Customer Reviews

Midnight Bayou

5 star:		(80)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I usually ration out my Nora Roberts books so that I can pick one up after I've read a truly horrid book....but, this one I just had to pick up!!! Am I glad I did!!! Nora Roberts writing about New Orleans and the bayous?? The mystery and the romance written by my favorite author??? A match made in heaven for sure. I started this book just before I went to sleep last night. Knocked off the first chapter and went to sleep with a smile on my face.... Today, the book didn't leave my side until I had finished it!! So what if dinner was late getting to the table? So what if my son barely got a nod from me when he got home from school? This was Nora writing about bayous and Louisiana and reincarnation and Lena and Declan and Lucian and Abby...he, that fabulous teenager, understands when I've got "a Nora" in front of me!!

I was hooked from the get go with this tale of love and redemption, murder and sadness. Roberts' touch of romance
interlaced with her wonderful sense of humor and a taste of mystery entertained and delighted!!

I loved this book!! I enjoyed that it was told from mostly the male's perspective and I really liked the lead characters. Declan feels compelled to leave his job as a lawyer and buy a house--Manet Hall--that has fascinated him for 11 years. It is in disprepair and he puts his all into bringing it back to its former grandeur. However, strange things happen while he is there, including flashbacks (memories?) of a murder that took place a long time ago. While doing this, he meets Lena, who plays an integral part in his memories. Declan has a sense of humor and makes you want to believe that people like him really exist. I would have to say my only complaint is that I wish the ending scene was longer--I would have liked to see Lena's reaction to the ring. This is defintitely one of my favorite Nora Robert's books, and I'm usually not into past lives, etc. Buy this book--you won't be sorry. Nora never disappoints!!

Some little while ago, I went searching far and wide for an atmospheric read - had been thirsting (veritably parched, indeed!), for something mysterious and ethereal- ideally set, naturally, somewhere as beloved to me as New Orleans...

I inevitably found this novel on the discount shelves at my favorite, old hat, bricks & mortar bookstore- then took it home to savour overnight. -And now I must say - (and say it here, for truly it's an admission that doesn't normally go down so easily on one such as me, but...) Yes, I liked it: I liked it very well indeed, actually!

This lush & lively story intertwines the distant past and the ever present for a love story that is a force all its own. There's an old tale: set at the turn of the century on a magnificent mansion on the bayous in the outskirts of New Orleans, between the estate's heir and the Cajun servant girl he'd married -- a tale that had turned tragic, and then poignantly tenacious with the passing of about a hundred years....

Weaved through is the main, present-day love story- that being between Declan: a wealthy up & rising lawyer from Boston who chucks his job, his engagement, and all the ties that bind, to fix up that same old bayou mansion, which he had once felt strongly connected to in his youth -- and Angelina, a native of the New Orleans Bayou, whose blood happens to be intimately connected with the bayou's history, whether she likes it or not.

I must say, though, that the setting had just about all to do with my enjoyment of this book - anyone who can capture the true, bare essence of New Orleans in their writing can likely conjure glorious "Atmosphere" without any effort. -And for someone like Nora Roberts, who has had the privilege of having been published of well over a hundred books, this really was no problem.

In the end, it was the poignancy of place that overcame even the all-too-predictable, formulaic modern-day love story. And really, even its classification as a "Romance", its author being widely acclaimed as an unabashed mainstream assembly-line storyteller, could not hurt it either, I don't believe.

MIDNIGHT BAYOU is nothing if not a sinful, superfluous pleasure. Ever since reading it, I've been able to find in myself a weird, albeit endearingly decadent quality, which deigns to seek, and often finds (in about a dozen more NR books since, no less!) a vast amount of pleasure in reading these light, entertaining romances by a renown romance writer who can just as adeptly punch out a very good yarn as fill it through and through with the most excellently written sex (such glorious smut!) -& all by rote!

Because of its setting and atmosphere, I'll always consider MIDNIGHT BAYOU my far & away favorite Nora Roberts book. Yet since it shall be the one and only title of hers that I'll ever review (a Vampire must at least make some attempt, however feeble, to maintain its reputation) - I'll then sum this up with my rating of all her amusingly scandalous reads together: ~4 Stars~

This story takes place in the present, but also in the past. Delcan Fitzgerald is drawn to a house in New Orleans called Manet Hall, but he really doesn't understand why. He just knows that since he first saw it in college, he would own it someday. He gets strange vibes from the house, and when he meets Angelina, they intensify. Together they go on the 100 year old journey to find the answers to the strange happenings within Manet Hall.

