Say It Like You Mane It

This book - wow. And Zander and Caroline - double wow. From the first sentence, this book just hooks you in and takes you along for the ride. I just loved Zander’s protectiveness and his inner monologues. I also loved Caroline’s joy and light. Zander is a cop in small town Autre where his entire extended family lives. He believes his purpose is to keep everyone safe. Caroline shows up one day in a wedding dress carrying a baby lion that she wants to surrender to the animal park. Zander realizes she is his soulmate the moment that he sees her but he is determined not to give in to it. But with Landrys, “they loved big, and loud, and hard, and had no problem falling head over heels in the blink of an eye,” so Zander is fighting a losing battle from the first moment he saw Caroline in her tiara. Zander and Caroline’s journey to their HEA has a little bit of everything - three dimensional characters, witty dialogue, and engaging storylines plus sweet moments, fan your face steam, side splitting hilarity, tearful scenes, a tiny amount of danger/mystery, and all the heart squeezing love you can handle. This book is fun, of course with a large crazy bayou family involved, but also expect to cry, swoon, and cheer along with your snorting laughter. I love all the bayou stories and the loud Landry family, but Zander has now taken over the spot for my favorite H of all time.

Princess Thuy

654 reviews9 followers

I know I probably say this with every new book Erin Nicholas releases but Say It Like You Mane It is my new favorite. Caroline and Zander were just so much fun to read. We've got a romance reading hero who's also got a bad boy vibe even though he's the town cop? Protective, brave, hot, and a romantic at heart? Talk about my dream hero. And Caroline. She's got so many layers to her. I loved how she kind of came into her own. Realizing how much potential she had in herself. Loved her self discovery as well as Zander's. These two were simply amazing together. Chemistry was off the charts. The Landry family was of course at their best loving selves. And let me warn you, there is a tissue warning in this book. I still think about that wonderful heartwarming scene that just brought tears to my eyes. I seriously love this family and this series so much! I'm still happy sighing and smiling just thinking about these two and the rest of the Landrys. I really do highly recommend this story and any other ones Ms. Nicholas has written.

*I voluntarily read an advance copy of this book*

Shannon Ferguson

738 reviews9 followers

January 7, 2022

WOW. I don't even know where to start with this review except WOW. Erin Nicholas has taken her writing to a whole new level in this book, and she does not disappoint! The emotions she drew out of me in this book ranged from heart pounding moments, to heart warming. Zander and Caroline's characters compliment each other so well, and they bring out the side of each other that most can't. I don't want to say much more to ruin it for anyone, except you NEED to one click this asap!

Donna Smith

1,074 reviews8 followers

Zander was going to be a bachelor forever. He didn’t have time or room in his life for an all encompassing love. Too bad Caroline walked into his grandmother’s bar.
So normally I give a synopsis of what the book is about but I have to tell you that Zander is one of my favorite heroes of Ms. Nicholas. And that’s saying a lot since all of her heroes tend to be at the top of my list. He is a protective alpha who feels he’s always right in the actions he takes. He knows he can’t do it alone but lets very few people in. He gets to have fun with his crazy family but enjoys his quiet fishing time. Never too far from the community he serves as police officer. His desires come second to his responsibility.
Caroline is really complex and surprised me throughout this book. She is not what she first appears to be. My respect for her was high in the beginning and only went up as the pages turned. I can’t tell you why since that will ruin the story. Her journey needed a Zander more for support than to rescue her. She could rescue herself a million times over.
Top 3 things that I adore about this book
1 Zander’s inner dialogue. Made me crack up so hard that I dared not eat while reading
2 Ellie and Zander’s discussion about safety and family. Had me in actual tears
3 All of the development between Zander and Caroline. He tried to keep her at arms length but kept pulling her back in. Then pushing her away and so on. His reluctance to be everything for her and fall for her was a struggle to say the least.

Payton Box

572 reviews7 followers

January 21, 2022

Wow, Say It Like You Mane It had me feeling so many different feelings as the book progressed. I also want to just say, with emphasis, that the tension between Zander and Caroline was so palpable, I literally felt like I was in the room with them. Erin Nicholas was spectacular at writing their facial expressions, body language, and every other non-verbal type of communication. Say It Like You Mane It just shows how much Erin Nicholas is improving in her writing and growing with each book because each book is honestly better than the last.

