He wears suits and ties. He’ll one day inherit a fortune. He has a law degree. He shines his shoes, for God’s sake. What is she doing attracted to a guy like him? But she is. She so is.

She drives air boats on the bayou, drinks and cusses, and gives city boys in suits a hard time just for fun. Why can’t he get her out of his mind? But he can’t. He definitely can’t.

A weekend trip to Savannah for a fancy-schmancy party with his highfalutin family is the surefire way to prove that they have nothing in common but intense chemistry. And to maybe scratch this I’ve-never-wanted-anyone-like-I-want-you itch once or twice. Or five times.

But it takes only about twenty-four hours for the bayou girl and the city boy to figure out that they don’t really know much at all–about each other, or about themselves. And figuring all of this out is going to be downright crazy.

Title: Crazy Rich Cajuns
Author: Erin Nicholas
Series: Boys of the Bayou (Book 4) 
Pages: 225
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, Small-Town Romance
Hot Buttons: n/a

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I have read most of the Boys of the Bayou series of which this is the fourth book, and Kennedy and Bennett as a couple have been teased almost since the very start. It probably does stand alone, but as part of a series full of colourful characters and intertwined scenarios, you might be confused if you haven’t read at least one of the previous books in the series.

As I mentioned, Bennett and Kennedy have been dancing around each other in previous books. They very much had an antagonistic relationship - a sort of teasing love-to-hate-you kind of thing. I didn’t really ever feel a super chemistry (in previous books) between the pair and this book really just throws you into the story so I still wasn’t really feeling them as a pair to begin with.

I really liked the idea of Bennett - he’s the kind of hero that’s totally my jam. He’s a rich guy and can come across as a little bit stuffy - especially in comparison to those laid-back Louisiana folk. I love the idea of a buttoned up guy getting a little ruffled with a girl who’s not his norm. And he wears glasses. Swoon! But despite all this, I didn’t love him as much as I wanted to. It’s hard to put my finger on why - but there it is. And that’s despite him being a dirty talker. I LOVED that about him. It probably hit me just as hard as it hit Kennedy.

Kennedy herself wasn't really my cup of tea as far as a heroine goes either. She was, for me, deliberately difficult and provocative at times and I often wanted to tell her to stand down and calm down. That attitude 24/7 must be exhausting! I was slightly worried we were going down the really obvious route of the backwater girl going to the hoity toity society party and embarrassing herself and others with her provincial ways! Luckily we didn’t go that way and I did get to like Kennedy a wee bit better as the story progressed. But ultimately, I still did feel she was a little bitty selfish. There was just something about her that I wasn’t loving. Don’t get me wrong - I was still rooting for our couple and I did like them - I just didn’t love them - as individuals or together.

Unlike the other books in the series (or the ones that I’ve read anyway), this story also takes us out of the Bayou for a large chunk of time. It therefore had a different feel to it than the other books. Again, not bad - just different.

As I mentioned, Bennett has a dirty mouth on him which I very much appreciated. As such, the sex scenes were delicious - especially since there’s something of a build up before we get to the very good stuff.

This wasn’t my favourite of the Boys of the Bayou books but it’s very readable and still has Ms Nicholas’s trademark humour, heat and obvious love of small-town family and life. 3 stars from me but still recommended if you’ve read others in the series; just maybe don’t start with this one.

 

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EXCERPT:

“Good morning, Miss Landry.”

“I’ve been on hold for fifteen freaking minutes, Mr. Baxter.”

Bennett grinned. She’d been on hold for four minutes. He knew because he’d been watching the time on his phone. He always kept her on hold for at least a couple. But he’d known to expect her to be dramatic about it no matter how long it was. Kennedy Landry wasn’t really the patiently-wait-on-hold type of woman. Kennedy Landry was, however, the type of woman that made a man want to take what tiny semblance of control he could find and grab onto it like it was a lifeboat in the midst of a hurricane.

Kennedy Landry was absolutely like a hurricane, and she’d already pulled him under and drowned him in lust and amusement and fascination and…

Shit, he was half in love with her, and if the only way he had to remind her that she didn’t always have the upper hand in every single one of their interactions was to make her wait on hold on the phone for a few minutes then yeah, he’d do it.

“Well, I’ve been waiting for the reports from last week since Monday,” he told her. “Seems waiting is something we should both get used to.” It was Thursday. She always made him wait until Friday for the reports she was supposed to send on Tuesday.

In part because that meant he’d call her about those reports on Wednesday and they’d fight-flirt for a few minutes. Something they both enjoyed far more than really made sense.

