A River Enchanted is Rebecca Ross’s first adult fantasy novel and the first in her new series, Elements of Cadence. It’s a story about home, family, love, and loyalty, set on an island alive with fae-like spirits and inhabited by two clans who have been at odds for centuries.
I loved this book. Rebecca Ross’s writing is beautiful and quiet, but not in a bad way. It’s hard to explain, but I was captivated and enchanted by it. I loved all the characters a lot. If you really love a character driven story, this is a book for you.
I’m excited for this book to release and recommend it to people and even more excited for the second one. That ending!

A River Enchanted not so subtly seduced me into its grasp with torturous longing between two rivals solving a mystery and its misty Outlander isle backdrop where Gossip Girl has gone completely medieval. Naturally, this book ripped into me with smoldering prose, tension for days, and Scottish lore entwining its earth elementals with the bard’s songs. It transported me deep into a misty Scottish isle, surrounded by woods and the taste of the sea on the air, where I cozy up with a plaid blanket and a chonky book.

If you’re a fan of Ava Reid’s The Wolf and the Woodsman or Allison’s Saft’s romantic prose, this will satisfy all your reader needs. The world feels in tune with the songs Jack sings and the folkloric beings so like the earth that you could probably pick them out of the earth and all its elements. The prose made me hungry for more. The miserable characters longing over starlight hair and the room between them. The agonizing loss of the lasses stolen from them. The sound Torin makes when he’s lost something dear to him. This world where trees become maidens and stones awaken to a song. Kisses completely destroy me when Rebecca Ross writes them. Rebecca Ross doesn’t just tell me a story, she sinks me into it without me even realizing that I’ve read half the book already.

What stands out about Rebecca Ross, amongst all the Scottish and Celtic-inspired fantasy out there, is that this tests the old-fashioned publications with a fresh voice by omitting gender essentialism and putting importance on consent and communication in relationships. I never once felt pulled down with over-done misogynistic tropes or gendered language. I’m enamored that Adaira is a Laird’s heir, who seemingly courts a himbo bard with a grumpy attitude by knocking on his window like a dashing Scottish rake. And–just in case you were wondering-this would fit into the f/m grumpy meets grumpy trope. This book should be in the hands of anyone looking for books with soft masculinity. There’s just something refreshing the portrayal of masculinity in A River Enchanted that I’m hoping will make this a favorite for readers.

I could read the hate-to-love trope mixed with arranged marriage any day but what made this particularly well done is how soft the romance felt. The author didn’t cheapen the trope by confusing tension with toxic masculinity. The slow burn between Jack and Adaira, Sidra and Torin, gripped me with tension but still made it feel soft and gentle. That’s what especially impressed me about Rebecca Ross.

I feel as if all these characters will stay with me. Jack, Adaira, Torin, Sidra, and Frae all felt picked from fantastical lore but still maintained the type of ripe hurt and horribleness that comes with living in the real world.

A River Enchanted is a fantastic and very sexy adult fantasy debut that surprised, gripped, and ravaged me. I’ll be looking forward to the sequel.

One of my favorite reads of the year. I don’t know what it is, but every time I read Rebecca Ross’s books I get so attached to every one of her characters. I loved the Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe type of relationship that Jack and Adaira had. It was the ememies (or rivals) to lovers trope done right. And I loved seeing the depiction of an already married couple figuring themselves out in the relationship between Sidra and Torin. Rebecca’s writing is so lyrical, and I fell in love with the beautiful and very natural magic system. If you love romance, if you love Scotland, if you love complex relationships, if you love beautiful prose, preorder a copy of A River Enchanted, because Rebecca Ross is a master of all those things.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I DNF'd this at about 30% so my review is for the book to that point.

If you love lyrical, magical realism enchantment than you are going to love this. It was a charming story filled with beautiful descriptions of a haunting fairy tale landscape. Unfortunately, I just didn't find myself connecting with the substance of the story and I put it down for weeks before acknowledging that I wasn't interested in picking it back up.

I'd like to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

What intrigued me about this book was that I thought I was getting a historical fantasy. I also thought I was getting an adult book. Reading about this book and its creation, it appears that the author thought the same thing.

Alas, not everyone can be Julliet Mariller. When it comes to stories having to do with old world / fae / celtic lore, I think she is the best writer in that. So, when I requested this book I hoped that I'd get that.

I did not. I made it 40% through this book before closing it and deciding that it was not for me, and I think it has some issues before going to print.

Firstly, the world building ain't that strong. There is a lot to write about but within that writing... its a whole lot of nothing happening and drawn out scenes and situations that can be easily condensed.

