Broody wildlife veterinarian Griffin Foster is done. Done trying to save the world. Done getting attached. He’s been fired twice for standing his ground and now he’s going to be content–by God–in small-town Louisiana, in a small veterinary practice, where there will only be small problems.
Quiet and boring, though? Um, no. He’s been adopted by a loud, crazy Cajun family with a tiny petting zoo for him to care for. Hey, it’s not endangered tigers at a nationally renowned zoo, but a family of otters–and all the gumbo he can eat–isn’t a bad deal.
Until she shows up. Again.
The sunny, gorgeous optimist who stole his heart–and his favorite shirt–two months ago. Who clearly hasn’t heard the word “no” enough in her life. And who is the first woman to put even a tiny crack in his don’t-get-attached wall.
Charlotte “Charlie” Landry is the new marketing consultant for the family swamp-boat tour company and petting zoo. It might not have been her plan, but she is all in, ready to grow the business. Whether the hot, grumpy vet likes it or not.
He doesn’t.
Worse, sparring with his unforgettable one-night stand is more fun than he’s had in a long time.
But watching wears-designer-dresses Charlie find her dream job amongst a bunch of goats, alpacas, and otters is a surprise.
And her helping him find his passion again is…well, irresistible.
Dammit.
| Title: | Otterly Irresistible |
| Author: | Erin Nicholas |
| Series: | Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild (Book 1) |
| Pages: | 329 |
| Genre(s): | Contemporary |
| Trope(s): | Grumpy Loves Sunshiney Small Town Romance Opposites Attract |
| Point of View: | Third Person, Past Tense, Dual Viewpoints (H & h) |
| Location: | Autre, Louisiana, USA |
| HEA: | ✔️ |
| Release Date: | 20th April, 2021 |
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A little sexy and a lot of fun
I’m a huge fan of Erin Nicholas and I was delighted when I heard that she was creating a spin-off series to her wildly successful Boys of the Bayou series. That series concentrated, for the most part, on the Landry siblings and their Boys of the Bayou swamp boat tours. This series turns the focus to the Landry cousins, many of whom have a connection to the new business in town, the animal park / petting zoo called Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild.
The book does stand alone – and Ms Nicholas does a quick recap of other couples, relationships and situations when necessary – but you’ll definitely enjoy the story so much more if you’ve already been reading the Boys of the Bayou series.
This book focuses on Charlotte Landry – a city cousin of the original bunch. On the surface, she’s a put together, city-girl who likes her creature comforts and designer clothes. She’s got a good job and she has herself together. She knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to ask for it – and dive right in to get it. At first, I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure if I would feel a good connection to her as she’s so smart, gorgeous and successful that I was a little intimidated and didn’t see myself in her at all. To be honest, I still didn’t see myself in her by the end of the book but I did really like her. She’s nice, kind and her forthright nature was downright admirable.
“…those smouldering looks they kept sending each other kept my heart beating a mile a minute.”
Our other main player is Griff. Ah Griff. He is the most catnippy of catnips for me. He’s grumpy and terse and, at least to begin with, doesn’t say a lot. His walls are all the way up and then up some more. And that right there is my kind of hero. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a grump. But then you add in the animals. He talks to otters. He has a goat stalker. He cuddles puppies. Ovaries. Exploding. Everywhere. I adored the man.
To be honest, there’s not a lot of drama in our story – and that was just what I wanted. Griff doesn’t really want to do attached and Charlie just wants to attach herself to Griff. It was a delight to watch the pair dance around each other and those smouldering looks they kept sending each other kept my heart beating a mile a minute. Which, when translated into the real thing, really gave me something to write home about. Oooft! Hot, hot, hot!
As I mentioned, I’m a big fan of Ms Nicholas, and as always, her writing just paints a vivid and realistic picture of these characters and the place they call home. I can see it clearly in my minds eye and I’m delighted we’re once again back in Autre, Louisiana. This book also sets up the next book in the series and I am so looking forward to Fletcher heading out to get his woman.
A little sexy and a lot of fun, this is a book I’d happily recommend for those looking to head on out for love on the bayou for a couple of hours. 5 stars from me.
*I received this book in exchange for my honest view*
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Erin Nicholas has been writing romances almost as long as she’s been reading them. To date, she’s written over thirty sexy, contemporary novels that have been described as “toe-curling,” “enchanting,” “steamy,” and “fun.” She adores reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines, and happily ever afters.
