Bourbon on the Rocks (Barrel House, #2) by Shari J. Ryan

Title: Bourbon on the Rocks

Series: Barrel House #2

Author: Shari J. Ryan

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: April 6, 2020

Blurb

Life isn’t a game.

Life isn’t an empty bottle of bourbon spinning on a warehouse floor as I hold my breath.

I feel weak when others perceive me as strong.

I’m passionate though I appear to hate the world around me.

I see the beauty in all ugly things.

I feel pain when I laugh.

No one knows the truth.

Well, no one knew the truth until now.

Somehow, Brody Pearson understands more about me than anyone else in my life. The severed connection should mean something significant, but I don’t know if I can forget all my self-proclaimed promises.

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Author Bio

Shari J. Ryan is USA Today bestselling author. She lives in Massachusetts with her wicked awesome husband, and two wild sons who fill her life with non-stop comedy.

With a life full of love, writing, drawing, TV binging, reading, and Starbucks, Shari is living her best life.

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"Why me?" I ask. "What's different about me?" "Everything."

5 Single Kiss Stars!! What a beautiful ride this was!

Journey and Brody shared a passionate kiss years ago and knocked his socks off and she disappeared never to be heard from again. She's back in town, under different circumstances and dealing with personal and emotional things. And while she holds Brody close to her heart, she can't let him get close because she doesn't even know how to let anyone in. Brody is a single dad and he can't forget Journey after that one single kiss they shared and he will do anything to get the girl who "got away."

OMG, I don't even know where to begin. I'm not a crier, by any means, but this book had me sobbing. I think maybe because I know how Journey feels, I've been Journey! Shari really wrote a book and poured so many emotions into this book! I will say grab your tissue box and brace yourself, this book is emotional, but so beautifully written!

Bourbon Love Notes (Barrel House, #1) by Shari J. Ryan

Title: Bourbon Love Notes

Series: Barrel House #1

Author: Shari J. Ryan

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: January 13, 2020

Blurb

In a split second, life can steal a last breath ... and derail all future plans.

While flying home after a phone call that left me heartbroken, a row to myself would have been ideal. Instead, I was unknowingly sitting shoulder to shoulder with a strikingly attractive single dad and ex-Marine. I could have pretended not to notice the man, but there was something familiar about him.

It didn’t take long before I pieced together where I knew him from or why he was back in my life.

With chaos holding me hostage, I wanted to hide but couldn’t avoid Brett Pearson, our old family friend, and my teenage crush, because he kindly offered to help out with my family’s business—The Barrel House.

Handling my father’s distillery would be a distraction from my brutal reality. Except, I never paid close attention to the art of making bourbon, unlike Brett, who was full of bourbon knowledge. He offered to teach me a thing or two, but all I could focus on was the way his lips moved when he spoke to me.

I needed to grieve, and my head was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but my heart was splitting at the seams.

Bourbon was spilled, drinks were shared, but could passion ignite from a dying last wish?

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Copyright 2019 - Shari J. Ryan

How can Dad be thinking about so much when he doesn’t know if there will be a tomorrow? I can’t believe he already hired someone to run the business. I can’t pretend like I ever had intentions of taking over the shop, even knowing Dad wouldn’t be able to run it forever, but the thought hadn’t crossed my mind because Dad is supposed to live well past his retirement age. Nothing has gone as I have planned since I graduated college, and while I have traveled along with the bumps in the road, everything feels like it’s crashing down on me now. 

Maybe I have no business being in The Barrel House, pretending like I know everything there is to know about running a bourbon distillery. 

“Melody!” It’s Brett. He’s calling after me. Doesn’t he know when a woman runs out a door, it’s probably best not to follow her?

I turn back toward the firehouse, watching him walk toward me. My instinct forces me to take a step back, which causes me to trip off the curb. I catch myself on a car, thankfully, but the car’s alarm beeps at me just to add an extra dose of humiliation to this moment.

