revelry by kandi steiner is now live!!
Pick up this beauty today, for this a beautiful book about love, forgiveness and passion. Or you could check out my review as well as a little excerpt on the blog today! ❤
From the bestselling author of Weightless and A Love Letter to Whiskey
Wren Ballard is trying to find herself.
She never expected to be divorced at twenty-seven, but now that the court date has passed, it’s official. The paperwork is final. Her feelings on it aren’t.
Spending the summer in a small mountain town outside Seattle is exactly what she needs. The peaceful scenery is a given, the cat with the croaky meow is a surprise, but the real kicker? A broody neighbor with nice arms, a strange reputation, and absolutely no interest in her.
Anderson Black is perfectly fine being lost.
He doesn’t care about the town’s new resident — he’s too busy fighting his own demons. But when he’s brought face to face with Wren, he can see her still-fresh wounds from a mile away. What he doesn’t see coming is his need to know who put them there — or his desperation to mend them.
Sometimes getting lost is the way to find yourself. Sometimes healing only adds a new scar. And sometimes the last place you expected to be is exactly where you find home.
Kandi Steiner is an author whose works not only burrows under your skin, but also leaves your soul singing; I fell head over heels for her talent in A Love Letter to Whiskey (read my review) and Revelry is no different.
A story about second chances, of flawed humans, and emotions that leave you feeling raw – Revelry gives Kandi Steiner establishes herself as an author who will leave you raw and broken down as the lyrical flows through each atom of your soul.
Wren Ballard is a recent divorcee; a woman who is honest to herself in ways that not many are; her vulnerability gripped me in ways that I couldn’t let go from the moment I met her.
Reeling from a decision that she believes is the right one; yet a war has erupted between her heart and her brain – not knowing what to do, she ends up in a cabin in a small town – just to find a way to love herself and her choices, her path in her life.
Anderson Black, a neighbor she never really expected, but somehow gravitated towards without even knowing why. Now, Anderson is a man broken, his constant companions – remorse and anguish keep him company for an event he blames himself for. Seven years, and he lives a life of monotony, a man not even his best friends recognizes and he doesn’t expect anything to change; in fact he actual revels in the guilt he blankets himself with – but one day, he looks up and sees her; Wren and now he just can’t let go of the fact that his unhappiness is reflected in her eyes.
Two shattered humans; a collision waiting to happen. These two infinitely vulnerable individuals, who had closed themselves off to the outside world, slowly started opening to each other, they danced around their attraction but they couldn’t let go of the fact that somehow somewhere in all that dancing, they had started to need each other too.
Love isn’t supposed to be selfish, but somehow in loving your soul mate (or who you think is your soul mate) you end up forgetting that you need to love yourself too. There is peace in loving yourself, but most of the time, that peace is sacrificed for the sake of propriety and that’s the lesson that Revelry teaches its readers.
There is never a right way to handle life, the journey is full of twists and turns that nevertheless end up a path that these characters start to understand only when they end up bumping into each other.
Beautifully poignant, it is nevertheless a relatively light read that hooks you in from the first page. Kandi retains her magic of writing a stunning lyrical prose that gives you exactly what you are looking for – a journey filled with love, forgiveness, understanding and passion.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ .5
I had just grabbed my oversized hat and slipped my sunglasses on when I spotted Anderson walking up the drive with a large trash bag slung over his shoulder. He wore a simple, black V-neck and distressed jeans, an outfit way too dark and hot for the heat. A light sheen of sweat gathered on his neck as he made his way toward my cabin, his eyes hidden behind all-black sunglasses.
“Change your mind?” I asked, not even fighting the grin on my face as I walked outside and leaned against the banister.
Anderson squinted up at me, his boots heavy as they hit each stair. “About?”
“Tubing?” I asked. That was why he was here, right?
“Oh.” He shook his head as he hit the top stair, shrugging the bag off his shoulders to hold it by the neck in one fist. “No, I have somewhere to be…” His voice trailed off, and even through the tinted shades of his glasses I felt his eyes on my chest. I’d strapped on my favorite boho print bathing suit and paired it with a dainty gold chain that wrapped around my neck once before dipping between my chest and crossing over my ribs.
He sniffed, holding the bag out toward me. “I just came to drop these off. My clothes. Well, the ones that could probably use a little TLC.”
My eyes lit up and I reached for the bag, but Anderson snatched it back, brows shooting up into his forehead.
“No frills, Wren.”
I threw my hands up in surrender. “I promise.”
He smirked, just slightly, and handed the bag over, tucking his hands in his front pockets.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” I asked, peering into the bag at my project before setting it just inside the cabin and locking the door behind me.
“I can’t,” he said, lips pressed together. He was tense, the muscles on his forearms tight as he glanced around at pretty much everything but me.
I opened my mouth to ask why but was cut off by the sound of a truck flying into my drive, tires sliding against the gravel.
Tucker was in the driver’s seat with Davie in the passenger. Sarah and Yvette sat in the back, laughing with their hands up as the truck skidded to a stop. They were both sprawled out on a pile of tubes, wearing bathing suit tops and tiny shorts.
All of their faces froze when they saw Anderson.
“Hey, you ready, Wren?” Tucker asked warily, his eyes moving from where Anderson stood in front of me, to me, and back again.
“Yeah, one sec!” I called back.
I turned to Anderson, but his eyes were hard on Tucker, jaw ticking under his skin. When he faced me once more, an anchor fell from my throat into the pit of my stomach, immobilizing me completely. Because even though I ‘d tried to convince myself I was wrong, I recognized the look in his eyes.
Possession.
And when his nose flared and he took one big step toward me, our chests brushing, his hand reaching out to rest almost imperceptibly on my hip, the anchor in my stomach exploded into flames, burning a desire so fierce I inhaled a toxic breath and didn’t let it go.
“Be careful, okay?” His eyes locked on mine just before he leaned in and swiftly kissed my cheek.
He turned on his heel and jogged down the stairs and past the truck. Sarah called his name, but he didn’t acknowledge her, just kept his gaze forward until he’d disappeared from view.
And then everyone looked at me.
Kandi Steiner is a bestselling author and whiskey connoisseur living in Tampa, FL. Best known for writing “emotional rollercoaster” stories, she loves bringing flawed characters to life and writing about real, raw romance — in all its forms. No two Kandi Steiner books are the same, and if you’re a lover of angsty, emotional, and inspirational reads, she’s your gal.
An alumna of the University of Central Florida, Kandi graduated with a double major in Creative Writing and Advertising/PR with a minor in Women’s Studies. She started writing back in the 4th grade after reading the first Harry Potter installment. In 6th grade, she wrote and edited her own newspaper and distributed to her classmates. Eventually, the principal caught on and the newspaper was quickly halted, though Kandi tried fighting for her “freedom of press.” She took particular interest in writing romance after college, as she has always been a die hard hopeless romantic, and likes to highlight all the challenges of love as well as the triumphs.
When Kandi isn’t writing, you can find her reading books of all kinds, talking with her extremely vocal cat, and spending time with her friends and family. She enjoys live music, traveling, anything heavy in carbs, beach days, movie marathons, craft beer and sweet wine — not necessarily in that order.
For The Love of Fictional Worlds 