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Elements of Cadence #1
by Rebecca Ross
House of Earth and Blood meets The Witch's Heart in Rebecca Ross's brilliant first adult fantasy, set on the magical isle of Cadence where two childhood enemies must team up to discover why girls are going missing from their clan.
Jack Tamerlaine hasn't stepped foot on Cadence in ten long years, content to study music at the mainland university. But when young girls start disappearing from the isle, Jack is summoned home to help find them. Enchantments run deep on Cadence: gossip is carried by the wind, plaid shawls can be as strong as armor, and the smallest cut of a knife can instill fathomless fear. The capricious spirits that rule the isle by fire, water, earth, and wind find mirth in the lives of the humans who call the land home. Adaira, heiress of the east and Jack's childhood enemy, knows the spirits only answer to a bard's music, and she hopes Jack can draw them forth by song, enticing them to return the missing girls.
As Jack and Adaira reluctantly work together, they find they make better allies than rivals as their partnership turns into something more. But with each passing song, it becomes apparent the trouble with the spirits is far more sinister than they first expected, and an older, darker secret about Cadence lurks beneath the surface, threatening to undo them all.
With unforgettable characters, a fast-paced plot, and compelling world building, A River Enchanted is a stirring story of duty, love, and the power of true partnership, and marks Rebecca Ross's brilliant entry on the adult fantasy stage.
"Ross has built a fully realized world clearly inspired by Scottish myth and legend and thick with heroes. Jack and Adaira are not alone in their fight but are instead surrounded by a bevy of well-rounded kith and kin...A rich fantasy of bards and bairns in which the magical island setting becomes the main character." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"With this vividly imagined, Scottish-inspired mythic fantasy, Ross makes her adult fantasy debut...Ross puts a faith-based spin on the familiar elemental magic system and infuses her richly drawn world with dangerous spirits, while raising thoughtful questions about spirituality, morality, man's relationship with nature, and the meaning of home." - Publishers Weekly
"With lush worldbuilding and lyrical prose, A River Enchanted feels like the echo of a folktale from a world right next to our own." - Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf
"An alluring and rich tale, at once a fast-paced mystery and a love story as warm as a hearth. Like music, it will bewitch your senses, carrying you to the wind-swept hills and effervescent waters of the isle of Cadence. A River Enchanted made me homesick for places I've never been. This is a classic in the making." - Ava Reid, internationally bestselling author of The Wolf and the Woodsman
"Riveting and richly imagined, A River Enchanted flows like a song you cannot forget. Rebecca Ross has crafted a tale as tricksy and elemental as the human—and inhuman—heart." - A.G. Slatter, award-winning author of All the Murmuring Bones
This information about A River Enchanted was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Rebecca Ross writes fantasy novels for teens and adults. She lives in the Appalachian foothills of Northeast Georgia with her husband, a lively Australian Shepherd, and an endless pile of books. When not writing, she can be found reading or in her garden, where she grows wildflowers and story ideas.
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