A Change of Pace
Northern Lights, Book 3

I Picked Up This Book Because: Continue the series.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: Netgalley
Dates Read: 12/9/20 - 12/11/2020
Stars: 4

The Characters:

Newt Tobias:
Frederique “Freddie” Marchand:
Newt’s Daughter, Freddie’s menagerie

The Story:

I’ve enjoyed these books since I discovered them on Netgalley earlier this year. I was so happy to see book three become available because I couldn’t find it on audio elsewhere. Even though Newt has a weird name he's a good guy trying to be a good dad. Pretty much everyone in this book has an “issue” but they all learn to lean on each other and help each other, which I love. I love that there is a lot of community in this book also. Overall it was just a great read for me. I wish there was more to the series. Even though the books don’t really connect they still somehow feel connected.

Ms Barkers will have you all relaxed in the picturesque small town lakeside of Northern Ontario, the makings of a great lazy afternoon read.

Small town and beauty was the draw for our Alpha single dad Newt, retiring and leaving their fast paced city life behind hoping the change would be beneficial for his struggling teen daughter. A solid father, daughter relationship can be difficult when she seems so lost and scared with life, struggling to understand her emotions. Watching this big strong man, bend and do everything he can for his daughter is swoon worthy. Seeking outside help leads Newt straight to Freddy Marchand, whom has already caught his attention a time or two.

Freddy is a fiery woman, determined to stand on her own doing the things she loves as she wants. Helping troubled teens in both conventional and unconventional ways. Her brood of animals are her family and solace, they keep her grounded when life gets to be to trying. She was content with her life, but the more time she spends with Newt and his sweetheart of a daughter Millie, she just might be wishing for more.

Be ready for then emotional rollercoaster of sadness, fear of loss and unexpected love that Ms Barker is about to sending you riding. Superb secondary characters that help round the story out and make you want more, searching the pages for answers and finding the HEA at the end.

The narration brings these characters to life just as I had imagined. Wonderful listen!

Newt and Freddy’s story was fun! I liked the slow burn romance between two people that aren’t 24.... Newt, while I had a hard time getting past his name, was a great character and Freddy was totally relatable and funny.
The narration was fabulous and the story kept me hooked.

This was a wonderful book about second chances, hope and love. Newt moves himself and his teenage daughter to a new town for a fresh start. They both have been through a lot and he hopes a change of scenery will help both of them. Little does he know that his life will change forever.
Freddy is a strong woman and is affected by Newt and his daughter. She hasn’t had an easy life and just when things are looking up, she gets some potentially devastating news. Her relationship with Newt is real and feels like it could be any relationship of people I know.
With twists and turns, some expected and others not, I couldn’t stop listening until I was finished. His daughter lived through some horrible circumstances and came out stronger in the end. Jordan had a heartbreaking story as well.
I really enjoyed Freya’s books and recommend it them. I received a free audiobook in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

A very well written and dramatic story about a middle aged single dad and his daughter. His love interest is the caring therapist that helps them through their problems. Unfortunately this type of family drama isn't my favourite genre in romance, but I can appreciate that many people will love this book. I listened to the audio version and it was well narrated and their voices suited the H/h's ages and characters. Both were articulate and pleasing to the ear. My thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to listen to the audio in return for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed listening to the audio book A Change of Pace, it is a refreshing and heartwarming story with realistic and complex characters. This is the third book in the Northern Lights series and you won’t feel as though you are missing anything, if you haven’t read the other books in this series.

Newt and Freddy are brought together when Freddy tries to help Newt’s teenage daughter. I immediately connected with Newt and Freddy and found them easy to relate to. Newt, is a retired police officer and is also a caring, protective, single dad to his teenage daughter. What I loved most about Newt, is his willingness to make any sacrifice for his daughter. Newt and his daughter, Millie are both recovering from a tragedy and move to cottage county for a new start. Newt is not only a good dad, he is also an all around nice guy.

Freddy loves animals and her job working with troubled adolescents. She has many friends and is content with her life, although at times, she is lonely. Freddy has a full life and isn’t looking for love, but there is something about Newt that she can’t help being attracted to. Freddy has been hurt in the past and has had her share of troubles, but she is strong and resilient.

What struck me the most about this story was how courageous Newt and Freddy are. They are both mature adults and have both been through some bad experiences but they are still willing to take chances and live their lives. This story left me with a good feeling and the message to never give up, no matter how bad things can get.

