Beyond a Darkened Shore

By: Jessica Leake

Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins

Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Vikings meets Frostblood in this romantic historical fantasy stand-alone from author Jessica Leake.

The ancient land of Eirinn is mired in war. Ciara, princess of Mide, has never known a time when Eirinn's kingdoms were not battling for power or Northmen were not plundering their shores.

The people of Mide have always been safe because of Ciara's unearthly ability to control her enemies' minds and actions. But lately a mysterious crow has been appearing to Ciara, whispering warnings of an even darker threat. Although her clansmen dismiss her visions as pagan nonsense, Ciara fears this coming evil will destroy not just Eirinn but the entire world.

Then the crow leads Ciara to Leif, a young Northman leader. Leif should be Ciara's enemy, but when Ciara discovers that he too shares her prophetic visions, she knows he's something more. Leif is mounting an impressive army, and with Ciara's strength in battle, the two might have a chance to save their world.

With evil rising around them, they'll do what it takes to defend the land they love - even if it means making the greatest sacrifice of all.

©2018 Jessica Leake (P)2019 Blackstone Publishing

loved it

loved it. great fantasy book with norse and celtic mythology. great family or young adult reader.

Good story

I really liked the story, although there were quite a few inconsistencies/plot holes. ie, Main character and another character exit the castle to both cool off and give time for another character to discuss diplomatic issues. Right after, During a conflict, the main character pushes another character away to go get help. The Main Character struggles to survive fight against impossible enemy for maybe a minute or so, nearly dying, but then is victorious. Main character turns around and the other character that was sent away for help is already back, claiming to have searched the entire castle and couldn't find a specific person to help them... after only a couple minutes. Then claims they didn't know where that person was, but had a suspicion on where they might be... even though that is where both characters were prior to this scene (ie, 10 minutes in the past) and was the reason they left the castle in the first place. It wasn't a major plot hole, just an annoying one. Several of these types of holes stood out to me.

Looking past those, I really enjoyed the story. I was skeptical at first over the way religion might have played into the story, but I thought it was a useful place setting rather than a preaching tool (big sigh of relief there). The full circle of revelations was really interesting as well.

Alana Kerr Collins did a great job (IMO). She narrated another, longer story I just finished in a similar setting. This felt almost like it could have been a short story in the same universe, but was unique enough to keep me intrigued.

On the negative side, I was listening to this through Audible Plus as an included book. Irritatingly, Audible removed it from the list with 1.5 hrs of story remaining. So now I either have to use a whole credit to finish 1.5 hrs of story, or just not finish it. Time will tell how that goes.

Awesome BOOK!!!

I really liked this book. The story,. world, and people where soooo well written!. The narrator did such an amazing job bringing it all to life. I hope there is a second one.

Hidden gem!

This one came as a total surprise and I really loved it! The performance was wonderful and the story was well written. As an Icelander with an Irish mother who grew up on both Norse and Celtic mythology I can say that I was very impressed by the authors knowledge. I’m also very grateful to the author for the care and respect she displayed for Norse and Celtic cultural history in her story.

loved the story but struggled to finish.

love the story but have to admit I did struggle to finish it. Although the narrative voice is Pleasant and her performance of the characters is good the actual narration had such a distinct sing song pattern and cadence that became so predictable it actually took away from the story by making the words kind of blend together that, in the end, made it difficult to listen to.

Truly enjoyed

I truly enjoyed this book and the performance. I also loved the authors notes at the end.

Very Good

if you can get through the first few chapters, it draws you in. good book

Engaging story!

Enjoyed this stand alone story enough to want to see what else this author has written! I do have a soft spot for Vikings.

I want more from this author now!

This was a great read even though I have little knowledge of Norse mythology. Searching for more books written by this author

Awesome Fantasy

I’m more of a sexy romance fan generally, but sometimes I enjoy a good fantasy. Wow, this book didn’t need any sex with all the passion and heartache (besides, I’m not a huge fan of teenage sex scenes). It was so good and hard to stop listening. I found myself having a difficult time multitasking while listening because I kept getting swept up into the story and solely focusing on it. It made me smile and even cry. It was full of strength and courage and love and it was just awesome all around.
It starts a little slow which is why it was in my library for 6 months but trust me, it gets good fast and stays high paced for nearly the entire book.
Do yourself a favor and listen to it!