I received the audiobook version of this book for free for honest review from NetGalley. I really enjoyed the relatable Mia and her journey through PTSD. I myself having been through PTSD found it easy to find a connection with the character and enjoyed the relationship arcs in this story. I thought the audiobook narrators did an excellent job. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Unfortunately, this book never downloaded to my NetGalley Shelf app, to my great disappointment. It sounded like a wonderful book and I would love to have listened to it. I am giving it 3 stars based on the description and the reviews of others, just so I don't pull down the rating of the book. I hope that NetGalley continues to work on the audiobook app because I've greatly enjoyed the books I've been able to download!

ARC received from NetGalley for an honest review.

I really enjoyed both the narrators and the story. This was my first book by Freya Barker and it won't be the last. I liked that the story was realistic and that both characters have experienced life before meeting and beginning a relationship.

A great romance.
Mia is agoraphobic, which is completely relatable right now.
Jared is an ex-hockey player taking care of his pregnant sister.
They are next door neighbors in cabins on a lake.
This book hits several of my favorite tropes: man introduced having sex with someone else, sister mistaken for love interest, man is a good father, and woman thinks man is a player. The Canadian setting is very realistic with deer, moose, and loons everywhere.

The two narrators, Charley Ongel and Tor Thom are excellent. They both do believable male and female voices.

I'm looking forward to the next in this series.

I loved this story. I have a great love for hockey so it was an added bonus . I looked forward to hearing what the characters were up to, I enjoyed that they tackled PSTD in a realistic manner. I have never listened to anything or read anything from this author. I would for sure recommend this to someone looking for something light and not too involved. The voices of Mia and Jared were great. I was not fond of the other characters that joined in though.

<i>audiobook provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

Besides knowing that this was set in a small town in Canada, I really had no idea about this going into it and I’m really glad I went that route.

We follow two people, Jared, a retired NHL player and Mia, a midwife who is living in this small town while she comes to terms with what happened to her and learning how to manage her agorophobia.

The chemistry between these two characters was off the charts! I loved every interaction between them, from the sweet and tender moments, to their fights and seeing the way Jared helped Mia combat her panic attacks. They were so sweet together and their HEA was beautiful to see.

I also really liked the family aspect to this. Jared’s sister was a hilarious character and really kept her big brother on his toes whenever he got himself into a situation and was being guided by his emotions versus his head. Her adorable little boy was a great addition to the plot and to the characters too.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story! At first, I had a harder time with the female narrator as she started off pretty monotone but as the story progressed, I got used to her voice acting and really came to enjoy it telling me the story by the end. The male narrator did a fabulous job!

3.5/5 🌟

TW: miscarriage, pregnancy, childbirth, stalking, harassment, assault, animal death, death of a parent/parents, sexually explicit scenes.

I’m sorry, I was unable to download this book (technical difficulties) and now it has been archived. I do plan to read it.

A Change in Tide
Northern Lights, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: I judged a book by it’s cover.

The Characters:

Mia:
Jared:
Jared’s sister and her son, local cop, Mia’s bff (I really suck at remembering names.)

The Story:

So after some ups and downs with Netgalley’s new app, I was able to listen to this book. I’m super happy I did. Freya Barker could become a new favorite author. I dig her small town, big family (both blood and chosen) vibes. Her heroines are badasses and Mia is no exception. She seems meek but she has the backbone of a tiger. Seriously she took on a bear in her backyard. Jared is a caring, reformed, playboy who still has some learning to do but he’s not afraid of it.

This book started out with a super steamy voyeur moment then alternated between sweet, funny, and more steam. I enjoyed this time on the lake with all of it’s twists, turns and frustrating paps.


The Random Thoughts:


4 Stars

3 Stars - Ebook
2 Stars - Audio
While I own the ebook, I received a complimentary copy of the audio via Netgalley. I'm thankful for my personal copy of the book, because I couldn't get past the first few chapters when listening. I didn't care for the audio narration at all and after those first chapters, I switched to strictly reading. Like reading, audio preferences are subjective, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I found the ultra-careful enunciation of both the male and females narrators to be unnatural sounding. Far more with the female. Unfortunately, they didn’t make the story immersive for me.

The pacing of the romance started too fast for me with not a lot of build up. Because of that, some of the actions and endearments from the characters felt off and made me cringe. As the story progressed, it started to flow a bit more realistically and I settled in nicely. Overall, I felt like there were some inconsistencies with the pacing, but I liked the characters enough to stick with it and for the most part, enjoyed the sweet, low-angst romance.

This intriguing and smoothly written story immediately drew me in. The pacing is good and the characters are interesting and have a lot of chemistry in this sexually charged story. This is the first audiobook I have requested from Netgalley and while
I enjoyed the book and the narrators did a great job, the app is difficult to use and needs some work.

When Jared moves into the house across the lake from Mia it changes her life forever. Up until this point, Mia has been content living her life in peaceful solitude. Jared changes everything when he moves in and suddenly Mia’s world is filled with noise and distractions. At first Mia is not happy with Jared and makes some untrue assumptions about him. Mia has demons she is trying to deal with and finds it easiest to keep to herself.

Jared is thirty-nine and a newly retired hockey star. He has led a wild life until now, but is willing to settle down and be there for his sister. Underneath this tough hockey player is a protective guy with a kind heart, who will do anything for those he loves. Jared is so thoughtful and patient with Mia, he stole my heart. Mia intrigues Jared. She is vulnerable and mysterious and completely different from the women he normally comes into contact with.

Jared and Mia have to go through a few hurdles before they can be together. They help each other learn, grow and become better people. Although they are both very different, they have some things in common. I enjoyed Jared and Mia's story.

