#BookReview: Enemies on Tap by Avery Flynn - 4.5 Wine Glasses

Title: Enemies on Tap
Series: Sweet Salvation Brewery, #1
Author: Avery Flynn

Format: ebook, 237 pages

Expected publication: July 14th 2014 by Entangled: Indulgence

ISBN: 1622667603

Links: Goodreads | B&N | Amazon | ARe

Source: Author

Reviewer: Linda

Rating: 4.5/5

Brewing up trouble one pint at a time. 
Enemies ...After years away, Miranda Sweet returns to Salvation, Virginia to save her family's brewery, but her fate is in the hands of her lover-turned-enemy, Logan. What's a girl to do when the only person who can help her is the man who betrayed her? Lovers ...Logan Martin can't believe his luck when the woman who smashed his heart to smithereens walks into his bank asking for his help. What she doesn't know is that he needs the land her brewery is on--and he'll do whatever it takes to get it. An Irresistible Combination ...Their wager becomes a battle between their attraction and their determination to win. But it's in each other's arms that they realize there might be more at stake now than their bet. With the town against the Sweet Salvation Brewery's success, Logan has to choose between what's expected of him and what he really wants...

Thoughts:

Sweet Salvation! 

ENEMIES ON TAP by Avery Flynn is the first book in her new Sweet Salvation Brewery series.   It reminded me of the Hatfields' vs the McCoys' feud one minute and of Romeo's and Juliet's forbidden love the next.   It's the second-chance-at-romance story of Miranda Sweet and Logan Martin in small town Salvation, Virginia.

“West Virginia had the Hatfield and the McCoys.   Shakespeare had the Capulets and the Montagues.   Salvation had the Martins and the Sweets.” 

Miranda and her sisters had grown up on the wrong side of Salvation.  While their ancestor had been one of the town's founders,  their subsequent family history had been anything but illustrious.  

“The Sweets rarely set foot on the avenues.  They'd always lived on the street-side of town, where duct tape held everything together and WD-40 stopped the squeaks.” 

In high school, Miranda had fallen hard for Logan, but he'd left her out-to-dry when the two were discovered having a tryst in his truck.  Her reputation tarnished, she had escaped from Logan and Salvation as soon as she graduated.  Now Miranda's uncle has bequeathed his brewery to her and her siblings and she's returned to Salvation to handle their inheritance.   When she finds that the brewery desperately needs a cash infusion to become profitable again, she seeks a loan at Logan's bank.  Unfortunately, Logan and the town have other plans for the Brewery.  Logan refuses her plea but he can't resist agreeing to a bet that will decide both of their fates and that of the Sweet Salvation Brewery.

I loved this tale! There was a solidly crafted plot with something for everyone:  mystery, funny dialogue, romance, steamy sex, quirky characters, southern charm and lots of sweet!  I even picked up a bit about running a brewery!  It had a small town feel and all the characters shined from the hero and heroine and including the secondary characters!  The chemistry between Miranda, a feisty woman determined to survive, and swoon worthy, bad boy Logan was sizzling hot!  I got a kick out of the town's restaurant's name, The Kitchen Sink, and reading about Ruby Sue's famous pecan pie made me hungry for a slice!

Following please find just a few of my favorite teaser quotes illustrating the humor, heat and romance to be found within ENEMIES ON TAP:  

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“I'll be damned. Miranda Sweet, is it you or is my glaucoma acting up again?" Ruby Sue sat her glass down on the Formica countertop with a clank. "You always did know how to make an entrance. Who do you think you are, the Queen of England?” 

---

"You bought pecan pie recipe tickets?"  Miranda's eyebrows went skyward, and she spun her seat around to face him.  "You?"

He looked from Miranda to Ellen and back again, swearing he could hear the dah-dum, dah-dum of a horror movie soundtrack in the background.  "What's wrong with that?"

Miranda laughed until tears formed in her blue eyes.  "Well, thank you for your support."  The last word was punctuated by another fit of giggles.

"My support?"  Oh this was going to be bad.  Very.  Very.  Bad.

...  "Didn't you ask what the raffle tickets were raising money for?"

All of the sudden, he lost his appetite.  "No."

....  "You, Logan Martin, just donated twelve-hundred dollars to the Save the Sweet Salvation Brewery Fund." 

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“She'd taken his heart and his virginity and left him more bitter than sweet.” 

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“I don’t want to want you, and this doesn’t change anything. I still hate your guts.”

“Liar.” 

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"Sweetling, I'm not going anywhere except upstairs, where I'm going to make love to you till you pass out happy."

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Besides the ending, which overflows with warm fuzzies and a heck of a happy-ever-after ending, my favorite scene was on the "captain's annual vacation to Bermuda,"  Logan's 64-foot yacht.  Oooh la la!  

Bottomline:  ENEMIES ON TAP is an incredible start to this promising new series with crisp storytelling and well-defined, genuine characters.    The author's writing, as always, is first-rate.   There wasn't a dull moment in the book and I couldn't put it down once I started reading it.  I can't wait to read more from Salvation, Virginia.  Avery Flynn is one of my favorite authors and I highly recommend ENEMIES ON TAP to anyone who enjoys contemporary romances.