Title: Tangle of Need ReRead
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #11
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters, Urban fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2012

This is the second or third time I’ve read through the Psy Changeling series. And I still find that Riaz and Aria’s story is one of my favourites. It’s all about choice and choosing the one you want to spend the rest of your life with. Rather than just being about succumbing to fate and the person you end up mating with.

Another aspect of Tangle of Need that I love is the fact that both characters are finding a way to get over their heartbreak. They manage to find a way to heal together, sometimes in being with one another. At others, giving each other time and space. Ultimately resulting in their own happily ever after. One that is built in the comfort of a good friend and great sex.

I always enjoy stories that feature a secondary character you’ve already started to fall for. In the case of Tangle of Need, its Riaz’s story arc started earlier in the series. I enjoyed how it built up before this story even started. Meaning that there was no hesitation to connect and hope for his happily ever after. Aria, whilst newer to the series, is also impossible to not love.

Where I just wanted Riaz to find his forever love and happily ever after, Aria’s story was one about being a strong-willed independent woman. I love how Singh highlights the challenges of being a strong-willed woman in a man’s world. And how this can be really challenging to dins someone who will stand by you when you’re strong. Not tear you down and push you behind them. I seriously enjoyed how Riaz was able to do this for her.

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Title: Kiss of Snow ReRead
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #10
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters, Urban fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2011

Siena and Hawke’s story is always one of my favourites – they have such a slow burn build from their first appearance in Slave to Sensation, and I just love them both as characters. It’s an age gap romance, but one that feels really natural. The weight that Siena carries on her shoulders gives her the strength and maturity to be able to stand on her own two feet in the face of Hawke’s powerful personality. I love how they both come together, but are also able to retain their own sense of self and independence.

The ability and strength that Siena has is just incredible. I loved doing this reread, and I was able to pick up more of the nuances of her power this time through. I had forgotten some of the intensity of this before picking up Kiss of Snow again. I also love how Siena’s ability and Walker’s adaptations highlight the evolution of the Psy abilites. And how the rise of Silence was able to stifle some of this evolution. I’m a reformed science nerd, and I loved how Siena’s power was a vessel through which to validate the idea of evolution of Psy-powers and the evolutionary dead end which Silence has created.

Hawke and his stubbornness is incredibly frustrating at times, but it also meant that the battle to find his happily ever after was all the more enjoyable. He’s a bit intense, but, when he finally makes the choice to give in to the inevitable, he’s all in. It creates such a wonderful and explosive moment. The passion and steam absolutely leap off the pages, and I completely got swept up in the joyous moment of love.

Kiss of Snow is really the opening battle of the war that is going to round out the rest of the Psy-Changeling series. The first battle might have been fought in this, but it is really only the opening sallies and moves for a much greater battle. I love that the explosivity of the beginning of war is so beautifully partnered with such an explosive and passionate love story.

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Title: Play of Passion ReRead
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #9
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters, Urban fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2010

Drew and Indigo are a great couple within the Psy-Changeling world, and I particularly love their story as it means a return to SnowDancer after reading Bonds of Justice. They are also a nice change of pace to some of the other stories, and one of those couples, that, even in my reread, stick out to me just a little bit more. A little bit brighter. Their story is seriously enjoyable and one that I love reading again and again.

In Drew, I love that he comes across as light, young and almost innocent in his trickster ways. Yet, he is insanely powerful, confident and intelligent. It shows that power and skill don’t come with a certain personality type. And, sometimes, those who carry the largest weights on their shoulders also exude the greatest joy. I also love that he really and truly doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him. Once his mind is made up, he’s set, and he will problem solve for a better solution with a single minded tenacity.

Although I love Drew and love him and Indigo getting together, I also completely understand her reluctance, and the struggles she goes through to accept their relationship. The Reverse Age Gap and the fact that she is the one in a position of higher power are both things that I know women today still struggle with. But, I also love that, as Indigo works through this and processes it, she is also able to fully commit and be the best partner possible to Drew. I also adore how Drew, once he understands things a little, gives her a bit of space to work through her own nonsense.

The underlying story arc from the rest of the Psy-Changeling series is pretty intense at this point in the series. The Council is seriously starting to fracture (which I love), and it’s perfectly setting up the future books and new future which is about to be structured. I love that I could honestly read this (or any of the Psy-Changeling books) as standalone romances, but they are so much more complex and engaging because of the underlying story arc that drives towards such a powerful ending of this first season.

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Title: Bonds of Justice ReRead
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #8
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters, Urban fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2010

Bonds of Justice still isn’t quite my favourite Psy-Changeling story – maybe because there are not Changelings in it, maybe it’s just the characters. Regardless, this might not be my favourite book in one of my favourite series, but I still kind of love it. I mean, Max and Sophia are a really lovely couple, and I love that they both work in the justice system. This is a great paranormal romance which, at its core is all about justice and fairness. One which, whilst not having a special space in my heart, is still one I really loved rereading.

One of the aspects of Sophia that I really enjoy is that she doesn’t really try and pretend to be purely Silent. I mean, in public and in interactions that could get her “rehabilitated”, she toes the line. But, there is no need for Max to try and get below the surface to her emotions. Rather, Sophia looks at the world of hurt she might be facing and just… embraces it. I love that she chooses to embrace her humanity again and again. It means that the emotional connection between Sophia and Max is almost instantaneous, and it’s the physicality that takes time to build.