Secondly, what is this relationship with the main character and the leader's daughter? It's this strange love and hate. You are given backstories about them. Well it has been 10 years since you seen them together, and I honestly can't tell if he loves her or if he has any sort of friendly feelings for her. We hear from the main character that she was increasingly cruel to him and was partly the cause what sent him away from the island to the mainland. She lures him back with a false letter from her father to save missing girls with the help of music from her mother.

There is also a lot of modern day speech and mannerisms in this book. That's an issue for me because this book is billed as ancient lore fantasy. But it just sounds really messy and it makes you think it takes place sooner than that.

I just think that if anybody is going into this book looking for some good strong plot building and writing, you're not gonna get this with the book.

What a pretty story! Definitely one of those cosy, comfort reads that's perfect for a rainy day spent under a warm duvet.

The strength of this story is how atmospheric it is. It's very fairytale-esque with the lure of Scottish charm. The mysterious island of Cadence, the age-old feud between clans, and the magic of impish spirits create a very tangible world. And the characters are just as complex, just as intriguing.

I will say that the overall vibe of the story does feel YA, even though the characters are older. I do wish the story had felt more mature, but I know this is RR's first venture into adult fiction, so I have no doubt it will improve with the next book in the series. Which is an installment I eagerly look forward to!

Beautiful, atmospheric, lyrical. This an engrossing tale of Jack and Adaira from rival clans. Duty and love come into play, and as wonderful as this first installment in the duology is, the second promises to be even better. Happy to be adding this to our collection.

Thank you so much to Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A River Enchanted follows four characters on an enchanted isle, Cadence. Having returned home after studying andb ecoming a bard, Jack Tamerlaine returns at the request of the East's Laird. Only when he returns, he finds it was not his laird but the laird's daughter, Jack's childhood enemy, Adaira.

Girls are going missing from their clan, and Adaira and the others are searching for a way to find them, but the answer might be in the music.

I am such a huge fan of Rebecca Ross' stories, and I was so excited to jump into this story full of magic, music, and Scottish influence! As an adult book, I felt it suited Ross' voice even more, if possible, allowing her to bring her lyrical writing into a vaster world, unkempt by some themes not found in the YA realm.

The characters and the world are complex, the story intriguing with just enough romance to have you swooning. Overall, this is a truly beautiful and magical book, and I can't wait to have a finished copy in my hands!

Easily one of my favorite reads of the year.

This book was so, so beautifully written. The story is interesting and mysterious, it has such an amazing cast of strong and captivating characters, and I don't even know where to begin on the magic. It was all so vividly described, and I cannot wait to return to this world and get lost in it again.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was so good! It was moving, magical, emotional, enchanting, immersive, heartbreaking, tender, and just overall wonderful. I loved the Scottish inspiration for the island; the setting was pure perfection and I could clearly picture the wild scenery.
I loved the magic and the folk and spirits and how they were entwined. I loved the characters! Jack and Adaira, Torin and Sidra, Mirin and Frae, and Graeme!
There were some fairly heavy themes in the book with lies, secrets, heartbreak, kidnapping, lost children, warring clans, and what it means to belong. But the writing was so beautiful!
The ending broke my heart and I just hope it gets put back together in the sequel!
Highly recommended

I rated this one up from 3.5.
A River Enchanted is first in a duology. It's a Scottish tale with plenty of superstition & lore. I haven't read much Scottish so it was definitely interesting to learn some of it. I felt it was a slow going book. I enjoyed it because it was new to me but it didn't stand out and I figured out a lot of things way ahead of time. Not sure if I'll read the next one. Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this ahead of release in exchange for my personal opinion.

What a fantastic read! Rebecca Ross is forever a auto buy author for me. This story was so magical and I couldn’t put this down!

A River Enchanted was such a great read. Rebecca Ross’ first adult novel was full of the same magic and suspense as her previous YA novels. The setting, the island of Cadence that is divided between two rival clans, was vividly described and intriguing. Jack and Adaira, former childhood rivals, were both compelling characters. I really enjoyed this book and I’m so excited for the sequel!

