Title: Silver Silence (Psy-Changeling Trinity #6)

Author: Nalini Singh

Date of publication: 26 July 2022

Genre: Paranormal romance, shifters

Author's links:

Rating: 4 Stars

This is another great installment in a favourite series. Psys getting together with changelings are my favourite couples, so much passion and restraint, funny first-time moments, pure joy to read.

Every new book in the series is like a homecoming - a familiar world with a complex overarching suspense plot. And every time Nalini Singh manages to surprise me, to make the romance feel fresh and new.

We get a bit of amnesia plot and while I am not a fan of it in general, I didn't mind it here. The twist was that because the mating has already taken place (unawares for both of them, mind you), the animal side of Lei remembered Ivan.

The suspense/mystery plot gets more and more complicated but we see a possibility for solution here which I liked and felt was the right place and time for it.

Like most stories in the series at this stage we get to catch up on a number of familiar characters. Many of the cats make an appearance - Lucas, Nate, Tamsyn and they are as good as ever.

I loved how to story offered the possibility for family, future, something Ivan had given up on.

Most often the Psy have no experience with feelings and intimacy but as highly logical beings they do proper research of the matter. There is even a guidebook circulated among friends that someone made in the previous books iirc. Ivan, though, didn't research sex/intimate relationships because he didn't think it will ever happen to him. When it came to physical intimacy, he let Lei lead him. His complete trust in her was a thing of beauty for me.

A central element in Ivan's story was drug abuse (not him directly) and its consequences. I found the descriptions to be really detailed and very jarring at times. Seeing it from a child's POV made it extra hard to read. The whole series does not shy away from darkness - abuse, both physical and mental is a common theme for many of the books. Still, the drug use here hit me extra hard and I wanted to mention it explicitly.

In the end we got the HEA for our couple, the overarching suspense plot moved a few steps towards resolution and we got a whole new possible plotline opened. That is all to say that I very much enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to the next in the series.

I find it difficult to list CWs for this series but what stood out for me in the book is: drug abuse, parent neglect, loss, car accident (in the past), attempted murder with grave injuries, psychic violence

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Title: Last Guard (Psy-Changeling Trinity #3)

Author: Nalini Singh

Date of publication: 20 July 2021

Genre: Paranormal romance, shifters

Author's links:

Rating: 5 Stars

To save those he loves, Canto needs the help of a woman bound to him by a dark past neither has been able to forget. A woman who is the most powerful Anchor of them all: Payal Rao. Neither is ready for the violent inferno about to ignite in the PsyNet…or the passionate madness that threatens to destroy them both.

This is just brilliant, one of my favourites in the whole series which is no small with over 20 books in the series and me loving most of them. Nalini Singh is truly a master of the paranormal romance and her stories set the highest of high bars against which I measure any other shifter romance I read.

I loved everything in this story - the familiarity of the world, the amazing writing, the suspense and the romance.

Together with the familiar things in this story that gave me comfort and warm feel, there were a number of firsts here that keep the series fresh and every book stands out with something. For the first time we see an MC with a physical disability, furthermore he is a Psy and Psys don't tolerate imperfection (or everyone thinks). It was great to see Canto Mercant being a strong leader despite everything. I can judge the disability representation from an outsider perspective only but I felt it was done with care and empathy.

I love Psy-changeling couples the most with psy-psy coming close second. It is fascinating to watch how the psy embrace their emotions, how they deal with them in different ways. Canto is not really silent and his close contact with the bear shifters set him apart from most psys. The unwavering support of the Mercant family is also a powerful force that shaped him.

In a way Payal family has also shaped her who she is in a very, very different way from Canto's family.

Re-discovering each other after years, it was like getting to know each other again while at the same time, they already knew the most intimate secrets of each other. I loved how they got to trust each other, to rely on the other in all things.

We move between Moscow (bear country) and India (Rayal's world) and we get to see some of the bears which is always fun. We also get another first here - a queer relationship between to men - a psy and a bear shifter (we already met them in Silver Silence). It's not a central element or presented in much detail but it is there, wrecking havoc on the very heteronormative world we have seen in this series so far. I

The over-arching suspense plot of the series continues, it might be a bit repetitive at this point, with new threads to the psy network coming up all the time and then being resolved with the help of a new sub-designation of psys. Still, I can very much overlook this and just enjoy the good guys coming together and victorious (for now) against the bad guys.

