Rating: 
Summary: One of the year's best
Review: Midnight on Julia Street knocked my socks off! I loved the heroine, and the descriptions of New Orleans made me want to book a flight right away. I learned a lot about the city and its history, but best of all, it was a totally fun read.
Rating: 
Summary: Atmospheric, intricate, interesting
Review: Midnight on Julia Street offers the richly braided, complex story of a reporter, Corlis McCullough, who puts truth and journalistic integrity above her personal feelings. We join Corlis as she discovers that Kingsbury Duvallon, someone she knew and disliked from her college years, is the brother of the bride at a society wedding she is covering for her new employer, a New Orleans television station. King has come a long way from his rowdy past. He is a professor of architecture who is fighting to preserve historically significant buildings in New Orleans. King stays in touch with Corlis, who finds him interesting and attractive, but is he coming around because he likes her or to get his cause covered by her television station? Their budding rediscovery should be put on hold when Corlis is assigned to cover the fight between developers and the preservationists, but Corlis finds she is linked with King not only in her recent past and through their growing attraction, but through old family ties that are intruding into her investigation -- in apparently impossible "memories" that she is having trouble explaining to herself, never mind anyone else. The story is full of history as well as atmospheric details, so we forgive those moments when Corlis or King does something we don't understand, or when some leap in the story leads us in a different direction. Part historical study of New Orleans' free men and women of color, part contemporary examination of changes in the media, part political fight, and part romance, with a parallel story set in the past, revealed through memory or time travel, Midnight on Julia Street is its own genre, one which offers an ultimately satisfying read.
Rating:
Summary: A good read...
Review: Never heard of Ciji Ware before, picked this book up by chance. I was fascinated by it! Most of all, loved all of the references to architecture, dining, culture and education in New Orleans. And it all rang true, from what I have read and know about these subjects before they came together in this book. I liked Corlis, and King, and all of the secondary characters. Couldn't put this book down and had to finish it up right away. The time travel part was strange to me, but hey, it could happen to someone, I guess. I so much enjoyed this novel that the reason I am writing this review is to try and find previous Ware books. Alas, the one I would like to read is now sold out.
Rating:
Summary: A solidly satisfynig summer read
Review: Romance novels are not my usual fare, but in this case the title was so interesting, I bought the book anyway--and discovered a fascinating historical novel woven through and around a present day romance. Not only does the author capture New Orleans in sight, smell and attitude, she deftly peels back layer upon layer of history and culture, from the Free People of Color who lived and prospered in New Orleans before the Civil War to the present day struggle between preservationists and developers. In the process she holds a mirror to current society which makes it all the more believeable. The result is a book that offers something for everyone--a modern romance with a sassy TV reporter for a heroine intertwined with the thoughtful development of a historical novel. I can't speak for how well it reads as a romance, but as a historical, it's a keeper.
Rating: 
Summary: Cheesy...
Review: This book is readable, but I found it to be really annoying. The actual story is interesting, but it was the characters I couldn't stand, especially Corlis. I'm going to begin work on my Master's degree in September so I was happy to see a novel about historic preservation, but unfortunately it seemed a bit far-fetched-the bulldozers being told to knock the building, and the people protesting, down without permission, the musical family playing music on cue, with the one member pulling the keyboard out from under her seat?! Come on! That was all a bit far-fetched.I enjoyed the parts of the story that took place in the past the most, the historical details were fascinating. But Corlis drove me crazy with her reasons on why she kept being able to see the past, just accept it already! And could the auther possibly italicize more words? The kidnapping of King seemed to kind of just come out of the blue, and it seemed to be solved and wrapped up too easily. All in all, I wouldn't say that this book was unreadable and there are some fascinating elements in this book, but the characters were just hard to get past.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful blending of Past and Present
Review: This is the first book I have read by this author and really did not know what to expect. I do not usually find paranormal plot lines interesting. Because of the story setting I decided to give it a try. Being born and raised in that general area I really enjoyed the dialog. To portray accents and drawls especially those in the rich melting pot of New Orleans is very difficult. Ms Ware did a wonderful job and her background research was entensive. She also wove the past and present together beautifully. She not only successfully managed a variety of characters and story lines that held my attention; but she also tied up all loose ends and brought the whole mixture to a satisfying conclusion. I am now shopping for more books by Ms. Ware.
Rating:
Summary: One of the year's best
Review: This was the first time ever that I couldn't put a romance book down the moment I read the first page. It was literally BREATHTAKING... had to re-read it again when my pulse lowered to a normal pace! Definitely looking forward to the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Can't put it down!
Review: This was the first time ever that I couldn't put a romance book down the moment I read the first page. It was literally BREATHTAKING... had to re-read it again when my pulse lowered to a normal pace! Definitely looking forward to the next book.
|
