Blue Bayou: Callahan Brothers Trilogy by JoAnn Ross

                Lately I have noticed a trend in romance books.  Quite often there is a series of books that all have to do with family members and occasionally friends.  Most frequently this is with brothers, in my experience.  I am not sure why brothers more than other combinations.   Not that there is anything wrong with this.  It is just something to contemplate.

                This series centers around three brothers from Louisiana.  The first book, Blue Bayou, is about Jack.  As a teenager he was run out of town by Judge Dupree, his mother’s boss and the father of the girl, Danielle, with whom he was involved.  Judge Dupree felt he knew better than others, especially Danielle, and was not going to have his daughter involved with the local bad boy.

                After Jack leaves, he and Danielle do not see each other.  Danielle does not know her father had a hand in Jack’s leaving and believes he simply left.  Heartbroken, Danielle has to move on as best she can, marrying an up and coming politician, having a son, and moving away from home.  Jack becomes a DEA agent who, after nearly losing his life, starts writing greatly successful novels.  When he returns home, Jack buys Judge Dupree’s old house.  Judge Dupree has been in jail for years and the grand home is falling apart.  Determined to restore the house to its former glory, Jack has every carpenter in the area working on the project.  This is not a problem, until Danielle returns to town.

                When Danielle’s husband leaves her for another woman, and dies in an accident, Danielle decides to move back to where she grew up.  Her father is about to be released from jail and she wants to create a relationship with him as they never did when she was a child.  She takes a job as the local librarian and is excited to begin her career.  Upon arrival, Danielle sees the library up in flames.  As devastating as this is, all hope is not lost.  The damage can be fixed.  There is just one problem; Jack has all the carpenters.  Danielle needs to ask him if she can remove some from his project and onto hers.  This would mean seeing him face to face after years of hurt feelings and secrets.  While Danielle does not know the real reason for his leaving, Jack does not know a secret Danielle is keeping herself.

                Jack and Danielle was a good couple to start out the series.  Their love was already established, they just had to find it again and work through past hurts.  The other brothers were introduced, giving an idea as to what the next two books may be like.  Each one is definitely going to be different.