Bayou Bytes Blog

She Drives Me Crazy combines two of the best romance tropes in a combination similar to Red, White, and Royal Blue that I simply can't pass up. An accident forces together mortal enemies when gorgeous, popular Irene Abraham accidentally crashes into Scottie Zajac. When their parents arrive to work out the insurance details, they pretend to be friends to avoid some awkwardness. Maybe they were a little too convincing because now Scottie has to drive Irene to school until her car can get repaired. They spend a week antagonizing each other, until Scottie realizes that dating a perfect cheerleader like Irene would be just the thing to drive her ex crazy. So she proposes a fake dating scheme, and to her amazement Irene agrees.  Kelly Quindlen used two of my favorite tropes in this work, so I certainly enjoyed it. It's a sweet and simple plot with a lot of drama. But I enjoyed how Quindlen emphasized healthy relationships, healing post-breakup, and finding yourself before finding a...

In this dark retelling of Sleeping Beauty, Walter breaks down the classic elements to create a drastically different story. Alyce is half Vila, a Fae race known for their cruelty and destructive magic. Alyce isn't thrilled that her powers can only bring destruction, but her life selling petty curses to petty nobles isn't particularly awful.   Until she meets Princess Aurora, the last heir to the Briar throne. Like every woman in the royal line, Aurora is cursed and will die if she doesn't find true love by her twenty-first birthday. Her older sisters have already fallen victim to the curse, and if Aurora doesn't break it the line will end and the kingdom will fall into turmoil. Her parents present her with suitor after suitor in desperation, but Aurora would rather break the curse on her own. And who better to help her than Alyce. If Vila magic is responsible for the curse, maybe a Vila like Alyce is just the one to break it.  I thought that the demand for fairytale ret...

The Orsk furniture store is an Ikea rip-off in Cleveland, Ohio. It has a gigantic showroom, full of furniture with unpronounceable names arranged in a maze that will trap you for hours. Also it's haunted.  The first thing to know about this book is that the physical copy is stunning.   Hendrix was so committed to the knockoff Ikea concept that the book perfectly mimics an Ikea catalog. With a slightly disturbing furniture arrangement on its glossy cover, it's the exact dimensions of the real thing. The book opens to a map of the Orsk showroom and includes illustrations of relevant furniture pieces at the beginning of each chapter.   This is another story that toes the line between comedy and horror. The odd occurrences happening in the Orsk showroom after dark are classic haunted house moves, but they're combined with the horror that is working a retail job. The main character faces not only vengeful ghosts, but also coworkers who are...

 Evelyn Caldwell has just won an award for her groundbreaking clone research. She would be more excited about it if her husband (Nathan) hadn't stolen that research and cloned her in secret to create Martine. Programmed to be the perfect hostess and soft-spoken wife, Martine is everything Evelyn never was.   But when Nathan winds up dead, Evelyn and Martine must team up to make sure he won't be missed.   This book is a science fiction thriller. If you're looking for fast-paced adventure, this one won't be for you. Told from Evelyn's perspective as she struggles to process her husband's betrayal and her unnerving new partnership with Martine, The Echo Wife is much more of a slow burn. It deals with betrayal and abuse, and it gently touches on ethical questions like the personhood of clones. This is a pretty dark tale, but it's absolutely gripping.  When I first picked up this book, I had no idea what to expect. But the synopsis and cover were creepy enough ...