(Amazon Affiliate links used in this post)

Each week Stephanie, Lillian and I will be featuring a SUMMER OF LOVE review on our blogs.  If you missed Stephanie’s post from yesterday, check it out at Once Upon a Chapter.  And look for Lillian’s review this Thursday at Mom With a Reading Problem.

Welcome to my sixth review for the SUMMER OF LOVE!  As I mentioned in week one, I actually already read a lot of contemporary romance, but there’s just something about summer reading that screams contemp for me.  And I’m using these 12 weeks to showcase books in different categories.  The sixth category is:

Small Town/Quirky

There are different kinds of small town books, and I kind of adore the quirky ones, hence why I included that too.  There’s just something about a book where the town can be a character in itself, and where all the townsfolks play a role in the love story…I kind of love that.

Recommendations:

• Butterfly Bayou series by Lexi Blake — I know this is a bit of a cheat since today’s book is from that series, but seriously…
• Nights in Bliss, Colorado series by Lexi Blake writing as Sophie Oak — This is basically the erotica version of the Butterfly Bayou series.
• Getting Hitched in Dixie series by Cindi Madsen
• The Winston Brothers series by Penny Reid
• Fighting for Love series by Jiffy Kate
• Don’t Go Stealing My Heart (Showmen #2) by Kelly Siskind
• Pillowtalk by Cassie Mae
• Getting Schooled (Getting Some #1) by Emma Chase
• Rock Bottom Girl by Lucy Score

---

Title: Bayou Beauty
Author: Lexi Blake
Series: Butterfly Bayou #4
Published by: Berkley
Release Date: July 27, 2021
Format: eARC
Pages: 336
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2021 COYER Summer, Lenoreo's 2021 Diversity Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's 2021 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:

Blurb:

Love returns to Louisiana's Butterfly Bayou in a new small-town contemporary romance sure to charm hearts, from New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake.

Sylvie Martine was prepared to take Washington D.C. by storm, but she put that dream on hold when her beloved hometown of Papillon, Louisiana, needed her most. Now Sylvie's the mayor of the tiny town on the bayou that holds her heart. But for Sylvie, this can only be a pit stop on the way to bigger and better things. The last thing she needs is an old love to resurface and threaten her goals.

Rene Darois's whole life has been about serving his family--no matter how much it hurts. He's used to sacrificing for his large extended family and the company his grandfather created. But he can't believe the latest demand: he needs to find a wife and quick or he could lose it all. It would be a horrible situation. But he has just the solution: his high school sweetheart. Sylvie is everything he wants in a wife--smart, funny, and caring--and he planned to woo her anyway.

Now he just has to convince Sylvie that their love is worth it all, or he and the bayou will lose her forever.

My Review:

I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

4.5 stars — I fucking love this crazy ass small town.  I was so excited to return to Papillon, but there’s always that worry in the back of my mind that I won’t connect with a story as much.  No worries there!  Sylvie and Rene’s story was fun and emotional and just everything I look for in these books.  There’s a reason I gobbled it up in a day.

Normally I start off talking about the main characters, their romance, and *then* get to secondary characters.  But the cast of this town is just so much fun and plays a notable role in these stories.  We got all the same peeps we’ve come to know and love, little sprinklings of different ones here and there…and if you haven’t read the rest of the series, you won’t be lost, I imagine you’ll just want to go back for more.  And it wasn’t just the normal cast of the town, we also got to see a great deal of Rene’s mother and Louis.  I kind of liked what they added to the story, as flawed as they were.  It really showcases how people can be imperfect, but still love and have good intentions.  And don’t even get me started on Sylvie’s brother Andre, that boy made me laugh so much.

I didn’t really have a good feel for who Sylvie was previously, but I kind of adore her.  She’s so strong and smart and this perfect balance between forthright and empathetic.  She won’t take people’s shit, but she understands enough to listen and try to help and connect with people.  She does it in her job as mayor, and she brings it in her new role as Rene’s wife.  I loved how she *saw* him, and even if she didn’t always understand, she wanted to.

Rene was so much softer and more broken than I was expecting…and not in a usual way.  Seeing the way his responsibilities weighed on him just made my heart ache.  And he’d learned all the wrong lessons from his parents on how to deal with it.  I LOVED that Sylvie was his light, that even when he was keeping his emotions locked down, he couldn’t help but be drawn to her and just *want* her in his life.  He had a lot of growing to do in this book, but I felt like it happened at a reasonable rate…I believed it.  He had enough stumbles that it wasn’t overly easy, but he didn’t cling to bad habits too long either.

And together they were fire.  Not just steamy chemistry wise, but the way they looked out for one another.  You could feel their caring, even when their pride (or something) tried to get in the way.  I rooted for them, and they didn’t let me down.

And can I just say that I kind of love that each story features an adorable puppy?  Gets to my animal loving heart.

I honestly don’t know if this series is for everyone, but it’s 100% my jam.  I hope the stories keep coming and coming.