Review: Archangel’s Sun

I received this book for free from Netgalley in order to prepare an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


Review: Archangel’s SunArchangel's Sun (Guild Hunter, #13) by Nalini Singh
Series: Guild Hunter #13
Published by Berkley on November 24, 2020
Genres: Paranormal
Pages: 368
Goodreads
four-half-stars

 

FINAL DECISION: This was definitely not a pairing that I expected, but it worked so well. Titus is sweeter than I expected with him playing the long-suffering brother of four sisters. Sharine is a woman who is finding herself with a vengeance, reconciling her past, and showing the strength that she lacked in the past. Loved these two and enjoyed being reoriented to the aftermath of the archangelic war.

THE STORY: In the aftermath of the archangelic war from the last book, the new version of the reborn continues to threaten the continent of Africa. Titus is a powerful archangel, but he cannot stop the scourge alone. Instead of the warrior help he thinks he needs, he is sent the Hummingbird, an unworldly angel known as a great artist. Sharine has only begun to find herself after emerging from her broken mental state. The two must join forces to prevent the reborn from overtaking the world.

OPINION: This book is a lovely mature story with characters who have led full lives. That gives this book depth and interest. This book had the feeling of a woman’s journey. It is Sharine who is the focus here. She is finding herself after being the beloved Hummingbird who is vague and not of the world because her mind was broken. Here, she is rediscovering herself, dealing with the heartaches of her past, and building a new life and purpose for herself.

Titus is an archangel who has enjoyed life and then is quickly devastated by an angel he did not expect. Titus is amazingly loyal and strong, but there is an incredible sweetness to his relationship with Sharine. These two have strength and I enjoyed their interaction.

The aftermath of the war is not a pleasant place, but this book has more hope and comfort than I expected. Indeed, while there are still bad secrets, this book feels much lighter after all the death and destruction in the prior two books.

I also enjoyed that his book marks a change in the series as we get a whole new cast of characters whose stories can be told in future books. That bodes well for the series continuing.

WORTH MENTIONING: Raphael and the Seven are not main characters here, they only make small appearances.

CONNECTED BOOKS: ARCHANGEL’S SUN is the thirteenth book in the Guild Hunter series. The romance here is self-contained, however, the world and the characters assume familiarity with the other books in the series. Do yourself a favor and start at the beginning.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

NOTE: I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley which was used to prepare this review. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

 

four-half-stars

Review: Alpha Night

I received this book for free from Netgalley in order to prepare an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


Review: Alpha NightAlpha Night (Psy-Changeling Trinity, #4; Psy-Changeling, #19) by Nalini Singh
Published by Berkley on June 9, 2020
Genres: Paranormal
Pages: 368
Goodreads
four-half-stars

FINAL DECISION: A fast-paced, action packed entry in the series. I was amazed by the end to realize that only a few days had passed. Loved the alpha heroine queen and her devoted knight. The only negative is that is hard getting to know another changeling group. Hopefully, we will have all the main characters of the Trinity series soon so that every book is not a new group.

THE STORY: Selenka Durev is an alpha wolf who meets Arrow Ethan Night and instantly knows that he is her mate. Selenka’s pack is in danger as the Architect continues to make plans to disrupt the fragile peace of the Trinity Accord and build an empire for herself. Ethan believes himself damaged and operating on borrowed time before his mind becomes a weapon that must be destroyed. An mating between two strangers who have both been betrayed is difficult. There is something different about Ethan that the two must investigate while getting to know one another.

OPINION: Enjoyable entry in the Trinity series. This was an interesting combination of personalities. Selenka and Ethan were definitely not what I was expecting. Having a female alpha changeling was great with different issues. I especially liked that Selenka is definitely just as ruthless as an alpha as Lucas and Hawke but gives the alpha role a different twist. (Valentin is the softie of the group — but bears). Ethan is a different Arrow than what we have seen before as well. Singh is expanding and breaking her own constructs which only makes this series more compelling and complex with every book.

Ethan’s condition kept me interested to the end and I was not expecting what the resolution was. It was surprising and yet completely obvious once I knew the ending. Singh did a great job planting clues and yet not giving the game away.

