Review: Healing the Bayou by Mary Bernsen

What is a Queen without her King?

After learning that she is adopted, Eliza sets off to locate her biological family and finds them in the Louisiana bayou. But they’re more than just locals—they’re descended from the area’s most famous Voodoo queen, Marie Laveau—Eliza’s great-great-grandmother. Surrounded by a mysterious world of séances, spells, and sacrifices, Eliza finds herself worshiped as the last great priestess. What’s more, she’s inherited the ability to heal the souls of others with a simple touch of her hands.
Eliza is expected to cultivate this gift so she can claim her title as Queen and return the Voodoo community to glory. A task Eliza wouldn’t mind as long as she could perform it beside the devastating Samuel Mueller. But according to tradition, Samuel is her keeper, and a keeper never becomes romantically involved with his ward. His sacred duty is to protect her. And the bayou is rife with enemies who would sacrifice anything to eliminate outsiders like Eliza.

Review
I love reading books that are set in the Deep South of the US at the moment. There is something so charming and eerie about them at the same time. Healing the Bayou is no exception. I loved learning so much more about Voodoo. I found it really, quite intriguing.
The beginning of the book had me gripped pretty much from the start. Mary Bernsen's storytelling is certainly catchy, however I found that the latter half of the book seemed to all happen too fast. I wanted to know much more about the way things happened to the main character. Why she made decisions so quickly, for instance, when there was life and death to think about. And speaking of life and death, I did think it could have been a little deeper, a little darker. As it stands, I would think this book would appeal more to the YA audience. All in all though, I did enjoy it and I would certainly read more from this author.

Mary Bernsen is a southwest Florida native currently living in Punta Gorda with her two beautiful children and a third, much larger child that she affectionately calls husband. She is a stay-at-home mother and spends her days creating characters on the good side of twenty-five because she is in serious denial about the fact that she is now on the bad side of it. She has a passion for fantasy of any kind along with historical fiction. If she isn't having conversations with her made-up friends, you can usually find her clipping coupons or out on the boat enjoying the muddy waters of Peace River (as long as it isn't below 80 degrees).
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