This has been a social drama with really strong and with depth characters. The story is quite intense touching seversl difficult and unhappy topics like cancer, violence, alcoholism, sexual harassment. However, it brings positiveness and strong messages are convied like: Anything can happen and love as well as happiness can be found. It is ok to follow you own rules and form you own unconventional family.

It was a great book. I had tge chance to listen to the audiobook snd the narrators were really good.

Definitely it is a book.I recommend reading.

This is my first book by Freya Barker and it probably won't be my last. I enjoyed it - however, I found this book on the dark side (even though I don't think it was intended to be dark). This story revolves around Newt Tobias, a retired cop with a teenage daughter and a female therapist, Freddie. Newt had just moved to a new town to help his daughter cope with a lot of life changes and Freddie ends up being the therapist his daughter sees to help her with these changes.

It would have been cute except the new town he moved to seems very unappealing - the citizens of that town are truly deplorable. I kept thinking if I lived there, I would have to move. I honestly can't think of one person in the story that I would want to be my friend.

Newt & Freddie get off to a bad start with him yelling at her as she tries to rescue a girl from a groping older teen. Newt thought Freddie put herself into a dangerous situation by inserting herself and his old cop ways just couldn't be forgotten.

Their friendship and his daughter's healing is seen throughout the story and that was cute. But we also see the many "low lifes" of the town impact them in several ways and it just overshadowed the good parts of the book.

I received an audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated above are mine without biases.

For me the duo of Stephanie Nemeth Parker & Matthew Maddox did a good job with blending their voice with words from Freya Barker. She makes real adult romance come to life with the way she spins the story. She gives voice to various ways to fall in love. She allows for co-blending of various relationship situations. I think the single-dad makes for some of the best. Then add in a woman that is strong, determined and having lived through a lot of things all on her own.

Newt and Freddie find that they rub each other the wrong way upon their first meeting. Neither knowing who the other is. There were situations that imprinted on them for various reasons. That rubbing the wrong way comes to a head when one needs the other to move forward with making a new life, in a new town. There were some really good characters with solid relationships. We were able to see two children grow and change over the course of this story. Their changes triggers other changes in others that was not good for one, life changing, life challenging, and hope filled. Sometimes life open doors just when you need it, but its up to you to decide to step through it.

This book has it all mystery, love, and country living. Freya Barker writes in a way that you feel the pain struggle, and happy moments in Newt, Freddie, and Millies lives in a small Canadian town. Newt a retired cop takes his daughter to the country to protect her not just from the world but herself. Freya Barkers words illustrated the delicate threads of mental health. I personally appreciate how Freya showcases this element as natural and not something dirty or shameful.

The narrated by Stephanie Nemeth-Parker and Matthew Maddux in such a way that you really feel apart of the person talking. The inflection in their voices is beyond words. Spectium Audiobook has another winner here.

Thank you Net Galley for the audiobook copy of A Change of Pace by Freya Barker. I loved the listen! This book features Freddy (therapist), Newt (widowed dad) and Millie (troubled teen). The setting of a small Canadian town explains some of the word choice differences. The author handled some teenage issues with panache and compassion. The storyline flowed so well and the narration was very good. Stephanie Nemeth-Parker was fantastic at bringing the characters to life and had a smooth delivery. Matthew Maddux was a new to me narrator and has a nice voice. His speed of speaking was inconsistent though. I really enjoyed this book and will definitely listen to more by this author and narrators.

I really appreciate this series, they are all standalone so no worries if you haven't read the one before. Free on Kindle Unlimited. The characters are not in their 20's they don't have perfect bodies, they are grey and they have baggage but that doesn't mean life ends. Newt thinks moving to the small town will help his daughter heal from the death of her mother from Cancer and stop self harming. However things are a little more complicated than that and he winds up needing the help of a therapist who unbeknownst to him is the vigilante woman who has set his heart alight every time he runs into her.

Fred is happy with her life, with her menagerie of pets and work with kids she feels fulfilled but when she runs into Newt she realizes that although she is fulfilled there is could be more to her life. Having survived Cancer Fred doesn't take life for granted and tries to take every moment as a gift.

The narrators are fantastic and the sex scenes are pretty tame.

