For some people, the untamed beauty of the bayou is a place to hide. For Louisiana wildlife agent Jena Sinclair, it’s a place of refuge—one where she can almost forget the tragedy that scarred both her skin and her soul. But when the remains of yet another fisherman turn up, Jena realizes that Bayou Pointe-aux-Chenes is not safe for her…or anyone else.The mysterious deaths aren’t her only … only problem. A dangerous drug known as Black Diamond is circulating through Terrebonne Parish, turning addicts into unpredictable sociopaths. Jena’s investigation leads her to Cole Ryan—a handsome, wary recluse struggling with his own troubled history—who knows more than he’s willing to admit. If they want to stop the killer, Jena and Cole must step out of the shadows of their pasts and learn to help each other…before the evils lurking in the bayou consume them both.
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I enjoyed this second book in the series. This book can be read independently. Black Diamond is a new drug taking over the bayou. Jena Sinclair a wildlife agent has noticed the gators in the area not acting normal and upon further investigation discovers they are being used as drug runners. No one in the area is safe until they can find the people responsible.
I jumped at the chance to review Back Diamond since I really enjoyed book 1 of the Wilds of the Bayou, Wild Man’s Curse . I fell in love with Ms Sandlin’s story telling with the Sentinels of New Orleans series (written as Suzanne Johnson) and she’d created another wonderful world. This world is in the bayous of southern Louisiana and the main characters are the wildlife agents.
We met Jena in book one. She was severely injured on the job and is now in the final leg of her recovery. She has a new partner and is back on light duty. Then she stumbled upon Black Diamond, a new, highly addictive and dangerous drug. Add in some odd gator deaths and Jena has a mystery that needs to be solved. Enter Cole. He’s turned into a hermit after tragedy struck in his life. He wants to be alone, off the grid. But when Jena come knocking asking questions, he finds himself attracted and can’t seem to help getting involved.
Now I liked both characters. Both have many scars, external and internal and seem to sense that in each other. I liked their growth and development. I cried over Jena’s struggles and wanted to see Cole come out of his grief and live again. And I rooted for Cole and Jena to find their happily ever after.
And that brings me to the one thing that let me down in this book. When it’s said and done, this is a romantic suspense story. There is that element of mystery (or suspense) that I highly enjoyed. But when it came to the romance part, I was underwhelmed. I felt like the characters met too far into the story and then really don’t develop a romance. There was definite attraction and that sense of recognition. But the characters didn’t spend much time getting to know each other and have that build of romance. Was there chemistry? Sure, but there wasn’t that build up that readers of romance expect.
That said, I really did enjoy the book. The suspense part had me turning the pages since I wanted to see what was going to happen and how all the dots were going to connect. There were a couple times that it got a little graphic, but I was able to get past that. It was almost necessary for storyline.
I’d recommend this series for lovers of romantic suspense that are looking for a new setting.
My review originally posted at Romancing the Book.
Back in the Louisiana bayous where you gotta watch out for dem gators. What a thrilling opening the book starts with.
Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana Wildlife Agent Jena Sinclair is just getting back on the job after being shot and a suicide attempt. She’s dealing with scars both on the outside and inside but is determined to try and put that all behind her. Her and her temporary partner stumble across a dead body who was the victim of an alligator attack but what they didn’t know was they had come across the first clue to the deadly new bath salt drug Black Diamond that has been making its way around Terrebonne Parish.
Cole Ryan has been hiding out in Terrebonne Parish for 5 years living the life of a hermit after losing his family traumatically. All he wants is to be left alone. When a dead gator ends up behind his house and the stomach contents of said gator are suspicious he has no choice but tell the pretty Wildlife agent he had just met. She also was the first person to awaken his soul which he thought was long dead.
I love these deep southern thrillers that are wrapped in Cajun tradition and culture. Along with the mystery and suspense of trying to find out who is supplying Black Diamond we also get to see two people who were so used to living with deep seated grief recognize that the other was a like soul and form an immediate bond which helps them heal.
Murder, mystery, and love in the bayou
Interesting characters, great scene descriptions, original, well-written plot with strong characters and light romance. This is the first book I have read by this author and I will definitely be reading more, especially in this series. Black Diamond is book two in the Wilds of the Bayou series but can easily be read as a stand-alone. I happened to read this one first and could still keep up and understand what was happening. I could tell from the beginning that I was reading the books out of order because of Jena’s character and things that had happened to her in the first book, but it did not dissuade me from continuing because I was already intrigued by her character and the mysteries of the bayou. The author provided plenty of character inner flashback to understand what happened and why Jena’s emotional and psychological state was so fragile. Cole and Jena are survivors and have suffered tragic traumatic events. She is trying to push through and heal the only way she knows how to put it out of her mind and jump back into work and prove to herself and everyone around her that she is fine and she can do her job the same as before. Cole, however, just wants to disappear. He has withdrawn from the world, living off the land in a self-sustaining lifestyle in the bayou and just wants to be left alone. Drugs, gator attacks and drug smuggling draw them together in a fast-paced life and death survival game in the wilds of the bayou. This is a great read that captivates and intrigues from the start and gives you a thrilling, mysterious ride until the end. There is a bit of romance included in the later chapters but it does not overpower the main storyline. It is a nice addition to the read. Now, to go back and read book one to see how it all began. I cannot wait to be drawn into another adventure in the bayou.