Book Review of Midnight Bayou, by Nora Roberts

I feel like I'm starting to sound like a broken record - but here it goes. I'm so glad I'm done reading this book. What a let down… I hate to say it, but sometimes I like judging a book by it's cover. None of those have let me down. The ones I'm trying based more off synopsis than the cover have been my disappointments. If you still want to debate reading this book, and maybe you will - then follow on to read my full review.

Midnight Bayou
By
Nora Roberts

Midnight Bayou 

by 

Nora Roberts

         Nora Roberts is a very well known author, and surprisingly this is the first time I’ve ever read any of her novels. I think the thing that sold me on this book out of all her others was the interesting synopsis on the back. In Midnight Bayou a man named Declan Fitzgerald purchases an old rundown manor in New Orleans, Louisiana. Needless to say Declan finds more than just a rundown manor, he also finds love. Nora Roberts has a beautiful way of describing some of the scenes throughout the book, and I love her management of going in between the past and present.  

The most prominent characters are Declan, Lena, and Manet Manor. I think that Declan was an interesting character, albeit not my type of love interest. He was endearing to me in regards to his limitless sense of caring for everyone in his life - from family to strangers. This doesn’t mean I fell in love with some of his other characteristics such as his overtly flirtatious manner (even though in jest), and his arrogant perception of getting what he wants. Opposite of Declan was Lena, his one love interest throughout the novel. Lena was an enigma to me... One that left me still questioning if I liked her or not. I found her to be a strong, vivacious character - yet she lacked depth. I felt that Roberts didn’t really help paint more depth to Lena’s soul, instead she just gave basics. By far the most interesting character per se was Manet Manor. Roberts did an amazing job giving the manor a depth to it - but not letting it control the story. Manet Manor interacted with everyone, but it didn’t take charge when it didn’t need to.         

I feel enormously disappointed in the time I put into Midnight Bayou... Nora Roberts hooked me right in with her first two chapters, and I ached to read more. Yet after reading the book I felt more like I was reading Interior Designer magazine mixed with ghosts and love. There was almost too much time dedicated to just Declan fixing the manor and describing its work. The amount of time spent on that alone detracted from some of the character development I wish I had seen. As a female I can understand the allure some people would have of Declan’s all-around-good-guy appeal, but I absolutely hated it. He seemed fake, entirely to egotistical, and not at all like what I would’ve imagined.         

I find that some author’s try too hard to throw in sex tromps between the sheets to spice up a novel, and I get it. Yet when the main characters seem too bent on sex, and not enough on building a real relationship I end up feeling cheated. There’s supposed to be more character interlude in these types of romances than those such as 50 Shades of Gray. Therefore I was entirely let down by Lena and Declan, and after all I had endured an entire book to see a relationship bloom into a romance. Instead I felt like I witnessed fake attempts at friendship, interior designing, and sex tromps.

         In the end I didn’t love this book, but I didn’t hate it either. I don’t know if I picked the wrong book, or if I just won’t like Nora Robert’s novels. I do intend to at least try a new novel of hers - just not for a long while. If you like a book to be around 70 percent interior design, 20 percent haphazard relationship, and 10 percent ghostly influenced than this is for you. 

My rating: 2.75 out of 5 Stars.

I hope that I won't completely write Nora Roberts out of my life, because I feel that authors that ring so loudly with readers do have great works. I just feel that maybe I picked a bad egg out of Nora Roberts dozens. I can picture myself giving her another shot, but definitely not until Summer. 

I hope you all come back tomorrow and see another book that I'll be picking. This next one I choose will be based off the cover - yep your damn right!