A little sexy and a lot of fun
5 stars

I’m a huge fan of Erin Nicholas and I was delighted when I heard that she was creating a spin-off series to her wildly successful Boys of the Bayou series. That series concentrated, for the most part, on the Landry siblings and their Boys of the Bayou swamp boat tours. This series turns the focus to the Landry cousins, many of whom have a connection to the new business in town, the animal park / petting zoo called Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild.

The book does stand alone - and Ms Nicholas does a quick recap of other couples, relationships and situations when necessary - but you’ll definitely enjoy the story so much more if you’ve already been reading the Boys of the Bayou series.

This book focuses on Charlotte Landry - a city cousin of the original bunch. On the surface, she’s a put together, city-girl who likes her creature comforts and designer clothes. She’s got a good job and she has herself together. She knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to ask for it - and dive right in to get it. At first, I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure if I would feel a good connection to her as she’s so smart, gorgeous and successful that I was a little intimidated and didn’t see myself in her at all. To be honest, I still didn’t see myself in her by the end of the book but I did really like her. She’s nice, kind and her forthright nature was downright admirable.

Our other main player is Griff. Ah Griff. He is the most catnippy of catnips for me. He’s grumpy and terse and, at least to begin with, doesn’t say a lot. His walls are all the way up and then up some more. And that right there is my kind of hero. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a grump. But then you add in the animals. He talks to otters. He has a goat stalker. He cuddles puppies. Ovaries. Exploding. Everywhere. I adored the man.

To be honest, there’s not a lot of drama in our story - and that was just what I wanted. Griff doesn’t really want to do attached and Charlie just wants to attach herself to Griff. It was a delight to watch the pair dance around each other and those smouldering looks they kept sending each other kept my heart beating a mile a minute. Which, when translated into the real thing, really gave me something to write home about. Oooft! Hot, hot, hot!

As I mentioned, I’m a big fan of Ms Nicholas, and as always, her writing just paints a vivid and realistic picture of these characters and the place they call home. I can see it clearly in my minds eye and I’m delighted we’re once again back in Autre, Louisiana. This book also sets up the next book in the series and I am so looking forward to Fletcher heading out to get his woman.

A little sexy and a lot of fun, this is a book I’d happily recommend for those looking to head on out for love on the bayou for a couple of hours. 5 stars from me. ( )