Rating: 
Summary: wonderful contemporary Bayou romance
Review: After spending years away from her beloved BLUE BAYOU, Danielle Dupree, accompanied by her eight-year-old son, is coming home to serve as the librarian. Her father, a former judge jailed for corruption, will live with his daughter and grandson once he is freed from prison. However, instead of Beau Soleil, the Dupree clan has fallen as they will live in an apartment above the library. However, a fire that looks like arson somewhat ruins the apartment and the library. It looks like someone wants the Dupree brood not to return home.
Bad Jack Callahan, a successful author, now owns Beau Soleil and has begun a renovation to restore the home to its former glory. Jack and Dani also have a history as they shared a torrid summer, but he left town before learning she was pregnant with his child. Doubly burned by males from her time with Jack and a marriage to a rat of a Congressman, Dani tries to avoid her former lover even though both still experience deep feelings for one another.
JoAnn Ross has written a wonderful contemporary Bayou romance that readers who relish heat and distrust in their lead characters will enjoy. The subplot involving driving the Dupree family out of town takes away from the prime story line though it adds plenty of suspense. Ms. Ross turns BLUE BAYOU into a strong and powerful tale, due to strong characterizations, which includes a well-rounded support cast. This is the first in a trilogy starring the three Callahan Brothers novels and it demonstrates that the author is a born storyteller Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Great Read
Review: Dani Dupree is returning to Blue Bayou. She finds that everything has changed. The apartment she's supposed to be renting has burnt, her childhood home is owned by bad-boy Jack Callahan and her father is about to be released from jail. The only thing that hasn't changed is the feeling that she gets every time she sees Jack. But you can't go back, and what she and Jack once had ended years ago. Jack was Blue Bayou's bad-boy, but he's reformed. He was a DEA agent, and now he's a best-selling author. His life should be perfect, but something's missing. When he sees Dani again he knows just what that is. But is it too late to go back and fix the past? JoAnn Ross is a powerful storyteller who pens a story that practically sizzles.
Rating: 
Summary: The Bayou isn't the only thing that's hot and steamy!
Review: Dani Dupree is returning to Blue Bayou. She finds that everything has changed. The apartment she's supposed to be renting has burnt, her childhood home is owned by bad-boy Jack Callahan and her father is about to be released from jail. The only thing that hasn't changed is the feeling that she gets every time she sees Jack. But you can't go back, and what she and Jack once had ended years ago. Jack was Blue Bayou's bad-boy, but he's reformed. He was a DEA agent, and now he's a best-selling author. His life should be perfect, but something's missing. When he sees Dani again he knows just what that is. But is it too late to go back and fix the past? JoAnn Ross is a powerful storyteller who pens a story that practically sizzles.
Rating:
Summary: Steamily Sensual Southern Romance!
Review: Danielle Dupree didn't really want to go home - there were too memories there. Memories of falling in love with Jack Callahan, the town's bad boy, getting pregnant, Jack leaving her and having her baby girl die at birth. Memories of her father, the hard-as-nails Judge Dupree, tried and imprisoned for something that he didn't do. Memories of her ex-husband, who only saw her as a means to the White House. But those memories were quickly replaced with new ones as Dani discovered, to her shock and dismay, that Jack had bought her old home, Beau Soleil, and she still loved him. Jack Callahan had never stopped loving Dani, the town's own princess, he only left her because Judge Dupree, her father, forced him to. He tried to forget her while he was an undercover drug agent and attempted to purge his bad memories by created bestselling fiction based on his adventures. His writing brought him fame and riches, but it did not bring him Dani's love. When he sees Dani, he falls in love all over again and Jack seems willing to forgive anything to be a part of her life, but Dani just cannot bring herself to tell Jack about his baby - the one she lost. All her friends warn Dani that she should tell Jack before someone else does, but who else could possibly know Dani's secret? Blue Bayou is a fun, sexy romance with a little bit of suspense and mystery thrown into the mix. Jack Callahan is your typical sexy-as-all-get-out Cajun bad boy who is in love with the beautiful blonde princess who lives in a tower up on the hill. I have always loved those tall, dark and handsome men who just refuse to take no for an answer! Anyway, Dani's son, Matt, is also a cutie and adds his own charm to the plot, as does Dani's irascible father when he gets released from jail. If you have enjoyed any Southern/Cajun romances, this one is sure to delight!
Rating:
Summary: Steamily Sensual Southern Romance!
