A Whiskey Sea, by Ann Howard Creel

I just finished A Whiskey Sea by Ann Howard Creel and I really enjoyed it. She is the author of ten published novels -- four middle grade, three young adult and three adult novels -- although this is the first book of hers I've read. I was 10 pages into the book & I already really liked it.

The book is set on the Jersey Shore during Prohibition. Frieda is a young woman whose mother, the 'town whore,' died when Frieda was 5. Raised along with her younger half-sister by a loving single man, she nevertheless grew up very independent and guarded (one might even say bitter). She learns to become an expert at repairing boat motors but soon falls into the dangerous business of bootlegging. Amidst all this, and despite herself, she falls hopelessly in love with a man who can't love her back, while a (male) friend loves her in a way she can never reciprocate. The suspense of the bootlegging runs (the author teases us with a flash-forward at the beginning of the book, so we know something bad is going to happen at some point), the love triangle, her intense relationship with her sister and her loyalty and love for the man who raised her,  result in a well-written, engrossing and fast-paced novel.