In part because her sending him the reports was ridiculous. He didn’t really need them—he was just curious—and she knew it.

She hated sending the reports, but only because it meant that she was answering to him on some level. She didn’t like that because she didn’t have him wrapped around her little finger like she did every other man she dealt with on a regular basis.

As far as she knew.

Bennett had been very careful not to let on just how tightly wrapped he already was.
“This call could be about an emergency,” she said in a bored voice that indicated: one, it was not an emergency, and two, she was trying really hard to sound bored and not like she was gritting her teeth.

Bennett loved that he rubbed her the wrong way. It only took about ten minutes around Kennedy to figure out that she ran the show with the men in her life. The only daughter and granddaughter in a family of outdoorsy, hardworking, loud-cussing, Louisiana born-and-bred men, Kennedy not only kept up with them on the hardworking and cussing thing, but she got away with murder. Her oldest brother, Sawyer, tried to make her toe the line, but even he was a sap for his baby sister, and it was rare that Kennedy didn’t get her way.

She knew how to handle blue-collar Cajun men, that was for sure.

Bennett wasn’t a blue-collar Cajun man.

Well, he was Cajun, on his mother’s side. But she’d married into money—a lot of money—very much on purpose and had long ago given up things like crawfish sucking and cursing in French. She had married into a white-collar, British-descended family in Savannah, neck-deep in politics and law and class and wealth and snobbery, while Kennedy had been neck-deep in, well, the Louisiana bayou. And everything that went along with that.

Bennett loved the bayou. And everything that went along with that.

Especially the sassy, goth-dressing, impossible-to-impress Cajun girl who thought that the fact he couldn’t fix a transmission, butcher an alligator, or bait a hook was downright embarrassing.
“If it was an emergency, you would have hung up and called back. Over and over again. Leaving progressively more and more threatening messages about what you were going to do to me when you did finally get a hold of me,” he told her, signing off on the bottom of the letter he’d just finished and moving it to the side.

“I would never do that,” she said.

“No?” When she did finally send him reports, it was always in folders that were named things like I’m Not Your Fucking Secretary and If You Ask Me to Get You Coffee It Will Definitely Have Turtle Shit in It.

“If I really needed your attention, I’d start texting. Photos. Naked photos.”

His entire body reacted to that. He cleared his throat. “I would definitely—”

“Of my grandfather.”

Bennett paused. Then groaned. He knew her grandfather. Leo Landry was a great guy. Funny, down-to-earth, honest, loyal. And someone that Bennett absolutely did not ever want to see naked. Ever.

“You’re an evil woman.”

“Remember that.”

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AUTHOR BIO!

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Erin Nicholas has been writing romances almost as long as she’s been reading them. To date, she’s written over thirty sexy, contemporary novels that have been described as “toe-curling,” “enchanting,” “steamy,” and “fun.” She adores reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines, and happily ever afters.

Erin lives in the Midwest, where she enjoys spending time with her husband (who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books), her kids (who will never read the sex scenes in her books), and her family and friends (who claim to be “shocked” by the sex scenes in her books).

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A sexy small town, beauty and the beast rom com!

Sawyer Landry knows he's been beastly to be around for the past few months. But he can't seem to remember how to be fun-loving and friendly. Until he sees Juliet Dawson on his boat dock... and realizes that hip waders are, apparently, one of his turn-ons. But despite the beauty in the boots, the last thing he needs right now is a city girl in his way for the next two weeks.

But he's not really getting a vote. Juliet is determined that her little brother rebuild the dock he and his idiot friends smashed. She's quirky, klutzy, independent... and possibly an even bigger pessimist than Sawyer is. He's incredibly drawn to the cynical fish-out-of-water, who seems to be the one person who isn't intimidated by his growling.

The big, gruff boat captain is the first person in a long time to want to watch out for her and Juliet finds that hotter than his grandma's jambalaya. Well, that and his sexy scar, his emotional baggage, and the sense of humor and fun that is buried deep.

But Sawyer doesn't need any more people to worry about long-term and the things that make him feel protective of Juliet aren't going to go away. So, this two-week adventure can't be anything more than a fling. With Juliet down on the bayou, there's an even bigger threat than alligators and hurricanes. There's the very good chance of someone ending up with a broken heart.

Title: Beauty and the Bayou
Author: Erin Nicholas
Series: Boys of the Bayou (Book 3) 
Pages: 282
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, Small-Town Romance
Hot Buttons: grief, death of sibling/friend, childhood stroke<-- highlight to reveal (may contain spoilers)

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You can always count on an Erin Nicholas book to pull you into small town life and make you fall in love with the characters as they themselves fall in love. And it’s no different with this book.