While I generally like ghost stories with the paranormal added to the mix, this went beyond the scope of what I can take. The rebirth and reincarnation of characters was just too far out in left field for me. I normally like Nora Roberts books, but this is one I couldn't get into.

Midnight Bayou
Nora Roberts

Declan Fitzgerald leaves his job as a Boston lawyer to buy a house--Manet Hall--that he first discovered in New Orleans 11 years ago. The house hasn't been lived in for some time and needs renovation. Declan finds his joy in restoring the old mansion. There's a sad history to the mansion, however, and Declan begins to experience strange dreams and starts sleepwalking. He finds himself terrified to enter one of the rooms on the third floor. Declan meets Lena, the owner of a small bar in down town New Orleans. He is immediately attracted to her and thinks, "at last" the first time he sees her. Lena and Declan are both linked to the history of Manet Hall as well as to each other. Lena's grandmother lives behind Manet Hall and Declan befriends her. She is a wonderful character. Declan has a terrific personality and sense of humor. This is definitely one of my favorite Nora Robert's books. Being interested in reincarnation and past lives added to the flavor. I must admit I was surprised when I discovered what the subject of the book was but I think Ms. Roberts handled it in a believable manner. Definitely a keeper.

I have read almost everything Nora Roberts has written. I buy her books as soon as they hit the bookshelves, and Midnight Bayou was no exception. Sometimes I am less than thrilled by her work, but for the most part, I think an "inferior" Nora Roberts book is better than most romance books out there. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The male lead was, for me, the most lovable and enjoyable of all her male characters to date. He was intelligent, sensitive, but macho, thoughtful, incredibly witty and, of course, rich and handsome. Once of the reasons I read romance novels is to escape to a fantasy world for a little while, and what a great time I had reading about this "too good to be true" guy! The female lead was not so likable, at times, but I really enjoyed their interactions. The dialogue was funny, and the supporting characters were almost as enjoyable as the leads. The flashbacks to the past, although dark, were absorbing. I've always liked ghost stories. And, since I did not grow up in Louisianna, and didn't know that her descriptions weren't accurate, I thought they were fun and charming. The only complaint I have is that I did think the ending was a little anticlimactic. I was expecting more at the end--what that was, I don't know, but something...Despite this, I give this book 5 stars!

This book is like the Nora Roberts everyone can't wait to buy and read. I must admit I was somewhat disappointed in the last book, THE VILLA. MIDNIGHT BAYOU has everything, suspense, romance and lots of laughs. I enjoy how Roberts brings the legends of the region her books are taking place in.

Lena and Declan are both very likeable characters. Although the rich guy and poor girl routine has been played to the death, this story was both believeable and caring. The fact that everyone's lives were not "fixed" by the end of the book was good. Lena's mother was like some mother's or father's I have known from friends. I like the way Nora Roberts handled Declan's relatives also.

Anyone who reads Nora Roberts will love this book. CAROLINA MOON, SANCTURAY, and HOMEPORT are just a few books like this one.

There isn't a bad Nora Roberts novel, but some are better than others, and this one is right up there in the top ten! It is set in New Orleans, and you can't have a really good story about New Orleans without a haunted house, and eccentric characters, now can you? This is a good modern love story with a feisty adversary for the hero of the story, but the most interesting part of the story is the reincarnation twist that the story presents, different from what you expect it to be. An old crime and "thwarted love" story must be resolved before the present day lovers can get on with their lives. But how can it be resolved when all the involved characters are long dead? Justice can't touch the dead, can it? Well, that is where the mystery comes in. You must read the book to find out if justice is done and if it is, how. It would be unfair of me to tell the ending, or even the crime that becomes the crux of the story. There are a lot of subplots floating around but Ms. Roberts does a wonderful job of tying them together. A thoroughly good read, and hard for me to put down. I read it in record time, because you can't wait to see how it is going to end!

will be very short; Nora Roberts is one of my favorite writers;
have never been as disappointed as i was with Midnight Bayou.
The ending was not believable and left you unsatisfied; hopefully this is a fluke because i buy a lot of her hardcover books. prior to the ending, the plot and story were enjoyable; but with a bad ending, it leaves a bad taste.

I am constantly amazed by reviews from readers who try to place harsh literary restrictions on the romance genre. While I certainly have no time for stupid romance books aimed at women with an IQ of 10, even Nora Roberts at her least inspired is better than most. I may not find her choice of a story my personal favorite, but I always come away feeling like the price and my time was worth it. And so it is with "Midnight Bayou". As is the case with all her books, her characters are interesting and her stories creatively unique. Her character's perfections and story situations are intensified for a reason--and that reason is why we all enjoy the genre. "Midnight Bayou" was a fun read and I recommend it highly to all readers who enjoy quality romance writing.