The most exciting thing to happen lately in Gator Bait, Louisiana, is the alligator floating in Maylene Thibodeaux's swimming pool with a backpack hanging from his jaws. When Game Warden and Deputy Dorie Berenger finally arranges to get the doped-up creature out of the pool, things get even more exciting. They realize the gator's high comes from consuming the heroin that's in the backpack. Why can't things ever run smoothly for Dorie? Her life has taken many highs and lows through the years, but this turn of events could just prove to be the worst, especially when DEA Agent Richard Starke is sent to investigate.

To say that Richard is by-the-book and demanding would be sugarcoating the truth. And being stuck in this backwater hick town doesn't help his personality or ingratiate him much with its inhabitants. But Richard is also very attractive, and Dorie hates that she even notices that fact. She swore off men a long time ago and doesn't need a sexual distraction while they're trying to find out who's running drugs in her bayou. With Richard's straitlaced attitude, they may never get the case solved, especially with the hot sparks flying between him and Dorie.

As the case continues and surprising elements from the past are uncovered, Dorie is fearful of where the truth might lead. Richard starts to bend and mellow, and he sees how competent Dorie is and lets her lead the investigation. Hey, he may not know much about small-town life, but he's no dummy. He just hopes that when all is revealed and the case is solved, he's able to keep the woman who's become so important to him.

A very impressive debut novel, as Ms. DeLeon's descriptive writing had me feeling a part of the Louisiana bayou and the small town of Gator Bait. The characters are engaging and slightly quirky, the plot intriguing and suspenseful, the romance nice and sensual, while the added traces of humor make it a complete package of pure reading enjoyment. RUMBLE ON THE BAYOU kept me enthralled from the first page to the last, and I loved it!