Bayou Baby has it all. A ruggedly gorgeous hero and a beautiful strong heroine woven into a love story filled with small town scandals and gossip, disfunctional family dynamics, humor and romance. Add in a precocious toddler and a loyal protective German Shepherd and you've got it all, done in Lexi Blake's own inimitable style. It just doesn't get any better!

I absolutely loved reading Sera and Harry's story. There was a complicated past for Sera and trouble with Harry's family, but that didn't prevent them from falling for each other. Harry's aunt had amazing character growth and pieces of her interactions with Sera and others had me tearing up. Harry is a dream man and I wish I could find someone like him in real life because he is the total package. This was an amazing story and I'm eager to dive into the next one.

Fun, flirty, and sweet. Best seller in my store. Can’t wait for more from this author.


Full review posted to retailers.

Another wonderful small town romance. It comes with a matchmaking gator and adorable doggos! A fun ROM com with a motley crew of secondary you can't help but fall in love with.

I like this series by Lexi Blake. The cover drew me into the first one, but I keep coming back to it. Will recommend for Romance Readers.

This is just a quick review to say this story was absolutely adorable and made me smile. It was heart-warming and left me loving Lexi Blake's writing even more. I love every genre she writes and I can't wait to see what she has in store for us next.

Bayou Baby is the second book in the Butterfly Bayou series by Lexi Blake. Each story is stand-alone and some of the characters might be familiar from the first book. I liked the first book, so I was eagerly waiting for this one and in the end, I was a little disappointed.

What bothered me the most is that this book felt more like Seraphina and Celeste's book rather than Seraphina and Harry's. I could have sworn that we got more chapters from Celeste's point of view rather than his. Heck, I even felt like Harry's dog got to interact more than him with Luc, Seraphina's son.

Seraphina and Harry were both great characters with strengths and weaknesses. They might not be perfect, but there was something about them that couldn't make me dislike their actions. Harry caused a lot of trouble but it really was accidental and he thought that he was doing something right. Seraphina stood her ground for so many years and she is a devoted mother and I couldn't ask for anything more. Celeste is the most complex character and to be frank her journey was not the most convincing. The change in her character was too rushed in my opinion.

Zep's book is next and I cannot wait for it. We have been teased about him and Roxie since the first book and soon it will be time to see this player getting tamed. The secondary characters are one of the book's strongest selling points. I liked Seraphina's family and Harry's cousins and I hope they will get a happy ending too.

Bayou Baby was not the book I was expecting to read, but on the other hand, it wasn't bad either, so I will remain neutral on the recommendation.

Heartbreaking and angsty, Ms. Blake brings a reader to tears several times in this contemporary romance. Seraphina is a small town girl who loves her hometown. With a passing of a family member, she's able to have her own home. The difficult part is, it is right next door to a woman who despises her... Celeste.

They say even the smallest town will have skeletons that are better left in the closet. Sera firmly believes this because some secrets will hurt people and sometimes, the hurt can cause a violent reaction. Sera is an admirable character. She is forgiven and turn the other cheek kind of gal. Her mercy for Celeste is more than I could ever give. Still, they stay out of each other's way until Celeste's nephew, Harrison, shows up and falls for Sera.

I love how this story unfolds and painful suppressed history is brought to light. Sometimes, wounds need to be lanced to help healing. Because Celeste's wound has been festering way too long and when she takes it out on Sera, Harrison does step up and do the right thing.

This charming rural town, Butterfly Bayou sounds like a wonderful place to raise a family and get out of the rat race. Ms. Blake creates appealing places to live with a nice balance of good and bad. This is no an utopian place. It is however the right place for Sera and Harrison.

This contemporary romance is recommended to readers who love being put through the wringer and second chance themes.

Seraphina Guidry is a young, single mom trying to find a place for herself and her son in the town she cherishes, But past mistakes and a woman who made herself her sworn enemy makes life very hard to live in her beloved town. She has been given an historic house. Trying to restore this home and building her own business is all she has time for.

