This feature is for short reviews, reviews of books in a series where it might feel repetitive, or (as Michelle suggested) books I was too lazy to write a “real” review for. Today’s books are all part of the Mystic Bayou series.
I always enjoy Molly Harper and always in audio with Amanda Ronconi’s narration. But I’ve fallen behind on her books of late because they tend to be Audible exclusives and I don’t maintain an Audible subscription anymore. But I did a 30 day trial that got me some time with the Audible Plus, so I’m determined to use this time to catch up on the Mystic Bayou series.
Always Be My Banshee by Molly Harper Narrator: Amanda Ronconi, Jonathan Davis
Series: Mystic Bayou #4
Published by Audible Originals on April 7, 2020
Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Cozy Mystery
Length: 7 hours 11 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible
Goodreads
The latest Mystic Bayou novel from Audie Award-nominated author Molly Harper will have you swooning with passion and wailing with laughter!
Cordelia Canton is on a top-secret assignment: travel to Mystic Bayou and use her powers as a touch-know psychic to learn more about the mysterious artifact that's been pulled from the rift site. She's partnered with Brendan O'Connor, a rare male banshee whose tall, dark, and broody good looks are a major distraction. Before long, it becomes clear that the artifact they're studying is sentient - and brimming with supernatural power. Can they harness its magic in time to stop the secret forces conspiring to steal it?
Thankfully, despite the time away from the series, I was able to pick it up without missing a beat. As always with these books, the characters were great. Cordelia’s ability has severely impacted her life and she’s very alone in the world. Brendan has been similarly marked by his ability, despite the huge differences. And it makes them uniquely suited for each other. And they seem to have strong chemistry from the start, which makes watching them connect a fun ride.
Of course, they’re in Mystic Bayou to do a job — a dangerous one that their abilities make them uniquely suited for. The dangers are so strong, though, and they don’t actually spend that much time working. Which worked well enough, because it gave Cordelia and Brendan more time to grow and connect. We did get some solid series progression in regards to the rift. In fact, if I had been reading this when it first came out, I could have believed this was the last book in the series. Since I know it’s not though, I’m curious to see where things go from here.
As I mentioned, I always enjoy Amanda Ronconi’s narration – I think she’s really great at delivering Molly Harper’s particular style of humor and she voices the characters personalities so well. I had forgotten that this series has dual narration with Jonathan Davis voicing Brendan’s POV. He’s an equally strong narrator, as is well demonstrated by the vocal variety he displays in this book — particularly with Brendan, an Irish character. While they are both strong narrators, they are very different, which isn’t usually my choice for dual narration. Somehow it works despite their voices for the same characters being very different.
One Fine Fae by Molly Harper Narrator: Amanda Ronconi, Jonathan Davis
Series: Mystic Bayou #4.5
Published by Audible Originals on December 8, 2020
Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Cozy Mystery
Length: 3 hours 10 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible
Goodreads
Take a trip to the beloved supernatural town of Mystic Bayou in this brilliantly funny new stand-alone novella - written for audio-first!
Charlotte McBee knows she’s in for a challenge when she accepts a job as midwife for a dragon and a phoenix shifter. Being a fairy herself, it isn’t the supernatural world that scares her. It’s the thought of delivering a giant metal dragon’s egg, which has her gritting her teeth in pain for poor Jillian, the anxious mother-to-be.
While preparing for the big event, a handsome town resident catches her eye. Leonard is kind, charming, and a little bit mysterious. He’s also suffering from a highly unusual condition brought on by an ancient fairy curse, and he’s too wary of Charlotte to allow her to get close.
Will love overcome fear before the end of her assignment?©2020 Molly Harper (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.
This was so fun! Poor Leonard with his fairy curse added quite a bit of humor to the story. And despite his curse, he’s quite capable. And then, of course, I loved Charlotte. Can you imagine being a midwife to magical beings? I mean, she’s come to Mystic Bayou to help Jillian who’s a phoenix, preparing to give birth to a mysterious metallic dragon egg… in her lair (not a safe place for anyone but Bael and Jillian really!). I found the birth Molly Harper came up with quite fascinating and also hilarious. I laughed a lot reading this! Hard to believe it was just a novella, quite the story for something so short.
The narration was solid. You know by now that I adore Amanda Ronconi and I find Jonathan Davis to be a good compliment to her in this series. He was perfect for Leonard’s POV.
Shifters in the Night by Molly Harper Narrator: Amanda Ronconi, Jonathan Davis
Series: Mystic Bayou #5
Published by Audible Originals on May 18, 2021
Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Cozy Mystery
Length: 6 hours 43 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible
Goodreads
A chance meeting leads to a wild ride in this irresistible audio-first romance by Audie Award-nominated author Molly Harper!
Lia Doe came to Mystic Bayou for one simple reason: to get her job done. Namely, to build a housing complex for all the new residents flocking to town since word of its supernatural population got out. But from the moment Lia arrives, it’s clear that nothing about the job is going to be simple.