My heart is in my throat, or maybe it’s my stomach. My head is spinning and ... why did he have to come after me?

“I need to get back home. I should be with my dad,” I tell him, looking both ways to make sure I don’t get creamed by a car on top of it all. The coast is clear and I cross the street, finding my way to Mom’s car. 

“Wait up for a second,” Brett continues, following me across the street. He places his hand on the door, preventing me from opening it and jumping inside. “Your dad wanted a bottle,” he says, handing me the bottle of Red Apple that Dad did, in fact, request. 

“How did you—” 

“He called to warn me that you were on your way down, flustered, upset, trying to be a hero, and you’d most likely forget that he requested a bottle of Red Apple.” Brett laughs sweetly, smiling benevolently. “I’m not trying to take over your family business, despite what you might be thinking. My dad has been a barrel supplier for your dad since before either of us were born. I was just asked to come help you guys out.” 

“I know.” In truth, I don’t understand much of anything now. I’ve been going a mile a minute since I got that letter yesterday. I’ve been awake since five this morning, and I’m exhausted. “Thank you for coming to help,” I offer sincerely, wishing he would move his hand from my door. 

“I’m sorry for what you’re going through. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.” The look in Brett’s eyes triggers more pain in my stomach. I’m losing my dad. 

“I don’t know what else to do right now other than help him, and being in his shop feels like the only way I can help,” I explain. 

The backs of my eyes burn. I’m supposed to be the strong one, but I’m falling apart. I stare up to the sky, waning away the threatening tears. Keep it together, Melody. My body doesn’t respond to my command. Tears trickle, one by one and I gasp for air as my lungs feel like they are deflating. I place my hands over my face, embarrassed to be crying in front of Brett Pearson of all people, but the pain has been building, and though I let a few tears escape this morning at the airport, it clearly wasn’t enough. “I’m sorry,” I mutter. 

Arms envelop me and my head falls against his firm chest. His embrace is tight and though I don’t know the adult version of Brett well enough to feel comfort from a hug, the squeeze is alleviating some of the pressure in my chest. 

The rate of my breaths slow and I’m able to stop the tears from falling. Brett must notice that I’ve calmed down because his arms release from around me and he takes a step back. I don’t know what else to say or do aside from searching his worry-filled eyes as if I’d find the answer there. 

He presses the pad of his thumb beneath my eye and sweeps away a remaining tear. “Take some time to process it all,” Brett says, sounding wise beyond his years. “I don’t know how long you’ve known about your Dad becoming sick again, but I doubt there’s any length of time that’s long enough to accept or adjust to that kind of news.”

“I’m going to—” I point to the car.

Brett backs away, slipping his hands into his back pockets. I close myself into the car, rest my head back, and close my eyes for a minute before starting the engine. 

A knock on the window startles my eyes to reopen. Brett is standing outside of the car holding up the bottle of Red Apple. I roll the window down and retrieve the bottle. “Thank you,” I tell him. “For everything.” 

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Author Bio

Shari J. Ryan is an International Bestselling Author of Contemporary Romance and Women’s Fiction. 

She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two young sons.  Shari started her career as a graphic artist and freelance writer, then found her passion for writing books back in 2011. She has been slaying words and creating imaginary friends ever since.

With over 125k books sold, Shari’s books have hit Amazon's Top 100 bestseller list, Barnes & Noble's Top 10, and iBooks at #1.  Some of Shari’s bestselling books include Last Words, The Other Blue Sky, A Heart of Time, and Man Flu from the Man Cave Collection.

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Unspoken Words by Shari J. Ryan

Release Date: October 16, 2019

Cover Design: MadHat Designs

Synopsis

“Women and children to the right. Men, to the left,” I once said.

