Tequila: A Story of Success, Love & Violence by Tim Reuben
In the fields of the Jaliscan Highlands, the agave bristles under the Mexican sun. In a boardroom high above Manhattan, another kind of heat rises — ambition, greed and betrayal. Between these two worlds, a family empire begins to fracture.
With his debut novel Tequila: A Story of Love, Sex & Violence (Meridian Editions), Los Angeles attorney Tim Reuben transforms decades of courtroom experience into a gripping tale of power, corruption and the impossible choices that love demands.
Maria Ramirez sits at the helm of RAM, a luxury tequila corporation passed down through three generations of her family. She’s inherited not only the family business but also its enemies — among them her own brothers. Miguel, a sociopathic manipulator, and Tomaso, a self-destructive idealist, threaten to drag both the company and the family into ruin.
A Lawyer Caught in the Crossfire
Enter Brian Youngman, a principled Los Angeles lawyer hired to handle a high-stakes divorce case involving the Ramirez family. When his client goes missing, Brian investigates and quickly finds himself ensnared in a world of cartels, smuggling and white-collar crime that puts his ethics — and his heart — to the test. Torn between duty and desire, he becomes both Maria’s protector and her undoing.
Reuben’s storytelling is cinematic and global in scope, moving from Manhattan skyscrapers to Mexican agave fields, the dark waters of the Gulf and the brooding moors of Scotland. Each scene is deftly plotted by a writer who clearly knows how to build a case — and how to break one apart.
Critics are already taking notice. New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry calls Tequila “a wonderful debut that takes a wild ride on the perilous side.” Jon Land, author of the Caitlin Strong thrillers, praises it as “the ultimate David versus Goliath tale,” adding, “Not since John Grisham’s The Firm has a legal backdrop been employed across a broad canvas of crime, corruption and murder.”
That comparison isn’t misplaced. Like Grisham, Reuben writes from the inside out — his legal background infuses courtroom exchanges and ethical dilemmas alike. Yet Tequila isn’t just a legal thriller. It’s a saga of family, love and survival — a story where morality and power collide, leaving no one unscathed.
A Genre-Bending Thriller with a Moral Edge
Otho Eskin, bestselling author of the Marko Zorn thriller series, describes it as “a thoughtful exploration of the things people do for power, even to their own kin.” And R.G. Belsky, creator of the Clare Carlson mystery series, calls Reuben “an exciting new voice in thriller fiction.”
That excitement stems from more than the book’s page-turning momentum. Reuben takes familiar tropes — corrupt dynasties, star-crossed lovers, courtroom brinkmanship — and gives them moral depth. The novel’s emotional core lies in Maria and Brian’s shared realization that integrity exacts a price, and love doesn’t always redeem.
While Tequila offers its share of gunfire and danger, its most potent moments unfold in quieter scenes: Maria wrestling with the guilt of loving a man tied to her family’s imminent downfall; Brian realizing that justice, once compromised, may never be restored. These human struggles make the book resonate beyond genre fiction.
As Susan Shapiro Barash, author of Estranged, observes, “Reuben offers us a love story, legal drama and surprising plot twists.” Indeed, Tequila refuses to stay within the boundaries of any one genre. It’s as much a family epic as it is a thriller, exploring how greed corrodes everything around it and how loyalty can be both salvation and curse.
What emerges is a narrative that moves with a decisive velocity toward the inevitable. In the world of Tequila, justice comes only to those willing to bleed for it — and even then, it may be too late. With its mix of glamour and grit, Tequila marks the arrival of a powerful new storyteller who knows that the most dangerous battles are the ones fought in private.
TIM REUBEN is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He’s a veteran trial lawyer and founded his own litigation firm in Los Angeles, where he also actively publishes articles on topics of law and society. Inspired by his legal experiences, Reuben presents his first wholly fictional “thriller-killer” novel, Tequila. When not practicing law or writing, Reuben plays tennis and golf, hikes with his wife and two big dogs, and enjoys imbibing aged spirits, including tequila.