The ending of the story was such a tender touch, highlighting the role of kindness in the world. It worked brilliantly for me.

A note of warning in the end, child abuse and the respective trauma feature prominently in this book (this is not somethin new in the series), it made for a difficult and very emotional read at times. The violence and suffering is not gratuitous at all, it makes sense in the world of the series though that doesn't make it any easier to read through.

Overall, this is another unforgettable instalment in the series and I can highly recommend it.

CW: child abuse (in the past), eugenics, torture (physical and mental), violence, ableism (challenged throughout the story)

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My rating: 4 Stars 

When socialite Nina Rai disappeared without a trace, everyone wrote it off as another trophy wife tired of her wealthy husband. But now her bones have turned up in the shadowed green of the forest that surrounds her elite neighborhood, a haven of privilege and secrets that's housed the same influential families for decades.

The rich live here, along with those whose job it is to make their lives easier. And somebody knows what happened to Nina one rainy night ten years ago. Her son Aarav heard a chilling scream that night, and he's determined to uncover the ugly truth that lives beneath the moneyed elegance...but no one is ready for the murderous secrets about to crawl out of the dark.

Even the dead aren't allowed to break the rules in this cul-de-sac.

Nalini Singh is my favourite PNR author, her Psy-Changling series set the bar that I use to measure any other PNR against. She also writes contemporaries which are a hit or miss for me but still, I mostly enjoy them. This is only her second thriller. I loved the first one despite the issues I had with the resolution and who the murder turned out to be.

This book is thrilling and scary and amazing but once again I have some issues with the ending.

Aarav is one of the most unreliable narrator I have ever read and going on the journey to discover the killer with him was a wild ride by all means. I admit I didn't guess the killer till the very end and very much like Aarav and suspected everyone at some point.

Like Nalini Singh's previous thriller, this one is very atmospheric with a strong sense of place which I really liked. The murder mystery in a cul-de-saq neighbourhood of the rich was very engrossing and kept me on the edge till the last page.

I found the story scarier that some horror I have read, not so much because of the murder and some of violence that happens but because of witnessing Aarav's mind breaking, and seeing him not trusting himself, not knowing and not remembering, it was brutal and so powerfully presented.

I was on board with everything going on, though some aspects of the mother-son relationship made me uncomfortable, till the very end. It was easy to hate his father, it was more difficult to pinpoint my feelings for Aarav and Nina - there is sympathy and desire to help and protect. But also they lied and cheated and manipulated the others. They were not good people but complex ones - hurt and hurting but also caring and loyal.

I felt uncomfortable with the violence we see with regard to some queer side characters. It was not only them that get hurt in the story, straight characters also suffer abuse and violence, but I feel at least some of the violence towards the queer characters could have been spared (it was not queerphobia or gender-based violence, I need to clarify).

Now, the ending, on the one hand I had suspicions that didn't turn out to be true and I am happy and relieved about it. At the same time I felt the resolution of the murder mystery took the focus away from Nina. She was very much in the center of the story and her life and disappearance basically shaped Aarav the way he was. Going in the direction it went, the ending did a disservice to Nina in my opinion.

All in all, I had minor complaints with the story and feel this is a solid thriller with a compelling mystery plot, engaging written with a more or less satisfying resolution.

CWs: domestic violence, abuse, car crash, hospital stay, cheating, suicide, drugs, alcohol addiction (in the past), mental health issues, migraines, memory loss

Title: A Madness of Sunshine

Author: Nalini Singh

Date of publication: 3 Dec 2019

Genre: Thriller 

Author's links:

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Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb

On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbors; the children, more than schoolmates.

That is until one fateful summer—and several vanished bodies—shatters the trust holding Golden Cove together. All that’s left are whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships, and a silent agreement not to look back. But they can’t run from the past forever.

Eight years later, a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, and the residents of Golden Cove wonder if their home shelters something far more dangerous than an unforgiving landscape.

