I have a hangover...a Bourbon hangover! Oooooweeeee! That books was just SO much. I am telling you---if you want to be entertained, gripped, and turning pages like a maniac THIS is the book for you.
This was like Dallas and Dynasty and Falcon Crest all rolled into one and set in the heart of Kentucky's high society. The world that is created in this story is one that is almost unimaginable. The cast of characters are people you will recognize from movies, tv shows and books that you've watched and read in the past. They are all cliches we know and love (or hate).
This is a story about a family whose reputation is all an illusion. While the rest of the country sees a family of rich, successful, good looking people...really their core is rotten and this first installment of the new series, that rot starts to seep through to the surface.
Tulane Baldwine (Lane) and Lizzie King fell in love two years before the story starts. But Lane's poor decision making led to them splitting and both of them have spent that time, pining and not moving on from each other.
When Lane is called home to see to the one of the only people in the world he loves, he and Lizzie are forced to confront each other and their feelings for each other. They have a lot to deal with. The woman who Lane considers his mother (view spoiler)[ I hated that there had to be Mammy in this story (hide spoiler)] is ill, his estranged wife is scheming and his father is just utterly evil!
Lane's arrival at home coincides with Derby weekend. This is Charlemont society's biggest weekend of the year and the Baldwine's lunch on the day of the Derby is one of the most anticipated events of the year. No expense is spared a the the entire staff at Easterly, the Baldwine's massive estate, is working at full throttle to make sure things go off without a hitch.
But, as the day of the event nears, the facade the family shows the world starts to crack and as those cracks widen it becomes clear that the trickle of odd occurrences is prelude to a deluge of holy hell that will turn the family and everyone who is affiliated with it upside down and inside out.
The family's patriarch William Baldwine is the king of villains. He is a selfish, cruel and feckless man. Nothing is sacred to him. He sees his children as disposable pawns and his wife as necessary encumbrance. The tangled web he has woven starts to prove itself incapable of supporting his weight. His grotesque and unbelievably cruel actions start to come to light and boy, they are a doozy
We meet 2 of Lane's three siblings, Edward and Virgina ("Gin"). From the flashbacks to their childhood, I found it miraculous that Lane managed to be a relatively stable and functional adult.
His siblings, not so much. Lane's brother Edward, who I think is my favorite character, has been brought low by what is initially referred to as "his tragedy" and he is trying to rebuild his life-- away from his family. He will have to decide whether he will live in an alcohol induced haze for the rest of his life or if he step in to help his family when they need him. It also appears that he might actually have a little love triangle happening in his book...
"Gin" has never really grown up. She lives in a fantasy world where she has never really had to deal with any consequences for her behavior. Well in the space of a few short days her reckoning comes demanding full and immediate payment and she is pockets to let. She is incredibly self destructive and her watching to see if her love interest (Sam. T--delish) will be able to help her save herself in the next book, but in this story things don't look that good for Gin.
The intrigue is off the charts and as the family hurtles from crisis to crisis, we realize that what we know so far is just the tip of the iceberg. Although Lane and Lizzie's story is resolved at the end of the book, the family's story is not and the hints of what's to come left me feeling like I had drunk a whole bottle of bourbon all by myself. I can't wait for the next installment!