My only slight disappointment/complaint is that once again we are introduced to another new group — BlackEdge. I’m hoping that now that we have three packs, the books will begin to explore more deeply the characters and dynamics we have already been introduced to. Much of each of these books in the Trinity series has to take time to introduce the particular dynamics and characters which is understandable but keeps this spin-off series from really rising to the levels of the original. Let’s have some more BlackEdge, BlackSea or StoneWater characters!

WORTH MENTIONING: There are some cameo appearances by beloved characters from the original cast, but they are only cameos.

CONNECTED BOOKS: ALPHA NIGHT is the fourth book in the Psy-Changeling Trinity Series. It is also the nineteenth book in the Psy-Changeling series. A reader could pick up the series at the start of the Trinity series. While the story here is mostly self-contained and the romance is completely self-contained, there is so much world-building and background that a newcomer to the series might spend a lot of time trying to catch up.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

NOTE: I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

four-half-stars

Review: Love Hard

I received this book for free from Netgalley in order to prepare an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


Review: Love HardLove Hard by Nalini Singh
Series: Hard Play #3
Published by Tka Distribution on March 10, 2020
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 320
Goodreads
five-stars

FINAL DECISION: Oh, I loved this one. Jake is sweet and adorable and such a good man trying to raise his daughter until Jules comes and knocks his well ordered life for a loop. These are adults dealing with things in a mature and reasoned fashion and I loved their story.

THE STORY: A wedding brings high school classmates Jacob Esera and Juliet Nelisi together again. As students, the two were uneasily connected by Jacob’s girlfriend who happened to be Juliet’s best friend. After his girlfriend’s death, Jacob has spent the last six years raising his daughter as a single parent and working on his career as a rugby player. There is definite heat between them but Jacob wants a quiet private life and Juliet seems to bring scandal and attention wherever she goes.

OPINION: This book is a joy to read primarily because these are adults who deal with their relationship in an adult way. Less unnecessary drama and more smart people who talk things out make this book a wonderful read.

Jake is a really decent man. Raising his daughter alone after the death of her mother, she is clearly the center of his life. Definite gooey heart stuff seeing this strong man completely wrapped around the little finger of his girl. What is particularly good in is that the kids feel like real people and not convenient plot points. As a parent, I also really felt for Jake who has conflicting emotions regarding this daughter that he loves greatly and yet wants her protected and yet independent.

Juliet is a woman who is smart and clever and has made mistakes. She owns her mistakes which felt mature and realistic. I appreciated having a heroine that was imperfect and dealt with her past with humor and aplomb.

I just love the serious guy with the naughty girl, but even better, these characters are complex and are ultimately they have more in common than at first it seems. This is a lovely story with intricacy of character. There is angst and some drama, but such likable people.

The story is also very sexy as well as being sweet and romantic.

This book just made me feel good and happy.

WORTH MENTIONING: While it is certainly not necessary to read the other books in the series, I highly recommend reading ROCK HARD. A highlight of this book for me is the community of characters that Nalini Singh brings into the story (especially in the beginning). One of my favorite aspects of Nalini Singh’s books is the supportive cast of characters in her books.

CONNECTED BOOKS: This whole series is a spin-off from ROCK HARD in the Rock Kiss series. This book, however, is especially connected as it has the wedding of Gabriel and Charlotte (the couple in ROCK HARD). This book can certainly be read as a standalone as the romance is completely self-contained.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

NOTE: I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own. I purchased a paperback copy of this book after its release.

five-stars

Review: A Madness of Sunshine

Review: A Madness of SunshineA Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh
Published by Berkley Books on December 3, 2019
Genres: Thriller
Pages: 352
Goodreads
four-half-stars

“Everyone has hidden corners of their life, even the people we think we know inside out.”

FINAL DECISION: A thriller/suspense story about the secrets that rest in small towns where everyone thinks they know everyone but where there are dangerous secrets. I found this book compelling and it kept me turning page after page wanting to see the secrets being revealed.

