BOOK REVIEW: Just the Trouble I Needed / Lauren Faulkenberry

TITLE: Just the Trouble I Needed (Bayou Sabine, #2.5)
AUTHOR: Lauren Faulkenberry
PUBLISHER: Blue Crow Books
PURCHASE LINK: Amazon

GENRE
Contemporary Romance

REVIEW
Seeking a refuge from her chaotic life, Kate McDonnell agrees to dogsit for a friend in another town. There’s one problem: the last time she visited the Bayou, she had a fling with the town’s good-looking sheriff, Andre, and she’s not sure where they stand. When the two meet up again, sparks are reignited. But Kate isn’t ready for a new relationship so soon after her last one blew up…

Just the Trouble I Needed is a lovely contemporary romance novella by Lauren Faulkenberry, full of character and charm. The whole thing is really well-written, especially the descriptions of emotions. It’s easy to feel as Kate feels, to find yourself wrestling with the same complexities as she does. As for Andre, well, what’s a romance without a swoon-worthy love interest? ;-) I love that he’s not a stereotypical “alpha male,” but has emotional depth of his own (and more than Kate gives him credit for at first). The two have great chemistry, and it’s easy to root for them. I also appreciated the lush descriptions of the setting and the way it seems to be a character as well.

While this novella is part of a series (the Bayou Sabine series), it stands on its own. I hadn’t read any of the other books before diving in, but I had no trouble getting into the story.

Sometimes, you just want a quick romantic read full of human drama and sympathetic characters, and Just the Trouble I Needed really hits the spot! It’s a fun, fast-paced read that gets you right in the feels.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lauren Faulkenberry is author of the novel BAYOU MY LOVE (Velvet Morning Press, 2016), the novella BACK TO BAYOU SABINE, and the children's book WHAT DO ANIMALS DO ON THE WEEKEND? She is a contributor to the anthology HUNGRY FOR HOME: Stories of Food from Across the Carolinas With More Than 200 Favorite Recipes. 

Lauren divides her time between writing, teaching, and making artist books. Originally from South Carolina, she has worked as an archaeologist, an English teacher, and a ranger for the National Park Service. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Georgia College & State University, where she attended on fellowship, and earned her MFA in Book Arts from The University of Alabama. She was a finalist for the Novello Festival Press First Novel Award, won the Family Circle short fiction contest for her story "Beneath Our Skin," and was nominated for an AWP Intro Award. 


She currently lives in western NC, where she is at work on her next novel in the Bayou series.