Song of Serenity (Memory’s Muses #1) by Brey Willows is the first of a new paranormal/fantasy series. It is also very much a romantic tale between the Muse of Justice, Calliope Ardalides and Jordan James, a very successful businesswoman who builds and runs adventure parks.

This story begins when Calliope, overworked as the Muse of Justice in this new world where the gods live on Earth with humans after the Merge, goes on vacation. She heads to her small cottage in Scotland near one of her temples only to discover that her idyllic temple and vacation home will soon overlook a noisy parking lot for a new adventure park owned by Jordan.

Jordan has very negative views about the gods in general and is determined to finish this project in Scotland. This sets up a lot of conflict between the two, even as they both seem drawn to each other on a personal level.

While this is the first book in a new series, it is set in a skillfully crafted universe that the author created for her Afterlife Inc. series. Those of you who have read that series will find the secondary characters and the setting quite familiar. The characters are also well-developed. I would love to just hang out with Calliope. She is so gentle and calm…even when she is upset. The romance between Calliope and Jordan is wonderful to read. It doesn’t matter that one is human and the other immortal, they act and react realistically towards each other.
Even though this book is set in the same world as the Afterlife Inc. series, you can read this book as a standalone. The author gives you all the information you need to understand this universe. Knowing how wonderfully this author writes, though, I recommend that you read as many of her novels as you can, including this one. I’m very glad I read Song of Serenity, and now I’m looking forward to the next book in the Memory Muses series.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

Cali is a muse and immortal. Jordan builds and runs adventure parks for adrenaline junkies. So, when Jordan buys land close to the only muse temple in the world, Cali feels the urge to protect not only the temple, but her home. What comes next is a battle between two views, a lot of zip-lines and (maybe) an unexpected love...

Don't get me wrong, I love the concept but I felt like this book was a bit too far from my typical reads for me to truly get into it. There are moments where the prose is amazing, and then the tone takes a shift, or a sentence is too long and it takes away from the flow of the story.
The connection between Jordan and Cali is very interesting. To see that continue to grow and evolve was pleasing, but I felt there wasn't a whole lot of character development to truly justify these shifts in their views towards one another and, if there was, it was a sentence or two at best.
Again, I would recommend for others to give this book a try, but it unfortunately wasn't really my think.

On the other hand, there were moments that did fully immerse me into the story. At times, the imagery became so vivid and breath-taking I wasn't sure if I was reading or watching a movie. I believe that this is due to the premise being very nature inclined - and that was a part I was very satisfied with.

Calliope is the oldest sister of the nine Muses. She is over 3000 years old and has inspired people for generations. But she has been stuck as an arbiter in the Afterlife dealing with arguing gods and complaints from humans. It is time for a vacation to her sanctuary retreat in Scotland. Once there she finds the neighboring land has all been sold to Jordan James for development of an eco-friendly adventure park. The parking lot will literally be in front of a temple dedicated to the muses and Calli isn't happy.

The author builds the fantasy world well. It is a clever to have the gods walking among humans and known to them. I did learn that muses aren't gods themselves although their parents are. The story is fine and the conflict over the land development is fairly given. Calli is the muse of justice after all. But it seems silly that Jordan dismisses any compromise because it would be costly or effect her permits. Life is always about compromise. The romance to me felt vey instant. She beautiful, there's a connection, I want her. They do have a fun adventure together but the obstacles Calli says have stopped her from getting involved with mortals in the past are still there and not addressed. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy fantasy romance. Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Book for eARC in exchange for an honest review.

hat’s a Muse to do when her much-anticipated peaceful break is under threat? Calliope Ardalides is the eldest of the nine Muses, and is responsible for arbitrating arguments between the gods and answering for their failures to the humans who complain. Her haven of serenity is a small Scottish village, where the Temple of the Muses is situated. But when an American businesswoman lodges plans for an adventure park right next door, Calliope’s hopes of relaxation and calm are shattered. Despite a powerful attraction neither women appear ready to yield. Can they each get what they want? And will they be able to resist the pull of something more?

I’ve been looking forward to this, the first in a new series set in the Afterlife Inc world. The first trilogy was excellent and my favourite series of the past five years. This time we are with the Muses, and they are just as compelling. Calliope is a talented musician and singer, but has been so caught up in the other aspects of her job, that her artistic side has taken a back seat. Being in Scotland lets her enjoy music again, but the threat to her peace from Jordan James and her plans is worrying. Although she’s used to seeing an issue from both sides at work, it’s more difficult in this case. She’s a kind, thoughtful and sensitive soul and I really liked her.

Jordan wasn’t the big, bad wolf, even though she wanted to build next to the Temple. I could see her point of view, and it would certainly help the local community. But she had to see the whole picture, and Calliope was the person to help her do that. Their attraction was intense and powerful, but it was also healing for both of them.

Brey Willows describes the Scottish countryside perfectly and makes me feel as if I’m there. She sees past the surface and allows the reader a peek of that too. I love the marrying of old and new, the mythology and the present. The story shows wonderful imagination, and I never tire of reading what she has come up with . She knows her characters inside out and allows the reader to become part of their lives.

‘Song of Serenity’ is a stunning story. I highly recommend it.

I was given this Arc for review.

This is my first Brey Willows book and I loved it. The energy between Calliope and Jordan was great as was the storyline and the other characters. I would find myself giggling at the goings on of the other gods. The book was funny in many parts but also sweet because Calliope had such a good heart. I’ll be reading more of this authors books.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books Inc. for taking a chance on me and providing me with an arc to review.

