Book Review: Butterfly Bayou

Honestly, the best part of the quarantine has been all of the reading I've gotten done. Even better has been discovering some new to me authors, Lexi Blake being one of them!

Butterfly Bayou - Lexi Blake

Life in Dallas took a tragic turn for nurse practitioner Lila Daley. In need of a fresh start, she retreats to Papillon, Louisiana, a tiny town on the bayou. Sure she's greeted by a gator, finds herself in the middle of golf cart wars, and unwittingly adopts a scruffy dog, but Lila remains undaunted. She's focused on running the town's medical clinic, but fitting into the quirky community is harder than she imagined.

As a single dad, Sheriff Armie LaVigne embraces routine. But there is nothing routine about the town's newest resident. Lila is a gorgeous fish out of water and he’s ready to catch her. In fact, in no time at all, Armie knows Lila is the woman for him and he plans to win her heart. But when the past threatens their happiness, Armie will have to decide if he has the courage to trust Lila enough to find a true happily ever after.

In this sweet romance we start with Lila, who is the last person standing in a particularly violent domestic encounter in the emergency room she worked at. She watched her friend die and she realizes she needs a fresh start to move forward in her life. She leaves Dallas and heads to Papillon, Louisana where her sister lives with her new husband. (This is where it felt like there was a book before this one featuring that couple, but it says this is the first in the series, so I don't know. Regardless, its OK and you won't be confused during this one.)

Her adventure starts with meeting Otis the alligator in the middle of the road and consequently being ticketed for speeding by Sheriff Armie. Incidentally, they saw each other at Lisa (sister) and Remy's wedding but Lila was in no position to do anything so she avoided him despite the obvious chemistry. Once in town she starts her work at the clinic she has taken over from Doc Hamet, who we discover was rather lazy, and faces the uphill battle of winning over Papillon despite being a nurse practitioner versus a doctor. Her abrupt and sometimes off putting personality doesn't help her case either.

After awhile she finds her groove, starts seeing Armie, tries to make friends, and comes across a patient she suspects is a victim of domestic violence. In her attempt to help her she basically stirs up a hornets nest and while she helps someone, she puts herself in danger. Things in small Cajun communities aren't like big city Dallas. In the middle of all of this, her and Armie have some major disagreements over the role of women, he's a bit unintentionally and unknowingly sexist and she isn't here for it, but his teenage daughter Noelle (disabled and in a wheelchair) becomes a bone of contention. Lila's good intentions are read differently and that ends up being our second conflict.

Overall? I really liked this one. It's sweet and it wasn't overly sexy (I mean, we know they have sex but we don't have detailed scenes) so if that's your jam this is right up your alley. I enjoyed this enough I really want to read the next books coming, Bayou Baby and Bayou Dreaming, both featuring some characters I really liked in Butterfly Bayou. If you're looking for something to add to your summer TBR list, I think you should really consider this one.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

    

Thank you to Lexi Blake and Social Butterfly PR for sending me an ARC for review, all thoughts are my own. This post contains affiliate links.