Some authors manage to seamlessly integrate history into their romances, creating a rich backdrop for their characters and making the time period come alive. Unfortunately, A Cajun Dream is not one of those books. It’s not for lack of trying; there’s plenty of historical information, and it’s clear that the author has done her homework. But historical information is inserted into dialogue in large, awkward chunks, making the characters sound like volunteers at an Acadian history museum.

When Amanda Richardson turns twenty-one and has never had so much as a kiss, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Her father has sheltered her, and she has never had any suitors, so she decides to sneak out of the house and accept a ride to a ball with her father’s overseer. She hopes the notorious Henry Tanner will give her a kiss before she dies an old maid. Unfortunately, Henry Tanner is mired in gambling debt, and he has a little more than kissing in mind. He kidnaps Amanda, intending to ruin her and force her to marry him. But Henry leaves Amanda alone while he searches for her father, and her friend Rene Comeaux finds her. Rene has been in love with Amanda ever since he met her, but her father told him she wouldn’t consider allowing a Cajun man to court her. Since then, Rene has settled for Amanda’s friendship. But when she tells him what happened, he decides that marrying her is the only solution. She agrees, and the two wed and head back home to face the music.

Both Amanda and Rene have feelings for each other, but Rene is sure Amanda looks down on him because of his Cajun ancestry. It takes him the entire length of the book to figure out that Amanda’s father was lying. This is not exactly an action-packed book. The majority of the book contains repetitive scenes with Rene and Amanda’s family members. Amanda wants her father to accept the marriage, and he keeps telling her to get an annulment. Rene’s family is more easily won over, but none of them are particularly interesting. There is a little more excitement at the end when the jilted Henry tries to exact revenge, but it is over quickly.

Nineteenth century Louisiana can make a great setting, but flat, childish characters and poorly integrated history lessons ruin whatever charm this book has. Rene is the weakest link. It is his idea to marry Amanda, but he treats her like dirt. His behavior is rude and childish. Every time he and Amanda would have some kind of breakthrough, he would find a way to get offended. Then he would pout and say something sarcastic. He constantly misinterprets Amanda’s comments, and even believes at the end that Amanda wanted to marry the odious Henry, even though there is no evidence of this. I lost patience with him early on. The rest of the characters are better, but not much. Amanda’s father is as childish as Rene, and he spends a lot of time slamming doors and throwing temper tantrums. And Amanda’s behavior is often illogical, such as when she tries to hide the reason for her elopement from her father, even though there is no good reason for her to do this.

There is also a strange, last minute effort to add something to the plot by throwing in two quickie romances between four secondary characters. This happens at the very end of the book and makes little sense. It would have been better to pick a single secondary couple and develop their romance fully.

The preachy Acadian history lessons simply make matters worse. I love history in both fiction and romance, but it is very poorly presented here. The old writing adage, “show, don’t tell” needs to be applied. Rene is the worst offender, often dropping completely out of character to serve as a tour guide. At one point he even tells his nephew a story, sounding for all the world like he is quoting ver batim from a history text. It’s great that the author knows her stuff – she just needs to figure out how to share it. If you’re looking for a book with Cajun flavor, I recommend by-passing this one in favor of Pamela Morsi’s The Love Charm.