September 2024 First in a Series BOTM - A River Enchanted, by Rebecca Ross

[Alaina]

Jack Tamerlaine hasn’t set foot on Cadence in ten long years, content to study music at the mainland university. But when young girls start disappearing from the isle, Jack is summoned home to help find them. Enchantments run deep on Cadence: gossip is carried by the wind; plaid shawls can be as strong as armor, and the smallest cut of a knife can instil fathomless fear. The capricious spirits that rule the isle by fire, water, earth, and wind find mirth in the lives of the humans who call the land home. Adaira, heiress of the east and Jack’s childhood enemy, knows the spirits only answer to a bard’s music, and she hopes Jack can draw them forth by song, enticing them to return the missing girls.

As Jack and Adaira reluctantly work together, they find they make better allies than rivals as their partnership turns into something more. But with each passing song, it becomes apparent the trouble with the spirits is far more sinister than they first expected, and an older, darker secret about Cadence lurks beneath the surface, threatening to undo them all.

**This BOTM thread will be open until October 5th @ Midnight (in your time zone)**

[Felicia]

Starting this now. I haven't read the synopsis on the back or the one above and am going into it completely blind.

[Felicia]

Just got to chapter 4. I want to like this but I am struggling to get into it.

[Felicia]

Midway through chapter 7. These chapters are longggg. It is picking up though. I think I just don't know enough about Scottish Lore and that might be what is holding me back.

[SavsLibrary]

Chapter 1-Chapter 7: (view spoiler)[ Similar to Felicia, this book was hard for me to get into. I also chock that up to chapter length and my lack of knowledge in scottish lore. That said. now that we're a good chunk of the way in (30%ish), I'm getting into it. I wanna know what spirit took the girls, if Maisie or Freya (listening to the audiobook, idk the actual spelling sorry) will be next, will harp playing help, and what the hell the flowers have to do with the disappearances (hide spoiler)]

[SavsLibrary]

Chapter 8-Chapter 13: (view spoiler)[ OOOOOOO Adaira and Jack are getting together!! I love it!! But poor lil Maisie!! It didn't feel right that a spirit was taking all of the girls, so it makes more sense that it's a man. I wonder if it's someone that's from their clan or if it's someone from the west... (hide spoiler)]

[SavsLibrary]

Chapter 14-Chapter 20: (view spoiler)[ So they're married but we waited quite a while for a kiss haha. I really like these two together, but I do worry because we are on book 1 and they're happy together... ya know??? Also, it's interesting that the one girl was returned after the raid, I wonder if she was kidnapped by someone on the inside who made a deal with the opposing clan? Also I wonder if war is going to actually break out or if they'll avoid it at the very last second with a feat of cunning (hide spoiler)]

[SavsLibrary]

Chapter 21-Finished: (view spoiler)[ Ummmmm what the fuck was that ending??? I was really enjoying things and now I am simply *annoyed* (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

I just got the audiobook for this on hoopla. Starting this after I get some coffee!

[Alaina]

Ch 1-5: (view spoiler)[Not a fan of another kid missing. I am, however, happy that Jack is back. Also, he has a sister?!?! Did not see that coming. I'm also really enjoying the narrators' accent. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Ch 6-10: (view spoiler)[Her attacking the guy was wild. Who was it? Why did they want that specific kid? I have so many questions! (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

SavsLibrary wrote: "Chapter 1-Chapter 7: [spoilers removed]"

RIGHT? I need to know why they were taken!

[Alaina]

Ch 11-15: (view spoiler)[Kind of excited that they got married, but something also feels a bit off. I just want the girls to be recovered. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

SavsLibrary wrote: "Chapter 8-Chapter 13: [spoilers removed]"

Lots and lots of questions about this guy!

[Alaina]

Ch 16-20: (view spoiler)[I mean, she's not wrong. It's not fair, but I also have a bad feeling if they get caught doing this... you know? (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

SavsLibrary wrote: "Chapter 14-Chapter 20: [spoilers removed]"

Yeah, it's interesting enough but slightly suspicious... definitely need more information and answers!

[Alaina]

Ch 21-Finished: (view spoiler)[OMG how am I supposed to accept that kind of ending?!?! (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

SavsLibrary wrote: "Chapter 21-Finished: [spoilers removed]"

RIGHT? I need the next book!

[Felicia]

SavsLibrary wrote: "Chapter 1-Chapter 7: [spoilers removed]"

I am really glad I am not the only one because I have heard very good things about this book and I love here writing so I was surprised that I was struggling.

[Hayley]

Finished (view spoiler)[ Ok, that one was a slog to get through. It started off rough for me, so rough that i switched from audio to reading hoping that would help. Sometimes it does for me. It still took me at least 45-50% of the way before i started caring about these characters. I have questions. How is this enemies to lovers? They were kids together and nothing really stood out to me to make them enemies. Adaira and Jack are just boring. I liked Torin and Sidra much better. Did she really need 480 pages to tell this story? NO, half of that would have been better imo. And the ending? WTH was that about? (hide spoiler)]

[Felicia]

Okay. It really wrapped me back in by the end and I loved it. I did struggle with the rating a bit because I had such a hard time getting immersed in it but by the end I loved the love.

[Jamie]

I just finally got the audio through my library. I struggled with Divine Rivals with this author, so I thought I would try the audio while reading alone and see if maybe that works better for me.

In saying that, I'm through chapter 3 and I'm struggling a little. Maybe it's because I didn't read the blurb, so I have no idea what I'm getting into with this one. I'll read it before jumping back on tomorrow.

[Jamie]

Chapter 4-11 => (view spoiler)[It's picking up some. I figured it would either be Frae or Maisie that was taken. This is going really slow for me, and I'm finding myself not wanting to read it. I need to just try and push through. I'm going to switch from audio to just reading and see if that helps any (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Chapter 12-17 => (view spoiler)[I figured that Jack and Adaira would get married, so that wasn't surprising. This will clearly be a slow, slow, slow burn with these two. I still feel like this is a lot of thoughts with not a lot of action on these pages. There is obviously they mystery, but I'm still bored and finding it hard to keep going. (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Chapter 18-23 => (view spoiler)[It's starting to pick up no more for me. I figured out that Jack's dad was a Breccan. So it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. If we even find that out in this book. (hide spoiler)]

[Jamie]

Chapters 24-28 => (view spoiler)[ Some of what was revealed was easy to predict. I had a suspicion that she was from the West. I didn't see Jack's dad being involved, though. I'm not sure if I'll read the next one or not. I found this book to be rather boring. (hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

Today is the last day to add comments for BOTM points!