Blackbird in the Reeds

Rowan Harbor Cycle Series, Book 1

By: Sam Burns

Narrated by: Chris Chambers

Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Devon Murphy has never believed that there were fairies at the bottom of the garden, but when he's in an accident on his way to his grandmother's house and comes face to face with the biggest, baddest wolf he's ever seen, he's forced to reconsider. When his grandmother asks him to look into a string of suspicious accidents, he finds a much bigger mystery to unravel. From his childhood best friend to the too-attractive deputy Wade Hunter, everyone in Rowan Harbor seems to have something to hide. Devon has to get to the bottom of it all before the accidents turn deadly. Contains mature themes.

©2017 Sam Burns (P)2018 Tantor

Good Story & I Enjoyed Chris Chambers

Creative, clever, fun. I enjoyed all the little surprises along the way, and since I didn't really read the blurb that worked out well for me this time 😜.

I listened to the audio version of Blackbird in the Reeds and thoroughly enjoyed the narrator, Chris Chambers. He did a good job and I'm scrolling through Audible right now looking for more of his MM performances.

fun entertaining series

this is a great series. the writing is fun and engaging. the narrator does an amazing job. my only complaint (not a real one) is that they were short and I wanted more.

So so

Story doesn’t go very deep and the romance is barely there. I’d say it’s pretty juvenile? Not YA but I think a teen might enjoy the book more if they want an easy listen.

Blackbird in the reeds

This was a very interesting book. The characters were really good at keeping the story enjoyable.

Love the concept

Easy listen, low angst, and the paranormal/magical town promises some level of intrigue. The way the story is written is just a bit shallow. There’s a lot of situations that called for more development, but were glossed over quickly. Like the author didn’t want to elaborate or lacked the tools to flesh the character interactions out. It felt like lost opportunities while listening, and perhaps it’s a lack of mature storytelling or just the genre or …. who knows? Even the one sex scene felt underdeveloped and there was certainly more potential in that scene!
Sam Burns definitely set up the story and characters for more tales in the town of Rowan Harbor. And I occasionally enjoy audio books that don’t make me work hard to follow; makes it easy to multitask.
Chris Chambers did a pretty decent job elevating the character interactions.
The Black Friday sale made the purchase of the first few books in the Rowan Harbor series easy to buy so I don’t feel ripped off.

3.5 Stars

I'm a sucker for a good fantasy story and Blackbird in the Reeds delivers the world and character building that I crave.

Told from Devon Murphy's single, third-person point of view, Blackbird in the Reeds is a nice blend of contemporary fantasy and paranormal romance, and it sets up nicely for what's to come next without being cliffhanger-ish.

Chris Chambers enunciates every word very clearly and he uses a distinct character voice for each of the large cast. His pacing is very structured and he infuses some emotion into the text bringing the characters to life. Overall I enjoyed listening to the audio and would listen again. However, Chambers' enunciation resulted in a less than relaxed delivery and, though his performance is proper and clear, I would love to hear Chris loosen up and really enjoy performing the characters in the next book.

Note: The Rowan Harbor Cycle is a series of 9 books - a trilogy of trilogies. The main characters (Devon and Wade, Jesse and Sean, Fletcher and Conner) will have their own book in each trilogy with a happy for now ending and later their (hopefully) happily ever afters.

Good Weird Small-town Trope

Sam is good with her prose as ever. This is more novella than novel, but good. A nice intro to a series and a rather good narrator. Chris the voice actor is excellent with his characters but a little boring on some of his exposition. However he has a ridiculously sexy voice and I personally would love to hear him tell me bedtime stories while snuggling. #swoon

Weird pacing

Took forever for the main characters to come together. It was ok read but wouldn’t want to continue with the series.

A good start to a new series

This is the first of a three part series although it could be added to. This is the first time I've read any of San Burns books, I like his style of writing. Very practical and easy to read. Meaning any of the conversations I could image having them in real life. Very lite on the sex which is a goodthing when you have a good storyline. You are not depending on the distraction of sex to make up word count. A little mystery, a little romance and a lot of good characters. Chris Chambers does a good job narrating. I like his voice, it's easy to listen to and the characters are easy to tell the difference.

Hate the narrator

The story is pretty good, I guess, but the narrator can make or break a story. This narrator is so monitored and unenthusiastic, he reminds me of those elderly college professors too old to care about teaching anymore but still required to lecture. Ugh! I hate that I can't even give a decent review of the story!