Last updated on 02/23/2026
In the delightfully nosy town of Whynot, North Carolina, secrets and sweet tea never stay cold for long. When sparks fly between two locals—one returning home and one with secrets to hide—the gossip mill isn’t the only thing turning up the heat.
Penny Pritchard thought she’d traded in small-town chatter for political banter when she left to build a big career in Washington, D.C. But when her beloved Aunt Muriel needs help running Central Café—the local hotspot for gossip, grits, and good intentions—Penny comes home with a suitcase full of high heels and denial about just how much she’s missed this place.
Enter Sam-Pete Rochelle, the easygoing bartender at Chesty’s with a smile that could make a girl forget her rules and a secret bigger than the town itself. Everyone thinks he’s just the guy pouring whiskey and fixing the jukebox. No one suspects he’s actuallya wildly popular, very rich, and very anonymous author of steamy fantasy romance novels.
When the truth is revealed and it’s time for Sam to stop hiding behind his pen name, Whynot loses its collective mind. The church ladies are clutching their pearls, Floyd’s hosting a “Banned Books & Bourbon” club, and the mayor’s calling an emergency meeting about moral decay. And Penny? Penny is learning firsthand that Sam doesn’t just talk the talk where his books are concerned. Sam excels at walking the walk, if you know what I mean.
Now, Penny is torn between her two worlds. Does she go back to the career that provides a sense of fulfillment and purpose or stay in the small town with the man who writes about epic love stories and might just be her own real-life happily ever after?
A laugh-out-loud, heart-swoony friends-to-lovers romance about second chances, southern charm, and finding the courage to write your own story—one rumor at a time.
One Click Here: https://geni.us/SB_Whiskey
Review:
Whiskey, Words, and Whispers is the first book in Ms Bennett’s latest series, Sweet Tea & Trouble. It’s set in the southern small town of Whynot, North Carolina and features two Whynot protagonists: Sam Rochelle, the small town guy who never left and Penny Prichard, who went to DC and never looked back…until her aunt needed her.
WWW has all the small town vibes any reader could want–the gossip flies fast and loose, and everyone is in everyone else’s business 24/7. If you love the nosy neighbor trope and feisty senior citizens, you’re in luck here!
Sam and Penny knew each other growing up but never really connected–she’s two years older and left town as soon as she could–but once they run into each other back in Whynot they have an immediate attraction and pretty much start a relationship right from there. Not a fan of the third act breakup? No worries, their relationship is pretty much smooth sailing from start to finish. (Yes, there is the issue of geography, but honestly? They barely even stress out about it and it gets resolved in the end with very little drama.)
Truly, I would have liked a bit more substance to their relationship myself. It was all very…even.
The bulk of the drama–such as it is–comes from a book banning issue in the town that becomes personal to our couple, especially Sam. I appreciated that discussion, since it’s one that is becoming more and more of an issue these days. Even that problem, though, is resolved with relatively no fuss–which, as a former teacher and current librarian, I wish it were that easy IRL!
In the end, this is a promising start to a new series and I can see how it might appeal to many readers. It didn’t *quite* work for me–the premise of the second book sounds a lot more up my alley, with MCs who are at odds with each other from the jump–but it did keep me busy on (yet another) dreary winter day.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars / B-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
