I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Story was cute and an easy read. I would read from this author again. The cover is pretty also.

Lily by Kathleen Bittner Roth is the the 3rd book in the Bayou Bad Boys series. I couldn’t wait for bastien Thibodeaux’s story and it didn’t disappoint. Bastien was finally headed home to New Orleans from being in Jamaica overseeing one of their shipping offices. Lily and her Godfather pretend to be married and get passage on Bastiens ship. Poor Lily she has to over come so many things in her life. When she gets on Bastiens ship she is very sick but Bastien helps heal her. They become close but they are from different worlds. The End really got me, I cried the whole epilogue. This story was filled with so much heart and suspense it had me on edge throughout. Kathleen’s words always pulls me into the world she creates and doesn’t let me go till the very end. I received this book through NetGalley for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this romance. I had a great time trying to figure out where the story was going to go next.
I really like the slow relationship development between the two main characters. It was hot.

My only concern about this novel is about the references to Voodoo. Did the author make up what she wrote? Are there endnotes about the religion?Or where her information came from? I would not be able to recommend this novel via LA or readers RA without further information. 2 stars w/o information on Voodoo. 4 stars with information.

Having started this great series, it is so wonderful to read about Bastien, the 2nd Thibodeaux brother. The book begins with Bastien returning home to New Orleans having been away in Jamaica. He reluctantly agrees to take two passengers on board his ship, which includes an older English gentleman and his sick younger wife, Lily. However, Bastien is not convinced that the couple is who they say they are, and he doesn’t believe that they are married. Yet Lily is gravely ill and so Bastien uses his skills as a Cajun healer to help Lily. The more time they spend together, the more their attraction to each other grows. Yet Lily’s past is threatening to catch up with her and prevent any future between the couple.
Lily and Bastien are two great characters. As Lily recovered, her determination and personality also strengthen, and she is truly someone who knew her own mind. Bastien is intense but also not as strong as he purports to be, at times, reflecting on his illegitimacy as a reason not to be with Lily. I so enjoyed reading about Felice and Rene again, having read about them in Book 1 (Felice). This book has it all with romance, mystery and drama, altogether with the magic of New Orleans as the backdrop.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Will their differences be their undoing…

I discovered the author’s work with her previous release in this series.
It is not often I read tales set in New Orleans without a paranormal’s element. Here it is a historical romance in the pure meaning of the genre.
So now it is Bastien’s story, a man who raised himself from the slums of the city. Yet, when he could be only proud of what he has done of himself, he is full of prejudices against those born in a different station.
He does not see the man who conquered all the hurdles life threw on his path, he always feels in his skin he still this shoes less starving boy, disliking his sire and everything he represents. When he is a kind and caring man, with dreams and hopes he has muzzled his whole life, because of a childhood oath between two bothers who have known nothing else than hunger and distress.
Now he has everything to built a good life, if only he can open the gates of his heart to let it feels and beats without reservations.
Lily when introduced, had first to survive a life altering trial. And thanks to a sea captain turned healer, she gets a second chance. Still, she is running from a death sentence, which hold her from sharing more about herself when her rescuer is everything she never dreamed to see in a man.
She is a mix of cleverness, naivety and stubbornness. Once she recovered from her ordeal, she is instantly smitten by Bastien’s charms, but they both play hot and cold as none is certain if they can trust the other, and when the truth come out what will there be to salvage between them as they are from two very different world.

A lovely tale demonstrating love has no frontier and cares nothing about someone’s birth or past mistakes.
Special mention for thé ever so lovely epilogue.
4 stars

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 onscreen detailed lovemaking scenes.

I have been granted an advance copy by the publisher Kensington Books, here is my true and unbiased opinion.

A fun, fast paced book with some interesting twists and turns. The characters are well drawn out and you can't help but root for them,

Bastien saves Lily's life when he deduced that she has been poisoned through the clothing she is wearing.
This is a story of forbidden love, wild passions and dark secrets.
Bastien loves Lily with all his heart and she loves him with her whole being. Can this forbidden love last?
Kathleen Bittner Roth writes an interesting and entertaining story.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.