From 1942 to 1944 I was what some called a Jew killer. Though, I have never hurt a soul, I was responsible for separating Jewish families, ensuring they would never see each other again. Those who were sick, were sent to their death ... by me because I was forced to follow the enemy. The war stole my right of beliefs, my goals for a future, my left arm, and the love of my life.

I saved Amelia …

… then I lost her.

And after more than seventy years, I’m told she’s alive and asking for me.

Will love be enough to overcome the silence of more than seven decades?

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Excerpt

The house in front of me was a vivid shade of blue—bluer than the sky but no darker than the ocean. The color reminded me of a blue-bird. The windows were framed with a shade of forest green, and there were two small windows on each side of the matching door. The roof was old and tattered, but supported the one lonesome dormer-window in the attic. The flower beds beneath the front windows were empty but I imagine they were full of vibrant blossoms in the spring and summer. Trinkets clung to the windows from the inside where a fire illuminated an empty table covered with a freshly prepared dinner.

I wasn’t standing in front of that house to admire the unique colors and decor.

They gave me a task.

Sven shoved his elbow into my side as he walked passed me, continuing down a line of Jewish men and women who were waiting for their next order. “Charlie, kill that woman. She is out of line,” Sven asserted his command with an authoritative intonation.

I tried to step forward along the uneven cobblestones I was standing upon. The sight in front of me had me frozen. Through wisps of fog, I set my focus on the middle-age woman. With dark hair, tied in an unkempt knot at the base of her skull, and loose strands hanging in front of her eyes, she appeared forlorn while shouting for her children. She was wearing an apron, probably from the food she had just finished preparing for her family when a group of SS soldiers broke into her quaint blue-bird house. “Let my children go!” The woman was trying to protect her family—her daughter and son. Sven told me to kill her because she was crying for her children, and we weren’t supposed to tolerate such a disgusting display of emotion from a Jewish person.

Sven stopped walking when he noticed I wasn’t following his lead. He stood, staring at me, waiting on me to fulfill his command. I still couldn’t move. Rather than follow orders, I glanced back and forth between the woman’s daughter, who was being pulled away by a comrade I didn’t know, and then back at the distraught mother. The woman was reaching her arms out toward her daughter who was already so far away. In that moment, I knew the two would never reunite. The thought made me feel ill.

“Kill her,” Sven shouted. “Do it now, Charlie.”

I knew of the punishment I could receive for not following orders from a superior, but I couldn’t move my arms, let alone, handle a weapon.

Sven’s hand pressed against the lapel of my coat as he pushed me away. “Coward,” he muttered, passing me by.

Sven retrieved his rifle from the left side of his belt and aimed it at the mother’s head while the other comrade had the woman bent over in shame.

I couldn’t do much else but watch her daughter grieve what would be an extraordinary loss in a matter of seconds. “I love you, Mama. Please don’t hurt her!” the girl shouted in a plea.

“Amelia,” the woman countered. “Fight and be strong. For me.”

Amelia was the girl’s name.

Amelia deserved a mother to face the horrors she was about to encounter.

“Mama, no,” Amelia grunted. “Please, don’t leave me!” Amelia pleaded as if her mother had a say in the matter. Though, we all knew only one person had the final decision, and Sven no longer had a heart in his chest.

Amelia’s words buzzed over the blasting weapon—her mother was taken down with one bullet. To the ground, she fell. Blood pooled instantly. The smell of gunpowder was potent even through the thick air.

The world went silent for me even though there were screams coming from all sides. The Jews were scared, especially now that one was sacrificed as an example of what disrespect earns.

I watched that woman’s daughter, Amelia, the pale complexion wash through her face as she stared doe-eyed at her mother’s corpse. Amelia’s head shook slightly with disbelief as they pushed her within the herded line, farther and farther away from her mother’s body. Amelia couldn’t have been older than sixteen or seventeen, and in an instant her world had become darker than she likely ever could have imagined it would.

My chest felt as though it was caving in on itself. No matter how many Jews I watched meet their ending day as Amelia’s mother had, the pain never lessened, and the heartache only grew stronger with the sight of every new fallen body.

