Victoria Wilder is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance, known for small-town settings, sharp banter, and heat-forward love stories with a thread of suspense running through them. She writes fiercely independent heroines and the guarded, loyal men who fall hard for them, favoring plots where a simmering attraction shares the page with a mystery, a buried family secret, or a threat closing in. She reached a wide audience with The Bourbon Boys, a trilogy set in the fictional town...
Rumors & Whiskey
Rumors & Whiskey
Synopsis
In Rumor, Tennessee, one family sits at the center of every whisper. The Crowne women have weathered decades of gossip from behind the bar of The Whispering Fool — beautiful, secretive, and rumored to be dangerous. What the town doesn't know is how quietly they settle scores, and which men who hurt women end up simply gone.
Wyn Crowne, the eldest daughter, should be the last person keeping secrets, but she has the biggest one of all. After surviving a serial killer and starting over under another name, she has kept her distance from her sisters and told no one who she really is. She has almost convinced herself the past is buried — until Julian Colton walks in. He is a charming jeweler with a sinful smile, too many questions, and a second job that makes him far more dangerous than he looks. And he already knows a version of Wyn she thought she had left for dead.
The first book in the Whiskey Women series, Rumors & Whiskey opens Victoria Wilder's spin on small-town romance with a darker edge — sisterhood, buried identities, a slow-burning attraction that refuses to behave, and a streak of vigilante justice beneath all the Southern charm.
Vibe
Genres
Characters
Wyn CrowneProtagonist
The eldest Crowne daughter, an organic-chemistry professor and whiskey obsessive who survived a serial killer and now lives under a guarded new identity, hiding the truth even from her sisters.
Julian ColtonProtagonist
A charming jeweler whose easy smile hides a second, far more dangerous line of work; he knew Wyn under the name she is trying to bury.
Birdie CrowneSupporting
A Crowne woman known for her palm readings, part of how the family quietly shelters and avenges the women who come to them for help.
Lu CrowneSupporting
One of the Crowne women who runs The Whispering Fool and helps look out for the vulnerable in Rumor, Tennessee.
The Whiskey Women
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Frequently asked questions
What is Rumors & Whiskey about?
It launches the Whiskey Women series with Wyn Crowne, eldest daughter of a family of rumored vigilantes in Rumor, Tennessee, who is living under a new identity after surviving a serial killer — until a charming, dangerous jeweler named Julian Colton reappears from the past she is trying to bury.
Is Rumors & Whiskey connected to The Bourbon Boys?
No. It's a separate series with its own town (Rumor, Tennessee) and family (the Crownes), though it shares Victoria Wilder's blend of small-town Southern romance, spice, and suspense.
How dark is Rumors & Whiskey?
Darker than her Bourbon Boys books. It opens with the heroine having survived captivity by a serial killer, and the Crowne women deal quiet vigilante justice to predatory men, so expect violence and heavier themes alongside the romance.
What is the "Goodbye Earl list"?
It's the Crowne women's private reckoning for men who are abusive or beyond saving — a nod to the revenge ballad — and part of the family's best-kept secret beneath their bar, The Whispering Fool.
When did Rumors & Whiskey come out?
It released in June 2026 as the first Whiskey Women book, with a second, Scandals & Whiskey, announced for January 2027.
Does this book connect to other series by Victoria Wilder?
Readers familiar with the author's previous work have noted significant narrative connections between this story and her earlier series, which some fans consider a highlight of the reading experience.
Is the audiobook version worth listening to?
The audiobook features a dual narration by Samantha Brentmoor and Connor Crais that many listeners cite as a primary reason to choose the audio format over the print edition.