I was given the chance to listen and review this audiobook. I enjoyed having a two-person narration of the story.

The action started very quick with the adult scenes. I really liked the main characters of Mia and Jared even though it's a much used dominant male protector role. It was nice that we didn't have the typical misunderstanding halfway through the storyline that breaks the main love interest up that so many romance novels fall back on.

Mia having agoraphobia was a very interesting storyline. I would have liked to learn more about that as the reader but the author did a great job with it and it added to the story. It was nice having a female character that knew her limits and took time to look after herself as much as the male character looked after her.

I would recommend this book and would enjoy reading more in the series.

Although I liked this story, I din't care for the voices that are narrating it. At times their voice change pretending to be a different character annoyed me. I wish that the narrators played their own parts through the book. But the story it self I did like. This was my first audio ever, I expected it to be much better than it was.

3.5 stars. A sweet love story with a beautiful setting (rustic Canadian lake). Well written, and well read by the audiobook narrators. I liked Jordy and Ole (and Griffin the dog!) as supporting characters, as they added realism and life to the story. As is typical with me and romance stories, the hero's and heroine's hangups and miscommunications started to grind on my nerves after a while and that bit dragged on too long for me (as did the bit with the paparazzi). But this story had some interesting twists (the mountain lion - I did NOT see that coming) and kept my interest.

I really enjoyed this book about second chances and learning to trust and love again. Jared and Mia are instantly drawn to each other, but become friends first. Each is trying to recover from past hurts, with some days being easier that others. Jared has just found out that his NHL career is over and that his sister is pregnant. He buys a house with the intentions of being out of the spot light and helping his sister. Mia has lived across the lake for years and has agoraphobia. She is intrigued by Jared but afraid to open herself up.
There are so many beautiful, poignant moments in this book. The relationship between Jared and Mia grew naturally, without either one really knowing what was happening and from friendship. The scenery is beautifully described. The relationship between Jared and his sister, Jordi, is wonderful. I loved how protective he was of her, his nephew, and Mia. The added story of Jordi's ex coming back added a hint of mystery and was a great way to introduce the cop. I hope he and Jordi get a book.
The narrators did a wonderful job bringing the book to life. I would love to read and listen to more books in this series. I received and ARC in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

2.5 stars. I don't think I could round up to 3 stars. This is a review for the audiobook version. I have no complaints about the narrators...both the male and female narrators were excellent! But the story was just okay...basically very predictable and no surprises. My mind kept wandering off because I got very bored at many of the parts. Maybe just not my cup of tea.

Mia left the crowded streets and subway of the city from the wilderness. She has the solitude she needs contained in a small house on the lake. She is unprepared for the neighbor that moves in across the lake. He's loud and appears to be player. Until a chance meeting in town intrigues Jared to find out all he can about the quiet and mysterious Mia.

Jared moves his pregnant sister in with him to help her out. A career ending injury has permanently benched Jared, the Enforcer, and he's adjusting to his new normal. Until a chance meeting in town intrigues Jared to find out all he can about the quiet and mysterious Mia.

I loved this story! Such a sweet book with great characters. Wonderful writing and I enjoyed the dual narration. The narrators were both great!

I listened to the excerpt and enjoyed the narrator and would be interested in listening more of this book.

After a career ending injury Jared is enjoying a period of freedom as he decides what direction the future will hold. The one thing that he does know is that his life is about to change when his sister Jordy, who is pregnant and alone, moves in with him.

Over a decade earlier a devasting experience cost Mia the life she knew. She has moved to a cabin on the water and limits her interactions with other people so having Jared and his sister next door is more difficult than she imagined.

Mia is there when Jared and Jordy need someone the most and not only does it bring Mia and Jared closer, but it brings up the past that she hasn’t been able to face. The obstacles that they both faced and how they dealt with them were real as both the love and healing was not instantaneous but rather developed over time which only made the story that much more fulfilling. I enjoyed the performance by both of these narrators and thought they did a great job at bringing out the personalities of the characters.

Mia has retreated from the world. She stays in her little cottage on the lake using the quiet as a place to retreat from the world. Mia has suffered from agoraphobia and panic attacks for the past ten years, She has the safety of her cottage and her routine, but she is realizing she is not really living her life anymore. This all changes when her new neighbor moves across the lake.
Jared is a recently retired NHL player. After a career-ending injury, he moves to the lake for a new start. His younger sister is pregnant and all on her own. Jared is now ready to stop his partying ways to take care of his sister and soon to be born nephew.
This is a nice slow burn romance. I really like how it dealt with Mia's anxiety. Finding Jared did not fix her. She worked on herself. Jared was there to support her. I loved all the interactions between the family and the new baby. Seeing Jared going from nervous guy to confident caregiver to a baby was really sweet.
The narrators were great. I've listed to other titles by Tor Thom and have always liked him. This was the first time I listened to Charley Ongel narrate and I think she did a good job.

A great read. It has alot of realistic elements to it. It hit home for me with Mia having an anxiety disorder. I really appreciated how this author handled that topic. And Jared's struggle with his past in the NHL and how he deals with it and comes to terms with it.

It starts right off with a very steamy voyuer moment, that I did not see coming. Mia make assumptions about Jared from the start but quickly realizes it's not what she thinks. I really loved her character. I loved Jared and Mia together, the banter they shared was highly entertaining.

Jared is a rugged, drop dead gorgeous former athlete that caught my attention right from the start. He's trying to change his past ways now that he has a big responsibility in his life now. He brings all the heat when he and Mia finally reach that point. It's a slow burn but packs the biggest punch that's worth the wait.

An overall great listen and I'm excited for more in this series! Also the narrators did an amazing job!