AUDIO - Absinthe of Malice (Sinners #5) by Rhys Ford

Add to Goodreads

#M_M, #Contemporary, #Romance, #Thriller

We’re getting the band back together. Those five words send a chill down Miki St. John’s spine, especially when they’re spoken with a nearly religious fervor by his brother-in-all-but-blood, Damien Mitchell. However, those words were nothing compared to what Damien says next. And we’re going on tour. When Crossroads Gin hits the road, Damien hopes it will draw them closer together. There’s something magical about being on tour, especially when traveling in a van with no roadies, managers, or lovers to act as a buffer. The band is already close, but Damien knows they can be more—brothers of sorts, bound not only by familial ties but by their intense love for music. As they travel from gig to gig, the band is haunted by past mistakes and personal demons, but they forge on. For Miki, Damie, Forest, and Rafe, the stage is where they all truly come alive, and the music they play is as important to them as the air they breathe. But those demons and troubles won’t leave them alone, and with every mile under their belts, the band faces its greatest challenge—overcoming their deepest flaws and not killing one another along the way.
Listening Time: 6 hours and 49 minutes

5 out of 5 (exceptional)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Damien decides to take Crossroads Gin on tour. Miki, Forest and Rafe all have their own demons to chase, as does Damien but he hopes this tour will bring them closer to each other, to get back what they had with Sinners Gin. The further along the tour they go, the more those demons push and torment. Will it bring them closer, or push them further apart?
Oh I LOVED catching up with these boys! And I do mean everyone. We get some of each couple, Miki and Kane; Damien and Sionn; Forest and Connor; Rafe and Quinn and even Ma and Da pop up along the way.
Each member of the band struggles in their own way being separated from the other halves of their souls. Miki really goes through the wringer here and Rafe is pushed to his very limits.
Its full of soul searching, deep and painful, spaced with a reunion of each pair at various points. ( I found it to be not as explicit as some of the other books, but thats not a bad thing, not at all!)
It has each band member's feeling about being on tour and on stage. It has each band member's reaction to everything that happens.
It also has a CORKER of a cliff hanger! I mean a freaking corker that was like SAY WHAT NOW?!?!?!?!? I need to listen to this too. I could hear Tristan James in my head while reading but I'll say the same as I did in my read review for Sloe Ride. I'm not hearing the VOICES correctly, and it was doing my head in. So much so, I went back and listened to some of Sloe Ride, just to get everyone right. Still need to listen to it though!
I'll not say anymore, because I don't wanna give spoilers. BUT! If you are a follower of the Sinners Gin series, you'll need to know this: One more time. Just one more time we'll get to catch up with these guys. Just the one. And I'm sad about that but equally, I know the series end is gonna be awesome!
5 stars **same worded review will appear elsewhere**
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *


Rhys Ford is an award-winning author with several long-running LGBT+ mystery, thriller, paranormal, and urban fantasy series and was a 2016 LAMBDA finalist with her novel, Murder and Mayhem. She is published by Dreamspinner Press and DSP Publications. She’s also quite skeptical about bios without a dash of something personal and really, who doesn’t mention their cats, dog and cars in a bio? She shares the house with Yoshi, a grumpy tuxedo cat and Tam, a diabetic black pygmy panther, as well as a ginger cairn terrorist named Gus. Rhys is also enslaved to the upkeep a 1979 Pontiac Firebird and enjoys murdering make-believe people.
Amazon | BookBub | BookLikes | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website