Caroline's introduction and the first few chapters where you get to know her and learn her personality are so much fun. She kept Zander on his toes the entire book, but Zander also kept Caroline on hers, which was something she was not used to. Both of their inner monologues were so much fun and added so much to their story with small moments and thoughts!

Simply Love Book Reviews

6,921 reviews820 followers

February 2, 2022

Say It Like You Mane It isn’t the first book I’ve read where the hero meets the heroine wearing a wedding dress, but it is the first one where she’s also carrying a lion cub. So starts the next book in Erin Nicholas’ Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild series. This instant attraction, seemingly opposites attract story was filled with humor, heart, and emotion.

Zander Landry knows his day of fishing is not happening when the beautiful bride walks though his Grandmother’s bar/restaurant. He just has no clue how much Caroline Holland will change his life or how quickly he realizes he wants to protect her like he does everyone in his small town. Being the law in the town he takes his job seriously and all he knows is a woman in a wedding dress, wearing a tiara, and toting a lion cub is bound to make his job harder.

Zander has always had a bit of an attitude about love and long term relationships for himself, he knows it exists as he sees it all around him every day, but with his job he’s always known that alone was the way to be until Caroline stumbles into his life. Zander is the small town cop, hell raising, country boy determined to keep everyone safe. Caroline is high society, prim and proper, and determined to take down people doing wrong with her friend Max.

I loved how there was so much more to Caroline than meets the eye. Until age 13 she had a somewhat normal home life and then was thrust into a life of privilege and began to see the greed and wealth around her and the shady dealings going on. Fearful of her father and brother getting in too deep, Caroline started working undercover and feeling information to her journalist friend Max. Everyone in her family and her father’s circle under estimated Caroline, wrote her off as some bobble headed blond but underneath her exterior is the soul of a warrior much like Zander.

Caroline kept Zander on his toes at every turn which was fun to watch because the normally unflappable Zander wasn’t even sure which way was up throughout most of this book. He knew they had chemistry, he knew he was feeling something, but he didn’t want to feel it and that made him a bit more grouchy than normal, but even that didn’t faze her. The way she jumped in at the animal rescue and endeared herself to the people in town including Ellie and Leo when she helped them with a project to honor their family and friends at the bar.

Erin Nicholas writes with so much heart and Say It Like You Mane It was filled with emotion, family, secrets, laughter and love. It was impossible to put down and another amazing addition to this series.

Review copy provided for a voluntary review.

simply-love-sharon

Cheryl

1,385 reviews8 followers

Every time I finish an Erin Nicholas book, especially in the “Gone Wild” series, I think that she can’t possibly top this story/couple/hero/heroine. She’s proven me wrong again…and I don’t mind a bit!
If you’ve read the series, and I’m assuming you have (and if you haven’t, shame on you, so start binge reading NOW) you’ve at least gotten a taste of who each Landry, or Landry-adjacent, character is. So sexy cop Zander has been portrayed as dedicated and serious about both his job and his fishing time. He loves and protects his family…those who are his blood, those who have partnered with them and honestly, anyone else in their orbit.
But until Zander got his own story, we never knew just much he had resting on his shoulders, and how that affects him. It takes a beautiful blonde, wearing a wedding dress and carrying a lion cub to throw his orderly life into complete chaos! Caroline is a bit of a chameleon (hey, can we add chameleon to the petting zoo/animal rescue on the bayou?!) and she intrigues Zander from the moment she walks into Ellie’s.
What follows had me laughing, swooning and tearing up with emotion. Zander has definitely met his match, which surprised both Zander himself and this reader, too! They were the most complex and unexpected match up in the series…at least so far, because I’m not sure what Ms. Nicholas has in store for Knox and Fiona…or any number of new characters we were introduced to in this book. Because I’m hoping to stick around the bayou for a long, long time to come!
So I’m making this declaration again. Zander Landry is my favorite boy of the bayou!