This is the third book in the Boys of the Bayou series (after My Best Friend’s Mardi Gras Wedding and Sweet Home Louisiana) and while it does stand alone, I think you’ll enjoy it so much more (and maybe understand some of the nuances, banter - and other characters) if you’ve read at least one of the prior books in the series. There’s also a cameo from Gabe and his kids from Going Down Easy - part of Nicholas’ Boys of the Big Easy series.

There’s a very loose ‘beauty and the beast’ theme - hence the book’s title - but, to be honest, Sawyer’s beastly tendencies fly right out the door almost the moment he sets eyes on Juliet. I liked their instant chemistry - especially Sawyer’s newfound fascination in finding safety gear sexy! Sawyer changed due to the (previous) death of his best friend [not a spoiler] and while that’s a traumatic event for anyone, we never get so deep in his emotions that it takes away from the lightness of the book as a whole.

Now Juliet - I just loved her. She had such an interesting backstory and was as quirky as they come without every being a stereotype or a cliche. I liked seeing a heroine with her particular history and backstory in my romance. I thought her coping mechanisms were cute as a button - but they made perfect sense. But it was the way that Sawyer didn’t judge her and didn’t mock her - it was so wonderful to see such a perfect pairing and boy was I rooting for them.

Having read a previous book in the series, the town of Autre and its residents really came alive for me in this book. All that down home charm just made me ache to visit the town and take a trip with the Boys of the Bayou.

If I had one complaint it was that right before we ramped up for our happily ever after, the story seemed to stutter just a wee bit. But it’s still a book I would happily recommend and I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series, Crazy Rich Cajuns, which will be Kennedy and Bennett’s story. 4 stars for this fun and enjoyably quirky story.

 

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EXCERPT:

“I guess when we need relief from the heat, we go, you know, into the actual shade.” He looked amused. “Among other things.”

“Other things?”

It wasn’t so much that she needed to know other ways to keep cool. But she really liked the way he looked when he was mildly amused. It was a very good look on him.

“Lots of water and sweet tea,” he said.

She gave an involuntary shudder.

His amused smile grew. “No to sweet tea?”

“Not my favorite,” she admitted. “But don’t tell Ellie,” she added quickly.

He chuckled at that. “I would never.”

Yeah, the chuckling was nice, too. “I’ve got the water covered though,” she said.

“Good.”

“Anything else?”

“Well, when we get hot there area couple of other things we do,” he said.

Had he moved closer?

Juliet swallowed. “Like what?”

“We take clothes off,” he said.

Yeah, his voice was definitely deeper now.

“I gue—” She cleared her throat. “I guess that makes sense, but there are bugs and sunburn to consider.”

He gave her a nod. “Sunscreen and bug repellent are important. Cora makes bug repellent that’s amazing.”

Huh. Homemade bug repellent. She might have to give that a try. These people intrigued her, she had to admit. “What about the flying debris?”

Sawyer glanced at the boards behind her. “Yeah, well, I guess we do take some risks down here.”

Ah, ha. “I’d rather be a little hot than dealing with an infection from a piece of wood imbedding itself in my skin and muscle tissue.”

Sawyer paused, then shook his head, almost disbelievingly. “Okay, girl. Then that only leaves one other thing to do when you get too hot.”

“What’s that?”

“Swimming.”

For a moment, looking into Sawyer Landry’s eyes, for the first time since she’d been ten years old, Juliet wanted to take her clothes off and jump into a body of water.

That lasted about twelve seconds. But that was twelve seconds longer than she’d considered doing it to that point.

“I don’t have a swimming suit.”

“You don’t need one. The fewer clothes the cooler you get.”

“Skinny-dipping?” she asked.

“Skinny-dipping,” he confirmed.

“You actually skinny-dip?” she asked.

“Of course.”

Sawyer Landry naked.

She just took a few seconds to relish that thought…and the images that went with it. Skinny-dipping with Sawyer might be the one way she would ever even possibly consider any of that. “Do you have a private pool with lots of chlorine and a maximum depth of three feet?” she asked.

She wondered if being naked but with a life jacket on still counted as skinny-dipping.

“Don’t need a pool when I’ve got a whole bayou in my backyard.”

She shuddered. “There is no way I’m jumping in there. Clothes or not.”

“So, the naked part of skinny-dipping isn’t the problem?” Sawyer asked. “It’s the water?”