I was not meant to be a killer.

I was not meant to hate, no matter what I was supposed to believe.

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About the Author

International Bestselling Author, Shari J. Ryan is a writer of Women's Fiction, Contemporary Romance, and Romantic Comedy. Throughout the last seven years of her writing journey, Shari has written more than twenty emotionally charged novels ranging from Rockstar Romances and Medical Romances to Historical Fiction.

Shari is happily married to her own superhero--a former Marine who has inspired many of her stories. Together, they have two beautiful little boys.

Shari's active imagination allows her to create characters with depth and raw emotion as they journey their ways to a happily ever after.

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Shattered Stars by Shari J. Ryan

Title: Shattered Stars

Author: Shari J. Ryan

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: April 4, 2019

Blurb

“You will lose your memory.”

That’s what a doctor told me at just twenty-nine years old.

My headaches and exhaustion weren’t from overexertion like I thought.

It was more. A lot more.

Despite my unimaginable challenges,

I found love at a time I needed it most.

Layne, a rising star and popular frontman,

was unknowingly singing life into my soul through his allusive lyrics.

I lived and breathed for the mesmeric sound of his voice.

Kismet led us to a kind of love anyone would die for.

However, Layne shouldn’t be stuck loving me after I begin to forget him.

We will once again be strangers, separated by a crowd.

I can no longer promise him a future like the one he vowed to me.

Layne is determined to help me get better.

I’m determined to make him see past my illness.

The outcome … to be determined.

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Excerpt

Copyright 2019 - Shari J. Ryan

“Hey! What did you think?” Layne, the frontman, jogs over to us and gives Lexi a hug.

“You guys are insanely amazing,” Lexi responds. “Like, blew us away.”

“Oh yeah?” Layne asks, glancing over at me. Lexi is speaking on behalf of both of us, which gives me a free pass to avoid conversation and just take in the scene, but I feel I need to praise them too.

“You were seriously incredible. I can see why you won that battle.” I just made it sound like they were fighting a war by singing music, but if that’s the worst thing that comes out of my mouth tonight, we should all be so lucky.

“That means a lot, thank you,” Layne says, staring at me as if I look fascinating. Sometimes I feel like my past is tattooed on my forehead and everyone I meet already knows what path I’ve walked along.

Layne shakes his head to the side, shuffling the hair away from his eye. It’s weird that I want to touch his hair. It’s even weirder that he’s been talking to me and I haven’t heard a word he has said. “You okay?” When I refocus on his face, his lip is curled to the side, the side where he has the lip ring.

“I’m so sorry, I think my ears are still ringing a bit. What did you just say?” I ask him, trying to hide the fact that I was too busy gazing at him with imaginary hearts in my eyes.

“I asked how long you and Lexi have been friends?” He combs his fingers through the sides of his hair, pushing the strands away from his face and his piercing emerald eyes. With dark brows and lashes, there’s an immediate pull to his alluring stare. He’s stunning and fascinating. He also asked me a question for the second time.

“Oh, um, we have been friends since we were babies actually. Our moms are friends, so we kind of grew up like sisters.”

“That’s awesome,” he says, glancing over at Lexi, who is biting down on her bottom lip, while staring into Johnny’s eyes. How is it, some of us have the natural born instinct to flirt, while the rest of us have knees that threaten to collapse the moment anyone looks in our direction? It’s not fair. I have no game. Not that I need a game because there isn’t a game I could possibly win with my life trailing behind me like a ball and chain. I love Aly, but I could have given her a different kind of love five to ten years from now too. “Damn, I think Lexi has a thing for Johnny.”

“She does,” I tell Layne, ratting her out like an awful friend. I slap my hand over my mouth, “Crap, don’t repeat that, and I hope that doesn’t bother you ... like, I mean, if you have a thing for Lexi.” My foot can leave my mouth now.

