lizzie and Lane puts into motion a series of events whose consequences reverberate throughout the rest of the Bourbon Kings series.

The sequels to ‘Bourbon Kings’ are spent following the exploits of Lane’s eccentric family members. Special emphasis is placed on Edward, Gin, and Max, Lane’s siblings, not to mention their father William.

Each installment in the series throws the spotlight on a particular Bradford sibling, delving into their plight and planting the seeds of hope that they might use to find happiness down the line.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Bradfords are a miserable lot. When readers meet Lane, the youngest Bradford, he is drinking his sorrows away in New York, spending his days gambling and doing little else. His chance at happiness only comes when the only positive father figure he ever knew falls ill and he is forced to return to Easterly.

Lane is supposed to be a changed man but Lizzie doesn’t know if he is willing to sacrifice everything he has in order to safeguard their love.

Then there is Gin, the sister, who hates herself for all the mistakes she has made in life. No one can see the shame that haunts her every day because she always maintains such a meticulous air of pride and superiority.

But her emotional detachment is merely the shield she uses to hide her fears. Her station in life has always afforded her the opportunity to take whatever she wants from life, this including any man she could possibly ever desire. And having spent her teen and young adult years sleeping with more men than she can remember, she doesn’t know what to do with the feelings she has for Samuel Theodore Lodge III, feelings that keep tearing her insides apart.

There’s also Edward, the oldest son and heir apparent to the family fortune. Edward has a contentious relationship with his father. A lifetime of abuse has left him physically and emotionally scarred.

When readers meet him, Edward is in exile at a ranch where he trains horses and drowns his self-pity in alcohol. Edward’s only solace is the love he feels for Sutton Smythe, a woman he can never have because her father is the Bradford clan’s biggest competitor.

Over the course of this series, each Bradford sibling is forced to confront their fears and their failures. Only love can dislodge the misery that has followed them all their lives.

+The Author
J.R. Ward is a bestselling author that has sold millions of copies of her novels in over two dozen countries around the world. Ward went to law school and worked in healthcare in Boston for a little while. She discovered her love for reading and writing when she was a child.

+The Bourbon Kings
Lizzie King does good work for the Bradford family. As head gardener at Easterly, their sprawling estate, she has no illusions about her place in their lives. And she knew that her relationship with Lane, the youngest Bradford, wouldn’t end well for either of them.

She was right. Lane broke her heart and fled to New York where he has spent the last few years drinking and gambling. Lizzie, for her part, has tried to move on. In fact, she thought she had successfully dislodged Lane from her heart.

But then Lane came back to Easterly with his ruthless wife and everything went wrong.

+The Angel’s Share
No one really liked the Bradford Family patriarch. And when he committed suicide, no one shed any tears.

Edward would have loved nothing better than to leave his contentious relationship with his father in the past. But a new development has emerged. Evidence has arisen to suggest that Edward’s father was murdered.

And because everyone knew of the bad blood between the two of them, it doesn’t take the police long to finger Edward out as the prime suspect.

Book Series In Order » Characters » Bourbon Kings

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