It’s not long before the dark past collides with the haunting present and deadly secrets come to light. 

I love Nalini’s PNR, Psy-Changeling series in particular. THis is her first thriller and there were some great things in it but also some not so great ones. 

Review 

This is Nalini Singh's first thriller and since I am a big fan of her Psy-changeling series of PNR and I have enjoyed some her contemporary romances, I was curious to see her attempt to write in a completely different genre. I have mixed feelings, but it was a compelling read and I am here for more thrillers by Nalini Singh is she goes in that direction.

I loved the heroine, she is returning to her small town on the NZ coast, angry and bitter, rightly so and never just forgives the people who hurt her. I loved her voice, her strength and determination but also her empathy and compassion.

As a romance reader, I am glad that the author included a solid romance arc here. It worked well for me, I could see the connection between Will and Anahera and also understand their reluctance to start anything. Two people with difficult past, with lots of baggage caught in the middle of a small town murder investigation.

While I loved Anahera, I had some issues with Will. He was not very professional in getting her involved in his investigation and sharing info with her. He was quick to judge people and I was not always a fan of how he treated everyone but I managed to overlook this because of the way he treated Anahera - always respectful, supporting, never pressuring or dismissing her. 

Best elements in the story was the very strong atmospheric representation of the small town and the wild nature around it. Nature with absolute untameness was almost like another character in the story. 

Miriama was put on a pedestal by practically everyone in town because of her beauty and vivacity and I am not too happy about it. I would have liked more substance to her character, to be honest.

I guessed the murderer at some point but this is not really an issue for me. What bothered me though was the implication that what happened to him in the past made him the monster that he is. It’s lazy and stereotypical writing and also insulting to survivors of abuse.

The story also portrayed great female friendships, to see how people change and grow and their friendship changes with them, how difficult it is to make/keep friends.

It’s not a perfect book but captivating nevertheless. I think it shows it’s Nalini’s first attempt at thrillers. There were gorgeous bits in the story and her writing was as polished and engaging as I have to come to expect. Still, there were problematic aspects, deeply hurtful ones that could have been avoided. 

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I love her Psy-Changeling series but her contemporaries have been a hit or miss for me. This one was on the hit side, I'm happy to say. It’s modern arrange marriage romance of sorts set in the Indian community in New Zealand. The story is full of cultural and everyday details about the community and the tension between tradition and modern values/desire for freedom which cause the main conflict in the story. I’d say it’s a kind of an epic love story, one about choice and freedom, loyalty to oneself and one's family. I liked seeing how immersed in the community/their families both MCs are. And I absolutely loved them both. 

Nalini Singh tells a moving story about how one’s dreams can change because one’s circumstances change. It’s about finding a way to make things work, about trust and compromise which are at the centre of any relationship. Breaking free is not a goal in itself, it's a means to achieve happiness and when being with another person is what makes you happy, you two work to give each other that freedom and that connection and support.

It’s a past paced story, rich in details and ultimately one big celebration of love (it features multiple wedding, mostly Indian style ones but also one non-Indian beach wedding). And it has a fabulous ending full of love and quiet happiness. 

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This a romanceclass title (a community of Filipino authors who write romance in English, and also the readers of these books) and my first by this author. It was absolutely lovely. I enjoyed everything about it - older successful CEO heroine, younger single dad hero, one night stand and then he ends up working as her assistant. Great fat rep in the heroine, awkward, a bit clumsy giant of a hero. It's practically my catnip and I loved the romance arc, the way they dealt with the power imbalance between them, them being at different stage sin their lives and yet, complimenting each other. Tense, dynamic story, lots of reflections on family/friendship dynamics. 

A bit of the evil ex trope which I didn't particularly like. I could understand his resentment and conflicting emotions re the mother of his child, yet she was continuously presented in negative light and judged for her (non-traditional) choices. Unlike the heroine who made her own non-traditional choices and was applauded, admired by the hero for them. 