Max was a really good secondary character in Talin’s story, Mine to Possess, but surprisingly, I didn’t find him as much of a draw card as I was expecting. Admittedly, this being a reread, I already knew that I felt that way about this book, so I went into it with lower expectations. That’s not to say that this book still isn’t better than most of the stories that grace my shelves, but it is still not the Psy-Changeling story that I find impossible to put down.

My favourite part of this whole book is honestly the secondary plot line. Whilst I enjoy Max and Sophia, it is their quest for justice and the truth that I absolutely adore. Particularly since I really enjoyed the myriad of ways in which Nikkita is capable to derailing their investigations. Plus, I just really enjoyed getting to know Sascha’s mother a little bit better and seriously wondering at her convoluted motivations for literally everything she does…

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Title: Branded by Fire
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #7
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters, Urban fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2009

It doesn’t matter how many times I read the Psy-Changeling series, Mercy and Riley’s story is always one of my favourites. To the point that when I wanted to get my sister into this series, I actually gave her Branded by Fire instead of Slave to Sensation, because this is a fun way to dive into this amazing world. Something about Mercy and Riley is just adorable and too damn beautiful for words. They are sweet, adorable and with just enough fire to be incredibly interesting.

In Branded by Fire, things are starting to seriously heat up with the triumvirate, with individuals from all three groups playing silly games. I love that Mercy and Riley are so obviously on the side of “good”, but they are also caught deeply in it all. It also gives a great secondary storyline to their romance – one that continues the common thread throughout the rest of the series. I love that one of the themes throughout this series, and one that is very much highlighted by the actions of the Human Alliance in this series is that Absolute Power corrupts Absolutely. It’s a reminder to be humble and kind.

As a strong and independent woman, I completely understand why and how it is so difficult for Mercy to “submit” to Riley. Ultimately, their relationship is about partnership and being equal. But in all relationships, there is a bit of giving to one another, or submitting in some small ways. It’s something that often causes conflict and makes things difficult in my own life, so reading about another strong-willed, independent woman struggling with fitting herself in with another person was kind of cathartic to read about.

Every time that I read Branded by Fire, I love that Riley is a prime example of just why our preconceived notions of who and what will make us happy can often be wrong. Sometimes what we think is going to be our “perfect mate” is just the easy option, and not the one that will make us happy. A certain level of being challenged is important in everyone’s lives, but sometimes that can make us uncomfortable as well. Sometimes it’s the people closest to us that pick up on what we need the most, and how those that make us a little uncomfortable can be the ones that also make us the best version of ourselves.

Branded by Fire is a story that’s all about healing from the past by moving into the future. Having the willingness to compromise and adjust in an attempt to find your happily ever after. Particularly for Riley who is stubborn as dirt, but willing to take the dive when it really matters. Still one of my favourite Psy-Changeling books, and one that I look forward to rereading each and every time.

Image source: Open Book Society

Title: Blaze of Memory
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #6
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters, Urban fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2009

Whilst I enjoy Katya and Dev as a couple, and their story, they are definitely a couple that I struggle just a little bit more with compared to the others in the Psy-Changeling series. I’m not sure why, maybe because I’m particularly invested in the shifters in this world. And neither Katya nor Dev are shifters. Or this is the only story of the Forgotten, so I don’t have as many characters overlapping to be excited about. Or it could just be that I don’t identify so strongly with either of them. Whatever it is, whilst I enjoy Blaze of Memory, it’s not one of Singh’s books that I can’t put down. Which is maybe not such a bad thing… I actually manage to continue acting like a responsible adult when I read this book.

Although I’m not so excited about the Forgotten, it was still interesting to receive some insight into them and how they function. The different battles they’ve faced over the hundred odd years of silence. I particularly enjoyed the letters to Matthew placed throughout the book – it was nice to read about the thoughts and motivations of a mother as their lives fracture. Plus, it gives two different timelines and points of view. The past and the present of the Forgotten and how important feelings are to people and living their best lives.

One part of the Forgotten’s journey that I love, and that is emphasised in Blaze of Memory is the importance of genetic diversity in evolution. I have a background in biology, so I, admittedly fixated on the fact that the “purity” of the Psy causes some evolutionary dead ends. In contrast, the Forgotten are able to evolve alongside the world that they live in. And ultimately are a healthier population (not just mentally, but also physically and psychically adapting to the world around them). I probably didn’t really notice this on my first few read throughs. But I really liked fixating on that within this read through of the story.

Katya has appeared in past stories and is closely tied to Ashaya, but I like how her identity isn’t obvious from the very beginning. Whilst the books have been leading to a great story arc for the entire Psy-Changeling world, the arrival of Katya and the depths that Ming will go to to destroy his “enemies” is unleashed. It’s the next step of change and things are really starting to heat up in this war. Plus, Katya’s arrival ties another group of people more closely to DarkRiver, giving them all that much more power in the world around them.

The non-stop theme throughout this series is definitely that love can conquer all. And whilst I don’t blindly believe that, I love the hope that it gives. With each reading, I find a new positive and point of joy within. Love is a powerful force, and it’s great to be reminded of that in darker days. Something about Singh’s writing always reminds me of that.

Image source: The Nile