Audio review: A river enchanted by Rebecca Ross

Narrated by: Ruth Urquhart

Series: Elements of Cadence, Book 1

Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins

Release date: 02-15-22

Publisher: HarperAudio

Fantasy

To review

I like everything Ruth Urquhart narrates (though I confess I will always think of Deverry when I hear her voice.) She brings so much with her accent and feel for it all. Like coming home.

There is an island where two clans fight for control. One dark side with warriors, one side that prospers a bit more. There are spirits everywhere and if you do not play your cards right they might lure you away

Jack fled for the mainland, to be a bard and forget. But now he is back because girls are going missing. Jack was this sweet young man who loved music. And he does love the Island of Cadence too, but he felt like his bastard status made them look down on him.

Adeira is the heiress of the clan. She wanted to do what was right, to make the spirits happy, to find the missing lasses.

They meet, there will be feelings and friendship. And secrets, so many secrets that people are keeping. At the end, I have no idea what the will happen next. Because there will be more.

I enjoyed this fairytale-esque book. Spirits, magic and danger.

Jack Tamerlaine hasn’t stepped 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 instill 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.