Acadian Waltz by Alexandrea Weis

Book: Acadian Waltz
 
Author: Alexandrea Weis
 
Narrator (if applicable):n/a

Release date (if applicable): Published

Synopsis: Nora Kehoe is a woman who has everything, except a husband. Something her mother lets her know about on a regular basis. On a date that goes wrong, she ends up in a ER and meets the debonaire, Dr. John Blessing.

John is the answer to her prayers. Successful, handsome, charming, he is her mother's dream! Things happen way too fast when she goes from dating the good doctor to fiancee. When John starts making other demands, such as Nora giving up a job that she loves to be a stay at home mommy, Nora finds herself questioning her decision to marry him. Something her much beloved Uncle Jack, a raging alcoholic, is happy that she is thinking about.

Lucky for her, she is distracted by the mysterious, childhood friend, Jean Marc Gaspard, who runs his family's fishing business, but may be doing some smuggling to boost business. Nora can't deny her attraction to him though. When a Gaspard family emergency occurs and she heads out to the Gaspard compound to care for Jean Marc's brother, Henri, her choices force a decision, but are they the right ones?
 
My rating: 4 Stars
 
My opinion: I will let you in on a secret. I loved this book more than I thought I would. When I finally dedicated the time to read it, I finished it in 2 hours and didn't put it down until it was done.

Normally, I am not a huge fan of romance and will turn down authors who ask me to review their books in this genre.  I tend to find that a chunk of the books I have read focus on the romance dance and very little into character development. Under my rating system, in order for books in this genre to rate higher than their counterparts must focus on the storyline and to receive the Naomi Blackburn Seal of Approval, the books have to be well developed. A focus on the characters and storyline development vs. damsels in distress jumping into bed with the strapping male character is an absolute must. Acadian Waltz accomplished this!

What I loved about Acadian Waltz was that Ms. Weis took the time and care to develop the lead character, Nora Kehoe. While Nora wasn't totally imperfect, she wasn't perfect either. I did feel that some of the supporting characters needed further development, particularly Uncle Jack. Other than that, the book was dang near perfect.

The story had a feeling of excitement to it and as a result flowed quickly.  Jean Marc, had an aura of secrecy to him and what he was all about. Was he really a bad boy? The setting in NOLA was good, but I really loved when it switched to Manchac. I noticed that Ms. Weis' descriptions of the setting became stronger and, as a result, the mystery increased ten fold!

I must state that I agree with another reviewer who stated that the romance "plot" was predictable, but it was this author's writing style and capabilities that made this book stand out. 

Source: Author for review

      

Would I recommend? : I already have. 
 
Stand Alone or Part of a Series: Stand Alone