Friday, February 19, 2021

Review: Wolf Rain by Nalini Singh

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Title: Wolf Rain
Series: Psy-Changeling, Psy-Changeling Trinity
Author: Nalini Singh
Read copy: Mass Market Paperback
Published: February 25, 2020
Publisher: Berkley
ISBN: 1984803611
ISBN-13: 9781984803610

Kidnapped as a young girl, her psychic powers harnessed by a madman, Memory lives a caged and isolated existence…until she comes face-to-face with a wolf. Labelled an empath by her bad-tempered rescuer, Memory knows that her 'gift' is nothing so bright. It is a terrible darkness that means she will always be hunted.

But Memory is free now and she intends to live. A certain growly wolf can just deal with it.

Alexei prefers to keep his packmates at bay, the bleak history of his family a constant reminder that mating, love, hope is not for him. But Memory, this defiant and fearless woman who stands toe-to-toe with him awakens the most primal part of his nature—and soon, he must make a choice: risk everything or lose Memory to a murderous darkness that wants to annihilate her from existence...

My rating:

On his patrol, SnowDancer lieutenant Alexei Vasiliev Harte feels the anguish of an empath even though there's no one around. His wolf determined to comfort the empath, Alexei keeps searching, only to discover a bunker, hidden beneath a mound of rocks. A bunker only a Tk Psy could construct. Inside, he finds a ghost of a woman, mourning her dead cat.

Memory has been a captive of a psychopath that feeds on her psychic ability since she was a child. When Alexei rescues her, she makes a vow to herself never to go back to being a prisoner, to grow strong enough to kick her captor's ass (and, by Alexei's suggestion, his balls as well).

She also knows she's not an empath, no matter what everybody says. Not only because her captor said so, but because she knows just what she does, why her captor kept her. Empaths are light and kindness inside, while Memory is a monster.

But sometimes the world needs monsters, and Memory's rescue comes just in time for this monster to maybe help save the world.


Okay. I forgot just how well Nalini Singh can pull you into the story and the world she's created. And I forgot just how fun, cuddly, interesting, nice, loving, intriguing her characters are. Both old and new. And I forgot just how well Nalini Singh can write her main romantic pairings.

Alexei and Memory are no exception to this rule. Both scarred on the inside, were almost no one (except for the other) can see, keeping a brave face against the odds. Both survivors of personal tragedies that somehow found their way to each other and the comfort they gave to each other.

I loved Memory's transformation (the foundation for it was strong despite her long captivity) from the frail, pale, scared girl into a strong, determined, stubborn lioness.

Then there was Alexei, the grumbly wolf, determined to keep everyone at bay, yet not really succeeding thanks to his alpha and his pack, but mostly because of the woman who stood toe to toe with him, the woman who saw past the growls and snarls to the wounded man underneath. And his courting technique...Oh, boy.
His story was heartbreaking, but, unlike some, he didn't let that heartbreak dictate his actions (much). He was also open with Memory about what was keeping him back and why, letting her make her decision about the two of them. (Of course, she knew he wasn't like his brother, but the stubborn wolf wouldn't listen.)

I loved them both separately and I loved them as a couple. Their dynamic was ever changing. From rescuer-rescuee, to arguing friends, to playful lovers and mates. It had everything a romance needs, although it could've thrown off "gratefulness" vibes on Memory's part; the girl falls in love with her savior, but, thanks to the myriad characters orbiting around her, reading her reactions and interactions with them, Alexei's determination to stay away despite his wolf's wants and needs, her stubborn refusal to back down from a challenge of a predatory changeling, it felt real. Romantic and not (only) thankful.

To counterbalance the romance, was one heck of a suspense plot, with not only the psychopath hunting for Memory (a subplot that can be found in most straightforward thrillers out there), which also served to end romance's little conflict, but also the subplot involving her own psychic abilities, and especially the darkness awakening among the Psy now that the Silence is gone.
The latter should provide plenty of writing material in the future and I sure hope Memory isn't the only of her subdesignation.
I also hope seeing one particular character in the future (the one who's mind was splintering and who turned out to be both instigator and quasi-savior).

I'm loving the turn this series is taking, proving that (at least for me) it hasn't run it's course, despite all my favorite characters (who also had various sized cameos in this story!) having reached their happily ever after. There's obviously plenty of interesting and intriguing characters in the wings, waiting to shine.

Bring it on!

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