My Best Friend’s Mardi Gras Wedding

I am happy to announce that I have found my new book boyfriend! Josh Landry is everything a girl could hope for: funny, charming, a little rough around the edges, super-sexy and full of surprises. Josh was great, but Tori was a perfect match. She is the type of girl I love to see in a romance: unassuming, and open to whatever happens. She’s someone who would be totally cool to hang out with. In fact, it would be great to be able to hang out with the entire Landry family, because they seemed like a LOT of fun. Ellie was a real kick, I literally laughed out loud more than a few times when she was involved (plus she gave me some new terms I’ll have to try out). The plot of the story didn’t go exactly the way I thought it would. It didn’t have the drama and misunderstandings that usually accompany a romance like this. I could see the turning point coming a mile away, but the author did surprise me with the way she handled it overall, which I appreciated. I really enjoyed this book, and can’t wait for the second one to come out so I can return to Autre, LA. This review was based on a complimentary pre-release copy.

“We’ll give it a year. And then, if we’re still thinking about each other and want to see each other again, we’ll both show up at Bourbon O on Mardi Gras. If we’re both there, we’ll know.”
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My Best Friend’s Mardi Gras Wedding is a romantic comedy about hoping that if you let something go that you truly want and hoping it comes back is true.
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Josh is one of the most popular bartenders in New Orleans. After experiencing a hot goodnight kiss with a beautiful woman during Mardi Gras he makes a promise to meet her in one year if they were still interested. Tori returns one year later for her best friend’s wedding, but her mind is completely on trying to make her way back to Josh. When Tori accidentally lays a kiss on her best friend, he gets cold feet for his wedding because of her, and Josh shows up, Tori has to make the biggest decision of her life.
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I loved the premise of this book and loved the anticipation of Josh and Tori meeting back up at Mardi Gras one year later. I love the Landry family and am sure that they are going to be fun and annoying all at the same time through this whole series. This book cemented my want to make it to Mardi Gras and New Orleans sometime in my lifetime. Erin Nicholas has easily become a one-click author for me as she can always put a smile on my face with her books.
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Audio: Neill and Amanda did a good job of bringing the characters and story to life.

Mardi Gras beads and grand gestures. I found myself smiling many many times as I read this book. I loved Josh and his family. Ellie is a hoot! I also really liked Tori. The stories about the grand gestures were probably my favorite part. No matter if they worked or not. With a promise to meet up a year later at the same bar Tori left Josh in New Orleans and went back to Iowa. When Mardi Gras come back around Tori found herself back in New Orleans thinking about the man she had talked to a year ago. However she is back for her best friend’s wedding, even if she doesn’t like the bride. After she accidentally kisses the groom, her best friend, she needs to find Josh to prove she wan’t making things up. Josh is willing to be her date, but his isn’t faking anything. He has been thinking about Tori for a year and now that she is back he wants to make sure she doesn’t leave again.

AN ABSOLUTE CELEBRATORY 5 STARS

MY BEST FRIEND’S MARDI GRAS WEDDING
(BOYS OF THE BAYOU, #1)
BY: ERIN NICHOLAS
NARRATED BY: AMANDA STRIBLING & NEILL THORNE

I immediately loved the idea that even though Josh, a sexy bartender, was totally smitten with Tori, a gorgeous vet who collects random pets he accepted that it was too soon to start something new and agrees to make a pact to meet a year later if they are both still single.
When a year passes they attempt to do just that however it doesn’t quite go to plan and Tori ends up accidentally kissing her best friend, Andrew, who is suppose to be getting married.
You can clearly see that Josh and Tori still have so much chemistry between them but first she has to prove that she has no feelings for her best friend Andrew and this is where Josh comes in to help by agreeing to a fake relationship with Tori which to be honest was never really fake.
So they go to Andrew’s wedding together and encounter A few twists and turns they must
navigate but you cannot deny the spark these two is just off the scale and is only gonna lead to one thing! I absolutely loved this book the story of Josh and Tori was just simply amazing and a joy to listen to as Amanda Stribling and Neill Thorne did an amazing job of bringing these character alive. I’m certainly looking forward to more books from Nicholas!
(I received an ALC for an honest review)

May Best Friend’s Mardi Gras Wedding is a fun book in the Boys of the Bayou series by Erin Nicholas. Josh Landry is a happy-go-lucky guy living on the bayou and running a tour boat business with his family. He also tended bar in New Orleans. It was during one of these jobs that he met Tori, Victoria Kramer, a vet from Iowa. He was in love. He was so in love that he hadn’t bedded any other women for a year. They had agreed, well, he had, that they would meet in the same bar on Mardi Gras in a year if they wanted to. He wanted to. He was working somewhere else now and had made the trek from Trahan’s to meet her four times. No Tori. But, Tori was there. He had missed her. She was part of a wedding party and had been sent by the bride to keep an eye on the groom and his party. Tori was so desperate to see Josh that she kissed a man she thought was he. He wasn’t, but in her defense, he had been wearing a mask. He was the groom: her best friend, Andrew, the woman the bride was already jealous of. Talk about trouble.

This is the cutest love story ever. Josh, from a family with multiple stories of romance and big gestures, was head-over-heels for Tori and couldn’t wait for more. Tori wanted to be in love. She was so attracted to Josh. She wanted someone to love her and there he was. He liked her for who she was, all her quirks and oddities that embarrassed Andrew and her father. Josh laughed. He put her first, though of her and what she liked. It was such a love story. And not lacking in big gestures. I love this book; I love this series. There are plenty of twists and turns on the road to love and Josh Landry is the ideal man to make the journey with.