Margie

1,635 reviews12 followers

January 20, 2022

If you're feeling blah I suggest you pick up an Erin Nicholas book. Take this one, for example, Say It Like You Mane It which is the sixth book in the Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild series. It will have you smiling and out-and-out laughing in no time. First, Autre, Louisiana is full of crazy. But crazy will make you laugh. In this book you have a runaway bride, Caroline Holland, wearing a $300,00 wedding dress and a tiara worth $50,000 and Zander Landry the grumpy Autre cop who tries to resist Caroline but fails. I loved how Mr. Super Protective Zander wanted to keep Caroline safe and protected and how he then realizes how strong and smart Caroline is. So this book brings, laughs, family and friends camaraderie, taking down some bad guys to save animals, love and hot sexy scenes. Oh! If you need some sage advice be sure to stop in at Ellie's Bar and talk to Ellie. You'll be glad you did.

I received an ARC and this is my honest review.

Luisa Baudino

278 reviews2 followers

dual-pov first-responders nerdy-heroes

Omg everyone go read Zander and Caroline because they are simply too good to be true!

Just imagine a damsel in distress cinderella style, when she flies from the ball. Except she’s actually a heiress, she doesn’t have mice but a lion cub with her and not a glass slipper but a tiara. Oh yes and she arrives in the most beautiful place of all the bayou, Ellie’s, flying from her wedding.
So more like a runaway bride, ok, but still, she gave me cinderella vibes in the beginning.
And what better Prince Charming for her than hot bayou cop Zander Landry? If the surname isn’t enough just know that he’s part of a romance book club and thinks in terms of romance novels too! It’s amazing and hilarious at the same time and of course being a Landry he falls hard and fast! but he’s fighting it with all his power and that makes it even more enjoyable than usual to see him fight it and at the same time feeling it’s inevitable.

Anyway I digress. Zander meets his match with Caroline, both of them being so set on justice and protecting people and they are adorable! And I just loved seeing a lot of new characters being introduced, the bayou is full of opportunities and I can’t wait to see more of everyone! Just wait until you meet Beau, Max, Spencer, Theo, Michael and everyone else and you’ll want more too! And after that epilogue? May cannot come early enough, I NEED KNOW AND FIONA!!!

brownie points for who’s been around Erin Nicholas long enough to be shouting “OMG I cannot believe they’re talking about Will and Emily!” at the bookclub session at Trahan’s (go check out the Billionaire Bargains series otherwise, it’s great!)

Jennifer

483 reviews6 followers

January 20, 2022

When you love an author and love the way they write romance, you expect a certain book. But when they add just a touch of intrigue to their writing, well they blow your mind with how good that book is. Say It Like You Mane It was that book for me. I've read all of Erin Nicholas' books and have loved them all. But there was something about Say It Like You Mane It that had me wanting more! Zander is a smitten kitten from the moment he lays eyes on Caroline in her stunning wedding dress...but like any good bayou boy he fights it with his grumpiness and scowl. Caroline is running away from a marriage she never wanted with a stolen lion cub. She's definitely not looking for love. But that's exactly what she finds with Zander. And she finds so much more while she is in the Bayou with the Landry's. She finds out who she is and what she wants to be. A great story from a great author that I promise you will love.

Kay Daniels (Kay Daniels Romance)

1,491 reviews43 followers

contemporary-love hero-contemporary romcom

An insta-attraction, slow-burn romance with a protective cop....oooooh yeah!!

Zander Landry is super adorable. He secretly reads romance books and his inner monologue regarding all of the romantic thoughts that twist around the new blonde in town are so funny. He may just be my favorite Landry yet.

Zander is very aware of the Landry love curse. He's been a first hand witness to all of his family members falling in love one by one, so when he first meets Caroline, he isn't shocked of feeling big things. However, he still fights getting stuck in love because he's very happy being a bachelor. Zander is also very aware of all of the romantic feelings with all of the romance books he reads. He's no dummy, but he continually berates himself that he needs to switch up his reading to something else. It's hilarious.

