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by BJ Robinson

Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? James 2:5

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Mark 10:25

Born in New Orleans, I have always devoured books about the South. As an avid reader and lover as well as writer of such novels, I hope you will enjoy my bayou books titled Cypress Hideaway Bayou Series. There will be three novels in the series, and this is the first one.

Years ago, I visited Cutoff and loved it. Recently my husband and I vacationed in Grand Isle and drove through Golden Meadows and Cutoff. From the salty air, marshes, shrimp boats, crabs, seagulls, and sand to the purple and orange hues of the setting sun, I deeply love the area and love to visit. As a teen, I once read a book from the library I have not been able to find again. I can’t remember the name of it, but it was about a young girl who spent a summer in Grand Isle and had a friend she thought was real. Later, she discovers the little girl she played with on the beach had died years before. I think it was in a hurricane. Sure wish I could find that novel again. I loved it. One of my favorite things is riding down the bayou roads and being able to gaze at the water lapping and the shrimp boats. It’s like going down the river in a car. I love it and just enjoy riding down bayou roads gazing at the scenery.

Ever since I read that novel as a teen, I always wanted to visit Grand Isle, and I finally got to as an adult. My husband and I have often vacationed and fished there. I’ve read so many wonderful authors work just to read about the area, and I decided to write my own series about the place I love so much. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing the novels. The main character, Jo, has a choice of a lifetime to make, one that will impact her life and her future children’s. Will she make the right choice?

Cypress Hideaway is the first novel in the series and my current work-in-progress. A choice of a lifetime is the theme. Below is a short blurb about the first book in the three-book series:

Airboat swamp tour guide Josette (Jo) Breaux’s only problem is choosing between Victor Blanchard or Bernard Bergeron, two of the small bayou town’s most-sought-after men competing for her hand in marriage. To Jo, there’s really no competition. Bernard Bergeron is her best friend’s brother, and they’ve been pals since she was knee-high to a crawfish. Jo is comfortable around Bernard and can be herself. She loves his shining brown eyes, brown hair, handsome build, and his voice. He is hardworking, an animal lover, and would give anyone the shirt off his back. Bernard has a heart full of love to offer, and he’s deeply in love with her, but all he can offer is an old rundown camp on the bayou given to him by his parents, Cypress Hideaway.

Victor can offer a mansion when he inherits Sugarcane Plantation, but he is controlling just like his father. He has deep blue eyes and dark black hair and could have any girl he wanted, but he wants the one he can’t have, Jo. He expects her to dress befitting his lifestyle. That isn’t Jo. She’s just a tee shirt and jeans kind of gal.

Meanwhile, something is not right in Gumbo, Louisiana. Bayou country never has much crime, maybe a stolen boat motor or fishing boat, but never a murder. Jo calls the Chief of Police and Sheriff, Uncle Adam Landry, and reports her find. The town’s only road in and out becomes a crime scene when two men are run down and left for dead on the side of the road, like Louisiana road kill. Next, the body of a local fisherman is found in the bayou. How many more accidents can Jo stomach? Is there a bayou serial killer? Surely, all these deaths can’t be accidents. They say the bayou will heal you if it doesn’t kill you first. Will it heal Jo? Will Bernard’s shining brown eyes full of love and the love of a golden retriever be enough with Cypress Hideaway, or will the bayou killer strike again and take away the choice of a lifetime?

Since Jo is a Christian, she must use God’s Word in making her decision, and she bases it on the three above-captioned scriptures. Victor will be a rich unbeliever, but Bernard is a poor, humble believer, so whom do you think she will choose in the end? Meanwhile will a bayou killer take away the choice of a lifetime for some? Will the killer take away Jo’s lifetime choice? This is a sweet Christian romance, but also romantic suspense.

The first novel will be released in by September, if not before. Thanks to Donna Hale, beautiful covers have been made for all three novels in the series since I like to have my covers before I write the books.

The three scriptures above fit this novel beautifully, and if you’ve never read a bayou book before, I hope you will give these a chance. As you know Louisiana and Texas have problems with floods from all the rainfall. The last novel in the series ends on this note and how the people in the affected areas come together to help each other during a crisis, which brings to light God’s Word about loving your neighbor.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ©1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Bio

B.J. Robinson writes sweet romance, historical romance, short stories, and contemporary romance for the Amazon Kindle. She writes in various genres to provide reader choice. A mother of five and grandmother of thirteen, she hugs her children and grandchildren with prayer and was blessed to see two more graduate from high school this year. She loves animals and flowers and is also a fur-baby mom to a golden cocker spaniel named Sunflower, a golden retriever named Honi, and a husky named Cherokee. She is hard at work on Cypress Hideaway, and it is coming soon! Watch for it. If you would like to check out the selection of her work, please check her Amazon page at http://www.amazon.com/B.-J.-Robinson/e/B007DNJIKU/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1458731934&sr=1-2-ent