Layne’s eyes narrow against his smile, his smile that reveals two perfectly located dimples by the corners of his lips. As the face of this band, he gives the fans a good reason to sit and watch them, but with the music I heard tonight, all the guys could be hideous and no one would care. It only helps that he’s gorgeous and he’s probably turned many local women into rock fans. “I don’t think I have to inform Johnny that Lexi has a thing for him. It seems like he’s gotten the hint,” Layne says. I glance over my shoulder again and yup, Johnny got the hint. Their lips are locked and if steam could release from hot bodies, the smoke alarms would be going off. “And I’m okay with it because Lexi and I aren’t into each other like that.”

“Huh, did they already know each other?” I ask Layne. I thought I would know who Lexi has been spending her time with, but I’ve been a little preoccupied.

Layne shakes his head, looking past me, toward them. “Nope, I don’t think they’ve officially met before tonight.”

“Well, I guess when you have no fears, you do what the moment tells you do, right?” I say.

Once again, Layne seems fascinated by the simple little remark I’ve made, and I can’t understand what it is that is so enlightening about my nervous chatter. “It’s funny you say that about fears. I wrote this song about fears, and you totally just hit the nail on the head.”

I know the song. I know it very well. It spoke to me two years ago when I heard it the first time, and it spoke to me again tonight when I heard it. “I think I’ve heard it,” I tell him, trying to sound casual about my love for his music. In fact, the song we’re both talking about is the song that drew me in as a “Divi-O Groupie.”

“You had heard of it before tonight? We haven’t performed here in a couple years.”

“Yeah, I remember it,” I tell him, biting down on the tip of my thumb.

Layne seems frozen within his star-lit smile and unblinking stare. “It’s my favorite of all our songs, but we were following trends and, you know how it goes. Oddly enough, we’ve been talking to a record label about that song, but I am talking too much and shouldn’t have said that to you, so pretend I stopped talking like thirty seconds ago.” He laughs and covers his hand over his face, showing off pen scribbles across his fingers, weaving in and out of the several rings I saw flashing around while he was running back and forth across the stage with the microphone, pouring his heart out of his lungs.

“Your secret is safe with me,” I tell him. “Now we each have something to forget.”

“Thank you,” he says, tugging at a loose curl beside my ear.

I hold my breathe when his hand comes near me, but it’s gone just as fast, hanging back down by his side.

Breathe.

“I think you got a little pen on your fingers there,” I point out, looking for a way to change the subject away from our spewed secrets. Seriously though ... a record label? That’s insane.

“Yeah, I’m a sloppy artist,” he says, admiring his smudged artwork. “I have these three or four lines of a couple songs that always seem to slip my mind so I write them on my hand, but then I end up sweating them off during the show. I think the actual method of writing the words down helps me remember though, so it became a habit.”

Okay so he’s not just drawing on his hand for the sake of looking badass, which is sweet. My heart is already flopping around in my chest like a fish out of water, but I have to toss it back because I can’t take part in this type of lifestyle. Of course, I can’t exactly go anywhere now either since Lexi is still playing tongue tag with the drummer.

Author Bio

Shari J. Ryan is an International Bestselling Author of heartbreakers and mind-benders. Shari was once told she tends to exaggerate often and sometimes talks too much, which would make a great foundation for fictional books. Four years later, Shari has written eleven novels that often leave readers either in tears from laughing, or crying.

With her loud Boston girl attitude, Shari isn't shy about her love for writing or the publishing industry. Along with writing several International bestsellers, Shari has split her time between writing and her longstanding passion for graphic design. In 2014, she started an indie-publishing resource company, MadHat Books, to help fellow authors with their book cover designs, as well as assistance in the self-publishing process.

While Shari may not find many hours to sleep, she still manages to make time for her family. She is a devoted wife to a great guy, and a mother to two little boys who remind her daily why she was put on this earth.

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