Two childhood enemies reunited years later and find themselves together on a journey to solve the case of missing girls. Jack Tamerlaine is a bard and a professor at the mainland university. He hasn’t stepped foot on his home, Cadence, for 10 years now. However when he receives a letter asking for his return from the island lord he comes back... only to discover that the letter was written by the new ruler, Adaira, his childhood enemy. Adaira has summoned Jack back because young girls have started to go missing from the isle and she needs his music to help her contact the spirits since they will only answer to a bard’s music and Jack is the only bard left. Together they must find s way to find the missing girls before more girls go missing while also trying to figure out a difficult treaty between their people and the Breccan clan... When Adaira proposes to Jack to become not only her husband but the island’s bard, to officially come home and find a peace between the two of them, they soon find themselves falling for one another and the childhood rivalry might have transformed into something more and that though they might have hated each other as children... maybe they are the perfect complement to one another. Another story set along this one is the story of Adaira’s cousin Torin, the captain of the guard, and his second wife, a healer named Sidra. Their story is about two people finding their place with one another, finding a family, communicating, and understanding one another. While this books end on a HEARTBREAKING ENDING TRUST ME I WANTED TO SCREAM, thankfully this is the first book in a series (if it wasn’t I would have just about thrown my laptop out the window because my god that ending was not okay.) I can’t wait to see where the second book goes and how it resolves the cliffhanger and heartbreak of the first book. Seriously I need it. This was an interesting fairytale-esque story filled with romance, family, heartbreak, mystery and so much more. I can’t wait to see where the second book goes ( hopefully it won’t end in such a heartbreaking way as this one did because I’m gonna need a minute to recover).

*Thanks Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager, Harper Voyager for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

recommended by one of my favorite new writers allison saft, i was excited to read this one and oh, it’s magic. gorgeous prose. and the magic is so well realized and communicated

This fantasy world is unique and the mystery a page-turner. And the cover? Super cool. I recommend this for fantasy lovers, as well as for those who love the harp-playing bard characters that have always needed their own books. :)

3.5 STARS

Called home for the first time in ten years, Bard Jack Tamerlaine returns to the mystical and magical isle of Cadence. Jack left as a young boy to be schooled in music on the mainland which, unlike his homeland, has no special enchantments. Jack’s leaving was not without a lot of sadness and heartbreak so returning home for him is filled with complex emotions. The reason Jack is summoned by the Laird is that young girls have gone missing on the island. His clan is in need of a bard who can summon with music the capricious spirits of fire, water, air, and earth who rule this fairy-tale place. The spirits help, hinder, or harm depending on their whims over the inhabitants, and how those peoples behave especially since two warring clans occupy Cadence.

Adaira Tamerlaine, who is the heiress of East Cadence, grew up with Jack until he left; they were always in competition trying to outdo each other. Now as adults, Adaira desperately needs Jack's help to find out where the lost girls are and deal with overtures from the other clan, the Breccans, for a possible peace and trade between their two factions. Private conversations are hard to keep secret on Cadence as the words are carried on the wind. Several other magical elements play important roles in the island enchantments; they also function to reveal sinister plots and dark secrets which threaten harm to all the inhabitants on both sides of the dividing line.

This story has a lot to recommend for it for YA fantasy readers especially those who enjoy a fairy-tale version of a Scottish island and its creative mythology, rivaling clans, dark and light magic as well as some romance. First in the Cadence series, while this tale is enjoyable for the most part, the pacing was a more than a bit slow. This book ends on what I consider a cliffhanger of which I am not a fan. It does not detract from the quality of the writing although as noted, the story does drag in places and certain elements are of the plot are predictable.

I am furious with Rebecca Ross. Yet I am also enchanted by this story. It was wonderful in all its pages and though it did not offer a gratifying ending, I could read it over and over again without tire. Rebecca Ross is brilliant with her words and I expect great things from the second book.

Thank you so much to Harper Voyaged for sending me a copy of this amazing story in exchange for an honest review!

First and foremost, I think it should be noted that I will literally read anything Rebecca Ross writes. I’ve read all of her young adult work so naturally I had to request this immediately and I’m so happy I did.

this story is definitely a slow burn, set in the Scottish highlands we meet Jack who is called home due to reports of girls going missing from his home and is called back to help investigate.

This story felt so cozy and magical and definitely the perfect thing to read during fall, I couldn’t put it down and I’m a sucker for enemies to lovers which this story definitely has! I can’t wait for my finished copy to come! Please go read this!

Oh, this beautiful book! I'm so grateful that NetGalley allowed me to read an advanced copy. I have grown very attached to Rebecca as an author. Her writing is exactly what I'd mentally design for any book I'd want to read, alluring and thoughtful and magical. I loved the slow build and effortless whimsy of this story. Mysterious and powerful spirits, both troublesome and noble; two warring clans on a very enchanted Isle; music and romance and secrets. I absolutely loved the Scottish influences and the weird and delightful ways the isle and its people lived. Names on the wind, secrets woven in plaid. This book will stay with me for a while, I really sank heavily into it.