Review - - Home to Cypress Bayou

Home to Cypress Bayou

By Susan Sands

Louisiana -  Book 1

Publisher: Tule Publishing

Release Date: May 31, 2022

Reviewed by PJ

It’s not true that you can’t go home again, but do you want to?

Paris gallery owner Leah Bertrand returns to her historic, moss-draped Louisiana hometown to fulfill a deathbed promise to her friend and mentor. She’s been matched as a bone marrow donor to a stranger, yet the match is so close that doctors suspect a family relationship. But how? Leah’s family has always seethed with drama, but this visit home promises secrets as deep, dark, and mysterious as the water in Cypress Bayou. And then her ex arrives, and Leah realizes the feelings and secrets she buried years ago have come back to haunt her.

Dr. Jake Carmichael returns to Cypress Bayou after years away and is shocked to see Leah, his childhood sweetheart and first love, back in town and on his patient roster. The sparks still burn, but when he tries to discuss what went wrong and perhaps rebuild their relationship, Leah refuses.

Jake’s not ready to give up on their future together. But Leah fears she has even more to lose this time…

PJ's Thoughts:

This first book in Susan Sands' Louisiana series is charming, heartwarming, and so much more. There's a multitude of layers to this story and Sands weaves them together flawlessly, strategically injecting humor, conflict, poignant emotion, romantic yearning, and more, as the story unfolds. The unexpected layers add a depth of emotion that make the characters even more relatable and had me eagerly flipping pages to discover what would happen next. There are places I laughed, others where tears flowed, and a few family scenes that are definitely cringe worthy. 

The characters are all vibrantly depicted and so realistic I forgot I was reading fiction. I love that there are no easy fixes offered to the obstacles in their relationships, whether romantic or family. Keeping it real, with character growth and work, make the resolutions that much more satisfying.

Then there's the setting, really a character in itself. Southern Louisiana comes alive in this book. I felt immersed in the music, culture, food, and sultry charm of New Orleans and the bayou country.

Home to Cypress Bayou isn't the first book I've read by Susan Sands but it's my favorite. I'm already looking forward to more stories from the bayou!

Review - - Back in the Texan's Bed

Back in the Texan's Bed

by Naima Simone

Texas Cattleman's Club: Heir Apparent - Book 1

Publisher: Harlequin Desire

Release Date: February 1, 2021

Reviewed by PJ

 

Will they ever learn…

that giving in to desire is playing with fire?After discovering he has a secret son, oil heir Ross Edmond isn’t letting Charlotte Jarrett walk away again. He proposes they move in together—to share their son…and a bed. But Charlotte has secrets, and Ross doesn’t know the real reason his family’s former chef left town three years ago—and they still have a powerful enemy who could bring them both down…

From Harlequin Desire: Luxury, scandal, desire—welcome to the lives of the American elite.

Visit Royal, Texas, and find out if the Edmond family is all that they seem in Texas Cattleman’s Club: Heir Apparent.

PJ's Thoughts:

Naima Simone sets the pages on fire with a sexy, sassy, and emotionally-charged, second-chance romance...with a secret baby! Back in the Texan's Bed has everything that makes a book a page turner for me: betrayal, a strong, independent heroine, an emotionally-scarred hero, and a second chance to make things right. 

I'm not always a fan of secret baby stories but Simone has approached the trope in such a way that I didn't find fault with either of the main characters. Instead, the reveal of the secret unites them against a common foe and solidified my investment in them as a couple. But the road ahead for our reunited couple is anything but smooth. That foe - and Ross's issues - will make sure of it.

I really pulled for Charlotte and Ross, even though it took me some time to warm up to him. Of the two, he has the greater growth arc but those necessary changes made me love him even more by the end and deemed him worthy of Charlotte's love and trust. There's a dysfunctional family at the core of his issues and a secondary cast I hope we'll be seeing more of in this series. There are characters due a happy ending and one who I sincerely hope faces the reckoning they deserve. 

If you enjoy deeply emotional stories with great dialogue, complex characters, plenty of sizzle, and hard-earned happy endings, give this one a try. I highly recommend it.