Adder and Willow

The Rowan Harbor Cycle, Book 6

By: Sam Burns

Narrated by: Michael Fell

Fletcher Lane has a problem. His boyfriend’s parents are coming for a visit, and they want to meet up. He’s ready to commit, so what happens if his prospective in-laws don’t like him? And how is he supposed to keep Rowan Harbor’s unique nature a secret when he might be the worst liar ever born?

To make matters worse, when he finds and helps two strangers stuck on the road, it leads him to a new threat: the man who’s been terrorizing the town has set events into motion that endanger more than just Rowan Harbor. Can Fletcher and his friends stop him before there’s nothing but a smoking crater where the Oregon coastline used to be?

©2018 Sam Burns (P)2022 Sam Burns

Trust the Breaking

Fletcher and Connor’s push-pull dynamic feels organic, evolving from wary allies to something deep, fierce, and healing. Fletcher and Conner’s trust in each other becomes as critical as their magic while Rowan Harbor faces an intense battle threatening everything. I’d love to see incorporation of Devon and Wade because we know they wouldn’t just be sitting at home while the town falls apart. Otherwise this story on its own is a beautifully balanced mix of heart, tension, and magic.

How it failed

Of course, most everyone noted the new Narrator, Fell, didn't differentiate between characters: men, women, or children. At one breakfast, if I didn't carefully carefully, I was not sure who was talking. Additionally, there was a dramatic increase in graphic mansex (as usual, probably from a woman's perspective on how gay men has sex). I have noticed when plot and performance begins to fail, there is more graphic sex. Burns, with the original Narrator produced some of the best Mysteries that happened to have gay individuals in them. Like later books in a series, it began to get generic. I am wondering if there is a computer program created by anti-LGBTQ+ forces that are being sold to writers so that their later books in the series are missing a lot and is used to prove that most gay romance novels ( as the books with the new Narrator became) are generic fluff.