3 Smooches
Synopsis
What is a Queen without her King?
After learning that she is adopted, Eliza sets off to locate her biological family and finds them in the Louisiana bayou. But they’re more than just locals—they’re descended from the area’s most famous Voodoo queen, Marie Laveau—Eliza’s great-great-grandmother. Surrounded by a mysterious world of séances, spells, and sacrifices, Eliza finds herself worshiped as the last great priestess. What’s more, she’s inherited the ability to heal the souls of others with a simple touch of her hands.
Eliza is expected to cultivate this gift so she can claim her title as Queen and return the Voodoo community to glory. A task Eliza wouldn’t mind as long as she could perform it beside the devastating Samuel Mueller. But according to tradition, Samuel is her keeper, and a keeper never becomes romantically involved with his ward. His sacred duty is to protect her. And the bayou is rife with enemies who would sacrifice anything to eliminate outsiders like Eliza…
Review
This book started off really strong and got my attention right away. Unfortunately, about halfway through things fell a little flat. I felt like there was a ton of potential in this story but as things progressed it felt very rushed. This was a very quick read and I personally feel like if it was quite a bit longer and explained things in more detail then I would have felt more invested in the story.
The book begins as Eliza is reeling from the recent deaths of her parents. In dealing with the aftermath of their deaths, Eliza learns that they were actually her adoptive parents and the news raises questions about her past that she wants answers to. She decides to seek out her birth family and ends up in the Louisiana bayou. Reunited with her aunt Vivian, Eliza learns all about her heritage and rightful place as the Queen of the Voodoo. Eliza also makes an immediate connection with another member of the Voodoo community, Samuel. She soon learns that he is her “Keeper” and therefore off limits romantically.
This is about the time when things go into overdrive. A lot happens and it’s not really explained in much detail. I really wish that the author took a little more time and really explained things better. I felt like this could have been a much longer book or even a series. As for the romance, there really wasn’t much. I would have loved to have gotten to know Samuel better. There wasn’t much detail about him and he came off a bit one dimensional. I would have liked to have seen a little more one on one time between Eliza and Samuel and see their relationship develop a bit more. If you are looking for a steamy read this is not the right book for you. It had one sex scene that was completely fade to black.
“Healing the Bayou” was overall an enjoyable read that has some room for development.
Dana
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