Northern Lights Series

A Change Of Tide is a entertaining listen. I like how the story is based in Northern Ontario, Canada as I live in Southwestern Ontario and have been to a couple cities listed. The characters are realistic and fully developed.
Narrators Charley Ongel and Tor Thom brought the story and characters to life. These two natural chemistry always shines. through. Always enjoy listening to these two Narrate.

A Change A View is a different type of story that for so some reason I struggled to get into the story as I was a bit confused. I don't know if it was all the characters or I missed something from the beginning but I didn't enjoy this one as much. The narrator's Austin Barringer and Anneliese Reynolds are both new narrator's to me. I found a new narrator to drool over. Lol . Austin's performance was perfect. Anneliese gave Leelo her own voice. Her inflection is mature and reflected the different emotions the Leelo felt. Together these two brought the story and characters to life.

A Change Of Pace was my favourite story of the series. I loved the characters and the storyline kept me listening till the very end. My favourite character is Boulder the dog. Both narrator's Stephanie-Nemeth-Parker and Mathew Madoux are new to me and I loved the dual narration. I enjoyed both narrator's and would definitely listen to them again.

Overall the stories are well written and entertaining with a lovely cast of talented narrators that brought out the stories and characters.

5 people found this helpful

Fabulous Box Set!

Book One - A Change in Tide - I loved this one. Jared, a NHL Defenseman coming to terms with a career ending injury moves in across the bay from Mia, a reclusive woman living alone in a small cottage on a lake. Sparks fly, and not in a good way when Jared disturbs Mia’s quiet, peaceful existence. At first, things between the two are like oil and water, but as the story progresses we see that things are not as they initially seem and both must change, grow and adapt to their new reality in this beautifully written, fantastically narrated story of love, understanding, growth, and acceptance. I think what I loved best was the easy flow and the natural progression of the story. Subject matter that could be difficult handled in a strait forward, non-sensationalized manner. Nothing was rushed, nothing was forced. It all felt so real. And that is the mark of a Freya Barker story, and what makes her one of my favorite authors.

Book Two - A Change of View - This was a fabulous romantic suspense story. Roar is the owner of a local fishing lodge. Fairly content with his life and getting more stuck in his ways the older he gets, he is none to pleased when, Leelo, a feisty, tattooed, independent, blue haired spitfire moves to town determined to renovate and run the motel she inherited. Others in town have had their eye on the property for years and are determined to see that not happen. Freya Barker has written a fast moving story filled with engaging characters, plot twists and turns, romance, sweet heat, action, and suspense. As with all of her stories, the character development is fabulous. You feel as if you know the characters, they feel that real. The narration that brings the story to life is so good you can see the story in your minds eye. I was laughing out loud and yes, I was crying as well. It was that good. This one checked off all my boxes. I absolutely loved it!

Book Three - A Change of Pace - Newt Tobias was a police office who took early retirement to provide a more stable environment for his troubled teenage daughter Millie. Frederique “Freddie” Marchand just so happened to be the counselor assigned to his daughter by her new school … but THAT wasn’t how they met. Feisty, no nonsense brass bahls Freddie chewed Newt up, spit him out and THEN found out HE was Millie’s father. Talk about awkward … deliciously awkward, but like every other Freya Barker story I have experienced, beautifully written with characters so real you feel like you can reach out and touch them. Filled with the humor, sass, intrigue, heart stoping action and a bit of angst, this beautiful story really made me think and yes, it made me shed more than a few tears. Fantastic narration made listening a pleasure.

Overall impression: Three separate, very different, very distinct stories in one fantastic package. There is nothing cookie cutter about this set. I loved each and every one and they will all be listened to again! Run, don’t walk and grab this set!

4 people found this helpful

engrossing trio

Book 1. Mia irked me from the beginning. She assumed too much and acted superior, but not too superior to be a voyeur and make false assumptions nonstop. I tried to like her but couldn't- no redemption!! The female narrator Charley Ongel grated on my nerves and didn't fit the story.
Book 2. A lot of the sabatoge and natural disasters . Whew what bad luck!! I liked thst Leelo's kids matured and finally saw what a scumbag her ex was. Roar was amazing in all ways. The perfect hero.
Book 2. The third story was intense at times and loaded with drama and emotions all over the place. I was happy to see some progress and resolution to some difficult issues , and the story finally has a hea for its' well deserved recipients. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. All the narrators Except Ongel did a great job bringing it to life.

2 people found this helpful

A wonderful series of older characters.

What a great set of books! What I love about this most is that the characters are older and wiser. Sometimes reading one of these is good for the soul.

This is a three pack. I really enjoyed the first book (A Change of Tide). I would say its the favorite. The narration is excellent! The characters are outstanding and entertaining. I was hoping for a Officer John and Jordie story.

The second (A Change of View) was a good one but I really struggled with the narration. Then the last book (A Change of Pace) is my second favorite in this series. The narration in here is well done.

1 person found this helpful

Narration book 2

The female narration for book 2 was absolutely horrible. It made the female character sound like an 80 year old vs 40 something.

1 person found this helpful

I enjoyed most of this box set.

I received a copy of Northern Lights box set in exchange for an honest review.
Book 1 A Change in Tide: For this one I will only review the narration because I didn’t get past the first few minutes. I’m not a fan of Ongel or Thorn. I tried but I just couldn’t do it.
Book 2 A Change in View: The narration was good. I liked the story. And I like the fact that the main characters were in their 40s. I would read this one three stars for both story and narration.
Book 3 A Change of Pace: This One was my favorite of all three books. Once again the characters are in their forties. The narration was great for both the male and female characters. I enjoyed the story. I give this one 4 stars for both narration and story.

1 person found this helpful

great storyline

this book was amazing and reminds you that no matter what you can overcome any obstacle as long as family and friends are together.

Good stories, wrong narrators

I appreciate the stories written by Freya Barker. They are like an small plane flight: rough take off, bumpy flight, smooth landing. This series is no different. Unfortunately, the narrators do not match the stories or each other at all. In the first story, the female narrator sounded hesitant and weak. The second book, the female narrator sounded rough and much older than her character’s 46 years. The male narrator in the second book sounded too young and smooth for the character he portrayed. Together, although the story was good, the narrators made it difficult to enjoy.

Just NO

I couldn't even get through it, it should be listed as a porn book! I couldn't even get through it!

Hey I liked them

I understood the stories.
Appreciated the age. The fact that a woman literally saved the day was epic.

Relatable. The way the actors worked together in the last story was great. So yeah I gave high scores. Not too much profanity. Not saturated with Sex scenes . Not too sad. Just right.