THE STORY: Anahera Rawiri returns to her hometown in New Zealand. A hometown that she is reluctant to return to and yet is drawn back. There are dark secrets in this town and even more secrets among the people who live there. Will Gallagher is the new cop in town who was sent there after an incident in Christchurch. It was a way of putting him on ice. The town of Golden Cove seemingly is a dead end job without any need for Will’s detective skills until a young woman disappears. Then the dark secrets of the town begin to be revealed.

OPINION: Nicely centered in the community relationships and characters (which is an area that Singh excels in her romances), the story kept me guessing throughout. As varying stories are slowly revealed, there is no doubt that everyone is deeper than what is known at the outset. Nicely, that is also true of the two main characters in the story. As readers, we know some of the pasts of these characters, but their story is slowly unwound even as the mystery unfolds as well.

Although not overly creepy, there is something unsettling about the town and its surroundings. The overwhelming feeling that everyone has secrets and some of those secrets are dangerous makes this book compelling.

I liked both Anahera and Will. Both out of sync with the town…Will an outsider and Anahera a local who has spent a decade away and thus straddles the line between being a part of the town and being a stranger. This gives them a nice connection as they are the “outsiders” doing the investigation while both have one foot in the town.

I enjoyed this story because I kept changing my mind about what was going on and how it was connected with the past. I kept reading page after page because I wanted to know more about Will and Anahera — not just the mystery. That nice balance made this a really good read.

WORTH MENTIONING: This is not a romance. Please don’t read it looking for a Singh romance and then complain that it isn’t a romance. It is also not a paranormal, fantasy or sci-fi book. The book does have romantic elements, but romance is definitely not the focus here. There is sex but it is pretty much all off screen.

CONNECTED BOOKS: A MADNESS OF SUNSHINE is a standalone.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

four-half-stars

Review: Archangel’s War

Review: Archangel’s WarArchangel's War (Guild Hunter, #12) by Nalini Singh
Series: Guild Hunter #12
Published by Berkley on September 24, 2019
Genres: Paranormal
Pages: 478
Goodreads
five-stars

FINAL DECISION: Fabulous book that was with action and heart from the first page to the last. Singh just gets better and better. Highly recommend!

THE STORY: Beginning immediately after the events of ARCHANGEL’S PROPHECY, this book reveals what has happened to Elena and Raphael after they attempted to defy fate in making Elena a blank vessel for Raphael’s power.

OPINION: This is a book where it is infinitely better to stop reading reviews and just get to the book.

Just about everything that can be said is a spoiler, so my comments will remain general.

I loved the scope, the action, the romance, the heart of this book. It fulfills all the promise of the prior book. It is a long book, but it never drags and I can’t imagine any moment, any scene, any character that could have been excised. I loved every moment and immediately went back to re-read whole sections.

Singh is a master of these complicated multi-character worlds and this book brings the entire scope of the series to New York. The threads of the story are multifaceted and it manages to be amazingly fulfilling to those who have committed to the series. Singh knows her characters inside and out and each one sparkles on the page.

This book had high stakes and it was better than I could have wished.

This book was the best new book I have read this year. It was such a great reading experience, I can’t imagine that any other book will be able to top it.

WORTH MENTIONING: I wish these books were available in hardcover.

CONNECTED BOOKS: ARCHANGEL’S WAR is the twelfth book in the Guild Hunter series. This series should be read in order.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

five-stars

Review: Wolf Rain

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

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.

four-half-stars

Review: Archangel’s Prophecy

Review: Archangel’s ProphecyArchangel's Prophecy (Guild Hunter, #11) by Nalini Singh
Series: Guild Hunter #11
Published by Berkley on October 30, 2018
Genres: Paranormal
Pages: 368
Goodreads
five-stars

“One must die for one to live.”

FINAL DECISION: Fantastic book which turns everything upside down. Dramatic and powerful, this book is a game changer in the Guild Hunter series, and left me screaming at the end for the year’s delay before finding out what happens next, but I believe this could be one of the most amazing books in the series because it challenges the reader rather than keeping to a formula.

THE STORY: Elena is the only mortal in memory to have been made into an immortal angel by the ambrosia kiss of Raphael, the Archangel. But something seems be going wrong. Elena is regressing and becoming more mortal. Raphael and Elena are in a race against time to discover what is happening. At the same time, Elena is tracking a murderer who is threatening her family. Even worse, the Cascade is at work again with sinkholes filled with Lava and flocks of mysterious birds approaching Elena.