Still, this is a very intense, compelling but also down-to-earth contemporary romance. I loved that it allowed for the heroine to be determined, business savvy, in control and professionally successful while the hero was still finding his way professionally, happy and satisfied to be a father, not focused on professional success so much. 4 stars

I already have If the Dress Fits, an earlier romance in the same setting, and I want to read it as soon as possible.

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I just finished Best of Luck by Kate Clayborn and I’m lost for words to express how much I loved it. It’s the perfect ending to a great series of contemporary romance. It releases in November and I will be reviewing it in detail closer to release date. For now, I will only say that Kate broke my heart with these books and put it back together in a most delicious way. I just can't recommend this series enough.

Currently reading: Band Sinister by KJ Charles and it’s such a fun, feel-good historical romance, a romcom, I dare say and I’m having so much fun with it. It releases on Oct 11 and I will review it properly soon.

Title: Cherish Hard (Hard Play #1)

Author: Nalini Singh

Date of publication: 14 Nov 2017

Genre: Contemporary romance 

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My rating: 3 Stars

Sailor Bishop has only one goal for his future – to create a successful landscaping business. No distractions allowed. Then he comes face-to-face and lips-to-lips with a woman who blushes like an innocent… and kisses like pure sin.

Ísa Rain craves a man who will cherish her, aches to create a loving family of her own. Trading steamy kisses with a hot gardener in a parking lot? Not the way to true love. Then a deal with the devil (aka her CEO-mother) makes Ísa a corporate VP for the summer. Her main task? Working closely with a certain hot gardener.

And Sailor Bishop has wickedness on his mind.

As Ísa starts to fall for a man who makes her want to throttle and pounce on him at the same time, she knows she has to choose – play it safe and steady, or risk all her dreams and hope Sailor doesn’t destroy her heart. 

Isa is young woman who longs for a family, looking for a balance between work/time with family/friends. Writing a heroine like her carries the risk of her being seen as a cliche and anti-feminist, yet she didn't read like either to me and I appreciated the effort Nalini Singh took in presenting a heroine like her in contemporary romance. Unfortunately, this is almost all I liked in her. She came off as too perfect, too caring, too much the opposite of her mother (who was the evil business woman absentee mother stereotype incarnate).

Sailor was an interesting hero, younger than Isa, focused on his career, passionate about his work and the people close to him. wants to give her everything she never had. He fell for Isa hard and fast and made it his mission to provide her with everything she was missing in her life and to convince her he is the right one for her. Unfortunately along with his tenderness and care and affection, he came off as too possessive, too protective, too certain she is the one for him. I'm ok with insta/meant-to-be romance in Nalini Singh's  shifter series, it makes sense to me re mates but in contemporary it bothers me. His conviction that she is  his from the get-go and he just needed to convince her of this fell off on many levels.

A common feature in all of this author's work which I like a lot is the ethnic diversity of her characters. Isa is half-Australian/half-Icelandic and her mixed cultural background was present in the story. I also very much appreciate the variety of family relationships we see in this story, biological and chosen family mix and balance each other.

There were some interesting family/friendship dynamics and the romance was very emotional and intense but none of it made the story stand out from any other contemporary romance out there.

Overall, I prefer Nalini Singh's paranormal romances to her contemporary ones which so far has been a hit or miss for me. I'm open to reading more in this series but I will definitely approach the next books with caution and lower expectations.

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Blurb

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh introduces a bold new chapter in her extraordinary paranormal romance saga with the Psy-Changeling Trinity series. Wild passion will encounter the darkest of betrayal...

Control. Precision. Family. These are the principles that drive Silver Mercant. At a time when the fledgling Trinity Accord seeks to unite a divided world, with Silver playing a crucial role as director of a worldwide emergency response network, wildness and chaos are the last things she needs in her life. But that’s exactly what Valentin Nikolaev, alpha of the StoneWater Bears, brings with him.

Valentin has never met a more fascinating woman. Though Silver is ruled by Silence—her mind clear of all emotion—Valentin senses a whisper of fire around her. That’s what keeps him climbing apartment buildings to be near her. But when a shadow assassin almost succeeds in poisoning Silver, the stakes become deadly serious…and Silver finds herself in the heart of a powerful bear clan.

Her would-be assassin has no idea what their poison has unleashed... 

