Officially done with this series. It is silly but it has an interesting idea. Unfortunately it also has a love triangle that is now a love square. This leads to much angsting over pretty boys (which all love our druggy, commitment-phobic MC) while in the midst of real danger. Blech. DONE. ( )

Loved it! Can't wait for the next one. Is there a next one? ( )

*No spoilers.

Immediate reaction after reading the last word:

Ugh. I'll get around to a gripe-fest at some point.

After some reflection:

Oh, Annabelle. What happened to you, my dear? When did you become such a twat? I had grown so fond of you in Dead on the Delta. I told all my friends about you. I cared for you. I commiserated with you about stupid Hitch and your unresolved feelings towards him. When you felt pain, I felt pain. When you took the stinky cat home, I loved you even more. When you made jokey-jokes, I laughed. When you nearly died a bunch of times, I cringed. When you’d survive by the skin of your teeth, I’d cheer. But now… after the shitfest that is book 2… you are nearly dead to me and I have no qualms about that.

I’m all for women’s liberation and sexual expression and all that jazz, but Annabelle’s headed towards Ditzy Slutland and she’s headed there on the express train. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t remember there being a love square in book 1. Love triangle, yes. Love square, not so much. Slut is definitely the wrong word, cuz, truth be told, she’s not sleeping around and even if she was, I'd be okay with that. What I'm not okay with is her jumping from relationship to relationship and pretending that either is meaningful. You don't give a shit about those guys, Annabelle! You had me fooled and feeling for you, but I see you now and I'm not liking you so much. She really needs to get it together. This chick struggles throughout the whooooole book with her "feelings" for 2 guys that have thus far played major roles in the story in terms of love interests. I get that, but how in the fuck does she then, near the very end of the book, end up with what’s behind door number 3 with nary a warning?! WTFuckity fuck?! When did Tucker become an option for an LTR? That shit was silly. I’m mad. She said she loved Cane. She came to that conclusion! Then a few minutes later she realizes how amazing Tucker is and they live happily ever after with a kid to boot?Total BS.

Aside from her horrific love choices in this books, the story was painful to read. It was pretty dumb and inconsistent. Super-stupid things happened. Here are just a few things:

- Making out in the middle of a highly dangerous situation. Like, imminent death-type situation. Like, blaring-alarm-is-blaring-that-you-should-escape-NOW type of situation. I say you deserve the imminent death for that.

- Looooong conversations/flirting in the middle of highly dangerous situation. Like, imminent death-type situation. See above for more.

- Jumping to conclusions. I hate, with a passion, when any heroine thinks that someone close to her has wronged/betrayed/deserted her and they immediately dismiss that person without a second thought. Dismiss as in they now forever hate that person and can’t believe they EVER trusted them even when it’s clear that they wouldn’t do that and if you just wait 2 goddamn minutes, you will see the bigger picture, you stupid twat.

- Unnecessary build-up/reference to something that never happens.
K. So Annabelle goes through a very hairy situation when she goes through the gate and the little creatures are banding together to kill her/toss her and truck into the swamp. This scene is pretty intense and it was good. When she finally gets through and continues on, she makes it a point to wonder how in the hell she will make it back, since she has to go home the same way. After her visit with the grimy dude, this is completely ignored. The next chapter starts with her at home or some other location. How did she make it back unscathed? Why wasn’t this addressed? I was waiting for it, so unless I missed something (pls correct me if I'm wrong), then that was unecessary build-up.

- RIDICULOUS and nonsensical banter and inner dialogue with and about a “super-scary bad guy” during an imminent death situation:

I pull my hand from the gun and come slowly back to my feet. “Nice shoes. Converse?”
“Gotta have my Converse.”
“I thought you were a work boot kind of guy.”
“Only when I’m working.” A grin blooms at the center of his corpulent face like a toothy flower, lips curling until I can see his cotton candy pink gums. He’s a flosser, this one. His mouth is practically glowing with health. I think about complimenting him on that...

AYFKM??!!! At this point, I'M praying for imminent death just to make this nightmare of a book end.

There’s more. I have a bunch of notes, but I can’t. I just can’t. I will read the next book. Because of how much I loved book 1, I will buckle down and read it, but at this point, Annabelle is nearly on par with Richelle Mead’s Eugenie - my most-hated heroine to-date. Tread lightly, Annabelle. Tread lightly. ( )

I was so, so looking forward to this book. Checked Amazon every month or two for a release date, pre-ordered it the second the buy button went live. I mean, really looking forward to it. I loved [b:Dead on the Delta|9467196|Dead on the Delta (Annabelle Lee, #1)|Stacey Jay|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327890979s/9467196.jpg|14352253]. I loved the paranormal/Southern Gothic/gritty/grimy/love triangle tangle of it all.

But BLOOD ON THE BAYOU is barely squeaking by with three stars here. Most of it is about finding, and shutting down the mysterious covert activity taking in some underground swamp caves. But the way the book is structured, with the whole thing taking place during a brief window of time and most of the pages full of heart-pumping action scenes, Jay never manages to explain what's actually going on in the cave. There are a few really confusing infodumping sessions where we get a whole tangle of acronyms - I mean, seriously, the FCC, the FBI, the CIA, some dastardly corporate entities. There's all kind of double-crossing and lying and by the end, I only had a very vague notion of what the main plot was actually about.

And then there's Hitch and Cane. Your typical love triangle, with the solid, trustworthy guy you take for granted and the exciting interloper who offers wilder emotional highs and lows. Done really well, with some adult twists on the popular theme (like Hitch's pregnant fiancé), and heaps of angst. Well, Blood on the Bayou adds a third guy to the mix - Tucker, who's mysterious and attractive and works for the highly terrifying Big Man. Tucker is charming and easy to like but his presence tips the balance from "believable, heart wrenching romantic drama" towards "silly, eye-rolling romantic drama." I just didn't buy it. Annabelle is juggling three super hot guys who are all into her, and then...well, the ending blindsided me, but in a bad way.

It's a huge disappointment to have such high expectations dashed. I'll keep reading the series, at least for another book, because I still like the concept and the characters, but I'm bummed. ( )