OPINION: Eleven books in and a series can become predictable and stale. Singh tosses all the rules away with this ending of this book. Some readers might be upset by the cliffhanger ending and by what it portends, but it worked in ways that I didn’t expect when I first finished it. I ended up re-reading the last quarter twice and I loved it more each time. The last quarter of this book was intensely dramatic and powerful.

This book is an interesting mixture of an big and important Cascade story and a more mundane murder investigation. This book allows readers to see all of Elena — the mortal and immortal parts — and things begin to change in big ways. I was happy to get to see several of the secondary characters in this series, but this is very much an Elena-centric book. This is about her journey.

Things in the series seemed to be going on an expected path and I thought I knew what was going to happen. This book upset all those expectations and thus brought confusion and anger and quite a bit of disorientation by the end. But ultimately that is why I ended up loving it.  This book asks a lot from the reader and I, too, had to sacrifice predictability and security along with the characters.

Elena and Raphael are not characters who will be bound by fate and prophecy. They make their own path — even when that path is unclear and uncertain. I’m just along for the ride now.

This is the only book since the first book in the series where I have no idea what is going to happen next. There is something wonderfully creative and fascinating about being in this place of uncertainty.

I also need to re-read it in total as soon as I finish this review.

WORTH MENTIONING: This book ends on a cliffhanger.

CONNECTED BOOKS: ARCHANGEL’S PROPHECY is the eleventh book in the Guild Hunter series. This series is meant to be read in order. While each book is an episode, there are significant overarching storylines in this series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

 

five-stars

Review: Rebel Hard

Review: Rebel HardRebel Hard (Hard Play, #2) by Nalini Singh
Series: Hard Play #2
Published by Tka Distribution on September 18, 2018
Genres: Contemporary
Goodreads
five-stars

 

FINAL DECISION: Fabulous story of two people who struggle with their expectations and learn to communicate their wants, desires and needs. I absolutely adored Nayna and Raj who are sweet and sexy and have a relationship of mature respect. This is a great addition to a great series.

THE STORY: Nayna Sharma has agreed to an arranged marriage as part of her effort to keep things peaceful and happy in her family. Nanya has kept her own wants and desires suppressed to make her parents happy. One night out with her friend at a party results in her meeting a sexy hunk, Raj Sen. Raj is a man damaged by his childhood. He wants security and a traditional marriage. He meets a woman, however, that calls to him in passionate ways he never expected, but their conflicting dreams seem destined to keep them apart.

OPINION: This is a sweet and yet emotionally fraught story. Nanya and Raj feel a connection from the moment they see one another, but the question quickly arises of whether the two will be together because Nanya capitulates to her family’s expectations, whether the two will be at odds because of their different desire for the future or whether they can manage to forge something new together.

I loved this story, loved this couple. Nanya is a woman finding herself for the first time. Indeed, her relationship with Raj gives her the springboard to forge a different life for herself. At the same time that she finds comfort and companionship with Raj, she also must face the possibility that her growth might take her away from Raj.

Raj is a man who wants a traditional marriage and life, but then he meets Nanya and he must confront the reality that he wants this woman above all other things. And yet, the tension remains as to whether giving Nanya the freedom she wants means that he will lose her forever.

This book is subtle and intense and personal. There aren’t flashy, overdramatic events. Instead, this is a complex, emotional journey for these characters. Is it possible for Raj and Nanya to change and grow and reconcile their disparate visions of the future?

These characters are grounded in their families. Singh always has a wonderful way to creating community around her characters and this book is no exception. The people around Nanya and Raj matter. They are developed characters with personalities and complexities of their own. We get to see their culture, their personal foibles and strengths. It always seems that any of the secondary characters in Singh’s books could be the subject of their own book. They are that interesting and well constructed.

This is a wonderful book about compromise and understanding, about change and the importance of family and tradition. There are no easy cliches in this book. And Nanya and Raj are just adorable together. Loved it.

WORTH MENTIONING: I love the inexperienced hero and heroine combinations.

