Reviewer: Tracy Wild Embrace by Nalini Singh
Series: Psy/Changeling #15.5
Also in this series: Mine to Possess, Hostage to Pleasure, The Magical Christmas Cat , Kiss of Snow, Tangle of Need, Slave to Sensation , Wild Invitation, Heart of Obsidian, Shield of Winter, Shield of Winter, Visions of Heat, Mine to Possess, Caressed By Ice, Branded by Fire, Blaze of Memory, Mine to Possess, Hostage to Pleasure, Hostage to Pleasure, Shards of Hope, Shards of Hope, Heart of Obsidian, Caressed By Ice, Branded by Fire, Blaze of Memory, Play of Passion, Allegiance of Honor, Kiss of Snow, Tangle of Need, Shield of Winter, Shards of Hope, Allegiance of Honor, Allegiance of Honor, Wild Embrace, Wild Embrace, Silver Silence, Silver Silence, Tangle of Need, Ocean Light, Ocean Light , Caressed By Ice, Wolf Rain
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: August 23rd 2016
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Series Rating:
The “alpha author of paranormal romance”* presents a stunningly sensual collection of four all-new Psy-Changeling novellas, in which taboos are broken, boundaries are crossed, and instincts prove irresistible...
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...
*Booklist, starred review
Echo of Silence
Tazia works as an engineer on the deep sea station Alaris. She left her family and refused an arranged marriage to seek her happiness. Her happiness means nothing without the love and support of her family. She has sent money to them and written to them but still she’s received no word from them. She happily seeks out the mail whenever it is received until her commander, a Psy, tells her she should just stop waiting for something that never comes. Tazia dislikes her commander, Stefan, for his coldness. When they are both on mandatory leave, however, he invites her to help with a search and rescue mission. Tazia discovers that Stefan isn’t as cold as she believed, not by a long shot.
This story was so very sweet. I loved almost every part of it as it showed us the relationship building between Tazia and Stefan. I loved how he showed his real self to her slowly and over the course of the time they were on leave. He was a compassionate and caring man who wasn’t as deep into silence as everyone believed. It was such a touching story in many ways and made me smile.
Dorian
Dorian was shorter than the other stories in the anthology but still packed a powerful punch. I loved Dorian to death when he was first mentioned in the Psy-Changeling series and that hasn’t changed over time. This story showed us how Dorian learned to adjust in his Changeling pack despite the fact that he couldn’t change into his animal. It made him better at what he did and I loved seeing these slices of his life that we’d not been privy to before.
Partners in Persuasion
Felix is submissive wolf changeling in the SnowDancer pack. He’s very attracted to Dezi, a cat changeling from DarkRiver but she’s a dominant which is something he can’t handle. He’d been burned in the past by a dominant female wolf and he’s afraid he wouldn’t survive rejection again. He agrees to be friends with her but finds he just wants more.
I loved reading Dezi and Felix’s story. The dynamic between the dominant female and submissive male was intriguing and I loved reading about how the pair worked out their differences. Felix was a strong male and I loved how Dezi understood that just because he was submissive didn’t make him weak. The romance was sweet and I loved how both Dezi and Felix’s alphas supported the match.
Flirtation of Fate
Kenji broke Garnet’s heart seven years ago. They were great friends and Garnet thought that they were becoming more than that when Kenji broke her heart. They’ve stayed friends over the years, flirting with each other, but they both want more – they’re just too afraid to go for it. When Kenji is in Garnet’s sector to discuss security protocols he tries everything he can think of to keep his mind off of how much he loves her but it proves difficult. The pair end up investigating a murder and while doing so find out that they can’t live without each other any longer.
I loved this murder mystery/romance story. The investigation itself was interesting and I loved watching Garnet and Kenji work through their differences and what brought on the distance between them in the first place. Though I figured out who the murderer was pretty quickly I loved reading about each step taken as the pair investigated. Kenji and Garnet were perfect for each other and I adored them together. I was quite happy when they worked it all out and got their HEA.
Overall a fantastic anthology that I highly recommend. (Although I love this series and think everyone should read it from book one, you don’t have to have read any of the books in order to read this one as the stories stand alone.)
Rating: 5 out of 5
This was such a fabulous book right? I just loved seeing the addition to this fabulous series, although Felix and Dezi…I love seeing the dynamics of dominant and submissive couples mostly because they aren’t common in this series and I love seeing more depth to them.