TLC Book Tour: Book Review: The Whiskey Sea by Ann Howard Creel

The Whiskey Sea

By: Ann Howard Creel 

Published: August 2016
Published By: Lake Union Publishing
Format Read: Trade Paperback
Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 3/5

I was sent a copy of The Whiskey Sea by Ann Howard Creel by the publisher via the TLC Book Tours, in exchange for an honest review. 

Motherless and destitute, Frieda Hope grows up during Prohibition determined to make a better life for herself and her sister, Bea. The girls are taken in by a kindly fisherman named Silver, and Frieda begins to feel at home whenever she is on the water. When Silver sells his fishing boat to WWI veteran Sam Hicks, thinking Sam would be a fine husband for Frieda, she’s outraged. But Frieda manages to talk Sam into teaching her to repair boat engines instead, so she has a trade of her own and won’t have to marry. 

Frieda quickly discovers that a mechanic’s wages won’t support Bea and Silver, so she joins a team of rumrunners, speeding into dangerous waters to transport illegal liquor. Frieda becomes swept up in the lucrative, risky work—and swept off her feet by a handsome Ivy Leaguer who’s in it just for fun.

As danger mounts and her own feelings threaten to drown her, can Frieda find her way back to solid ground—and to a love that will sustain her?

The Prohibition era is a time I find fascinating and have enjoyed several movies and television shows set during those years. When I saw that this was the setting for The Whiskey Sea, I jumped at the chance to join in on the book tour.

During a time when a woman’s place was said to be in the home, our main character Frieda broke conventions to become a boat mechanic, in order to support her younger sister and adoptive father. This would lead her down the path towards the dangerous job of rum running.

I expected a story with a lot of excitement and danger, however it focused more on Frieda’s moral compass and romantic interest. It moved along a bit too slowly for my liking and I had a hard time connecting with the main character.

Although The Whiskey Sea might not have been the right book for me, I would recommend it to those who enjoy slower paced historical fiction.