The Red-Hot Cajun

March 21, 2005
Burned out as a Washington, D.C., environmental lobbyist, René LeDeux retreats to his remote Louisiana Bayou Black cabin to regroup at the start of Hill's spicy conclusion to her Cajun Bad Boy series (Tall Dark and Cajun
, etc.). In temporary residence is Tante Lulu, René's 79-year-old matchmaking great-aunt, who's in her usual rare form, planting plastic St. Jude statues all over the place, stitching up bridal quilts for those wild Cajun nephews of hers and waiting for the "love thunderbolt" to strike. When a couple of René's eccentric "tree-hugging" pals kidnap TV anchorwoman Valerie Breaux and abandon her on René's doorstep, Tante Lulu figures her prayers have been answered. Not René; the last thing he wants is a woman in his world, especially Val, with whom he shared an embarrassing high school sexual disaster. Ditto for Val. Recently canned for refusing to spice up her news stories with tabloid-style segments, she just wants to get back and raise hell about her dismissal. But Tante Lulu (and St. Jude) have other ideas. While the ending is a little overdone, Hill's thigh-slapping humor and thoughtful look at the endangered Louisiana bayou ecosystem turn this into an engaging read.

February 1, 2019

A former environmental lobbyist has his Bayou life thrown into chaos when his ecoactivist friends kidnap a TV personality (who turns out to be his high school crush), and he's left to sort it all out. Serious social and environmental issues are balanced by his Tante Lulu's determined matchmaking and Hill's sassy humor. This fan favorite was first published by Warner Forever in 2005.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2005
As Hill goes Cajun once again, as in " The Cajun Cowboy " [BKL Je 1 & 15 04], all Rene LeDeux wants is a little peace in the sanctuary of Louisiana's Bayou Black after his stint as an environmental lobbyist in Washington, D.C., losing battle after battle to big businesses and interest groups who couldn't care less about the planet. But instead he must fight an even bigger battle: his tree-hugging activist friends have kidnapped " Trial TV" celebrity Valerie "Ice" Breaux and brought her to Bayou Black to get media attention for their cause. To make matters worse, Rene, a Cajun, and Valerie, a Creole, share an antagonistic past. Hill has put more of everything in this book--more hot sex, a more serious subtext (both Rene and Valerie were abused as children), and a lot more information on bayou ecology and the effects of a changing environment--adding up to a brimming romance for people who like to laugh, people who like to cry, and people who are concerned with the current status of the earth. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)