Book 1 – How to Date Your Dragon
Anthropologist Jillian Ramsay’s career has taken a turn south.
Concerned that technology is about to chase mythological creatures out into the open (how long can Sasquatch stay hidden from Google maps?), the League for Interspecies Cooperation is sending Jillian to Louisiana on a fact-finding mission. While the League hopes to hold on to secrecy for a little bit longer, they’re preparing for the worst in terms of human reactions. They need a plan, so they look to Mystic Bayou, a tiny town hidden in the swamp where humans and supernatural residents have been living in harmony for generations. Mermaids and gator shifters swim in the bayou. Spirit bottles light the front porches after twilight. Dragons light the fires under crayfish pots.
Jillian’s first assignment for the League could be her last. Mystic Bayou is wary of outsiders, and she has difficulty getting locals to talk to her. And she can’t get the gruff town sheriff, Bael Boone, off of her back or out of her mind. Bael is the finest male specimen she’s seen in a long time, even though he might not be human. Soon their flirtation is hotter than a dragon’s breath, which Bael just might turn out to be…
Book 2 – Love and Other Wild Things
Welcome to Mystic Bayou, a tiny town hidden in the swamp where shape-shifters, vampires, witches, and dragons live alongside humans. The town formed around the mysterious energy rift in the bayou, which helps keep the town’s magic in balance. But lately the rift has been widening and destabilizing – threatening to send the town’s magical population into chaos.
Energy witch Danica Teel has been sent by the League to figure out what’s going on, with the help of bear-shifter Mayor Zed. While working on the case, Zed falls head over paws for Dani, but she’s reluctant to engage in anything beyond a roll in his cave. Dani’s family is counting on her to get the job done, and she has no time for distractions. But when an ominous presence begins stalking Dani through the bayou, they’ll need to band together to make it out alive.
Book 2.5 – Even Tree Nymphs Get the Blues
Ingrid Asher is the newest resident of Mystic Bayou, a tiny town hidden in the swamp where shapeshifters, vampires, witches and dragons live alongside humans.
Ingrid doesn’t ask for much. The solitary tree nymph just wants to live a quiet life running her ice-cream shop in peace. Unfortunately, she can’t seem to shake her new neighbor, Rob Aspern, head of the League’s data science department and so good looking it just isn’t fair.
If there’s one thing Ingrid doesn’t need, it’s someone poking around in her business. But the more she gets to know the hunky mathematician, the more she finds herself letting her guard down. Can she trust him with her secrets, or will her past destroy everything?
Book 3 – Selkies are a Girl’s Best Friend
Sonja Fong isn’t afraid of a little chaos. As director of the League’s research center in Mystic Bayou, a tiny town in Louisiana that’s home to supernatural creatures and humans alike, she’s responsible for making sure things run smoothly. It’s not an easy task when her daily memos include lines like “new equipment is needed because the old equipment was destroyed by a temper tantrum involving dragonfire.”
Her job puts her in the path of Dr. Will Carmody, a mysterious shifter who’s returned to Mystic Bayou after a long absence only to find that he’s now considered an outsider. To make matters worse, the rift – a tear in the fabric of the universe that is leaking supernatural energy into the bayou – is unraveling at an alarming rate. Now Sonja and Will must team up to fix the rift and save Mystic Bayou from certain disaster, all while their own romance is heating up. Can they have a future together while the whole world is falling apart?
Book 4 – Always be my Banshee
Cordelia Canton is on a top-secret assignment: travel to Mystic Bayou and use her powers as a touch-know psychic to learn more about the mysterious artifact that’s been pulled from the rift site. She’s partnered with Brendan O’Connor, a rare male banshee whose tall, dark, and broody good looks are a major distraction. Before long, it becomes clear that the artifact they’re studying is sentient—and brimming with supernatural power. Can they harness its magic in time to stop the secret forces conspiring to steal it?
Book 4.5 – One Fine Fae
Charlotte McBee knows she’s in for a challenge when she accepts a job as midwife for a dragon and a phoenix shifter. Being a fairy herself, it isn’t the supernatural world that scares her. It’s the thought of delivering a giant metal dragon’s egg, which has her gritting her teeth in pain for poor Jillian, the anxious mother-to-be.
While preparing for the big event, a handsome town resident catches her eye. Leonard is kind, charming and a little bit mysterious. He’s also suffering from a highly unusual condition brought on by an ancient fairy curse, and he’s too wary of Charlotte to allow her to get close. Will love overcome fear before the end of her assignment?
Book 5 – Shifters in the Night
Lia Doe came to Mystic Bayou for one simple reason: to get her job done. Namely, to build a housing complex for all the new residents flocking to town since word of its supernatural population got out. But from the moment Lia arrives, it’s clear that nothing about the job is going to be simple.