This story was another winner for me, a worthy addition to a favourite PNR series of mine. This is the start of spin-off series, or as Nalini Singh herself called it" a second season" of the Psy-Changeling saga.

This is the story of Silver, a cardinal Psy and Valentin, the alpha of the bear clan. There are some similarities with previous stories of cardinal Psys and alpha changelings, as it's book 15 in the series, I feel some repetition is unavoidable but it didn't bother me to much. Still, I would welcome more diversity in terms of tropes and how the romantic relationships develop, these things would be beneficial for the series and would make them even more fun to read. And I'm happy to say that there are signs of such changes coming along - we meet our first gay changelings here and I really hope Nalini Singh will give us their story at some point in the series.

Tthe bears turned Stu to be such a fun changeling clan. I didn't expect they would compete with Lucas' cats for the first place of my affections but they really did. Valentin was alpha to the core but also confused and vulnerable and playful which is something I love about all the changelings, even the wolves have this fun, playful side which I think. He was determined and even stubborn in his wooing of Silver, his love strong and unselfish.

In some ways Silver was the typical cardinal Psy - cold, calculating, smart and determined but we see the cracks in her silence as the story goes. There is an emotional side to her, deep caring for her family, for the world as a whole and gradually for the bear clan. I liked how strong she was, a true equal to Valentin. She didn't give in, didn't back down in their arguments and overall, I felt their relationship was very much based on challenging each as much as supporting and providing comfort to one another.

I absolutely loved the twist in eh last quarter of the story. It is a unique take on the amnesia trope which came rather unexpectedly and worked so well giving the story much needed freshness. It made the romance stand out on its own among the rest of the series.

Wwhat made this book extra special to me is that I'm Bulgarian and we have a lot of cultural similarities with the Russians. And I speak Russian, so all those cultural and linguistic bits in the story felt familiar and made so happy. This is the closest I have come to seeing my culture (rather one that is very similar to mine) represented in the romances I read and the feeling is incredible.

AS usual for the series, the complex world building continues, we see more of all the inhabitants of this world and the complex relationships between them which continue to change and evolve. I'm confident that fans of the series will enjoy this story a lot and at the same it is a good entry to point for new readers though some nuances coming from the previous books will inevitably be lost to them. Still, if you want to try Nalini Sighn's Psy-Changeling world, I highly recommend Silver Silence (and then going back to read all the previous books ;)

Purchase Links: Amazon / B&N / Kobo / iBooks

The next installment in the Psy-Changeling series by Nalini Singh, Silver Silence, comes out on June 13! It's the start of second season of the series under the title Trinity and it features Silver Mercant finding her mate in a certain alpha bear. I absolutely loved this story and I can't wait for you all to read it so that we can gush over it together. For now, check the book info (including purchase links) and enjoy a short excerpt.

Excerpt

Laughing at the cubs’ antics, Valentin jogged down the slight incline and waded into what had to be ice-cold water after kicking off his boots and socks. He splashed the cubs, laughed when they splashed him back. Running so they could chase him, he turned abruptly and chased them back, to their unhidden joy.

Silver took a seat on the grass. When the female bear looked her way, she inclined her head in a silent greeting. The bear did the same, then they both watched an alpha bear play with two energetic cubs, his hands holding rough care for their small bodies.

By the time Valentin made his way back to her, he was drenched and his eyes weren’t human in any way. When he spoke, his already deep voice was so low it felt like thunder against her skin. “Couldn’t resist,” he said, pushing back his wet hair with one big hand. “If you weren’t in recovery and if I wasn’t in terror of Nova’s wrath, I’d have invited you. The small monsters wanted to play with you.”

Silver didn’t get to her feet. “Can we stay here a little longer?” It was patent that Valentin had an extremely high tolerance for the cold, but he might want to dry off.

“Sure,” he said, and, moving away several feet, shook off the wet.

Fine droplets settled on the skin of her cheek, but she didn’t flinch at the unintentional tactile contact. She also controlled her urge to reach up and touch the water where it lay against her skin. There was no reason to do that, and Silver was alive because she only did things that were rational.