Now onto the review!!
I LOVED this story. I absolutely love the inclusion of the enemies/rivals to lovers trope and I think that it was executed very well. The side characters were amazing and didn't feel like they were there as exposition machines but they weren't getting too much into the main story which was a relief to read about. It was nice that there was a balance in how the side characters fit into the world. Speaking of side characters, my heart and soul belongs to Duncan. He is amazing and witty and sweet and absolutely the nicest person in the universe. I also absolutely loved Iona and her story.

Before I forget, the cottagecore vibes in t his book were IMMACULATE.

Another thing that I absolutely adored is that the information and the worldbuilding were done in such a natural way that I was actually following everything they said and not just skipping ahead like I do when it's just info-dumping. Similar thing with the characters' traits. We could easily see what the author wanted us to know about the characters without it feeling like they were shouting about it in our face.
This author was also able to do something that I don't usually experience, which is me actually seeing the places they are describing. I generally use a familiar space for what they're describing and call it a day or sometimes see vague spaces and shapes and use that as a background in my head. And some of the places the author described we absolutely beautiful. If for nothing else read the book for Willow's ability to describe these beautiful places.
One thing I absolutely am FERAL over is the fact that the characters communicate. It's the bare minimum but there have been so many times when the trope of miscommunication is used that I feel like this is a holy grail that I was somehow lucky to find. I love that the problems didn't just stem from things that would be easily resolved iF ONLY THEY TALKED TO EACH OTHER. (sorry it's a touchy subject *hides the rage in a box for another time*)
I loved that the author managed to change my mind about how much some characters match. I was like "Nah" and then I was like "YES KISS" which is one of the things I love when reading.
I loved the positive outlook on polyamory that was thrown in there too!!
The romance is just *chef's kiss*

Okay, now for the things I didn't love and the reason this is a 4⭐ book and not a 5⭐ book. I am a person who cares more about the characters in a story than about the actual plot. So the fact that I disliked one of the main characters for a good chunk of the book wasn't all that fun for me. I am unsure about whether or not my initial dislike is because of internalized misogyny or genuine dislike but it doesn't really matter since I ended up liking her in the end. I also didn't like how pronounced the need for compromise was throughout the book. Is it a fundamental part of our society? Yes, absolutely. But after a while, it was annoying that it was such a central part of the story. I think that's all I can say without getting into spoiler territory about specifics.

Oh and the last 2 chapters (well 2 numbered and the epilogue anyway) made my heart absolutely melt. This was also such an amazing scene in the epilogue that made me want to tear up.

Thanks again to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books Inc. for sending me the arc as well as Brey Willows for writing this story.

Song of Serenity by Brey Willows follows Calliope Ardalides, a muse in Greek mythology, on her vacation followed by a chance encounter with Jordan James. Jordan just so happens to be interrupting Calliopes vacation home as she plans on turning a part of the town into an adventure park. Unfortunately for Jordan, she receives mix reactions from the townspeople. Jordan isn’t willing to give up on her park though, even if that means dealing with one of those Greek gods she so hates.

I don’t have much to say about this book. It fell kind of flat to me. I didn’t really feel the chemistry between Calliope and Jordan. It just felt like “hey she’s hot, I love her”. No actual build up in my opinion. I did like the setting, the author did a good job with the mythology placing and setting the scene. Good writing for sure, just the romance section could’ve used more work. It was a bit boring and sometimes made the book feel like a chore. The author did a good job at writing in Calliope, she was definitely my favorite character. Jordan had a few interesting character points as well.

Not the most exciting read.

Could just be me so I’ll leave it up to you guys to read.

I received an Arc from NetGalley and the publishers in exchanged for a honest review

Calliope has been running herself into the ground after dealing with everything being a muse. She finally gets some peace when she goes to a place in the quiet countryside of Scotland.

Jordan dreams of opening the next big adventure park where Calliope is staying. Calliope is annoy that this beautiful quiet place in the village would inhabit adventure park as she wants to preserve this quaint Scottish village.
While Jordan wants to highlight this quaint Scottish village. They immediately clash but as they start to see eye to eye their feelings start to change.
You can never go wrong with this author she does fantasy/supernatural romance very well. I like that’s it’s light where as most fantasy/supernatural stories are always dark.




I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Calliope Ardalides needs a vacation ASAP. Her job at Afterlife inc has her running constantly with no outlet and she hasn’t been on vacation in more than 20 years, though considering she’s over 3,000 years old it may not be so bad. Being the muse of Justice, her day to day is spent arbitrating arguments amongst the gods, who have revealed themselves to humans and live openly among them. Jordan James is looking forward to opening her next big adventure park in the Scottish highlands. She has found the perfect location for her zip lines, spelunking and roller coasters and is anxious to get construction underway. When it turns out that the park will be in the backyard of Calli’s vacation hideaway they begin to see nothing but problems ahead as Jordan moves to bring the beauty of the Highlands to the masses and Calliope fights to maintain the atmosphere of her quaint Scottish village.

This was the first book I have read by Brey Willows and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the alternate world that she created for these characters, and the playfulness of the gods was amusing. I do see that this universe is also in another of her series but this is the first of a new series to my understanding and the others don’t have to be read first. I may pick those up at some point though because the writing and plot of this book were both very well done. I have read a lot of supernatural novels but most of them tend to be bit dark, I really liked that this was so lighthearted. It reminded me a lot of Reaping the Benefits by EJ Noyes which is one of my favorites. I’d definitely recommend this to any lover of fantasy/supernatural romance and I’ll be keeping an eye out for any books that come next in this series.