CONNECTED BOOKS: REBEL HARD is the second book in the Hard Play series. The romance here is self-contained and can be read as a standalone. I think this book is so connected with the prior book in the series (and in fact happens concurrent with that book) that I would recommend reading the books in order.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in order to help prepare this review. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

five-stars

Review: Ocean Light

I received this book for free from Netgalley in order to prepare an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


Review: Ocean LightOcean Light (Psy-Changeling Trinity, #2; Psy-Changeling, #17) by Nalini Singh
Published by Berkley on June 12, 2018
Genres: Paranormal
Pages: 416
Goodreads
four-half-stars

“This woman was no princess. She was a warrior. One Bo was dead certain was fighting the compulsion to stab him.”

FINAL DECISION: Hopeful, sweeter than I expected but with lots of intrigue and double crosses, I really enjoyed this book which continues to explore the struggles to create a united world with a man and woman who both need to overcome damaging pasts.

THE STORY: Bowen Knight of the Human Alliance should be dead. He was shot through the heart in an attempted assassination attempt. But even surviving that, Bowen has a ticking time bomb in his head — a chip he had implanted to prevent psychic rape by the Psy is degrading and threatens to kill not only Bowen but his friends and family at the top of the Human Alliance. Taken to an undersea facility controlled by BlackSea, Bowen has to confront some of his deepest fears. And when he meets the sweet and sexy cook Kaia Luna, Bowen decides that he doesn’t want to spent what might be the last few weeks of his life, without her. Kaia has faced so much loss in her life and getting involved with the seemingly doomed Bowen only threatens her with more sadness and grief.

OPINION: The Psy-Changeling series is one that I re-read every year. It takes weeks now as this is book number 17 (not including the novellas and free stories), but I never regret those weeks because the series is nuanced and complex and presents at its center a sense of hope and the possible.

OCEAN LIGHT takes readers into the mysterious world of the changeling group of BlackSea (which covers the ocean dwelling changelings). By the end of the this book, I still find this group very mysterious as it doesn’t follow many of the “rules” readers have learned about changelings. I hope that we get more books about the BlackSea characters as this book only made me more curious.

This book leaving me even more curious is a theme for me in this book. In fact, I ended this book with even more questions about where the overarching storyline is going than when I came in. There is some serious stuff going on in this series and while some parts are resolved, the core of the mystery still remains after this book. The Trinity series continues to investigate the conflict between those for and those against the Trinity alliance. The “villains” have managed to efficiently organize Psy, humans and changelings and the question still remains whether the “good guys” can manage to form their own connections in time.

Bowen Knight is familiar to readers of the series. Nominally the security head of the Human Alliance, Bo is, in fact, the leader and the person keeping the Alliance together. Bo has been obsessed with the idea of protecting the vulnerable humans from the psychic powers of the Psy. His singlemindedness has led him to have an experimental technology implanted in his brain to shield his mind from Psy. As we learned, however, Bo (along with his sister and friends who also got implants) are living on borrowed time as the implant is unstable. But as readers of the series will recall, although Bo has but months to live, Bo was shot protecting his sister in SILVER SILENCE. This book begins on the heels of those events.

In this book, we learn the origins of Bo’s determination to find a way to protect humans. In the face of Bo’s intense dislike of the Psy, ironically, Bo finds himself attracted to a woman who has her own reasons for disliking humans and wanting nothing to do with Bo. Bo’s brush with death creates a determination in him to not miss a moment of possibility when he finds himself attracted to Kaia.

As the “alpha” of the Human Alliance, Bo’s world is complicated and filled with the possibility of betrayal. The Trinity world is more political and dangerous because it is unclear who can be trusted. And the lack of trust extends not only between groups but within the groups themselves as both the Alliance and BlackSea have to consider if there are traitors within.

Kaia is a new character to the series and one I really, really liked. She is caring and smart and not willing to put up with any nonsense from Bo. Her heart is so big and life has bruised her up pretty badly. Yet she still opens herself up and risks more pain with Bo. Kaia’s storyline here had much more interest for me. She is the one who is risking so much (because Bo could end up dead or as good as). And I admit that I was intrigued to find out what type of changeling she is. (I also want a cookbook with her recipes because they sound so good!)