I have read the book before and this time I listened to it on audio. The narrator/Josh (Neill Thorne) was ideal. He had just enough of a bayou accent to make it sexy. The other narrator, Amanda Stribling, was adequate but portrayed Tori as too tentative, all the time. None-the-less, it was a totally enjoyable experience to listen to this wonderful story come to life. I recommend either the book or audio, or both.

I was invited to listen to a free copy of Audible’s My Best Friend’s Mardi Gras Wedding by the author. All opinions contained herein are solely my own.

Love Tori and Josh! Audiobook Review
I really enjoyed this story and really felt the atmosphere of New Orleans and Mardi Gras while I listened to it. I loved Tori and Josh and their story of how they first met and wanted to meet up a year later. I loved them as a couple and the way their love grew. The other characters were great, especially Josh’s family and I “loved to hate” some of the characters too. This book was a lot of fun to listen to and had a lot of laughs. Both narrators were fantastic, and I really loved the New Orleans drawl! I am really looking forward to listening to the next book in the series! I definitely recommend this book!
#AudiobookObsessionReviewer
#PinkFlamingoProductions

Josh and Tori’s over-the-top instalove meeting followed by a year long celibate separation is the stuff of legends – at least in small town Autre, Louisiana where Josh is from and where the love stories are always over-the-top crazy. This first book in the Boys of the Bayou series has the perfect blend of funny, sweet, happy, and fan your face steamy with only a small bit of angst. Josh is a bartender in New Orleans and a swamp boat tour guide who met Tori last year. Tori lives in Iowa where she is a vet. Last year they spent 6 hours with each other in a bar over 2 days, they were fully clothed, only shared 4 kisses, did not share contact info, and agreed to meet back in one year at the same bar if they were both still interested. This is where the story begins, they both are still interested, neither one has thought of anyone else in the year they’ve been apart, and they both try to meet up as promised. Tori is back in New Orleans to meet Josh but also to be in her best friend’s wedding, he’s the groom. The bride is not Tori’s biggest fan. The story is filled with loud, larger than life characters and situations, a few misunderstandings, cute animals, and so much love. Tori and Josh just need to overcome a few obstacles, let go of some insecurities, and embrace their crazy together in order to get to their HEA and what a fun joyful ride it is. Sprinkled throughout this beautifully paced story of Josh and Tori’s HEA, there are also a number of secondary characters that we are introduced to. Rather than being confusing, overwhelming or detracting from the main love story, these characters are central to the unfurling of Josh and Tori’s dance of love and passion and to the crazy that is Autre, Louisiana. We learn enough about who the secondary characters are along with just enough of their stories so that they’re fully developed characters in their own right. With My Best Friend’s Mardi Gras Wedding, Erin Nicholas once again proves she’s a fantastic storyteller and the queen at bringing to life imaginary towns full of wonderful characters where we all wished we could live.

This is over the top fun down in Nawlins. I loved listening to this story. The characters are fun, entertaining and inventive. The narrator had me rooting for Tori and Josh. I enjoyed their get to know you time frames and that Josh seemed all in. He knew of course due to his crazy family legacy. I had a good time meeting all of his family…well except his mom. Tori didn’t know her mind as quick as Josh. Since she is is a vet I believe all her dedication to saving animals. She has quite the menagerie. But I would love her to be my vet.

I did listen to this on audio. Amanda Stribling and Neill Thorne are the narrators. They both do a wonderful job. I want to give a shout out to neill and his accent. Nice!

**4.5 Stars**

This was my first book by the author and was excited to dive in as the premise seemed fun and flirty and stories set in New Orleans always seem to have an aweosme vibe. I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen after Josh and Tori took a chance on meeting up a year later if the feelings were still there.

I loved Josh’s character from the start. He didn’t really pull any punches and just pretty much laid everything out there. I also really loved his family. I overall really enjoyed Tori’s character and think she had a great heart and loved her love of animals, though I did struggle at times with her friendship with Andrew as it seemed like he wasn’t a great friend at times.

There were some funny parts to the story and overall the book was fun and flirty and low angst. I loved that Tori and Josh were able to get their HEA and I would definitely check out other books by this author in the future.

A perfect mood-lifter in a stressful world
Audiobook edition: 5 stars overall, 5 stars story, 5 stars narration

I absolutely loved this fun rom-com set in the Big Easy. This is the first book by Erin Nicholas that experienced, and it certainly won’t be the last. I am very impressed with the excellent characters, the hilariously awkward situations, and the slow burn steaminess. Now I am hooked on this “Boys of the Bayou” series, especially with the expert narration provided by Neill Thorne and Amanda Stribling. They both nailed the Louisiana and Iowa accents, and they were equally adept at voicing the colorful cast of characters. Neill Thorne’s voice is so sexy! His Cajun drawl for the hero Josh was pure pleasure for my ears. I highly recommend this to all rom-com fans and for everyone who wants a pleasant vacation from reality.

I adored the characters and the story. I really related to the veterinarian heroine Tory from Iowa. She loves animals but is not so comfortable around people. She lacks a little self-confidence at first, but she blossoms with the help of Josh. Josh Landry comes from a loving and boisterous family in the bayou near New Orleans. Josh meets Tory and falls hard for her. When they meet again in New Orleans one year after their brief initial meeting, Josh courts her so romantically. This romance is doubly great because of all the wonderful conversations they have getting to know each other. Josh really understands Tory and appreciates her exactly how she really is. The slow burn romance eventually has some quite steamy scenes. Ooh-la-la!

I want to warn readers that another man tries to make moves on Tory, but because Tory wants nothing to do with him, it is thankfully not a love triangle. The book is very low angst with lots of humorous moments. This audiobook really lifted my spirits.

I requested and received a free audiobook copy via #AudiobookObsession, and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.
#AudiobookObsession Reviewer