“It’s absolutely the water,” she said. It was actually all water, but water where she could see the bottom, touchthe bottom, and that was pumped through a filtration system was tolerable. Maybe. For a short period. With plenty of floatation devices within reach. “I mean, other than just the dirt, there are snakes and alligators and fish…and fish and alligator poopin there.” She frowned. “Do snakes poop? I mean, they probably do, right?”

Sawyer blinked at her. “I’ve never really thought about it.”

She nodded. “They almost have to. And they probably do it in that water, too.” She shuddered again. “No, thank you. There are just places I do notneed dirty bayou water.”

“It’s the poop that’s keeping you from skinny-dippin’?” Sawyer asked, clearly trying not to laugh. “You are really thinking about the wrong thing when it comes to bein’ wet and naked, darlin’.”

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AUTHOR BIO!

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Erin Nicholas has been writing romances almost as long as she’s been reading them. To date, she’s written over thirty sexy, contemporary novels that have been described as “toe-curling,” “enchanting,” “steamy,” and “fun.” She adores reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines, and happily ever afters.

Erin lives in the Midwest, where she enjoys spending time with her husband (who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books), her kids (who will never read the sex scenes in her books), and her family and friends (who claim to be “shocked” by the sex scenes in her books).

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AUTHOR LINKS!

           

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Click to see other books by Erin Nicholas

A sexy, small town, second chance rom com!

Thanks to a drawn-up-while-drinking-moonshine partnership agreement, Madison Allain has to spend thirty days back on the bayou before she can sell her part of the family business.

And if the heat and humidity and freaking alligators of Louisiana aren’t enough to agitate the cool and in-control California girl, then Owen Landry, the equally hot guy who stole her heart twelve years ago, will sure do the trick.

Owen just has to remember three simple-ish rules: Do not fight with her. Do not fight *over* her. Do *not* kiss her. He can do this. He’s charming and friendly for a living after all. But this is Maddie. The only woman to ever shake up this laid-back bayou boy.

Besides, she’s not staying. No way. These people and this town make her crazy. She doesn’t want to be crazy. She definitely does *not* want to own a swamp boat tour company. She just wants to paint. In her quiet, beautiful, alligators-not-allowed, *air-conditioned* art studio.

As for that hot bayou boy? Well, he’s… amazing. But he belongs here in the South. And she definitely doesn’t. Even if her heart stays behind when she leaves.

Title: Sweet Home Louisiana
Author: Erin Nicholas
Series: Boys of the Bayou (Book 2)

Pages: 289
Genre(s): Contemporary, US, Second-Chance Romance, Small-Town Romance
Hot Buttons: grief, death of sibling/friend and parent<-- highlight to reveal (may contain spoilers)

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I am a HUGE fan of Erin Nicholas’ books and her writing in general - she always manages to pull you right into the story, make you feel like you’re part of it - and that you want to continue to live in her worlds. The characters, the quirks, the relationships…simply, no-one writes small-town romances like Erin Nicholas.

While I suppose this could also be classes as a small town romance - it focusses more on the bayou than on the town itself. And I’m going to be honest - the bayou, what it looks like, how it feels and etc is as foreign to me as if someone was talking about another planet! Perhaps that’s one of the reasons that I didn’t connect as much with this book as I have done with others by Ms Nicholas; I couldn’t really picture the town of Autre - and I didn’t really feel like I wanted to live there.

And I suppose that’s very much like our main character, Madison. She - for reasons that become less and less firm as the book progresses - ran from her life in Autre and from her first love, Owen. She’s not happy to be back in her home town, feeling the feelings she’s long suppressed and turning back into that girl she once was. I liked Maddie and could sympathise with her and while I understood her reasons for not wanting to return home and be with Owen - the fact that she wasn’t really committed to her reasons made me a little confused.

Owen was exactly the right hero to match with Maddie. He was laidback, a little bit of a hothead at times and a whole lot of cocky, arrogant male. If there was one thing that annoyed me about Owen - which had nothing to do with the way he was written - was that I couldn’t get the image of the Owen from the front cover out my mind when I was reading. And goddammit I HATE the cover of this book. There have been worse covers, but there’s something about the pose of that male model, and the look on his face, that honestly turns my stomach. Eurgh. I know for a fact that had I not seen that cover, I would have loved Owen a whole lot more.

When you read an Erin Nicholas book you expect witty banter and a good bit of comedy - and this was no different. The whole bit about Owen’s typhoid fever was hilarious and had me laughing out loud. On the other hand - I think I was supposed to laugh at the incident with the alligator and the shotgun. I didn’t and it didn’t speak well of Owen’s character that he didn’t think what that might do to Maddie. It didn’t feel like a case of ‘stupid man’ but more ‘uncaring, unfeeling man’.