Settling beside her, Valentin waved at the cubs as their guardian led their tired forms toward a path in the trees that was at the same level as the stream. “Gentler climb,” Valentin told her.

“They seem too exhausted to make it to Denhome.”

“It’s all an act—they’re hoping for a ride on their aunt’s back.” His tone held the same fond affection she’d heard when he spoke of Dima. “It’d take more than a few minutes’ play in the water to wipe out those two.”

The cubs had played with Valentin for almost a half hour. “They’re hyperactive?”

“They’re baby bears.”

Silver watched as those baby bears turned toward her and rose up on their back paws, as if in challenge. A stern sound from their caretaker, and they dropped down and scrambled to catch up with her. Their bodies disappeared into the trees as dusk began to turn from orange to shadowy gray.

Beside her, Valentin sprawled out, bracing himself on his elbows. His drenched T-shirt clung to the ridged muscles of his abdomen, pulled tight across his pectoral muscles, shaped itself over his shoulders. His jeans weren’t much better, outlining the raw muscle of his thighs.

Valentin Nikolaev was a man of violent physical strength even in human form. Yet he clearly had iron control over it; when he’d played with the children, they’d displayed zero fear of their alpha.

“You thought about where you’re going to live when you escape the bears who’ve kidnapped you?”

When she raised an eyebrow at him, he grinned. “Fringe netter with his own Internet channel sent out a breaking report last night. Pasha—who obviously needs more work duties—made up a fake account and posted a comment swearing to have seen you being pulled into a black van by six burly bears in bear form.”

“You don’t seem too concerned.” Amber eyes and deep voice, he remained very much a bear in human form.

“Well, according to this ‘eyewitness,’ the getaway driver was in bear form, too. Must’ve been tough for him to steer with one paw since he was drinking a beer at the same time.”

“Bears,” Silver said, making Valentin throw his head back and laugh that huge laugh that wrapped around her.

Posted by arrangement with Berkley, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © Nalini Singh, 2017.

Title: Wild Embrace (Psy-Changeling # 15.5)
Author: Nalini Singh
Date of publication: 23 Aug 2016
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Shapeshifters, novellas

Author's links:
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My rating: 3.5 Stars



Echo of Silence 

In a deep-sea station, Tazia Nerif has found her life’s work as an engineer, keeping things running smoothly. But she wants nothing more than to break down the barrier of silence between her and her telekinetic Psy station commander...

Dorian 

A changeling who can never shift lives a life of quiet frustration—until he learns how to let his leopard come out and play...

Partners in Persuasion 

Still raw from being burned by a dominant female, wolf changeling Felix will never again risk being a plaything. But for dominant leopard Dezi, he’s the most fascinating man she’s ever met. She just has to convince this gun-shy wolf that he can trust the dangerous cat who wants to take a slow, sexy bite out of him…

Flirtation of Fate 

Seven years ago, Kenji broke Garnet’s heart. Now the wolf packmates have to investigate the shocking murder of one of their own. And the more Kenji sees of the woman Garnet has become, the deeper he begins to fall once more. But even his primal instincts are no match for the dark secret he carries...

This is a collection of 4 novellas set in the world of the Psy-changeling series. They can be read as standalones except for Dorian which for me functions as a sort of epilogue to Hostage of Pleasure.

I love Ms Singh's writing and this series is really fabulous with an intricate world building and intriguing characters and challenging relationships.

I very much enjoyed all the stories in this collection with the exception of Partners in Persuasion which just did not work for me. 

Echo of Silence was just delightful, a slow burn romance between a human female and a psy male. Tender and sweet, this story was a pleasure to read. I find the psy really interesting and all the plotlines about breaking their silence and learning to feel is like catnip for me. This story placs a strong emphasis on forming connections, the importance of family, friends, people who will stand by you and share both your happiness and your sorrow. 

Dorian is the undisputed jem in this collection. We see Dorian finally being able to shift and it's glorious. Ms Singh shows us this big, confident and smart ass sentinel we already know, stumble like a baby, learning to walk, run, live in his animal form  and it is so much fun. This storyi's full of love and tenderness and good humour and true sense of friendship which are tardemark features of the whole series. 