Harrison Jefferys finds himself in small-town Louisiana doing a job and reconnecting with family. After years in the Army, he has spent most of his time moving from one place to the other with his dog Shep. While spending time with his Aunt Celeste and his cousins he meets Seraphina and starts him to thinking Papillion might be a great place to call home. But will a secret from Sera’s past tear them apart what they have started?

When he finds himself caught between the woman he has come to love and the only family he has left, Harry has a decision to make. The crazy antics and loving meddling locals along with Otis, the town gator, will provide plenty of entertainment.

***ARC Provided by the Publisher***

Small Town romances amuse me. I don't want to live in one, can't lie, but the humor of them and the fun of living in a small town comes through so clearly in this book, it was just a lot of fun.

Seraphina and Harrison were a fun couple. I loved watching them not only figure out how to be a couple but also how to deal with the town (and the gators) and all of the other things that were tossed at them.

While the romance is definitely a focus of the story, this book really is about people, and relationships of all kinds, not just romantic ones. As a reader, you start to feel like you are in that small town.

I enjoyed and recommend this title.

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra

In this second installment of the Butterfly Bayou series, Lexi Blake has created a masterpiece of fiction in Bayou Baby. The characters were engaging. as was the story and all of its twist and turns. I loved the evolution of the characters in the book, their personal growth was a pleasure to watch.

The depth of the main protagonist, Seraphina Guidry, was evident throughout, she is a strong woman (though I am certain that in the beginning, she did not believe herself strong) with a good belief system and loyalty to her family and friends. All excellent traits! And a loving mother to her toddler. I loved one particular passage where Harrison is thinking of Sera:

“In fact, it dialed his attraction up a few notches because she was so real and raw. Because she wasn’t holding back. There was something about this woman that called to him, and he didn’t even want to think about all the reasons he shouldn’t be here.”

Harrison Jefferys is a strong, principled man who has fallen for Seraphina, even though his family history surrounding Seraphina dictates this is a bad idea. Especially since his Aunt Celeste blamed Sera for the death of her boy, Wes. Harrison’s dog is also a great addition to the cast of characters… especially when he bonded so quickly with Sera’s son and looked after him the way only a dog can.

Another character I really liked was Celeste as she showed much personal growth. Her character is the classic wife demonstrating the problems that arise when they think they must do and say whatever is dictated by their husbands in order to be a good wife and mother. Additionally, what happens to the whole family unit when they remain in a marriage with an abusive spouse (whether it be physical or psychological). However, I did find her lack of attention to two of the three children she had not a great mothering strategy. Luckily, she finally realized she had it all wrong and the change was very entertaining to watch.

The love story is predictable – families opposing Harrison and Sera getting together. They believe this too, but the attraction is so great, it is decided to risk the wrath of their families. They are great together and the relationship seems effortless. Until the secret gets out. Now if they can get over this hump…. they may be able to have their happily ever after (HEA).

Overall, I found the characters we were introduced to (either initially or from the first book in the series) had sufficient depth, sense of humor, and baggage to make for an entertaining story. And we did get to see Otis again. Gotta love that gator!

Bayou Baby was an easy, entertaining, heart wrenching love story and great addition to the Butterfly Bayou series. I can hardly wait for book 3 – Bayou Dreaming.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

We're back in Papillon, baby! I've been so excited for a new book in the Butterfly Bayou series, and I'm very happy to end my summer reading with this book. It's one of the most heartwarming books I've read lately. Yes, I did cry, because this is a Lexi Blake book. Are you really shocked by that? No? Okay then. Really though, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Let me tell you all about it!

Bayou Baby is the story of Seraphina Guidry, Remy and Zep's sister, and Harry Jefferys, Celeste Beaumont's nephew. I don't even know where to start expressing my feelings about Sera and Harry, honestly. I have a lot of them, and most of them have me wanting to either swoon or cry. Or both at the same time.

