Wolf Rain (Psy-Changeling Trinity, #3; Psy-Changeling, #18) by Nalini Singh
Published by Berkley on June 4, 2019
Genres: Paranormal
Pages: 416
Goodreads

FINAL DECISION: At times painful and sad but ultimately redeeming and powerful, Memory and Alexei take readers back to SnowDancer and many beloved characters, but new things are awakening in the Psy-Changeling world.

THE STORY: Memory has been held by a man who sought to control her psychic abilities. When she is rescued by an ill tempered wolf changeling, he labels her an empath, but Memory knows that she is no empath as her power is dark and dangerous. Alexei has been keeping an emotional distance from his pack, but a tough but vulnerable woman opens him up to emotions that he doesn’t want to have. But his desire to help the vulnerable takes him on a journey to help solve the questions around Memory.

OPINION: This book had a different feel that others in this series. This felt like a suspense or mystery book at times with lots of questions and various suspects sprinkled throughout. Indeed, the book starts out with a mysterious woman and then Alexei meets her and the two are off.

Memory is a woman who discovers herself through the story. She had the possibility of being seriously damaged and allowing herself to be beaten. Instead, she emerges from her trauma as a woman determined to be her own person. I loved her story because she is a testament to strength and will. I found her to be a worthy match for one of those difficult wolves.

Alexei is a man who has been faced with too many shocks and disappointments. He functions, but is pretty broken when this book begins. He feels like he has lost any possibility for a future because of his destiny. Yet he manages to contribute to his pack. And that his the amazing thing about Alexei — he is steady and dependable even in the midst of his personal crisis.

So as the book begins Memory and Alexei are both facing an uncertain future and a past that haunts and perhaps controls them. There is also deep questions about destiny and free will — are these characters destined for unhappy endings or can they control their own fate and make their own futures?

One of the things I love most about Singh’s Psy-Changeling series is that the books always take these characters as part of a bigger world. And these characters sit right in the middle of the original Psy-Changeling world of DarkRiver and SnowDancer. Thus, there are plenty of updates on beloved characters which makes this book a welcome surprise.

Yet things are changing in the Psy-Changeling world. New dangers are appearing and we certainly get to know more about what is happening in the Psy-Changeling world. But the book always tilts towards telling the story of the characters and this book just made me happy. There is sadness and darkness, but I loved that we end up in a place of hope and happiness.

WORTH MENTIONING: There are plenty of appearances by characters from the original series.

CONNECTED BOOKS: WOLF RAIN is the eighteenth book in the Psy-Changeling series and the third book in the Psy-Changeling Trinity series. The romance here is self-contained, but the series has ongoing conflicts and characters which cross the series so I think this is better read as part of the series (at least the Trinity series).

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.