Not even the wildest Bayou Bachelor of all can resist the right woman. Jeb DeVillier has a lot of explaining to do. True, he did steal millions from the sailboat business he ran with his partner, Brandon, and disappear to South America. But Jeb has a good reason—Brandon’s sister, Jena Boudreaux. A decade ago, she broke his heart when she chose career over their relationship. Still, when he learns … relationship. Still, when he learns she’s being held for ransom by drug dealers, he doesn’t hesitate. He’ll save her life, no matter what the danger.
When Jena called Jeb out of the blue, it was to ask him to give her last words to her family. She knew the risks when she took one final mission for the CIA. Suddenly, Jeb’s riding to the rescue like her own personal Cajun knight. Yet now that they’re both safe in New Orleans, he refuses to give her a second chance.
That’s not good enough for Jena. Because when you find someone crazy enough to risk everything for you, the only sane thing to do is to hang on tight . . .
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Good conclusion to the series. Like the previous book, Bare Devotion, portions of this story overlap the earlier books, this time from Jeb and Jena’s perspective. A big part of the first book was Brandon dealing with Jeb stealing fifteen million dollars from their boat-building business and disappearing. In this book, we learn that Jeb took that money to save Brandon’s sister’s life. Jena was taken by a drug cartel and would have died without the ransom that Jeb provided. But there was more to the story.
Jeb grew up with the Boudreaux kids and was especially close to Jena. As they grew up, their childhood friendship grew into a college romance. After graduation, Jena broke it off when she decided to work for the CIA, but the attraction between them never died. A few years later, they reconnected and entered a “friends with benefits” relationship. That relationship took a hit when Jena’s capture showed Jeb that he hadn’t really known her after all. Though he did get Jena back to New Orleans, Jeb feels that his relationships with Brandon and Jena will never be the same and decides to move on. However, that turns out to be more difficult than he imagined.
Getting Jeb and Jena to a future together was a complicated process. Both of them have kept secrets from each other, and regaining trust isn’t going to be easy. At the top of the list is that their feelings for each other have deepened, but neither dares to admit it. Jeb wants more from Jena but no longer feels that he deserves it. He also has some trouble reconciling her career with the CIA and how he has always viewed her. Jeb is a man who, thanks to his past, is compelled to take care of others. His ego takes a hit when he realizes that Jena is well able to take care of herself. Jena is very independent, and admitting that she sometimes needs Jeb is tough for her.
The struggle between Jeb and Jena felt very realistic. They had to learn to talk honestly with each other about their needs and dreams for the future. I ached for Jeb because he thought his actions made it impossible to stay in New Orleans, despite assurances otherwise. Jena faced her own problems of adjusting to civilian life and overcoming her need to keep part of her separated from everyone. Complicating matters was the intense attraction that made it challenging to keep their hands off each other. Some good scenes showed Jena and Jeb sharing things they hadn’t shared with anyone before, and some sweet scenes that reminded them of the good parts of their past together. It all looks very promising until Jena’s past comes calling and throws everything into turmoil. There are some tense moments for Jena that also prove to be eye-opening. The ending was wonderful. I loved the scene at their tree as they finally opened up fully to each other. The epilogue was a perfect wrap-up for all three couples.
I’m finally throwing in the towel. As I mentioned in my review of Bare Devotion, I’m frustrated with this series. I have a hard time leaving things unfinished and, it seems to me, this is the last in the series, so I can quit this author. There is just so much potential in her stories. She has wonderful concepts and storylines. The execution is just not there for me. I’m not connecting with the characters on the level I should be, especially in this book.
I had actually been looking forward to the story of Jeb and Jena. To this point we have heard about them both but not met either one. It was intriguing that Jeb was a lifelong friend of the Boudreaux family yet stole millions of dollars from his best friend, and somehow it was a forgivable offense by the end of the first book. What exactly happened? Why did he take off with the money? Although we knew some of these answers, we hadn’t yet gotten the whole story. We get a lot of answers here, but for some reason I couldn’t be made to care very much. I think, in part, it was the repetitiveness of the story. How many times does the reader have to be told that Jena was in the CIA and had to keep secrets, or those secrets made her feel guilty? How often do we need to be reminded that Jeb and Jenna have been best friends since childhood? For that matter, did we have to be constantly told that Jena and Jeb had secretly had a relationship with each other numerous times in their adult lives?
Which brings me to another issues…inconsistencies. At first, it really seemed as though Jena’s family was fully aware Jeb and Jenna had dated in both high school and college. Then it was some big secret. Although they went to prom together??? Jena’s whole endeavor after becoming a “civilian” back in New Orleans had nothing to do with her father, Hudson. As far as I could tell, her brother Brandon was the backer and had the suggestion. Then, about 75% into this book, everyone started referring to it as Hudson’s project. It made no sense, he had absolutely nothing to do with this project…that was moving at warp speed, by the way.
Here’s the thing, I’m not here to bash the author or this story. I feel as if that’s what this review is becoming. Please know that it’s only because of my frustration level. If I felt this author was terrible or this story idea was the pits it wouldn’t bother me, I’d say it’s a bad book and be done with it. The problem (now I’m being repetitive) is that I feel this author has huge potential and her ideas are solid. I really wish her team of friends, editors, and publishers would help her to reach that potential. She could truly shine if they did.
Unfortunately, I think I’m done with this author. I have to many other wonderful authors and books on my TBR list to keep beating my head against the same wall.
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
Jena Boudreaux hasn’t been honest with her family and friends. She has told them that her frequent trips are for the Navy Reserves. Not true! She really has been doing missions for the CIA and the most recent one in Paraguay was almost her last – literally. She nearly died. That’s when she contacted her childhood buddy and current “friends with benefits” lover, Jeb DeVilliers to ask him as her dying request to tell her family she loves them. Jeb wasn’t about to give up on Jena and accept her impending death without a fight. Yes, she had been kidnapped by drug dealers but there had to be a solution. Jeb managed to extract her from her kidnappers with US government help. Now they are back in Tampa and things have changed between them. No more “friends with benefits” action, maybe not even friends. Jeb is hopping mad that Jena never told him about her CIA activities. He knows she really couldn’t tell him about it but – still… He thought Jena needed him and here she is a big, bad CIA agent who really needs no one. Jeb just can’t get his head around that. Jena, on the other hand, feels confused about how to proceed with Jeb. She really cares about him. Jena’s family rallies around her to help her establish her dream, a social services agency, which helps keep the nightmares away and gives her less time to worry about whether or not Jeb cares about her.
Bayou Vows by Geri Krotow is the third book in her Bayou Bachelor series. Krotow has a real talent for telling a story with an entertaining storyline as well as expressing the emotions of her characters. The relationship between Jena and Jeb is very complicated but the author expressed this in a way to not only keep the reader engrossed but also to feel the main characters emotional pain. I loved following Jena and Jeb’s trip to the HEA.