I really enjoyed the unique world-building of this title and all the creativity the author put into developing the story. Luce is a police officer in a small Mississippi town, and is infamous for being rescued from a swamp (bayou) when she was ten with strange metal bands marking her skin and no memory of her past. She was adopted by a policeman who has protected her with the love of a true parent, but she has always wondered where she came from. When another woman is found in the swamp with the same markings, Luce hopes to get some answers with the help of a strange crew of security experts who arrive in town at the same time. The characters were well-developed and distinct and the dialogue was well done. The paranormal elements were very creative. My issue was with the writing itself: the figurative language (similes and metaphors) and inner dialoge of the main character were often a bit overdone - some similes were so long that I got lost in understanding the point by the end of the description. I think the writing could have been tightened up a bit without losing the humor the author was apparently aiming for. This is a world that I would like to visit again, and it looks like it's been set up for a series. I have high hopes that the author will continue to hone her writing and perhaps make it a bit easier on the reader in the future.

Bayou Born by Hailey Edwards
Where to start? There is so much to say and I want to be concise. I probably won't be. This could be an unintentional metaphor. The blurb gives one the plot outline, this review is to give an idea of the success of the storytelling.

Firstly, Hailey Edwards is an engrossing, creative storyteller. She knows how to build tension and pique curiosity. She unfolds a mystery (urban fantasy has elements of mystery) in a deliciously twisty way. She feeds character history and development organically into the story so it does not feel like a parenthesis to the plot. She does not make romance the motivation in a story but there lies the confusion and sometimes frustration. There is an intrigue of romance, the niggle of a Happily Ever After; however it is not always what is expected.

Because secondly, "What the heck is going on here? So that guy is not That guy, but I Like that guy, so what does she plan to do with Him? She better not kill him off because he is a darned Tortured Hero and a veteran besides, he deserves a happy ending. What the HEY is she planning, anyway?"

"Oh hmm, maybe those two will get together..."

These are not supernatural romance novels, regardless of our heroine's internal kidding and my wishes for romance in everything. There are teasing elements of romance but the story is Good overcoming Evil. If one were to take a literature or film studies approach they would be considered Everyman or Cowboy tropes. They are not classic HEA stories; sometimes the hero(ine) ends up walking away into the sunset, alone-ish. (Gawd I Hope Not. Puhleeeese, pretty please!?) There is the core of the story that is the intriguing mystery and ultimate conflict. There is the romance as subplot and there are secondary characters intertwined that grab the reader's concern. Because these characters are important to our heroine, Luce, they are important to us too. What will happen to Maggie? To Portia? What about Dad and Uncle Harold? Will they be okay? Please say they will be okay! This reader is rooting for ALL of the good guys.

Thus unfolds another Hailey Edwards urban fantasy series. The story has filled out secondary characters and a real plot. Each story is in itself semi-resolved - resolved enough to call it its own story but unresolved: another story is needed and then another until the series climaxes and works itself out (mostly) without the world ending in carnage and some sort of weird fae radiation.
Knowing that one is doomed to this sort of series and ending, why, one might query, bother with the suspense, the angst, of the journey? Don't we get enough crap in our day to day lives?

It is because of the promise that everything will be okay.
It might not be the perfect HEA but it will all work out. We need that light, the hope, at the end of the story.

Hailey Edwards takes us on a suspenseful ride through swamp and city with scary, human eating heroes and confused, possibly maleficent heroines to show us that our best selves can overcome not only our worst selves, but also other mean and scary things, and emerge, scuffed and bruised but ultimately victorious.

I always want more of her characters because I get lost in them and become invested in their lives. I want to know they will not only be okay but somehow thrive through the PTSD of all that trauma. Luce's story is no different.

Ms. Edwards, please hurry with the next in this series.

Postscript: Because I cannot read without noticing: there were very few editing errors in this galley. Yay!

This is a mystery thriller that moves into the type of fantasy territory I really was not expecting. Set in Canton, Mississippi, a strange wild child was found in a swampy bayou. She had odd markings on her body, and no memories of her past or even who she is. Adopted by a policeman, Edward Boudreau, 15 years later Lucy Boudreau has followed her beloved father to become a cop in Canton PD. She and partner, Rixton, have a missing person case, Angel Claremont, when they hear of a body in a bayou. On arrival, it is clear it is not Angel, but an adult woman with the same markings on her body as Luce. The White Horse security company hired by Angel's parents are on the scene and rescue the unconscious Jane Doe. Hope blooms in Lucy, perhaps at long last she will learn about who she is as there seems to be others like her. She has been desperate to find out more about herself and the mysterious calls she gets annually on her birthday from someone called Ezra. This is a dark, twisted and witty fairytale, a metaphorical Sleeping Beauty, who awakens to find there is no Prince, and there is a war to be fought for the soul of the world.

