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Bayou Born  By  cover art

Bayou Born

By: Hailey Edwards
Narrated by: Laurence Bouvard
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Publisher's summary

Her beginning may be our end....

Deep in the humid Mississippi bayou, a half-wild child is dragged from the murky waters. She has no memories and no family and is covered in mysterious markings. Adopted by the policeman who rescued her, Luce Boudreau follows him onto the force, determined to prove herself in the eyes of those who are still suspicious.

However, there's more of a battle ahead than Luce could possibly imagine. She may be an orphan without a past, but no one - including Luce herself - could ever be prepared for the truth of her dark, powerful destiny....

©2017 Hailey Edwards (P)2017 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"The world building is fresh...The characters are well-drawn and easy to root for. And the romance really hits the spot." (Red Hot Books)

What listeners say about Bayou Born

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Worst Narrator Ever

In over 10 years on Audible and listening to hundreds of audiobooks, this is the worst narration I've ever heard. The story was decent enough - unique, funny, but the narration made it unbearable to listen to. I read other reviews about the narration, but I listened to the sample and didn't think it was that bad. Well, it got worse, much worse. The characters sounded like cartoons, and the screeching voices has me constantly turning my volume up and down. I'll read the next book, but won't purchase the audio.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Stunning and Unique

The storyline was captivating and the plot was unique. I loved it. The only detractor was the accents and voice of the Audible performer. They weren't genuine or well done, but instead an overexaggerated and disingenuous dialect that grated on my nerves quite frequently.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Screech!

The narrator screeched her way thru every male voice she tried to use. Her vocals literally hurt my ears, she seems to think she has to increase her volume while she screeches like a rusty hinge attempting to sound like a southern male. I finally had to give it up and read rather than listen. I enjoy Hailey Edwards's work, but will not listen to another book narrated by Laurence Bouvard. If the sample had highlighted her attempting a male persona I never would have purchased the book.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Is this narrator serious?

She did good.... until you get to the men narration. They all sound like 40 year old smokers trying to play a smoker. What the hell. Why why why I wanted to listen to it but how you supposed to picture a sexy man with a voice like that.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Terrible narration!

The narrator is awful, male and female voices! Have me a headache trying to listen. I have up about the fourth. Sux! Going to return it if possible.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Quit with 3 hours left

The narrator’s male voices were harsh. Not a sexy one in the entire range. The heroine worked my nerves flirting between too stupid to live and confused. She lacked focus and depth. I can def see many paranormal romance fans liking this series because it’s actually original. I think I would have enjoyed the physical book more. The scratchy voices ruined it for me.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Love the story, hated the narration

I only made it 6 chapters into this audiobook before I had to switch to reading.

The female narration is all good. It's when she tries to do the male voices that things go sideways. Screeching, old men voices are not attractive to listen to... it was BAD. I have never wanted to return an Audible until this book. So bummed I will have to read this series sporadically instead of listening to them back-to-back, as I just don't have time to sit and read for hours on end. And Hailey Edwards makes you want to do NOTHING but finish her books as fast as possible. Loved the story.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Third time's the charm

Let me start this review by emphatically stating how much I loved this book! I will get to all my reasons why in a minute, but first, I need to address the narration.
It took me three attempts to get beyond the first few chapters. Although Laurence Bouvard reads with emotion and inflection, the voice she’s chosen for some of the male characters is disconcerting and off-putting. Several of the men sound like cartoon characters with squeaky door voices. The odd vocal inflection makes them all sound like they’ve lived well beyond their hundredth birthday, and I had a really hard time taking them seriously. Additionally, she has a more mature voice, and I had difficulty picturing a twenty-five-year-old heroine. The book is written in first-person POV, so connecting with the heroine, Luce, via Laurence Bouvard’s interpretation was initially a bit tricky for me, but I was eventually able to get used to her voice for Luce.
I spent the last few weeks of March binging several of Hailey Edwards’s other series, and I was very excited to start this one. It took me more than six weeks, and three attempts to get through Bayou Born, and this is because of the narration, not the story or characters.
When reading an audiobook with a narrator who isn’t my favorite, I ask myself one question. Would it be less annoying to listen to this narrator, or to read the book on Kindle with the robotic voice of my screen reader. In this case, the audiobook won, but it took me a while to get used to the narrator’s voice, and to really settle in.
But once I did, OMG! This book was everything!
If you like urban fantasy that includes a heroine with a backstory shrouded in mystery, a broody conflicted hero, intriguing paranormal characters, strong friendships, messy found family, slow burn romance, and the beginning of a fascinating story, you must read Bayou Born.
Moving on to book two…

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Worst. Narrator. Ever.

If I wanted to listen to a nickelodeon kids show narrator, I would have purchased a Kids book. This is not adult book contant quality narration. Ugh. Painful.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good 1st Installment

The narrator did a decent job, I was good with her female voices but wasn't the biggest fan of her male voices. This was an enjoyable 1st book in a series and I'm looking forward to the next book to see what will happen. You need to read in order as this storyline has a continuation arc.

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