Midnight Bayou

By: Nora Roberts

Narrated by: James Daniels, Sandra Burr

Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Declan Fitzgerald had always been the family maverick, but even he couldn't understand his impulse to buy a dilapidated mansion on the outskirts of New Orleans. All he knew was that ever since he saw Manet Hall, he'd been enchanted - and obsessed - with it. So when the opportunity to buy the house comes up Declan jumps at the chance to live out a dream.

Determined to restore Manet Hall to its former splendor, Declan begins the daunting renovation room by room, relying on his own labor and skills. But the days spent in total isolation in the empty house take a toll. He is seeing visions of days from a century past, and experiencing sensations of terror and nearly unbearable grief - sensations not his own, but those of a stranger. Local legend has it that the house is haunted, and with every passing day Declan's belief in the ghostly presence grows.

Only the companionship of the alluring Angelina Simone can distract him from the mysterious happenings in the house, but Angelina too has her own surprising connection to Manet Hall - a connection that will help Declan uncover a secret that's been buried for a hundred years.

©2004 Nora Roberts (P)2004 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"Narrator James Daniels depicts this romantic, suspenseful ghost story with finesse, switching Cajun accents as he navigates between Declan Fitzgerald and the restoration of Manet Hall in 2002, to betrayal, rape, and murder in the early 1900s." ( AudioFile)
"To add to the pleasure, tastefully choreographed, highly erotic lovemaking scenes are seamlessly woven into a novel that exemplifies storytelling at its finest." ( Booklist)

Roberts Has Done It Again.

Books by Nora Roberts usually have a good storyline, with a thread of romance running through. But the story takes precedence, unlike some so-called 'womens' fiction, which has one romantic (?) scene after another, held together by a thin thread of a storyline.

Roberts has a tremendous sense of 'place', which is one of the best, and most outstanding, features of her books. She makes her settings come alive, as the story develops. I admire the amount of research she does prior to developing a story. It brings the listener/reader to the location, building a word picture of where we are. I wonder if she writes 'on location'? That certainly would allow for the detailed sense of 'place'.

Midnight Bayou is a trip to the deep south, the remnants of the 'old-school' life, with a parallel story ... a flash-back theme ... which helps 'flesh out' the details of what is taking place in the present. This is Cajun/Acadian country, and they become a large part of the story.

James Daniels and Sandra Burr continue a smooth narration, which allows the listener to become immersed in the story ... and in the deep south.

"Cher, You Sweet Boy"

If you could sum up Midnight Bayou in three words, what would they be?

sweet,sexy, determined

What was one of the most memorable moments of Midnight Bayou?

when our hero tries to get our heroine to go with him. Such determination, deserves a reward.

Which scene was your favorite?

when our hero charms Ms Odette! The charm Declan has in this story is just delightful.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

this is a core romance book for N.R. James Daniels and Sandra Burr are a great team and both are wonderful readers on their own. They brought this classic to life. If you love N.R.,then you may like to try this story. It is one of my favs from N.R.

Long time getting there

I liked this book it was charming and witty. The second story background is just enough. The first story is positively brilliant. But it took a long time getting to the end and although it was interesting till the end it was predictable after you find out a certain " tidbit" of information. I felt the story was given away.

Good Book, but Ok Ending...

I love stories with a paranormal twist. This story definitely grabbed my attention. It had love, sex, and intrigue, but the ending fell a bit short for how interesting the story was. It was still an enjoyable read, so I do recommend it, but the story seemed to quickly end, tying up all loose ends within a few minutes. All and all, still a good, entertaining read. I will now go watch the movie to see which one is better. :)

awsome

the only thing I didn't like was the skipping through out the book , .

GOOD BOOK

I enjoy Nora Roberts' style: the romance, mystery and something else... In this book the something else is reincarnation. Midnight Bayou is a good book, but couldn't give it 5 stars because I found very unlikely the reincarnation story and something in the flashbacks did not add much to the whole.
Anyway, the narration is great and the book is a good pastime.

Offended cajun

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I love Nora Roberts and I loved this book. However, I took away 2 stars because of the annoying Cajun stereotypes. I live in New Orleans and am Cajun born and bred. NOBODY says "Cher" like that. NOBODY. In all my 37 years I've only heard "Cher" used several times. Mostly people only do it when we're poking fun at ourselves or trying to over exaggerate our "Cajun". Also, we do NOT have fais do do's for wedding. We have normal weddings like everybody else. My biggest pet peeves in books is when an author uses discriminative stereotypes to characterize a Cajun/New Orleans born and bred character. Authors really should actually visit and spend time in New Orleans before writing a piece revolving around this area and its people.

If you’ve listened to books by Nora Roberts before, how does this one compare?

This one falls short because of the insulting cajun stereotypes

Did James Daniels and Sandra Burr do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I HATED James Daniels Cajun accent. It was AWFUL. But then again, he was just working off of what the author wrote, so I can't blame him. He did do a great job with Declan's accent.
Sandra Burr was great. In the early 1900's that was indeed how cajun's spoke so he accent fit for that time period that she was narrating for.

Did Midnight Bayou inspire you to do anything?

Yes, it inspires me to write a book a why cajuns hate stereotypes.

Any additional comments?

If it wasn't for all of that I would've given this book a full 5 stars. Because other than that, it was a great Nora Roberts classic.

Loved it

Any additional comments?

This book had a good storyline and absolutely loved the innuendos!! I LAUGHED SO HARD on some of the puns.

loved every minute

good narrator need a sequel! hoping for more!??!?! love dreaming of bayou and mismatched love

Awesome

Great book, loved the story line and the characters. Loved the way the book ended.