Luce finds herself working closely with Cole Heaton, the head of White Horse security and his team as her best friend, Maggie, disappears. Ever since she was found, Lucy has attracted highly intrusive and unwanted attention, both from townsfolk and the media, this multiplies considerably with the emergence of Jane Doe. With little progress in locating Angel, Lucy and Rixton lose their case to the FBI and Agent Kapoor. Lucy is determined to find Maggie as it seems there may be connections with the missing Angel. As Luce and Cole follow leads to identify Jane Doe and find Maggie, Luce finds that she is having to confront realities that challenge her to the core as to who she is, this has her feeling that sometimes ignorance is bliss. In a story that takes in betrayal, death, blood, danger and battle, Lucy adjusts to a new understanding of who she is and finds another home and allies, as well as her beloved father. This is a well written and entertaining story, full of humour and suspense, that I found to be a terrific read. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

Bayou Born by Hailey Edwards a fantasy of a five-star read. This is the first book in the foundling series, and all I need to know is, is when is the next book out!! I admit I am a die-hard Hailey Edwards fan so when I saw this I knew I had to inhale the words at a rate that I didn’t think was possible, I re-read it straight after as I read it so quickly I was scared I missed something. It was even better the second time around. This is the best book I have read by her, and that’s something. Lucy Boudreau is a young female police officer on the surface but underneath she is so much more, more even that I think we knew when we read the blurb. Found in the swamp 15 years ago by a police officer who becomes a farther figure to her, his influence made her the great woman and character she became.
There is so much going on in this story, there is a darkness and mystery to the swamp, and the people who surround it. There are some great plot twists and reveals that will have you gobsmacked. Sometimes the first book in a series can be all world building and character development but this book seemed to just be developed and amazing from the first page.
There is a great uniqueness and an openness to the writing that will leave you wanting more and more. When I finished the book, I needed a large drink I was left with so many questions and can’t wait for the next book in the series to answer some questions and I dare say pose some more.

Four and a half stars.

I'm a critical fan of Hailey Edwards' writing, sometimes I think she knocks it out of the park and other times I truly struggle to finish her books. Yet her writing is so fresh, interesting and different that I keep requesting her books. As I hadn't read the last couple of books in the Lorimar Pack series I wasn't sure whether this new series was a spin off or something totally different.

Lucy Boudreau is an enigma. She was found in the swamps of the Mississippi bayou as a young girl fifteen years ago. Her arms and shoulders are marked with metal bands, which resist all attempts at surgical removal. She heals unnaturally fast, she has lightening fast reflexes and she doesn't recognise the face in the mirror - ever! Lucy was adopted by the police officer who found her in the swamps and as a tribute to him she joined the police.

She and her partner are working a missing person case so when a female matching the description is found in the swamp, much like Luce herself was found, they rush to the scene. The young Jane Doe they find is still alive but being guarded by the most enormous alligator who clearly sees Jane as his dinner. Just when Luce and her 'uncle' Harold are running out of options to rescue Jane Doe a group of private security men from White Horse Security arrive on an airboat, they have been hired by the missing girl, Angel Claremont's family to track her down.

I spent a good deal of this book wondering what Luce and the people from White Horse Security and Jane Doe really are (and let me tell you it's a doozy). Clearly they are all 'other' but precisely what does not become clear for quite some time. This is most definitely a mystery wrapped up in a mystery as the reader discovers Lucy's history at the same time as Lucy and the White Horse Security team find out Jane Doe's identity and who has been kidnapping young women. Unfortunately because I think the revelations are SOOOO good, I can't tell you anything else.

Just, this is a totally new series that just blew me away, loved it!

4.5 stars

I received an ARC copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

This was my first book from the author so I didn’t really know what to expect. But Bayou born simply blown me away, it was so good. I’m lucky I got the chance to read it before the release date.

The plot starts out a bit sluggish and it took me a bit longer to get into it than usual, maybe because of the writing style or the slightly darker disposition of the story, but in the end it all changed and thing amped up. I really loved it, the action, and the intensity it presented.
What made it even more engaging, was the suspense surrounding the world building. At the beginning the world seems simple and common but you just know; feel from the first moment that something preternatural is going on. But the way it’s structured it takes quite a while until you gain some clue what’s going on, I personally couldn’t figure out the fantasy part until it was spelled out for me and I loved this part. The whole thing how behind everything there is a complex world hiding, shrouded in mystery. It creates a really great atmosphere for the events. Also the this paranormal element is quite unique if I can say so because the creatures the author uses not ones that you meet every day or at all and its rare nowadays, not to mention in this book we only see a small tip of the ice berg.

The plot is interesting and really well structured. I enjoyed every moment of it and it keeps the suspense on thorough the whole story and almost everything is just spot on. The action is incredible and the book is not at all predictable, but a bit darker than I thought it’s going to be. However at some occasions I found it a bit confusing and hectic and this is why I reduced half a star, but other than this I loved the book and that ending guarantees a definite craving for the next story.

The main character Luce is a peculiar one. She appeared out of nowhere when she was 10 and can’t remember anything before that. The unusual circumstances of her appearance gave her notoriety and people still doesn’t let her forget it. Not to mention the fact that she doesn’t feel as if she belongs or when she looks at her reflection she feels as if she and it are not the same. However, thanks to her adoptive father she had a good upbringing and she became a caring, hard working and honest person. She has a dry humor and a small inner circle but when it comes to what is right she strongly enforce it. All her life she was looking for answers of her heritage, but when she starts to get to the bottom of it they are not exactly the ones she expected. I really liked her, especially since even in the middle of her inner struggles she put others first.
Some of the people she gets the answers from are a group of odd characters. At first she is reluctant to trust them but as the story progresses she sees more and more behind the façade and reluctantly she starts to care about them. The members of this group are really interesting individuals and they all have intriguing stories, I can’t wait to get to know them even better.

As around half of the book, things start to escalate I enjoyed the book more and more until I ran out of pages. The story doesn’t exactly end on a happy ending and leaves a lot of opened questions but I was still satisfied how the conclusion worked out. After reading the epilogue my need for the second book got even stronger, because that little snippet hinting about the mysterious Ezra identity just got me even more fired up. This was a phenomenal book and if the author other books are similarly good then I got a new slew of books to binge on.