Day: January 8, 2021

Review: Salmon and the Hazel (The Rowan Harbor Cycle #8) by Sam Burns

A great way to wrap up Sean and Jesse’s story. Loved ever minute of it.

5 out of 5 stars

E-book. Kindle Unlimited. 170 pages. Published July 4th 2019

Blurb:

Jesse’s only priority in life is protecting the people he loves, so he’s determined to see Rowan Harbor’s wards rebuilt. There’s just one problem: they’re missing an ingredient that can’t be ordered online.

Jesse volunteers to search for the missing component in the realm of the fae, but his boyfriend, Sean, isn’t letting him go alone. The town has an enemy among the fae, so they’ll need to keep a low profile. Along their way, they find unexpected allies, surprising enemies, and a whole host of problems.

The journey is a test of their endurance, but also of their relationship and their faith in each other. Can they find what they need and get back home in one piece in time for the summer solstice? 

Likes:

  • A great ending to Jesse and Sean’s romance.
  • Dude.
  • Sean doing magic.
  • How Faerie was set up and operated.
  • Unexpected meetings.
  • Finally found out about the thorn.
  • A good setup for the final book.

Dislikes:

  • Didn’t get to see Jesse and Sean’s first time.
  • Not much about how Sean’s been doing was mentioned.
  • Jesse was still willing to get hurt for the town.

I am really looking forward to the final book in the series. Salmon and the Hazel set everything up really well, like I’d expected. A lot of questions were answered in this book, including about what the thorn is, who’s after it, and why.

I have to admit that I didn’t read the blurb before diving into this book. I’ve loved every book in this series, and downloaded all three of the final books all at once. After a quick break to review Eagle in the Hawthorn, I jumped right into Salmon and the Hazel. So I had no idea that Jesse and Sean were going to take a trip into Faerie. I shouldn’t have been surprised, though. Not since Eagle in the Hawthorn revealed that the final bad guy was fey.

I’ve read enough fantasy books to know what the classic view of Faerie looks like, and this book stuck fairly close to that, with some unique twists. It was nice to get out of Rowan Harbor and go somewhere drenched in magic. This book had it all – some deadly serious moments, some moments of enlightenment, and some humor. A special shout out goes to Dude, who stole the show.

Since this is the last book featuring Jesse and Sean, I knew there would be a lot of emphasis on their relationship, and I wasn’t disappointed. There were still things the two men had to work out, and Jesse had a few revelations of his own during the course of the story. In the end, they feel settled. They didn’t get married the way Devon and Wade did, but I was left with the feeling that Jesse and Sean could withstand whatever life threw at them. And that’s what I really want at the end of a romance. The feeling that they’ll stay together even after I turn the last page.

I was a little disappointed that not much was mentioned about Sean’s depression, which was a major point in Stag and the Ash. It has been a while since Sean’s mother died, and intense grief doesn’t last forever, but I thought it was a bit of an oversight. I was also disappointed that we didn’t get to see them having penetrative sex for the first time. I know that makes me sound like a perv, but they were holding off because they weren’t ready, which made me think that first time would be something special and an important step in their relationship.

I think I’ve commented in each of Jesse’s previous two books that I don’t like how he’s willing to get hurt. It was present again this time, and while I know it’s a part of who he is, it does make me wish he’d cherish himself more.

Unlike with Devon and Wade, I could easily read more about Jesse and Sean. It’s not that Devon and Wade aren’t interesting, but Jesse and Sean feel like they have more room to grow, both personally and with their relationship. This was the first time we really got to see Sean do magic, and I wanted more of that.

I’m so excited about the final book of the series. I can’t wait to get started, but I can also tell I’m going to have one hell of a hard time finding something else that’s as long and top shelf as this series.

Check out my rave reviews for the rest of the series Blackbird in the Reeds (The Rowan Harbor Cycle #1), Wolf and the Holly (The Rowan Harbor Cycle #2), Fox and Birch (The Rowan Harbor Cycle #3), Hawk in the Rowan (The Rowan Harbor Cycle #4), Succubus and the City (The Rowan Harbor Cycle #4.5), Stag and the Ash (The Rowan Harbor Cycle #5), Adder and Willow (The Rowan Harbor Cycle #6), Eagle in the Hawthorn (The Rowan Harbor Cycle #7), as well as Sam Burns’s collaboration with W.M. Fawkes on Poisonwood (Poisonwood & Lyric #1).