I thought the romance between Bo and Kaia was intensely sweet. We get to see a side of Bo that he himself didn’t know existed until he met Kaia. There is something to be said for what a clever and determined man will do when he finds the woman. There is a bit of innocence in how Bo approaches his courtship of Kaia because he has truly never connected with a woman before. And that continues the irony of Bo’s life, just when he finds what matters in his life, this life has a countdown for him.

Most of the conflict here ends up being external and there is quite of bit of intrigue in this book. On the plot end, I was pleased to get to see some of my favorites from the series. Although we end up in a new environment, I like feeling the series grounded in its roots and with the characters who I already know and miss when they don’t appear.

I walked away from this book with a sense of warmth and joy and loved all the characters we got to spend time with in this book.

WORTH MENTIONING: I tilted between a 4 and a 4.5 for this book. The epilogue, however, firmly tilted this book to a 4.5 — any book where Kaleb and Sahara make a significant emotional appearance gets a little boost from me!

CONNECTED BOOKS: OCEAN LIGHT is the second book in the Psy-Changeling Trinity series. The books are interconnected with continuing storylines although the romance is self-contained. The Psy-Changeling Trinity series is a spin-off or Season 2 of the Psy-Changeling series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in order to prepare this review. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

four-half-stars

Review: Cherish Hard

I received this book for free from Netgalley in order to prepare an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


Review: Cherish HardCherish Hard (Hard Play, #1) by Nalini Singh
Series: Hard Play #1
Published by Tka Distribution on November 14th 2017
Genres: Contemporary
Goodreads
four-half-stars

“He was no Prince Charming. But he was a man who would love Isa forever if she just gave him a chance. Because she was it for him. For now and always.”

FINAL DECISION: Adorable sexy gardener approached by woman who wants to claim something for herself. Sweet, adult working out of issues. Loved this one.

THE STORY: Sailor Bishop is only a teenager when he sees a college girl getting her heart stomped on by her boyfriend. Sailor tries to track her down but is unsuccessful. Years later, Sailor sees her again when he is doing landscaping at a school. The redhead approaches him and kisses him and then runs off again. Now Sailor is determined to find out her identity. Isa Rain is ready to settle down, find a husband and have children. What she doesn’t want is a sexy younger man who is determined to build his own business. When her mother blackmails her into working for her for the summer, Isa finds herself in charge of the sexy landscaper and having to decide what to do with him.

OPINION: I love books where the true conflict is a difference in outlooks that have to be resolved in an adult manner. There are no easy solutions here. Isa and Sailor must determine not whether or not they can love one another, but whether it is possible for their lives to merge together.

In the process, both Ina and Sailor must confront their pasts and the impact their parents have made on them. Ina and Sailor are both nice people and I loved their interactions.

Sailor is a caring and determined man. He has built his own landscape business but has plans for much bigger things. He has a plan for what he wants to do with his life driven by the ghosts of his past. But he is not mindless or willing to hurt people as he goes through his life. In fact, he is entirely normal. He has a plan for his life until something makes him question his plans.

Isa is trying to build her own life apart from her parents’ expectations of her. She is good at the business her mother wants to draw her into, but it isn’t Isa’s dream. I liked that it isn’t a matter of talent, but a matter of choice for Isa. She has her own past to deal with. Two parents who prioritized their work over their family. That makes her wary of a man who has his own empire to create.

What is wonderful is that these characters work out their problems. The book begins on a gimmick as Ina wants to avoid Sailor, but develops into a mature and adult story of two adults figuring out if the attraction they feel can be something to last a lifetime. I loved the maturing and adult manner in which they characters operate in the world.

There is also something beautiful about how these two characters interact with their families. I loved that these characters are grounded and real. The story is also pretty sexy between these two but always grounded in relationship.

WORTH MENTIONING: Hero is about five years younger than heroine.

CONNECTED BOOKS: CHERISH HARD is the first book in the Hard Play series. CHERISH HARD is also a prequel to ROCK HARD from the Rock Kiss series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in order to provide a review. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

four-half-stars