Midnight Champagne (Mysteries & Horror)

Members of my reading group recommended this, my first A. Manette Ansay book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was reminded of one of those 'fly on the wall' documentaries that are so popular at the moment. I was able to sit in, watching and listening to a whole cast of characters as they interacted (or didn't), from ceremony and reception, through to the bouquet toss and midnight champagne. Better still, I was even privy to their individual thoughts and dreams. The blurb on my book cover, talks of two stories, April and Caleb's wedding and the Hideaway Lodge quarrel, intersecting, but I felt there were dozens of stories weaving in and out of each other and culminating in what I thought was the perfect champagne toast. The characters are beautifully drawn and I defy anyone not to find at least one they recognise from their own family. From the opening page, I was drawn into a world so real, I could swear I was there, in my glad rags, enjoying the wedding myself.

Attention all Vinegar Hill haters: Midnight Champagne will change your mind! Now, I am one that loved Vinegar Hill but know lots of people who didn't. This time around, A. Manette Ansay has written a less depressing and more indulgent story. It takes place in the course of one day with lots of characters that each get a turn to speak. So I beg those who have put off reading anything else by Ansay to read Midnight Champagne and give her a chance to redeem herself. You won't be disappointed.After three months of dating, 22-year-old April Leisgang and Caleb Shannon are getting married. Most of the family is against this marriage and especially the place where it's held - the nondenominational Great Lakes Chapel and Hideaway Lodge. Formally a notorious dance hall, roadhouse and brothel, it is rumored to be haunted by the mistress of the house, Greta Flame, who was murdered by one of her lovers back in its heyday. Such sets the stage for an unforgettable, eerie, and life-changing celebration....The novel takes us from ceremony and reception through dinner and dance and ends with bouquet toss and midnight champagne. Written through the eyes of various characters, we get the opportunity to know the feelings, thoughts and goings-on of parents, grandparents, cousins, children and hotel staff. In doing so, I believe A. Manette Ansay has created the whole picture, a testimony of the love, pain, disappointments, hopes, and secrets felt, endured and kept hidden by the family and intensified by the union of April and Caleb and frequent visits to the cash bar. Readers are everywhere at once, witnesses to this spectacular party, omniscient flies on the wall.Midnight Champagne holds a goodie bag of emotions within its pages, a delicious and intoxicating mix, a declaration of the course of marriage and the many side roads it can take. Like listening to stories around a campfire: passionate and revealing, exciting and anxious, haunting and uninhibited. Much better than Vinegar Hill and certainly places A. Manette Ansay at the top of my reading list. Wonderful!

It's Valentine's Day and a record breaking blizzard blows in as guests arrive at the Great Lakes Chapel and Hideaway Lodge for the evening wedding of April Liesgang and Caleb Shannon. As they take their vows and begin their lives together, another couple in Lodge Room 33 are ending their marriage in anger and violence. A. Manette Ansay takes a strong look at marriage and relationships as family and strangers come together in this sensitive, humorous, poignant novel. Midnight Champagne travels back and forth between April and Caleb's wedding/reception and the incident in Room 33. These two diverse story lines move closer and closer together until they finally intersect as the wedding reception comes to an end with the final midnight champagne toast. Ms Ansay has written a spellbinding, compelling story that examines love, trust, betrayal, divorce and spousal abuse. Her large cast of characters are interesting and beautifully drawn and developed and each scene is vivid and comes alive on the page. The great strength of this novel is the eloquent writing and attention to detail. And though there is not a spare word in this story, it speaks volumes. Midnight Champagne is a powerful snapshot of marriage and mid-western life, told with great insight and wisdom.

A.Manette Ansay has a gift for character development and description. She provides just the right amount of both to keep the reader engaged and involved but not overburdened. Like RIVER ANGEL, MIDNIGHT CHAMPAGNE deals with slightly quirky, yet believeable Midwesterners from a small town. April is an individualist with an altruistic bent. Caleb is just sweet and loveable in a goofy sort of way. Their families and friends are basically simple folk just trying to deal with everyday life and love.The message of love flows throughout the book--it's not always beautiful and glossy. It can be cruel, murderous and frightening at times. It can kill but it can heal, too. As with RIVER ANGEL, there is a wistful, bittersweet quality to this book. I was hooked after the first page and really didn't want it to end.Another winner for A.Manette Ansay!

The story in this book renders many perspctives on marriage. The "midnight champagne" toast is perhaps one of the most lovely, eloquent pieces of writing that I have ever read. Fast moving, you really feel as though you're at the wedding, and like you know the characters. Full of wisdom and reality, no one should skip this!