Partners in Persuasion plays with the dom/sub dynamic in a reversed order and while I appreciate the idea, the execution did not quite work for me. I felt disconnected from the characters, couldn't see the chemistry between them. 

Flirtation of Fate is my second favourite novella in this collection. It's a second chance, friends-to-lovers story with a strong suspense element which just added richness to it. We have already met Kenji and Garnet in earlier books where they were younger and it was nice to see them all grown up, finding the road to each other. They both struggle with their feelings for each other, try desparately to deny them, only to come together in the end as a strong meant-to-be couple.

Book 15 in one of my favourite PNR series, Psy-Changeling by Nalini Singh comes out in a little over 2 weeks. I can't believe there have been 14 books already. Allegiance of Honor promises to catch up the readers with everything that has been going our favourite couples since we left them in a happy place in their own books.

Here is all the info about the upcoming release, which btw, will take coincide with my birthday, June 14, making this book a special birthday gift to me :)

Ms Singh and her team have been kind enough to offer a giveaway to celebrate the release of Allegiance of Honor. You have the chance to win a SIGNED US paperback edition of Tangle of Need (one of the most emotionally complicated and intense stories in the series for me). The giveaway is open internationally and you just need to fill the rafflecopter below to be enter in the draw.

Pre-order links: Amazon / B&N / Kobo / iBooks / ARe

GIVEAWAY

I love Nalini Signh's PNR series Psy-changeling - the world building and the plotlines are so complex and rich and imaginative and the romance always swept me off my fit.

The Rock Kiss series is a hit or miss for me - I enjoyed David and Thea's novella, Rock Courtship and Rock Hard (Gabriel and Charlotte's story) is my favourite in the series so far. This book, very much like the first, didn't work well for me.

It's a friends-to-lovers story, with a bit of second chance romance - two tropes I quite enjoy reading. It's a slow burn, far too slow with a lot of angst and despite the HEA, I was left disappointed with a number of things.

Kit was nice but not great. I understood where she was coming from and I could accept her infatuation/love for Noah despite all the things he did to hurt her. She came off as too good to be true at times but I liked her overall until a specific moment towards the end when she made what a consider an irresponsible and  plain wrong decision.

Noah was a very interesting character - bad boy rocker, a player on the outside but a deeply scarred person, bitter and disappointed and scared on the inside. He tried to keep Kit at the distance, too ashamed of his past, unable to accept her love. His reaction to what had happened to him was heart-breaking and the way he went about his life because of that was not healthy or healing.

I felt the story showed that it was Kit who saved him, that (true) love had this all-healing superpower and the message that you only need love to make things right is not one I'm really comfotable with. What went like a very much realistic, more or less plausible story suddenly lost all conenction with reality for me. It became of fairytale of the power of love which I don't mind on principle, I enjoy reading it in fact. It's just that it didn't fit with the trauma Noah had suffered. The problems he's been struggling with for decades don't just disappear on their own because a nice woman has fallen in love with him.

I can see how their connection can help them both be happier, content but to refuse and totally disregard any professional help is not OK for me. I was a rather unpleasantly by this development of the story, furthermore, Ms Singh had already dealt with similar issues of past hurt/trauma in a much convincing way in the previous book in the series, Rock Hard.

It may appear that I'm fixating on just one aspect of the story but it really bothered me and it's the main reason why I didn't end up liking this story very much.

There was moments of the magically beautiful writing I've come to expect from Ms Singh and Noah could be great at times but it wasn't enough to make me like this story more than OK. 

My reviews of the rest of the Rock Kiss series: 

Rock Addiction (Rock Kiss #1) - 3 stars
Rock Courtship (Rock Kiss #1.5) - 3.5 stars 
Rock Hard (Rock Kiss #2) - 4.5 stars

Review

Waiting on Wednesday is a book meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and it features books that we are eagerly awaiting to be released.

Synopsis

Awakening wounded in a darkened cell, their psychic abilities blocked, Aden and Zaira know they must escape. But when the lethal soldiers break free from their mysterious prison, they find themselves in a harsh, inhospitable landscape far from civilization. Their only hope for survival is to make it to the hidden home of a predatory changeling pack that doesn’t welcome outsiders.