I feel like I’ve been a bit of a downer about this book when I actually really did like it. It gives you the fun, the sexy frolics and all the feels you’d expect from an Erin Nicholas book. You’ll whizz through it in no time.

It’s worth mentioning that I have yet to read the first book in the Boys of the Bayou series, ‘My Best Friend’s Mardi Gras Wedding’. Although the main characters from that book do appear in this one, and I’m assuming in the first book we’re introduced to all the other characters from Autre and the other Boys of the Bayou, I didn’t feel I was missing out or didn’t understand this story just because I was reading them out of order. I do now want to pick up that book and cannot wait for grumpy Sawyer’s book (Beauty and the Bayou) and then hopefully Baxter and Kennedy’s book after that (Crazy Rich Cajuns?).

 

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EXCERPT:

Owen felt his mouth curve into a grin as he heard the familiar clap, clap, clap behind him.

That was one of his favorite sounds—high heels on the wooden dock of the Boys of the Bayou swamp boat tour company.

He took his time turning and once he did, he started at the shoes.

They were black and showed off bright red toenails. The straps wrapped sexily around trim ankles and led the eye right up to smooth, toned calves. The heels matched the black polka dots on the white skirt that thankfully didn’t start until mid-thigh, and showed off more tanned skin.

He straightened from his kneeling position in one of the boats as his eyes kept moving up past the skirt to the bright red belt that accentuated a narrow waist and then to the silky black tank that molded to a pair of perfect breasts.

He was fully anticipating her lips being bright red to go with that belt and her toenail polish. God, he loved red lipstick. And high heels. In any color.

But before he could get to those lips, she used them, to say, “Oh, dammit, it’s you.”

Owen’s gaze bypassed her mouth to fly to her eyes. Because he’d know that voice anywhere.

Madison Allain was home.

A day early.

Not that an extra day would have helped him prepare. He’d been thinking about her visit for a week and was still as wound tight about it as he’d been when Sawyer, his business partner and cousin, had told him that she was coming home. For a month.

Owen stood just watching her, fighting back all of the first words that he was tempted to say.

Like, “Damn, you’re even more gorgeous than the last time I saw you.”

Or, “I haven’t put anyone in the hospital lately.”

Or, “I’ve missed you so fucking much.”

Just for instance.

She blew out a breath and now he did focus on her lips.

Yep, red. Terrific. That wasn’t going to make ignoring them any easier.

“I was hoping you were Sawyer,” she said, propping a hand on her hip.

Owen tossed the wrench he held into the toolbox at his feet. “Nope. Sorry.” So she wasn’t happy to see him. Big shocker. He hadn’t always been the perfect Southern gentleman around Maddie, that was for sure.

He wiped his hands on his jeans. Okay, he was supposed to be niceto her. That meant treating her like she was one of the tourists who frequented this dock. Polite. Friendly, but not I’ve-known-you-my-whole-life-and-kissed-you-a-whole-bunch friendly. Just mildly hey-how’s-it-goin’ friendly. So that she didn’t sell off her portion of the business that not only fed him and his other two partners, but that was their pride and joy. And the only thing he was really good at.

Nice. Polite. A little friendly—but not too much. He could do that.

Annoyed that within thirty seconds of seeing her again he was already thinking about kissing her, he kicked the toolbox, trying to slide it into the nook under the bow of the boat. Of course, he kicked it too hard and it tipped, spilling tools over the floor of the boat with loud clangs of metal against metal.
He shoved a hand through his hair. That was typical. Everything was an overreaction when it came to how he acted around Maddie. Even the little stuff. Certainly the big stuff. Always had been.

“Sawyer’s over at Ellie’s.” Owen pulled himself up out of the boat and onto the dock.

That took him about two feet closer to her and he instantly became aware that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Very aware as Maddie’s eyes tracked over his shoulders, chest and abs.

The heat that arrowed through him was unwelcome. Though not unexpected. There had always been this crazy chemistry between them. Key word: crazy.

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AUTHOR BIO!

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Erin Nicholas has been writing romances almost as long as she’s been reading them. To date, she’s written over thirty sexy, contemporary novels that have been described as “toe-curling,” “enchanting,” “steamy,” and “fun.” She adores reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines, and happily ever afters.

Erin lives in the Midwest, where she enjoys spending time with her husband (who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books), her kids (who will never read the sex scenes in her books), and her family and friends (who claim to be “shocked” by the sex scenes in her books).

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AUTHOR LINKS!

           

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Click to see other books by Erin Nicholas