First, there’s the mysterious guy she meets in the middle of the night while they’re both cavorting in their alternate forms. Spending time with shape-shifters is nothing new to Lia, but there’s something special about Jon Carmody…and the magical pull she feels whenever he’s near. There’s also a sense of homecoming and belonging in Mystic Bayou that makes her want to stick around - despite the dangers brewing from mysterious forces.
Will Lia complete her project with her heart unscathed, or will her life shift forever?
Another fun foray into the paranormal world of Mystic Bayou. This romance has more mature characters and I really enjoyed the slightly different perspective on a town and falling in love in Mystic Bayou.
Lia Doe is a deer shifter – how cool is that? I found the deer abilities particularly interesting. As a shifter she ages more slowly… it’s been a while so I forget her age but I want to say 50s? I may be a little off, but she’s mature. She has experience, both romantically and professionally and I really enjoyed watching her use that maturity to handle both her problematic employment and romantically awkward Jon.
Jon is a selkie, like his brother Will (doctor that we met in a previous book), but he lives on the outskirts of town, runs his boat repair shop and otherwise keeps to himself. But with Will back in town he’s pushing those boundaries to meet new people. When Lia comes to town, he is immediately drawn to her and wants to court her. He too is older, but I would venture to say less experienced. His awkwardness was a delight to watch and made him super easy to cheer on. It also led to some great (aka hilarious) dialogue).
I was happy to watch them both get their HEA and I also really enjoyed the progress/developments going on in Mystic Bayou. It’s changing so much from book to book, in exciting ways for all the characters.
Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis continue to narrate this series, with Ronconi performing Lia’s POV and Davis taking up Jon’s. I have enjoyed their performances; despite having very different voice styles they work well together and each bring the characters to life.
A Farewell to Charms by Molly Harper Narrator: Amanda Ronconi, Jonathan Davis
Series: Mystic Bayou #6
Published by Audible Studios on January 13, 2022
Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Cozy Mystery
Length: 7 hours 26 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible
Goodreads
Queen of paranormal romantic comedy Molly Harper delivers love and laughter in this magnificent series finale - available in audio first!
Eva Boudreaux keeps the truth about her life before arriving in Mystic Bayou a carefully guarded secret, flying under the radar as a talented boat mechanic. In the swampy little town filled with powerful supernatural beings, Eva never expected to strike up a charged flirtation with one of the Bayou’s human residents.
Alex Lancaster is far too polished for Eva’s taste - not to mention the danger that comes with his high-ranking position in the League, which could expose her secrets. Trouble is, she can’t resist his disarming sense of humor or the chemistry that crackles to life whenever he’s near. Will Alex be able to handle a woman like her? Or will her difficult past keep them apart?
Either way, they’ll need to join forces to solve one final mystery in Mystic Bayou. The fate of the town - and their hearts - depends upon it.
This was a really great conclusion to a fun series — it took me a while to finally get to it because of it being an Audible Original (aka no library and can only buy at Audible grr), but I finally did and I’m glad I found a way to squeeze it in during my free trial.
The previous book had felt like it could have been the end of the series, but I’m glad Harper threw in this last book. It was a more satisfying conclusion and I’m also super happy that Alex got his HEA too. The poor guy hadn’t had too much luck since arriving in Mystic Bayou. He sort of started on the wrong foot and couldn’t seem to get things right. And that trend definitely continues as he falls for Eva – the new boat mechanic with a mysterious past.
Eva is also a character I’m happy we got to know better – she was a surprising character and she adds a fun new paranormal element to the Mystic Bayou family.
Alex and Eva’s courtship has its share of bumps along the way, which lends itself well to the humor I’ve come to expect and love in Ms. Harper’s books. Plenty of witty banter and lol moments, along with some of the touching moments you can expect in a series conclusion.
My one issue is that I thought there was this bad guy that we met in the previous book that was going to be a problem is this book — and unless I missed something — he wasn’t a part of this book at all. So kind of of a loose end for a series conclusion.
I continued to enjoy the dual narration of Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis. Amanda Ronconi is a long time favorite of mine and I’ve found that Jonathan Davis is a great compliment to her voices, despite being very different narrators. I would enjoy listen to him solo, I think , as well.
Another series from Ms. Harper that I’ve enjoyed from start to finish. Looking forward to catching up on other releases next time I do a month or so with Audible, since all her books seems to be Audible Exclusives unfortunately
I listened to one of these back when I had an Audible subscription, but I haven’t gone back to the series (mostly because I cancelled my Audible plan). It sounds like the series continues to be a lot of fun though, so I’ll have to see if I can find ebooks elsewhere, since the audio is still locked to Audible.
I haven’t read these but I hope you find good books to read this year as well.
Thanks for reminding me that I should take a trip back to Mystic Bayou. This is such a fun series!
I’ve always wanted to read these because I enjoy Harper and Ronconi. But I’ve slid away from PNR and cozy mysteries and these are closer to those genres. I’m sure I’d enjoy them if I could get to them.