Trigger warning there are some hard topics in this book, cutting, cancer, alcoholism, child abuse and attempted rape. This is not a frilly romance with no substance. I'm grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me this book in exchange for an honest review.

AUDIO EDITION

I also got the chance to listen to the audio book for this release. The emotions of the story were conveyed clearly and correctly. It was a smooth listen. Both narrators did a good job in bring the story to life. They pulled you in and kept you listening with the tone and emotions in the voices.

4.5 star

I was pulled right into this story. The story has laughs, twists & turns, secrets, pain, kidnapping, and heartbreak.

If you have not read the below I would recommend reading those books(s) first
A Change in Tide (Northern Lights #1)
A Change of View (Northern Lights #2)

This is Freddy and Newt’s story. Newt took early retirement from his job and moved to a new town with his daughter. His daughter has been having some issues after losing her mother and he thought a move into a new place will help with those problems. Freddy and Newt meet when she runs headlong into trouble. Freddy will do anything to help someone in trouble. When They find themselves needing to meet again for help with his daughter he wonders if it will even work. As these two struggle with feelings and misconceptions they must figure out a way to help his daughter. Can they figure out a way to get along? What happens when Freddy is dealt a blow that she wants to hide from everyone. Will her secrets and pain of the past push Newt and his daughter away? Or will it brings them closer together?

As always with Freda’s stories she deals with real life issues. The hard life lessons that happen every day. She weaves a beautiful story around overcoming or helping to deal with the real-life issues while falling hard for each other. I felt I could connect with the characters and the story was a great read.

I highly recommend this book.

A Change of Pace (Northern Lights, Book Three) by Freya Barker
Narrated by Stephanie Nemeth-Parker & Matthew Maddux
Publisher: Spectrum Audiobooks
Genre: Romance
Release Date: November 30, 2020

A Change of Pace is the third book in the Northern Lights series by Freya Barker. I had not read or listened to the previous books in the series and this is the first book I've read by the author.

Overall, I really loved this audiobook. The story was incredible! I was beyond amazed by the depth of this book. So much occurred in this book and it had a great pace. It was captivating, heartwarming, and wonderful. I was quickly drawn into this story and couldn't stop listening to it. I loved the characters, they felt so real and could be my next door neighbors.

About halfway through, I discovered this book was actually a gift & message from the Universe for me. This is the second book I've chosen to read because it seemed like a light & easy romance with an escape from my reality and instead found guidance and encouragement in navigating my current health issue. Sometimes, we need the reminder that we are not alone and that we can get through this.

The narration by Stephanie Nemeth-Parker was wonderful and brought so much feeling to the story. Unfortunately, the chapters narrated by Matthew Maddux sometimes felt robotic and choppy.

I will definitely be reading the other books in this series (thank you, Kindle Unlimited) and looking forward to future books by the author! So incredible!!!!

I'm so grateful to Freya Barker, Spectrum Audiobooks, Inc, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Beautiful, deeply moving family drama with a side of romance!

Newt is a newly-retired police officer who moves his fourteen-year-old daughter, Millie, to a small town for a change of pace, hoping that together they'll be able to help her move past the trauma of losing her mother to cancer.

Freddy is a local therapist who works with at-risk youth and maintains an ever-growing menagerie of pets, including a friendly and empathetic dog, Boulder, who helps her break the ice with her clients.

After a rocky couple meetings in town where they definitely don't get along, Millie's need for outside assistance brings Freddy and Newt together as they figure out the best way to help Millie sort through her painful emotional turmoil. Slowly, their lives start to align in every meaningful way, giving rise to a romance that neither can deny.

But this expansive story is so much more than their romance. Small-town dynamics are realistically portrayed here, with a complex cast of lifelong friends, ex's, teen friends, and extended families all intersecting in ways that test every relationship on every level.

There is quite a bit of drama related to Freddy's ongoing health concerns as well as a local misogynistic bully who poses a threat to more than one young teenage girl. The nail-biting drama about 75% of the way through was intense and kept me on the edge of my seat all the way to its huge-sigh-of-relief conclusion.

Newt and Freddy's (and Millie's) HEA is tender and sweet, and shown as a natural progression of their relationship. I really appreciated the way Newt handled the unusual and stressful friendship with Jim, and how he worked with Alex to provide Freddy with the support she needed. The epilogue was absolutely perfect, giving us everyone's HEA a few years later, long enough to know that everything really does turn out well for all the main characters.

