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Midnight Bayou
Midnight Bayou
Author: Nora Roberts
The phenomenal #1 New York Times-bestselling author presents a novel set deep in the bayou of Louisiana-where the only witness to a long-ago tragedy is a once-grand house. — 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...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780399148248
ISBN-10: 0399148248
Publication Date: 10/15/2001
Pages: 352
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 257

4 stars, based on 257 ratings
Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Midnight Bayou on + 22 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Wow, what a story. This is why I love Nora Roberts' books...romance, both past and present, and a ghost!!! Loved it. Read it in two days because I was home from work sick. Couldn't put it down and hated to see it end.
reviewed Midnight Bayou on + 24 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Another good story by Nora Roberts. She has a way to take you into the story and you feel as if you are the one being haunted by the ghosts. Good book!
reviewed Midnight Bayou on + 14 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This book was a very good read. I enjoyed the scenic backdrops of the Bayou and Roberts knows just how to attract you to the main character. He shows true determination in the face of ghostly haunts and he's able to look beyond his lady love's past and go after what he wants in life (now that's spunk!).
reviewed Midnight Bayou on + 111 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
There are ghosts in Manet Hall. The aging plantation mansion long ago lost its luster and has been sold and resold as owners flee the souls that still inhabit its rooms, playing out a long-ago tragedy. But former Boston lawyer Declan Fitzgerald is drawn to the house after seeing it on a visit to the city. He ditches his big-time law career and fancy fiancée, packs his bags, and relocates to Louisiana, where he plans to restore the mansion's former glory.

Upon his arrival, he meets the lovely Angelina Simone, a barkeep raised on the bayou, who like him has her own set of emotional baggage. And slowly it becomes clear that Angelina has a strange and mysterious connection to the past events replaying themselves in Declan's new home. Not even thumps in the day and night, his unsettling visions and episodes of sleepwalking, or Angelina's rebuffs make Declan give up his mission of uncovering that connection. He single-mindedly pursues his goal amid the slamming doors and flying cups and saucers, and -- through an amusing role reversal -- his relationship with Angelina blossoms.

Although you have to suspend all sense of reality to accept the supernatural happenings as everyday fact at Manet Hall, Midnight Bayou is a fast and entertaining read. Nora Roberts's legions of fans will eat it up. (G. M. Dixon)
reviewed Midnight Bayou on + 28 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This was a wonderful and touching story. One of my all time favorite Nora Roberts books.
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LaurieS avatar reviewed Midnight Bayou on + 504 more book reviews
I read this as an unabridged audiobook which is usually an advantage for me but I may have been better off reading the paperback version because I wasnt thrilled with the male narrator who reads the bulk of the book. His voice kept putting me off and kept me at a distance from the story or maybe I should face the fact that the romance just wasnt that great. I guess the combination of the two didn't help.

The prologue details some nasty business featuring rape, murder and madness that went down in the 1800s. Just when it had my full attention it leaps forward to 2002 and loses me a bit.

Declan Fitzgerald is 31 and a successful attorney but his heart isnt in it and he decides to trek across country and purchase a Louisiana mansion with the intent of fixing it up even though hes no carpenter. Yes folks, this is the mansion where the nasty stuff happened. It is soon revealed that Declan had basically left a fiancee at the altar a few months earlier and the thought occurs to me that hes running away from life which doesnt exactly win me over. Almost immediately he starts seeing visions and hearing a baby crying and this intrigues instead of frightens him because, as we're told over and over again, he feels like he is finally exactly where he belongs.

His love interest is local bar owner Angelina (call me Lina because Im no Angel) whose grandmother lives near Declans property. Lina is independent but soon swoons when Declan is near and begins to help him unravel the secrets of the mansion. Shes gorgeous and a good business woman but she was just a bit too distant for me for a large portion of the book. The reasons why were revealed way too late because at that point I had nearly tuned her out.

I found the ghostly aspects of this story much more compelling than the modern day romance. It was all rather by the numbers and meh without much emotional connection and the love scenes were a snore. The flashbacks to the past were much more interesting to me and I found myself wishing on more than one occasion that the entire book was set in the past. As the story continues events are revealed to tie in the current day couple to past but it all seemed a little off to me. Not my favorite by Roberts but not the worst book Ive ever read either.
kttycat17 avatar reviewed Midnight Bayou on + 3 more book reviews
This is one of her best romantic mysteries.
reviewed Midnight Bayou on
Book is set in New Orleans, and has a great story. One of my favorites from Nora Roberts.
robinmy avatar reviewed Midnight Bayou on + 2115 more book reviews
Declan Fitzgerald buys an old rundown plantation house as soon as it comes on the market. He has first seen Manet Hall years ago when visiting his friend, Remy, in New Orleans, and quickly feel in love with it. Now he is working night and day, restoring the old mansion to its former glory. But when he starts hearing a baby cry
and slamming doors, he begins thinking the stories about the house being haunted are true. Declan meets Angelina Simone and it's love at first sight for him. He soon realizes it's going to take Lena a little longer to fall for him. But they both have ties to the house and to the tragedy that took place there...a tragedy that could alter their destiny.

This isn't your usual Nora Roberts book. In this one we have ghosts and reincarnation. I enjoyed Declan and the way he let Lena know that he loved her and knew she would eventually love him too. I wasn't crazy about Lena. I thought she was cold and really couldn't see why she had such a problem committing to Declan. This book had several great supporting characters, including Miss Odette and Remy, who both brought humor to the story. My rating: 4 Stars.
reviewed Midnight Bayou on
great book for the historical romance types
elsasdaughter avatar reviewed Midnight Bayou on + 115 more book reviews
This was my first book from Nora Roberts and she did not dissapoint. I liked that the main character was the male Declan. She did a wonderful description of the bayou and the house that Declan was restoring. I liked the characters including Lena. I thought she was a bit mean to Declan but things got better. It's a good mystery/romance novel. Enjoyed it.
reviewed Midnight Bayou on + 23 more book reviews
I loved this book like I love all Nora Roberts. It kept me reading
justjen79 avatar reviewed Midnight Bayou on + 4 more book reviews
this was a quick nora roberts read, sweet and well thought out.
reviewed Midnight Bayou on + 8 more book reviews
Good book love all Nora Roberts books


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