A sexy, small town, opposites attract rom com! 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.

In the tradition of the modern classics The Tender Bar and The Liars’ Club, Blaine Lourd writes a powerful Gothic memoir set in the bayous and oil towns of 1970s Louisiana. In this rags-to-riches memoir of finding your way and becoming a man, Blaine Lourd renders his childhood in rural Louisiana­ with his larger-than-life father, Harvey “Puffer” Lourd, Jr., a charismatic salesman during the exploding 1980s awl bidness. From cleaning a duck to drinking a beer, Puffer guides Blaine through the twists and turns of growing up, ultimately pointing him to a poignant truth: sometimes those you love the most can inflict the most pain. Set against a lush landscape of magnolia trees and majestic old homes, haunted swamps and swimming holes filled with wildlife, Lourd gets to the heart of being a Southerner with rawness and grace, beautifully detailing what it means to have a place so ingrained in your being. Just as the timeless memoirs All Over but the Shoutin’ and The Liar’s Club evoke the muggy air of a Southern summer and barrels of steaming crawfish, so does Blaine’s contemporary exploration of what it means to find yourself among the bayous and back roads. Charting his journey from his rural home to working the star-studded streets of Los Angeles as a financial advisor to the rich and famous, Blaine’s story is about the complicated path to success and identity. With witty grace and candid prose, he pays homage to family bonds, unwavering loyalty, and deep roots that cannot be severed, no matter how hard you try.

Winner of the 2016 Best Humorous Mystery Lefty Award and shortlisted for the Agatha Best Contemporary Novel Award, Body on the Bayou finds Maggie Crozat once again using her artist's eye to spot clues and help. The Crozats feared that past murders at Crozat Plantation B&B might spell the death of their beloved estate, but they've managed to survive the scandal. Now there's a trés bigger story in Pelican, Louisiana: the upcoming nuptials between Maggie Crozat's nemesis, Police Chief Rufus Durand, and her co-worker, Vanessa Fleer. When everyone else refuses the job of being Vanessa's Maid of Honor, Maggie reluctantly takes up the title and finds herself tasked with a long list of duties—the most important of which is entertaining Vanessa's cousin, Ginger Fleer-Starke. But just days before the wedding, Ginger's lifeless body is found on the bayou and the Pelican PD, as well as the Crozats, have another murder mystery on their hands. There's a gumbo-potful of suspects, including an ex-Marine with PTSD, an annoying local newspaper reporter, and Vanessa's own sparkplug of a mother. But when it looks like the investigation is zeroing in on Vanessa as the prime suspect, Maggie reluctantly adds keeping the bride-to-be out of jail to her list of Maid of Honor responsibilities in Body on the Bayou, Ellen Byron's funny and engaging follow up to her critically acclaimed novel Plantation Shudders.

Psychologist Serena Sheridan has come back to the small Louisiana town where she’d been raised—and where her grandfather has suddenly gone missing. Successful, ambitious, beautiful, Serena always found the darker world of the bayous far less predictable—and far more treacherous—than the life she’d chosen. And for help, she must turn to a man as mysterious and dangerous as the backcountry itself: Lucky Doucet. He’s a man with a past littered with secrets best left concealed—the perfect guide to lead Serena into a world of dazzling seduction, sudden violence, and raw natural beauty. From the exotic French Quarter to the most remote bayou, they would follow a trail of corruption and betrayal to a showdown that would require they trust not only their own deepest instincts for survival—but each other.

Around the world Santa Claus has many names. But in a deep, swampy bayou of Louisiana, he's known as Papa Noël. In such a hot and humid place, there can be no sleds or reindeer, so Papa Noël rides the river in a boat that's pulled by eight alligators, with a snowy white one named Nicollette in the lead. On this particular Christmas Eve, it's so foggy on the river that even Nicollette's magical glowing-green eyes may not be enough to guide Papa Noël. The alligators are tired, grumpy and bruised from banging into cypress trees, and Papa is desperate to get all the gifts to the little children. Well, "quicker than a snake shimmies down the river," the clever Cajun people come up with a solution that saves the day. A colorfully inventive Christmas tale, Papa Noël is a lesson in fast thinking, as well as a witty introduction to a part of America that's rich in folklore and legend.