Sera is a girl who hasn't had a lot of luck in her life. She's young, she's pretty, and unfortunately she's hated by the scariest woman in town: Celeste Beaumont. I liked Sera's story. She is a strong woman, one who loves her son deeply and wants what's best for him. And she's a good person in general, and her great-aunt saw that, which is why she left her everything she had. The transformation Sera goes through in this book is just wonderful. She goes from being scared of making waves, because of Celeste, to standing up for herself and not bow in front of that woman. Strangely, her strength also came from Celeste.

I could tell reading this book that Sera fell for Harry way before she admitted it to herself or to him. She was afraid to lose her son, which is why she hid certain things from Harry, but she fell in love with him and she fell hard. I loved how she allowed herself to be vulnerable around Harry. We see a little of her relationship with her brothers, and even though so far we've seen Zep as the wild, irresponsible one, he adores his sister and his nephew. But I don't think Sera was ever as vulnerable with him as she was with Harry, and I liked that she allowed herself to do that with Harry. She needed a shoulder to cry on, and that was Harry in the beginning. Then as things progressed, Harry started teaching Sera how to fix the house, and slowly, it felt to me as if Sera was not only fixing her great-aunt's house, but she was also fixing herself.

Harry was such a delightful hero. I loved him. I don't really remember if he made an appearance in the Topped series, but it's hinted at that he worked at Sean Taggart's restaurant before coming to Papillon. When he sees that Sera needs a hand fixing the house, and also keeping it from being condemned, he jumps in and offers his help. He is an honorable man that is willing to fight everyone, including the aunt he's just getting to know properly, in order to be with Sera.

What I loved about this book is that, for once, we get to see the perspective of the scary woman in this relationship. Yes, we get a few scenes from Celeste's point of view, and I absolutely adored them. We get to understand why Celeste is the way she is, and while I wouldn't go as far as to say I loved her, I did end up understanding her and what made her the way she was. She's certainly not the perfect woman she wants everyone to believe she is, and her journey throughout this book is one I really enjoyed experiencing.

I wouldn't be me if I didn't wish we'd get Cal Beaumont's story soon. He deserves his story told, and I feel like his journey will be a difficult one. Or at least I hope we'll get to see what happens with him in the next book in the series (which I hope won't be the last, because I love this series *throws the biggest puppy eyes at Lexi Blake*).

All in all, I really loved this story. From the house that Sera wanted to fix, to Shep, the very cute and very gentle German Shepherd, everything about this book was wonderful and I'm happy I got to read it. And now as always, I can't wait for more, because I truly enjoy everything Lexi Blake writes. She could probably write a grocery list and I'd find it fascinating, guys. Anyway....

If you like small towns, a good love story, and seeing characters growing up (both older and younger characters) then this is your book! Make sure you read the first one in the series first though, Butterfly Bayou. Bayou Baby can totally be read as a standalone, but it would be sad to not start from the beginning.

I absolutely love small-town romances, so I was excited to read Lexi Blake's Bayou Baby set in Louisiana's Butterfly Bayou.

This book had some big secrets and family loyalty and drama, and I was there for it all. While there was drama, overall, it was a sweet and sexy family story. I definitely did not want to stop reading because I was having such a good time reading this one!

Bayou Baby is a single parent romance that will leave you in love with this small town and wanting to get your hands on more books so that you can see more of the folks from Butterfly Bayou.

Bayou Baby is the second book in the Butterfly Bayou series. OMG! I am so in love with this book! Bayou Baby really gives you all the feels. If you want a book that tugs at your emotions. This is it! I laughed, I cried, I got mad and I am over the moon in love with this book!

This is Seraphina Guidry and Harry Jeffrey’s story. I feel that Lexi Blake writes about real human beings. Her books come alive and Lexi is a master of the written word! Can you tell that I loved this book?

I kept waiting for Otis to show up and he didn’t until the end but he played a major role at the end. Of course you need to read this book to know who or what Otis is.

Great book Lexi! A true romance! 5 + stars.