Erin lives in the Midwest, where she enjoys spending time with her husband (who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books), her kids (who will never read the sex scenes in her books), and her family and friends (who claim to be “shocked” by the sex scenes in her books).
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Excerpt:
“So what should I do?” she asked. Maybe he would be able to tell what she was thinking. Maybe he could give her an opening for charming him into putting that very nice, smirky, sarcastic mouth against hers and…
“Nudge ’em,” he said simply.
Now she blinked at him. “What?”
“Nudge them,” he said again.
“Just…nudge them? As in, push them?” She narrowed her eyes. Were they talking about goats? Or were they maybe talking about grumpy farmers who needed more than a subtle flirtation to make a move?
“Sometimes that’s all they need.”
Okay then. She was going to keep that in mind.
“So…” He nodded toward the goats.
She blew out a breath. Okay, so for right now they were talking about goats.
Charlie approached the smallest of the animals. He—or she—looked up at her. “Hello, I’m Charlotte. Would you please accompany me across the street back to your barn?” She heard the man’s snort even from the distance between them. That made her smile even though she was still stuck with the problem of herding goats.
The goat, of course, didn’t move a step.
“I would very much enjoy it if you would grant me the pleasure of your company across the street at your barn,” she told the goat.
This time the goat didn’t even lift his head.
Charlie propped a hand on her hip. “I don’t feel that we know each other well enough for me to actually put my hands on your body so it really would be easier if you would just head in the general direction of your barn.”
“For fuck’s sake.” Suddenly the man was back beside her.
He bent and lifted the goat and Charlie couldn’t help but think this had worked out very well. She hadn’t had to touch the goats, but she hadn’t been entirely unhelpful to him.
Okay, that wasn’t true. She had been completely unhelpful to him. But she hadn’t left him out here with the goats alone and she hadn’t gone back inside the bar and told her rowdy cousins on him.
The man pivoted and pressed the goat to her chest. Instinctively her arms went up and around it. He let go.
And just like that, she had her arms full of goat.
Charlie gasped, partially in surprise and partially because it only took her a millisecond to think about the fact that she now had a barnyard animal up against her Alex Perry cocktail dress.
“Oh my God, you have to be kidding,” she said to the man.
“When nudging doesn’t work sometimes you have to get hands-on.”
Charlie blew out a breath. She was tucking that away in her idea of how to handle him too. But she was preoccupied at the moment.
And not so sure she wanted to kiss him after all.
No, that wasn’t true. She still wanted to kiss him. Especially now that he was standing closer.
Even if she had to kiss him over the back of a goat.
Which probably meant she really wanted to kiss him.
She’d definitely rather do it without a goat between them though.
She could throw a fit, of course. He was probably expecting that.
She could put the goat back down. She could stomp off in a huff. She could still sic her rowdy cousins on the guy.
But in spite of the fact that she was holding a goat and she didn’t even know the guy’s name, she wanted to stay out here with him.
“If I am going to literally carry goats back to a barn,” she said, noting that the man seemed to be waiting for her to throw exactly the kind of fit that she had just entertained in her mind. “You’re going to have to keep talking to me.”
“What is it that you think we need to be talking about?”
“Whatever I want.”
“Why do you get to pick?”
“My eight-hundred-dollar cocktail dress is now going to smell like goat,” Charlie told him. “I think that’s only fair.”
“Eight hundred dollars? Jesus. Maybe that’s what’s making it look so good.”
Okay, now she was shocked. “Did you just say I look ‘so good’? As in, you just gave me a compliment?”
“Well—” His gaze roamed over her and, in spite of the goat in her arms, he seemed to like what he saw.
Charlie felt her body heat.
“I think I gave the dress a compliment,” he finally said. “I mean, if you’re willing to pay that much, you must have something pretty awful to cover up. And it’s doing a fine job of it.”
She felt her brows climb. But she also felt the urge to laugh. That comment was a lot more in character for him than an outright compliment. And it was weird that she already thought she knew his character, wasn’t it?
“Is this where I’m supposed to offer to prove that there’s nothing horrible under this dress?”
His gaze flew back to hers, he straightened slightly, and took a breath. “No. Hell no.” He shook his head.
Her eyes widened as he took a step back.
“I mean, no, sorry,” he went on. “That’s not what I meant.”
Oh, now he was flustered. She kind of liked that, too.
Gruff, accidentally charming, sweet with animals, funny even if he didn’t mean to be, and chagrined about possibly being ungentlemanly.
Who was this guy?
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Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild Series:
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