Zander is uber protective of his town, his family, and even Caroline the moment she steps foot in Autre. It's in his nature to make sure everyone who enters his town is safe and that no funny business happens while strangers are there. Caroline definitely brings danger, funny business, and a hot package all wrapped up in one. The quicker she leaves the better he'll feel, he hopes.

Caroline is super cute and no dummy. She just might be the perfect fit for not only Zander, but the entire big, boisterous Landry family. Zander needs to work fast on getting her out of his town if he wants to keep his bachelor status. LOL.

I loved, loved, loved this new addition to the Boys of Bayou collection and don't worry this isn't exactly the end of this beloved family. Erin gives us a peek into where she's taking the Bayou Boys and I'm really excited on the new adventure.

Julie Booklover

981 reviews21 followers

I loved reading this book. I was anticipating crazy but got much, much more. Caroline arrives in town in a designer wedding gown, not that anyone notices the label or cares. Delivers an illegal lion cub with her roll-away luggage and a tiara! There goes Zander’s date with the fish.

I enjoyed watching Zander squirm, the depth of Caroline’s character, and her best friend Max. But, I knew it would take a special woman to make Zander fall.

Thank you to the Author for the advanced copy; this is my voluntary review.

2022 arc jan

Queen B

866 reviews13 followers

April 27, 2022

I’ve been anxiously awaiting Zander’s story for a while, but I don’t think I quite understood how serious he really was.

Caroline rolls into town wearing a designer wedding dress and carrying an illegally obtained lion cub. But instead of being the pampered, runaway heiress she appears to be, she’s actually collecting information on all the criminals she interacts with. Her best friend is an investigative journalist and Caroline has been working with her for years.

The connection between Zander and Caroline is instant, and not just because Zander believes in happily-ever-afters and soulmates. It’s like they are two halves of a whole, as Caroline is able to understand and see the dark sides of life that Zander is constantly working to prevent invading his family and town. Both of them have the same motivation and beliefs in what’s important in their lives.

A little bit of angst finishes out the story, because love is messy and I don’t believe in any story without at least some discourse! Zander has to learn that he can’t save or protect everyone without some help, and Caroline learns that there is more to her than playing a part. I loved everything about Say It Like You Mane It, and the interactions with the side characters felt just as important as Zander and Caroline.

I think by now it’s official: I love anything Erin Nicholas writes. Her characterizations are some of the best out there and she has the best mix of characters, plot, and steam.

Angela M. Reed

233 reviews2 followers

May 26, 2022

Erin Nicholas is a phenomenal author. She truly is gifted. I love her writing style. When you dive in to an Erin Nicholas book you are guaranteed to have your heart melt and laugh hysterically and wish you could be there.

In Say It Like You Mane It we go back to the Bayou and get to know Caroline and Zander. Zander is a police officer. Ladies hold on to your hearts because he is a romance reader. Nothing like a sexy man in uniform that reads a romance book. It just doesn't get any better than that. Oh wait, yes it does, he's a Landry. I love the Landry family. They really cheer me up. Their shenanigans are often out of this world

Zander and Caroline have amazing chemistry. I loved seeing them come together. I felt as if I was home where I belonged when I was reading Say It Like You Mane It. One of the most hear warming scenes also brought me to tears. I always sat it's a phenomenal book when you laugh, your heart swoons and you cry. So grab your tissues.Erin Nicholas really out did herself with this book. I didn't want to leave. I couldn't stop reading. I was mesmerized from the beginning and my heart and soul were captivated. Say It Like You Mane It truly is my favorite book of hers. See for yourself. I dare you.

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Jackie Wright

4,182 reviews77 followers

What a wonderful addition to the Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild.
I love visiting Autre and I love catching up wth the Landry family and honestly Zander Landry and heiress/runaway bride Caroline Holland was everything i have come to expect from this amazing series. I was captivated from the first page and there was no putting down until the final line was read.
Zander can’t believe his eyes when Caroline turns up in town in her wedding dress and caring a baby lion club, from the moment these two meet sparks fly but it takes a while for Zander to realise exactly what these fuzzy feelings he is having are….could this be another Landry losing their heart.
I loved joining these two on their journey, I fell hard and fast for Zander and I adored Caroline but what took this hook to another level was the family values and loyalty that the Landry’s share with everyone who finds a way into their hearts. This book was wonderful and I really didn’t want it to end, a sure sign you are reading something special so I guess all I need to say is please one click this gem, you won’t be disappointed.

