A River Enchanted

In A River Enchanted, a bard by the name of Jack Tamerlaine is summoned to return home to the isle of Cadence, after ten years living on the mainland. Reluctantly, he answers the summons and will try to figure out why the daughters of the island are going missing.

He soon finds out that the nature spirits of the isle are just as capricious as he remembered and will only listen to his songs. Furthermore, the tension between the East and the West is higher than ever, which makes it even more difficult to find out what happened to the girls. He teams up with Adaira -his childhood rival and the daughter of the Laird- to finally solve this mystery.

In the beginning, I struggled a little with this book. Somehow it didn't really grab me and it felt quite melancholic at times. Jack had a rough start being back in Cadence and among the people he grew up with. He keeps wanting to go back to the mainland and his beloved career. Once he reluctantly agreed to team up with Adaira, it slowly got better -for Jack as well as for me.

The magic system and the nature spirits are really well written! I was very intrigued by the idea of the wind whispering rumors and warnings, the hills making your trip longer or shorter and the sea giving you fish or starving you.

The characters in this book are very lovable. I especially liked Jack's sister Frae, but also loved Sidra, Maisie, Thorin and Mirin. Each character has their own flaws and struggles and it all comes together nicely.

Overall I really liked this book. The first part was a bit hard for me, but the second part definitively made up for it. If you like Scottish folklore, a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance and stories entwined with magic and spirits, this book is perfect for you.