Tante Lulu looms large when twin brothers leave Alaska to discover their Cajun roots—from theNew York Times–bestselling author of Snow on the Bayou. Dr. Daniel LeDeux and pilot Aaron LeDeux travel to the swampy bayous of Louisiana, where they discover a long-lost family. The usually stoic Daniel, a burned-out pediatric oncologist, is especially startled by the interfering LeDeux matriarch, Tante Lulu, bless her crazy heart, who wastes no time in setting him up with local rich girl Samantha Starr. Scarred by a nasty divorce from a philandering New Orleans physician, Samantha has sworn off men, especially doctors. When Samantha’s step-brother gets into serious trouble, she must ask Daniel for help. But Samantha faces even more trouble when the handsome doctor casts his smoldering Cajun eyes her way. The steamy heat of the bayou, along with the wacky matchmaking efforts of Tante Lulu, a herd of animal rescue rejects, including a depressed pot belly pig, and some world-class sexual fantasies create enough heat and humor to make both Daniel and Samantha realize that love and laughter can mend even the most broken heart. “Sandra Hill will have readers laughing—and crying!—through the bayous of her latest Cajun novel. Thanks to her witty metaphor-galore dialogue, eclectic characters and massive pet menagerie, she’ll have her audience craving sweet tea and a trip to the south in no time.” —RT Book Reviews “More colourful and outrageous than a Mardi Gras parade!” —Fresh Fiction

Broody wildlife veterinarian Griffin Foster is done. Done trying to save the world. Done getting attached. He's been fired twice for standing his ground and now he's going to be content--by God--in small-town Louisiana, in a small veterinary practice, where there will only be small problems. Quiet and boring, though? Um, no. He's been adopted by a loud, crazy Cajun family with a tiny petting zoo for him to care for. Hey, it's not endangered tigers at a nationally renowned zoo, but a family of otters--and all the gumbo he can eat--isn't a bad deal. Until she shows up. Again. The sunny, gorgeous optimist who stole his heart--and his favorite shirt--two months ago. Who clearly hasn't heard the word "no" enough in her life. And who is the first woman to put even a tiny crack in his don't-get-attached wall.Charlotte "Charlie" Landry is the new marketing consultant for the family swamp-boat tour company and petting zoo. It might not have been her plan, but she is all in, ready to grow the business. Whether the hot, grumpy vet likes it or not. He doesn't. Worse, sparring with his unforgettable one-night stand is more fun than he's had in a long time. But watching wears-designer-dresses Charlie find her dream job amongst a bunch of goats, alpacas, and otters is a surprise. And her helping him find his passion again is...well, irresistible. Dammit.

A fantastic new cozy mystery series with a vintage flair from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Ellen Byron. Twenty-eight-year-old widow Ricki James leaves Los Angeles to start a new life in New Orleans after her showboating actor husband perishes doing a stupid internet stunt. The Big Easy is where she was born and adopted by the NICU nurse who cared for her after Ricki’s teen mother disappeared from the hospital. Ricki’s dream comes true when she joins the quirky staff of Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, the spectacular former Garden District home of late bon vivant Genevieve “Vee” Charbonnet, the city’s legendary restauranteur. Ricki is excited about turning her avocation – collecting vintage cookbooks – into a vocation by launching the museum’s gift shop, Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware. Then she discovers that a box of donated vintage cookbooks contains the body of a cantankerous Bon Vee employee who was fired after being exposed as a book thief. The skills Ricki has developed ferreting out hidden vintage treasures come in handy for investigations. But both her business and Bon Vee could wind up as deadstock when Ricki’s past as curator of a billionaire’s first edition collection comes back to haunt her. Will Miss Vee’s Vintage Cookbooks and Kitchenware be a success … or a recipe for disaster?

The fourth book in Sandra Hill's Cajun series serves up laugh-out-loud humor and sizzling romance in equal portions. The long, hot Louisiana summer just got hotter for Rene LeDeux. He returns home to southern Louisiana after quitting his job in Washington as an environmental lobbyist. Years of battling with the oil industry and land developers have left him completely burnt out, and now all he wants to do is work on his cabin on Bayou Black. But his peace of mind is disrupted by a few things. One, his great-aunt Tante Lulu is determined to get him hitched. Two, a couple of his activist friends have hatched a plot to bring national attention to their cause to save the bayou. They've kidnapped a TV celebrity and brought her to Rene's cabin. And three, the celebrity is none other than Valerie "Ice" Breux, Rene's nemesis while growing up. Now Val's stranded in Rene's remote cabin, besieged by irrepressible LeDeux relations, not to mention a dingbat duo out to save the swamp. It's bad enough being kidnapped, but did she have to land in the lap of the most irritating, sexiest hunk she's ever laid her eyes on? Val vows she'll give her heart to the Cajun bad boy when alligators fly. Rene swears to get the girl who got away. It's never been steamier in the bayou than with two people this red-hot with desire...and more than ready for love.