First, there’s the mysterious guy she meets in the middle of the night while they’re both cavorting in their alternate forms. Spending time with shapeshifters is nothing new to Lia, but there’s something special about Jon Carmody—and the magical pull she feels whenever he’s near. There’s also a sense of homecoming and belonging in Mystic Bayou that makes her want to stick around—despite the dangers brewing from mysterious forces.
Will Lia complete her project with her heart unscathed, or will her life shift forever?
My Review
I listened to these through Audible and the numbers above reflect the full series numbers as they have it listed and not as Amazon has it. I completely loved these stories. The characters are well drawn and enjoyable, their shenannigans were funny and the overall storyline was interesting and kept moving.
The cast of characters in this series makes a terrific team and you see them all regularly. They are consistent in their personalities and voices throughout the series. You can feel the closeness of the residents in Mystic Bayou and the pride they have in their little corner of the swamp. I love the unspoken rules they live by – like don’t ask what someone else is. It’s rude. You need to be smart enough to figure it out or if it comes up somehow in conversation. And never, ever choose your own pie!
La Maison de Fou features in every book at some point. It’s described so well it’s almost a character on it’s own. It certainly lends character to the little town of Mystic Bayou.
In How to Date Your Dragon we meet Jillian, who has been sent to Mystic Bayou by The League of Interspecies Cooperation to find out more about Mystic Bayou where humans and fae have lived together peacefully for generations, and the sheriff Bael Boone. The residents are not sure what to make of the attention from the League and Jillian has a hard time connecting with them. The good sheriff has no idea what to do with the woman that’s captured his heart and his failed attempts to woo her are as heartfelt as they are funny. Then there’s the mystery of La Fael. Why is it there? What is happening to those closest to it?
In Love and Other Wild Things the League sends Danica to Mystic Bayou to figure out what’s going on with the rift and try to stabilize it before anyone else is affected. She has to work closely with bear shifter Mayor Zed, which is an adventure. They work together to figure out what’s going on at La Faille and keep the residents safe.
Even Tree Nymphs Get the Blues was actually the first book I listened to in the series. I picked it up as a monthly freebie when that was how the Audible program worked and listened to it one day while I was making a long drive. We met Ingrid, a charming dairy farmer / tree nymph and Rob, a mathmetician for the League. Ingrid is new in town and converts the old post office into an ice cream shop and Rob is her neighbor. He’s usually pretty good with the ladies, but she is so withdrawn that he really has to work hard to earn her trust.
Selkies are a Girl’s Best Friend brings the legendary (and slightly terrifying) Sonja Fong to Mystic Bayou. The doer of everything and knower of all is a force to be reckoned with and she’s there to help Jillian, her best friend, keep order in the chaos that is the unravelling of La Faille. At the same time, Will, a resident that left years ago be become a doctor has finally returned to town. He’s been gone so long he’s been relegated to outsider as well. Sonja finds some discrepencies in the finances and her investigation gains attention from the wrong folks and things at La Faille really heat up. These two are quite delightful together.
Always be my Banshee brings touch-know Cordelia and Brendan, a banshee, to Mystic Bayou to figure out the mysterious, and sentient, artifact pulled out of the water at La Faille. They are both loners because of their abilities and working together allows them time to build their relationship and come out of their respective shells. I thought this was going to be the last installment in the series but there’s two more and that made me so happy!
One Fine Fae brings Charlotte, a fairy midwife, to Mystic Bayou to handle the phoenix / dragon pregnancy (which has some hilariously terrible moments for poor Jillian). Leonard’s family was cursed by faries a long time ago and any time he gets agitated, he gets extremely clumsy. Like catastrophically clumsy. They carefully navigate their way around each other to help Jillian and maybe, just maybe, fall in love.
Shifters in the Night brings Lia and her team into Mystic Bayou to build more permanant housing for the surge of people that have come to town due to the magical population being outed. She runs into Jon, Will’s reclusive brother, while out on a nighttime run. The author completely embraces all of the things that have happened in town when she says “in a move that would bite him in the ass later, Jon put the sunglasses in his pocket and promptly forgot about them.” They all have acknowledged that bad things happen in town and have told newcomers to tell them if anything seems off or weird or anything. Attempted murder, assaults, blah blah blah. TELL THEM about anything weird. And he doesn’t do it. And it totally bites him in the ass.
I thoroughly enjoyed this series and admire Molly Harper for being able to keep everything within the world consistent and fun. Zed’s story about the town founding will always make you smile. He does love his embellishments! And everyone’s reactions to it are always the same. Overall, this series is light and funny and heart melting. I recommend it to anyone looking for a lovely listen and who enjoys a terrific group of literary pals. There is mature content so don’t have it playing around the littles if you want to avoid awkward questions. Especially about those dents in the wall . . .
You can find the Mystic Bayou Sereis on Amazon and Audible . As an Amazon associate I earn on qualifying purchases.
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