Book Review: Acadian Waltz by Alexandrea Weiss

I told you a couple of weeks ago that Alex had released another book (she has GOT to be the MOST PROLIFIC writer I read!), and I finally got through my pending books and got to Acadian Waltz, and I am SO happy I did!



SynopsisAt thirty, Nora Kehoe is feeling pressured to settle down. On a blind date, Nora unexpectedly ends up in the emergency room where she meets Dr. John Blessing. She hopes the pragmatic Dr. Blessing can make her life complete. Then, a passionate encounter with a childhood friend changes everything. The charismatic Jean Marc Gaspard manages the family business, Gaspard Fisheries. But rumors abound that Jean Marc is running more than seafood through the waters around Manchac Louisiana. 

When a family crisis sends Nora to Manchac, she is thrown headlong into the dangerous world of smugglers and swindlers. And as Jean Marc tries to protect Nora from his past, he realizes he may lose her because of it. The dark bayou waters run deep with secrets in Louisiana, and every Cajun knows how to dance the fine line between the right and wrong side of the law. But for strangers, learning the steps to staying alive in the swamps can be tricky. Life, and love, will be dependent on how well one can master the … Acadian Waltz



Review: Alexandrea always grabs me within the first 1 or 2 pages of her books. She knows NOLA, and it's people, and a simple question or paragraph about a truth about it, will grab you. In this case it was:


"My inner voice was hugely influenced by the city ... New Orleans nurtured a peculiar world infatuated with the Catholic rituals of sin and penance. Therefore, it should be no surprise that those of us who endured in this swamp-ridden land below the level of the sea had mastered the art of sin. In fact, we turned it into something of a tourist industry. It was the penance part that many of us had not quite gotten a handle on. But God, in his infinite wisdom, wanted to make sure that we were always reminded of our heavy feelings of culpability. That was why he created the greatest guilt-making machine of them all—the mother.

You Yankees may claim there is nothing more guilt-making than a Jewish mother, we Southerners know that a Southern Mama can run circles around her, unless she is a Southern Jewish Mama, then well, she owns the title, right? 

As such the book is about Nora breaking free of her mother's expectations, finding herself and balancing the thoughts of sin and penance, and how they have affected both her family and Jean Marc's. It is also a story of family and how love can smoother, and most women will really relate to the book. It IS a romance book, meaning it is ADULT in nature, but in that 'Catholic girl gone bad' type way, but it is nicely done, and mature, and not excessive! 

Like all of Alex's books, I finished it in one sitting, because I wanted to see how it was going to end! And how she would tie in Nora and Jean Marc's 'Acadian Waltz' that they started in childhood. Her uncle and his mother both attest that you 'find your true love' while dancing the Acadian Waltz, and that comment brought back some lovely memories of Swamp Fest at the Audubon Zoo a couple of years ago. Grace and I watched an elderly couple dancing the waltz to Beausoleil's music, and you could see the love they shared on their faces, and in every movement of the dance.All the younger women were watching them and smiling and hoping that it would be them one day. As the parents got up and took their kids out to the dance floor, you could see how the traditions remain true to this day. The book also brought to mind Mary Chapin Carpenter's 'Down at the Twist and Shout':

When they play you a waltz from 1910 
You gonna feel a little bit young again 
Well you learned to dance with your rock'n'roll 
You learned to swing with a do-si-do 
But you learn to love at the fais-so-do

If you've never seen the 'Cajun" waltz, it is hard to explain, so I found a video for you to watch. Watch the whole thing- by the middle you will see what we all mean, about finding 'the one'...



Alex did a lovely job tying it all together and giving the reader an enjoyable romp, full of NOLA memories, lore, traditions, identities and cultures. And it is all tied up in a nice little romance! Ya gotta love that!

Pick this one up if you haven't read any of Alex's book- it's the one to start with!




About the Author: Alexandrea is a registered nurse from New Orleans area, who has been  writing novels and screenplays for over twenty years. Her first novel, To My Senses, was a finalist for commercial fiction in Eric Hofer Book Awards, a finalist for romance in the Foreword Magazine book of the Year awards, and a finalist for romance in the USA Book Awards. Her second novel, Recovery, won the Gold Medal for best romantic suspense from The Reader's Favorite Book Awards and was named best Romantic Suspense by the NABE Pinnacle Book Awards in 2011. Her third book, Sacrifice, continued the Nicci Beauvoir Series. Her fourth book, highlighting her love of rehabbing wildlife, called Broken Wings, is now out in paperback and ebook.

Alexandrea is also a permitted wildlife rehabber with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries and when she is not writing, Ms. Weis is rescuing orphaned and injured wildlife. She lives outside of New Orleans with her husband and a menagerie of pets. Check out her blog site: http://alexandreaweiscom.blogspot.com/   and website: http://alexandreaweis.com






 Disclosure / Disclaimer:  I received this book free of charge, from the author, for review purposes. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.

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