Shadow Spell

The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy, Book 2

By: Nora Roberts

Narrated by: Alan Smyth

Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

From number-one New York Times best-selling author Nora Roberts comes a trilogy about the land we’re drawn to, the family we learn to cherish, and the people we long to love.…

With the legends and lore of Ireland running through his blood, falconer Connor O’Dwyer is proud to call County Mayo home. It’s where his sister, Branna, lives and works, where his cousin, Iona, has found true love, and where his childhood friends form a circle that can’t be broken.…

A circle that is about to be stretched out of shape - by a long-awaited kiss.

Meara Quinn is Branna’s best friend, a sister in all but blood. Her and Connor’s paths cross almost daily, as Connor takes tourists on hawk walks and Meara guides them on horseback across the lush countryside. She has the eyes of a gypsy and the body of a goddess…things Connor has always taken for granted - until his brush with death propels them into a quick, hot tangle.

Plenty of women have found their way to Connor’s bed, but none to his heart until now. Frustratingly, Meara is okay with just the heat, afraid to lose herself - and their friendship - to something more. But soon, Connor will see the full force and fury of what runs in his blood. And he will need his family and friends around him when his past rolls in like the fog, threatening an end to all he loves.…

©2014 Nora Roberts (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Love this series

Awesome story of magic, family, and love!! Loved the narration- the reader did an excellent job telling the story!!!

Horrible horrible narration!!!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator! He was just awful. The accents he gave them were a mix of Asian and awful Irish. Plus half the time he either sounded like a robot or like he just couldn't read well. I was so so disappointed. I liked the woman narrator for Dark Witch but this guy was almost unbearable. I hope they did better with the third book narration. I don't think I could handle another dreadful attempt like this again.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He was the worst I've heard in a long time.

Any additional comments?

Please be more careful who is narrating. It almost ruined the entire book.

a bit predictable, but great characters

Nora is the best at making characters come alive by highlighting their flaws along with their features. The O'Dwyer 6 are no exception.

Like the story, hate the narrator

What did you like best about Shadow Spell? What did you like least?

I like Nora Roberts. I like her trilogies. Yes they are formulaic, but it's how they get to the end you know is coming that matters. That being said, this narration was horrible. All the characters sounded the same, his American accent made Iona sound like she was slow mentally. He paused way too much, it just wasn't a delight to listen to.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the characters, and I like the magick. It's something that's always interested me.

What didn’t you like about Alan Smyth’s performance?

It would be a shorter list what I DID like about it, which was nothing. He pauses way too often, almost like William Shatner. All of this voices sounded the same. His Irish accent was horrible, and his American accent made the character sound mentally slow.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes, definitely.

Performance Issues

Didnt care for Alan Smyth's performance. It was to stuttered for my taste. And his American accent of Iona just wierd

Love this beautiful story!

Nora Roberts tells a beautiful story all the characters are wonderful and enchanting the story line is interesting exciting and beautiful I could listen to the story over and over,I wasn't really thrilled with the narration I think with another narrator this story would have been perfect but the story is so wonderful that the narration couldn't even,dim the enjoyment of this book The story and the characters shine through even with the narration not being as good as it could have been read this book you will love it

Wonderful

I absolutely enjoyed this book . I look forward to hearing the next. I cant wait to see what comes.

Lacked depth and breadth

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This book lacked depth and breadth in character and sounded like a cheesy romance novel. The story got caught up in the next couple's romance where the interplay was annoying at best and the one big conflict at the end, predictable. There is a lot of room for this story to run, many more interesting revelations that could have been found or speculations to prove, but instead, it sounded like an episode of "Friends".

Would you recommend Shadow Spell to your friends? Why or why not?

No, I would not recommend this one to friends, or buy it as a gift unless the recipient loved all things Nora Roberts. I had a hard time caring about the main characters emotionally. It was too cookie cutter... first couple taken care of in book one. Next couple hooks up in this book - check... geez wonder when the third couple will be reconciled? There could have been so much more development in the characters and story that I kept anticipating, but did not happen.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Alan Smyth?

NO! REALLY BAD narration that impacted the story quite a bit. POOR accents, a voice that did not match the characters or what was happening in the story, and sounded like it was just being read aloud. It brought a blandness to the story, that may or may not be there.

Could you see Shadow Spell being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I think about current stories that could be similar like "Once upon a Time", "Grimm" or "Game of Thrones". With those story lines, they are not predictable. This series is and would be disinteresting. The potential of the story is there, it is just not fully developed.

Not as great as the first, but better than most

I keep expecting the excitement of the key series but this is still good

Great story awful narration

I loved the first story in this trilogy and was excited to read the 2nd installment. The narration at the beginning was so awful and robot-like I almost couldn't continue. I managed to make it through as the narration improved slightly after the first chapters set in the past. I'll only listen to it when I don't have time to read it though because it is really awful. They should have stuck with the first narrator. His expression for each character was the same, robot. Blech!