And they must survive. A shadowy enemy has put a target on the back of the Arrow squad, an enemy that cannot be permitted to succeed in its deadly campaign. Aden will cross any line to keep his people safe for this new future, where even an assassin might have hope of a life beyond blood and death and pain. Zaira has no such hope. She knows she’s too damaged to return from the abyss. Her driving goal is to protect Aden, protect the only person who has ever come back for her no matter what.

This time, even Aden’s passionate determination may not be enough—because the emotionless chill of Silence existed for a reason. For the violent, and the insane, and the irreparably broken…like Zaira.

*** *** ***

Why am I waiting for this? - I'm a huge fan of this series and Nalini Singh's writing as a whole. The world building get better and more complex with each next book and the romances are strong and passionate and so diverse. Can't wait to see how to Arrows will get together as a couple. 

It's a lovely romantic story between a mouse and a T-Rex, full of fun, slowly growing attraction, great chemistry and sweet HEA.

Title: Rock Hard (Rock Kiss #2)
Author: Nalini Singh
Date of publication: 10 March 2015
Genre: Romance, rugby

Author's links:
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

My rating: 4.5 Stars

Wealthy businessman Gabriel Bishop rules the boardroom with the same determination and ruthlessness that made him a rock star on the rugby field. He knows what he wants, and he’ll go after it no-holds-barred.

And what he wants is Charlotte Baird.

Charlotte knows she’s a mouse. Emotionally scarred and painfully shy, she just wants to do her job and remain as invisible as possible. But the new CEO—a brilliant, broad-shouldered T-Rex of a man who growls and storms through the office, leaving carnage in his wake—clearly has other plans. Plans that may be equal parts business and bedroom.

If Charlotte intends to survive this battle of wits and hearts, the mouse will have to learn to wrangle the T-Rex. Game on.

Review

Charlie is a wonderful heroine. She is shy and intimidated by men after serious physical and emotional trauma in her past. At same time she had this inner strength and sass when dealing with Gabriel in his mode of a slave-driving, high-powered, high-maintenance boss. She was hesitant to open up to him as a woman to a man but very much wanted. I liked that she was aware of her issues and wanted to deal with them.

Her problems were far too serious to just magically be cured by loving and being loved by a good man like Gabriel. She had to work had on letting herself start a relationship with Gabriel. And here comes Gabriel and there is only one word to describe him - perfect.

I liked how patient he was with Charlie, how understanding of her issues and how he takes his time to really woo her and win her over. He was the alpha hero I want to read about in romance - caring and protective, confident without becoming overbearing, aware of his power but never abusing it.

She is his assistant and he is her boss which adds another obstacle to them being together, and I generally wouldn't welcome this type of relationship but the way is was developed here didn't bother me and I felt it fitted the characters and their story arc.

The story functions on many levels - a real down-to-earth story of abuse and dealing with it, powerful and tender forever-type of romance. The magical writing style of Ms Singh's PNR stories was easily discernible her e and made to story really shine for me. 

It's a powerful character driven, complex story, which may seems bit cliche on the surface but it's more than familiar romance trope bundled together. They are presented with depth of understanding making them stand out and engaging the reader in the journey of Charlie and Gabriel. Recommended read for fans of Nalini Signh and any romance lover in general. 

February, despite being the shortest month, is always the hardest for me emotionally and physically to some extend. I'm tired of the cold and snow and winter depression and by the end of it I'm desperate for spring, sunshine and new things. Despite some lows, it was a good month in terms of the books I read.

Just like the previous month, in February I also had two Recommended books and 2 Honourable mentions.

Genre/Themes: Contemporary romance, France, roses

Read my review

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Purchase links: Amazon / B&N / iTunes / Kobo

I love Ms Florand's Amour et Chocolat series and this book is the first in a new spin-off series, set in France and telling the stories of a family making rose oil. It\s the perfect fairy tale romance 

while keeping things real and easy to relate too. The writing is sensual and rich 

and there is this highly entertaining play with popular romantic tropes.