Review: Danielle Dupree didn't really want to go home - there were too memories there. Memories of falling in love with Jack Callahan, the town's bad boy, getting pregnant, Jack leaving her and having her baby girl die at birth. Memories of her father, the hard-as-nails Judge Dupree, tried and imprisoned for something that he didn't do. Memories of her ex-husband, who only saw her as a means to the White House. But those memories were quickly replaced with new ones as Dani discovered, to her shock and dismay, that Jack had bought her old home, Beau Soleil, and she still loved him. Jack Callahan had never stopped loving Dani, the town's own princess, he only left her because Judge Dupree, her father, forced him to. He tried to forget her while he was an undercover drug agent and attempted to purge his bad memories by created bestselling fiction based on his adventures. His writing brought him fame and riches, but it did not bring him Dani's love. When he sees Dani, he falls in love all over again and Jack seems willing to forgive anything to be a part of her life, but Dani just cannot bring herself to tell Jack about his baby - the one she lost. All her friends warn Dani that she should tell Jack before someone else does, but who else could possibly know Dani's secret? Blue Bayou is a fun, sexy romance with a little bit of suspense and mystery thrown into the mix. Jack Callahan is your typical sexy-as-all-get-out Cajun bad boy who is in love with the beautiful blonde princess who lives in a tower up on the hill. I have always loved those tall, dark and handsome men who just refuse to take no for an answer! Anyway, Dani's son, Matt, is also a cutie and adds his own charm to the plot, as does Dani's irascible father when he gets released from jail. If you have enjoyed any Southern/Cajun romances, this one is sure to delight!
Rating:
Summary: Bayou Boredom
Review: I like Jo Ann Ross, mainly because she manages to write romances that are original, well-plotted, and thoughtful. "Blue Bayou," the first of a planned trilogy, is none of these, and really, how can Ross help it? She has chosen probably one of the most hackneyed, overdone venues and has come up with nothing new. In a story that kept reminding me of Sandra Brown and Nora Roberts, Ross tells the tale of star-crossed lovers Jack Callahan, once the bayou bad boy, now an ex-DEA agent and best-selling author, and his former sweetheart. Jack has returned to his roots and bought the decaying mansion that belonged to his first and only love: Danielle Dupree (what a name!). But guess what: After losing her cheating husband, a senator, Danielle has ALSO returned home, along with her young son. She has accepted a job as a librarian, and is unaware that her former lover has purchased the house in which she grew up. Jack and Danielle inevitably meet. Desire blooms. They clash. They argue. They give in to the inevitable. Then, just as it looks like they will have a happy ending at last, a plot twist shows up in the form of a long-lost relative (I will say no more for fear of spoiling the plot). Jack is a likeable cliche. When we meet him at the beginning of the book, he is an interesting, intellectual, erudite, been-around type of guy. But when he's with Danielle, he lapses into the most annoying Cajun patois. We know he is sexy and gorgeous...Ross describes him as having the face of a fallen angel, which I could swear is how Nora Roberts (aka JD Robb) describes her hero Roarke in one of her books. Perhaps not. But it's not an original description. The sensual scenes, however, are great. I found myself, during boring passages (and there are a lot of them) paging through to the next electric meeting between Jack and Danielle. Then I would have to go back to pick up some confusing plot threads. This is not Ross's best work. The second in the trilogy will be called "River Road," the title of one of Nora Roberts' best-sellers. I think Ross would be well to return to her own niche, where she has shown talent and insight, and leave the steamy bayou romances to others.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: JoAnn never disappoints me with her story. This one was just great and I can't wait to read about Jack's brothers. If I have one negative comment it would be a few errors that should have been caught by a proof reader such as repeating a word twice and the time when Jack took an RC Cola out to Dani's dad and a few minutes later it was mentioned they finished their beer. Okay I know that is kind of picky, what can I say?
Rating:
Summary: Hmmmmmmmmmm. I skipped a lot because it was so predictable.
Review: JoAnn Ross is really one of my favorite authors, however this book just did not really do it for me. I thought it was totally predictable. Another reviewer stated that it was a tear-jerker........where was that? That must have been the parts I skimmed or skipped. I will read the other two novels, however I do hope they improve a bit.
Rating:
Summary: Non stop romance reading
Review: On a whim, I picked this up at a supermarket when visiting my son. I was hooked after the first page. Dani and Jack are a match made in heaven. The story unfolds as the secrets of the past hold them hostage to the love they once knew. But with Dani and Jack, these do not divide them, only draw them closer and the end makes their relationship stronger.
They are both great characters with a warmth and understanding that cracks open even the cold heart of Dani's father.
I can't wait to move onto the next Callahan brother's story.
I only had two questions after I finished the book. Did Dani ever take Matt to get the promised dog and what was Matt's reaction to the long lost Holly. Perhaps we might get a glimpse of this in the next book.
It has been a long time since I devoured a story as quickly as this one.
Rating:
Summary: No stop romance reading
Review: On a whim, I picked this up at a supermarket when visiting my son. I was hooked after the first page. Dani and Jack are a match made in heaven. The story unfolds as the secrets of the past hold them hostage to the love they once knew. But with Dani and Jack, these do not divide them, only draw them closer and the end makes their relationship stronger. They are both great characters with a warmth and understanding that cracks open even the cold heart of Dani's father. I can't wait to move onto the next Callahan brother's story. I only had two questions after I finished the book. Did Dani ever take Matt to get the promised dog and what was Matt's reaction to the long lost Holly. Perhaps we might get a glimpse of this in the next book. It has been a long time since I devoured a story as quickly as this one.
| 