I had some mixed feelings about Lexi Blake’s Bayou Baby, but I liked it overall. I appreciated that it’s a single sitting read. Even though it’s the second in the Butterfly Bayou series, it can absolutely stand on its own. Bayou Baby has full cast of quirky characters and fun peripheral people that fill out the tapestry of the main story. The main characters should have been Seraphina Guidry and Harrison Jefferys, nephew of community powerhouse Celeste Beaumont, but after reading the book, I think that’s up for debate.

What first appears to be a book about the love story between Sera and Harry, I believe, is really the story between Seraphina and Celeste. They have history and their families have history. They’re both scrappy, the Beaumonts just do it with scads more money. Since money equals power, the Beaumonts always come out on top. Celeste has been protecting the Beaumont name and reputation for decades, but she has sacrificed a lot, especially relationships, to do that. Celeste has a journey to go on after her husband passed away that reminded me of Emily Gilmore after she lost Richard. Sera is going to play a significant role in that journey.

Blake writes emotions well. They felt genuine even if her characters sometimes fell into southern stereotypes. Add a musical number and it could be Hart of Dixie. I wish it had some of the fun of Hart of Dixie.

The female characters are strong and resilient. They don’t need a man to rescue them, it’s contemporary in that sense, but there are some good guys around ready to rush in if necessary. I won’t stick it with the dreaded women’s fiction label, but it is missing the fun and flirtiness of Blake’s other works.

My Rating: B, Liked It

Another sweetly sexy and thrilling adventure in Butterfly Bayou. This emotionally thrilling journey is filled with intriguing and engaging charters, witty dialog, heart racing twist and undeniable passion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lexi Blake does it again in this second book of the Butterfly Bayou series! I loved revisiting Papillon, Louisiana with all its quirky characters. In Bayou Baby we get the story of Serafina Guidry and Harrison Jefferys. Sera is a single mom who has recently inherited her deceased aunt's home. Harry is contractor in town to do some work for his aunt, who happens to greatly dislike Sera.

I really love the characters in this series. Sera is a single mom doing her best to make a life for her son. Harry is disabled veteran who is at a crossroads in his life. I love these two characters together. I also really enjoyed Sera's friends and family.

This book could be read as a stand alone, but starting from the beginning would give you a little more insight into the town and the Guidry family.

I absolutely loved this book! Sera is a single Mom to a three year old boy, Luc. She is drawn to Harry, who is the nephew of the Beaumonts. He is a war hero, who has lost one of his legs. He is also in construction. Sera has inherited a house and has to restore it to be able to sell it or start a B and B which is her dream. But can her dreams come true? Or will her secrets come out and she will have to leave town? I loved how this book showed all the sides to the characters. 5 stars

One heartwarming story! It's beautifully written like any other Lexi's books and the characters she wrote are just unique on their own. This is so entertaining that I wished it was longer. There are so many feelings swirling around when reading this one. I highly recommend it!

Lexi Blake’s Bayou Baby was one heck of a romance and one hell of a female empowerment story!

Seraphine Guidry, single mom and a bit lost in where her life is headed. She’s true and loyal to her friends and family, and amazing mom, and is also keeping a life changing secret.

Harrison Jefferys is feeling adrift since he was discharged from the military. He’s in town to visit family and help out for his cousin’s wedding. But, Sera Guidry may just be the reason he needs to stay in one place.

But, there is bad blood between Harry’s Aunt Celeste Beaumont and Seraphone Guidry, and Papillon is a small town.

I really enjoyed Bayou Baby! I loved that a house renovation was the beginning of more change than anyone could have realized. I adored Harry slowly working his way into Sera’s house to help with the renovations while also finding his way right into her heart! And, watching Sera go from a mouse to a lion in order to protect her child was everything!

The drama surrounding the Beaumont family was heartbreaking, but I also loved watching the family break apart in the hopes that they could rebuild stronger. And Celeste . . . I will let you judge for yourself, but I just knew her transformation would be amazing and emotional and it was really something to see!

Sweet yet full of grit. Fun yet sexy. And all the quirky small town characters you could possibly want in a book. 5 stars!