The 5th installment in the Whiskey Creek series is another winner!

This episode tells the story of Ted and Sophia – characters introduced in the previous series’ entries. The unthinkable has happened – Sophia’s husband, Skip, has defrauded almost the entire town of Whiskey Creek and accidentally killed himself while sneaking away in the night. (He slips off his yacht while vacationing off the coast of Brazil thinking to swim ashore and run away leaving his innocent and unknowing wife, Sophia, and daughter, Alexa, behind to suffer the consequences – including the ire and treatment of the inhabitants of the town and the FBI.) This story is Sophia’s gradual metamorphosis from alcoholic, abused spouse to a capable, independent woman and mother. Yes, alcoholic – Sophia had escaped from her hard marriage through a wine bottle, and the story realistically presents her battle with addiction. The change from the icy, privileged princess of the high school memories of the series’ core characters to someone you can really get behind and root for is satisfying and a pleasure to experience. I expected this to be a hard sell but I thought the author really nailed it. The dialogues and emotions are real ones, never contrived. The daughter’s former friends act like kids do sometimes. Ted’s mom has trouble accepting Sophia back into her son’s life. And the relationship between the Whiskey Creek’s inhabitants and Sophia isn’t all wrapped up with a bow for Christmas – although positive steps are made. I was hooked by this story (this entire series) from the very first page to the end.