Title: Love on Tap
Author: Meg Benjamin
Series: Brewing Love
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Short novel
Available: 24th April
Wyatt Montgomery knows a barrel of legendary Zoria imperial stout will help his Denver gastropub stay on top. The only problem is the brewery that made it is no longer in business. When Wyatt hears the brewmaster has only one barrel left, he won’t stop until it’s his. He doesn’t consider what this mythical barrel might cost him. And he certainly doesn’t anticipate his reaction to the heart-stoppingly beautiful brewmaster he needs to convince to sell him the beer.
When Wyatt rushes into Bec Dempsey’s small-town cooperative offering to buy the last barrel of her precious Zoria, she’s thrown for a loop. She’s been burned by city-slickers before, and she’ll be damned if she’ll let it happen again. But when things start heating up between them, Bec decides to make Wyatt a counteroffer. One she hopes he won’t refuse.
Source: ARC from Entangled: Select Contemporary via NetGalley
This is cute. I’ll admit there were times near the beginning where I wasn’t sure about Bec and her stubborn reluctance to do anything to actually help herself, but Wyatt surprised me with his determination and slowly this turned from a slightly unlikely scenario into something delightful. It’s still faintly daft in places and I’m still not sure why Wyatt doesn’t tell everyone to get lost on several occasions, but if you can suspend your disbelief just enough every so often, then this is an enjoyable tale of romance, hopes, dreams and dastardly underhand dealings, finished off with a cool beer.
Bec is… difficult at times to like. She has a terrible habit of hiding from her problems and hoping they’ll just go away or resolve themselves if she ignores them for long enough. Yet, despite that, she can also be likeable. She’s hard working and clearly passionate about brewing. She’s also still recovering from having her heart dented and her dreams crushed by the indifference of her ex-fiancé and the lack of support from her brother. Her reluctance to deal with Wyatt at first seemed pretty ridiculous, and the setting of three tasks straight out of a fairy tale, but it was also great to see her slowly recovering from her hurts across the course of the book.
Which would have been impossible without Wyatt. Now there’s a man with determination and who isn’t afraid of hard work. I really liked him. Sure, he is a touch pretentious at first and rather wrapped up in the image of things, but he’s also desperate to make his gastropub a success and I loved that he took whatever Bec threw at him and never gave up easily. I have to admit I didn’t always see what he saw in Bec, but then again, with someone as strongly supportive as Wyatt behind her, she could achieve amazing things and together they make a great team.
Away from these two are a few interesting characters, of which Carol was my favourite. I loved that kid. She was seriously impressive. Liam, though, I couldn’t stand. Bec’s brother was just plain awful from start to finish. He’s underhand and greedy, even if he tries to justify it differently to himself. He left such an impression that even though I really like Meg Benjamin’s books, I’ll need some convincing to read about him if he gets his own book. Personally, I’m hoping for more from Bec’s friends after that adorable dinner.
So if you’re looking for a cute contemporary read with a solid hero and a heroine with some work to do, then you might enjoy this. Especially if you don’t mind an unlikely scenario or two thrown into the mix. Interest in brewing is optional, but it probably helps. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this series – especially if Liam isn’t the star.
Love on Tap is out April 24th.
Visit Meg Benjamin for more details.
