Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Bayou des Enfants
SERIES: Rougaroux Social Club #4
AUTHOR: Lynn Lorenz
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: 228 pages
BLURB:
It’s been nearly a year since Scott and Ted set up house together in St. Jerome. Life is good. Ted is trying to get his PI business off the ground with the occasional job and still painting for the gallery. Scott is alpha of the pack and sheriff of St. Jerome.
But Scott’s mother, Darlene Dupree, is not content. She wants grandkids and she wants them now. Taking matters into her own hands, Maman, as Scott and Ted call her, works her magic in the middle of the night next to the bayou.
Before Scott and Ted know it, they’re saddled with two boys. Which wouldn’t be so bad, if someone in the pack would take them in. But no one steps forward to claim them and Scott and Ted are left with a terrible choice, take in the kids themselves or give them up to CPS, where the boys can’t hide what they are – werewolves.
It’s the wrong time and the wrong kids. But the first rule of the pack is to protect the pack and there is no other choice to make.
REVIEW:
These books are set in St. Jerome Louisiana, and are centered around a werewolf pack, that operates as a social club to outsiders. Not everyone in St. Jerome is a werewolf, and the prime directive of the pack is to protect the pack. Men are werewolves, women are not. They begin to shift around puberty, and can shift at will as adults. This book is a continuation of Scott and Ted’s story, who we met in the first book in this series, Bayou Dreams. Very briefly, Scott is the local Sheriff, and alpha of the Rougaroux pack. He thought he was straight, as did everyone else, until his mother (Maman) did a love spell and called his mate to him. His very male mate, Ted! Big drama, love story, vote amongst the pack, and they are a couple. Books two and three were about other couples, now we come back to Scott and Ted in this new one.
I like Scott and Ted a couple, Scott is a bad ass alpha werewolf, but Ted is pretty bad ass and alpha as well. They make a good pair, both in bed and out. The non-big-dramatic part of this book was about the two of them forming a tighter bond, and Scott letting Ted dominate a bit in the bedroom. This is a hard thing for uber-alpha Scott, but eventually he lets Ted in, literally and figuratively. They are big strong men, and quite well matched in their sex life, I like seeing that personally. So they do grow as a couple during this story as well, becoming better in bed, letting a bit more emotion show, and saying words between them that need to be said.
The main plot line of the book is about kids. A nasty piece of werewolf from the first book, who had serious issues with Scott being gay, dies along with his wife and leaves two boys behind. Charles is eleven, Timmy is five. Charles is a little shit, following in his fathers homophobic footsteps. As we all know, hate is taught, and Charles has learned from the best. No one in the pack wants Charles, but they don’t want to break up the boys. Scott and Ted end up taking them, temporarily, until a better home can be found for them. Of course we know how that will end up! The kids were ok characters, Charles does transition from a little shit to a decent kid, and Timmy is just a sweet heart.
So here’s the thing with this book. I personally don’t care for insta-family any more than I do insta-love. I certainly don’t hate either, but I like my characters to have to work a little. As a couple and as a family. This book is all about insta-family. These two guys, who think that maybe at some point, in the distant future, they might want to have kids, are suddenly fathers of two partly grown boys. There is nothing wrong with that plot, and it works very well in this book. The men adapt, the boys adapt and seem to thrive, all is well. I can’t say anything negative about it, but it’s just not my favorite thing. It was all too easy. Yes there is some drama with another family wanting the boys, and some drama with the pack, but I knew it would all work out. A little fighting with the older boy, but it was just all very easy. It was sweet, it was well written, the plot all worked, the characters were good, and I liked it just fine. But I didn’t LOVE it.
This book is a good addition to this series, I liked seeing the other characters, and Scott’s mamma is a trip! There are humorous moments, sweet moments, and almost tearful moments. I like the community that is the Rougaroux pack, I like the balance in power between the male wolves and their mostly female mates. I like the small town feel of it all. I like that there are now three gay couples in this pack, they are starting to loosen up a bit and accept diversity. This is always a good thing to see!
Lynn has created a great world with this pack and wolves, if you are a werewolf fan you’ll probably like this series. I’d start at the beginning though, you’d probably be ok just picking this one up, but I think a reader would appreciate who these folks all are if you start at book one. They are all very enjoyable!
RATING: 
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