I received the audiobook version offered through NetGalley, and I was impressed with how well it was presented and how easy it was to listen to, despite its length (about nine hours). Both narrators brought their individual characters to life and did an excellent job of portraying the voices of the other characters. There was one little technical glitch, but it was fleeting and didn't distract from the story in any way.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves small-town romances, especially ones with older (late 40's) protagonists. It's a beautiful story dealing with real-life scenarios, with lots of humor and plenty of heart.

So so good! Millie loses her mom to cancer and not knowing how to deal with her emotions she resorts to a harmful way of dealing with all the pain. Her father Newt retires early from the police force and moves them out of the city. Thinking that would take care of it all.
Freddy being a psychologist takes in all the stray and abandoned animals and opens her heart to the ones in need. She has overcome so much in her life! When she meets Millie for the first time at her school she lets Boulder her service dog work his magic.
Freddy starts having Millie come to her home to help with her animals which seems to help Millie more than anything. But with this comes seeing her father Newt and the attraction between the two is undeniable. Loved reading and getting to know each one and I was feeling all the feels! I couldn’t help but fall in love with all of the characters. Audio given to me by author!

This was an okay read. I didn't like it as much as the previous book, but it still has a cute storyline with a happy ever after. It has romance, drama, and a couple intense moments to fill it out and it's a pretty quick read.

Frederique, Freddie, is a cool character. She has a bit of a tragic past, but she loves helping children and animals and is so sweet. She didn't let herself get bitter after being burned and I liked the way she approached therapy with the kids, not pushing and letting them open up to her. In comparison, I thought Newt was flat and boring. He was a good father to Millie, but that's pretty much all he had going. I was hoping we'd see more into his past, more sweet moments of him caring for Freddie, but it was sparse and not enough to make me like him.

The drama at the end was interesting, but I wish we'd had more spread out through the story. I did like Jordan and I was glad he got help and his dad really stepped up for him and apologized to Freddie for his crap.

The audiobook was alright but some of the words were pronounced strange and I didn't love it. Maybe it was the Canadian pronunciation, but it was odd and not my favorite.

I received this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I just love Newt and Freddie. The story grabbed me from the beginning. I love to have their relationship developed and you could just feel the chemistry. I really enjoyed Millies character as well she added another layer of depth to the story. The narrator’s were fantastic!

This book was an unexpected gem - with mature characters who are going through one hell of a difficult time in their live. The relationships and characters are well developed and gave me all the feels. Newt and his daughter have recently moved to the area. Newt's daughter is not dealing with her emotions in a healthy way - and has been harming herself. Newt took an early retirement from the police force and moved to the small town in cottage country in hopes that the change would help. Unfortunately, it isn't having the effect Newt hoped for and he needs professional help to get his daughter into a better place.

Frederique (Freddy) is a therapist who specializes in troubled teens and young adults. Her life has taken a lot of nasty turns - but she is in a good place now. She focuses on her clients and her animals and is happy. When Newt and his daughter come into her life - she and Newt are both hesitant to act on their attraction but want to put Newt's daughter first and get her the help she needs. But as time goes by - they find themselves needing each other in unexpected ways.

I loved the way the author wrote both Freddy and Newt. Both were very honest and true to characters in their age group and life experiences. Even in the midst of crisis - Freddy doesn't forget about her animals and the author makes sure to show us that. The story also shows Newt having real emotions and not always handling things well - but he and Freddy talk about them and don't let things come between them. In another book - things that are said and happen might have led to a separation between the characters or a major blowup. Here that doesn't happen - and I loved it. Almost all of the drama comes from external forces - and there is a LOT of that.

I loved this book - but do want to give a content warning <spoiler> cancer, hysterectomy, child abuse and neglect, and the death of a parent. </spoiler>. Overall - I highly recommend - especially if you love books with a silver fox! Mature characters dealing with real issues in mature ways. Swoon.

I listened to the audio version - and I did love the female narrator - but didn't love the guy. He sounded a little too robotic at times. Almost like the voice on my children's Minecraft game.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

Newt needs Freddie in his life when it seems it is slowly unraveling one fiber at a time. She provides him with the calm in the storm that he has faced with years and they may both may finally what he is looking for.