Erin Lewis

4,070 reviews125 followers

January 27, 2022

5 star review Say It Like You Mane It (Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild #6) by Erin Nicholas
Oh how I love my visits to Autre and the Landry family who I have come to love whilst reading this series.
Book six is just as witty and entertaining as the other books in the series and I loved it. From the first chapter I was drawn into the story that Ms. Nicholas wove about hot cop Zander Landry and heiress Caroline Holland.
Meeting the hot and most definitely alpha Zander, Caroline’s plans are thrown into chaos. Zander is speechless when she turns up in town wearing a wedding dress and carrying a baby lion club.
I really liked both Zander and Caroline, she is so much fun and I can easily see her as a friend. It was heart warming to watch the journey they embark on and their relationship develop. With heat and a little mystery this book was one I had a hard time putting down.

Erin Nicholas brings the Bayou to life for me with her well written and addictive stories.

Heather Nobbs

343 reviews

I am always excited when I get to visit the bayou. And this time was no exception. Zander is a small town cop that takes protecting his town and family seriously and when a blonde in a tiara and wedding dress shows up at Ellie’s carrying a lion cub he knows he is in trouble. And knowing how his family is when they fall in love he knows he is in trouble there too. Because the minute Zander touches Caroline he knows he found his “one”. Caroline has been putting on an act whenever she meets anyone new especially if it’s a man, but she doesn’t know who she should be when she meets Zander. Zander sees through her act and calls her on it and knowing somehow that she can trust him with who she really is she does just that. These two have a real attraction and they both want to protect their people- Caroline wants to protect her family and Zander protects his town.
Of course we also get the family get togethers at Ellie’s because a trip to the bayou wouldn’t be the same without visiting there. Also loved meeting Caroline’s friend, Max, and also more guys from the bayou that help Zander protect the town, Spencer, Theo, and Michael.
I loved that both Zander and Caroline realized what they are capable of and that being together helps them achieve all they want by having someone to share all their worries and hopes with. They were exactly what the other needed.

Whispered Secrets

440 reviews19 followers

arcs-read-in-2022 reviewed

Say It Like You Mane It by Erin Nicholas book 6 in the Boys of The Bayou Gone Wild is just like all the other Landry boys books it is amazing. It has everything you could possibly ask for in a book. It’s got heart, romance, love while throwing in some mystery, violence, and exotic animals. It’s all you need. Caroline is a rich heiress who seems like she’s rich and doesn’t care about anything more than her nails and clothes to the people that should know her most intimately but don’t. She’s really not that person to Zander’s surprise she’s everything he has been trying to avoid over the years. Everything he needs to be really truly happy. Which is why…he has to get her away from him and his town. She just refuses to leave before certain things happen. So get on board the airboat and take tour of bayou and meet the Landry’s if you haven’t already because you are missing out. If you have already met them them you already know…so either way. Enjoy! Because this family will wrap you up and make you feel like you belong. As always it’s one heck of a ride. I received a free advanced copy to read and review.

Reading In the Red Room

1,507 reviews36 followers

I knew there was more to Zander than we knew, and boy was I right! The Landry Family is back and I can not be more excited! We definitely had the normal laugh out loud moments we normally get…but this book was definitely more serious than the others. Zander is a police officer and takes his job seriously. He was hoping to have a peaceful day when in walks a woman in a wedding dress wearing a tiara holding a baby lion. Little did he know that not only was she about to not only change his day, but his life. Caroline wants to change the world one bad person at a time, even if she happens to be related to them. Caroline was a fun spunky addition to the Landry bunch. This was a great fun read. This fast paced book was jammed packed with an extremely entertaining story. Zander and Spencer definitely had their hands full and Max and Caroline were great side kicks! I’m already excited about the next book!

Karin

2,086 reviews