As a kid, I used to be a voracious reader, devouring whatever book made its way into my hands. Then, when high school hit, I found that I could only muster up that type of an appetite for books during summer. Well, since starting college, I haven’t had any time truly off (summers meant studying for the MCAT, doing research, etc.), so reading was never made a priority. After a friend gifted me a book for Christmas and I found I was struggling to read it, I decided I needed to just read without any strings attached, like before. Just reading in any way I like, maybe books with no purpose other than to entertain, ya know? So, I picked up a book I started ages ago and let myself enjoy it. That book would be Butterfly Bayou by Lexi Blake (go ahead, judge me). After reading it, I made a Goodreads page and decided I’d also post my reviews on here, because why not? OH, link to the Goodreads here if someone is reading this and wants to friend me. I’m always happy to find people to get/give book recommendations. Anyways, here is my review, nothing special, but if you’re looking for a romance novel, here ya go!
Big-city, Dallas nurse Lila Daley moves to her sister’s small Louisiana town to take over the sole medical practice there after experiencing a traumatic event. There, she meets the town’s lonely, handsome Cajun sheriff, Arnie LaVigne, who is a single father to a bright, wheelchair-using daughter. Sparks fly, but these two very different people have to learn and grow themselves before the romance can work.
This is my first book back into shamelessly reading for enjoyment, and it really did the trick of getting me sucked into the pages. There are some points that get dry, as well as some quirks in both the plot and writing itself (the number of times they point out that Lila is not a doctor felt a little patronizing/condescending?), but overall it was a solid book with an immersive world. I’d recommend this to anyone who needs a bit of that small Southern town atmosphere and yummy tension with more substance than just the love story. Here you have arson, difficult childhoods, traumatic events, the struggle of trying to fit into a new place, living with disability, abuse, oh, and alligators! It also reminded me of the show Hart of Dixie, so I also recommend that show if you enjoyed this book, or vice versa.
Happy reading,
-Beppa
*This is a republished post due to a domain change.*