Format read: print book borrowed from the LibraryFormats available: ebook, paperback, mass market paperback, audiobook
Genre: Paranormal romance
Series: Psy-Changeling, #0.5, #3.5, #9.5, #10.5
Length: 353 pages
Publisher: Berkley Books
Date Released: March 5, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository
A PSY-CHANGELING COLLECTION BY NALINI SINGH
Experience the explosive series hailed by #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan as “a must-read for all my fans.”In Beat of Temptation, innocent Tamsyn has always had a place in her heart for Nathan, a blooded DarkRiver sentinel. But is she ready for the fierce demands of the mating bond?
In Stroke of Enticement, a wary young teacher, skeptical about love, arouses the man–and the animal–in an aggressive leopard changeling who must prove his affections are true.
Plus NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED
In Declaration of Courtship, Grace, a shy submissive wolf, finds herself pursued by the last man she ever would have imagined: a SnowDancer lieutenant said to be “mad, bad, and dangerous to know.”Plus NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED
In Texture of Intimacy, SnowDancer healer Lara discovers the searing joys–and unexpected challenges–of being mated to quiet, powerful Walker, a man used to keeping his silence.
My Review:
I read Wild Invitation mostly to tide me over until Heart of Obsidian comes out in June. I’m probably not alone. I will say that for once the US cover doesn’t suck. I think the UK cover is prettier, but there’s a chance that the US cover might have something to do with the plot of the book for once. Mostly I’ve detested the US covers, so this one is definitely a major improvement.
Back to Wild Invitation…or inviting you to step back to Wild Invitation. Bad pun, no cookie. Beat of Temptation, Stroke of Enticement, and Declaration of Courtship all have similar themes. The male is in the dominant position either by age in the case of Beat, by species in the case of Stroke, or by hierarchy in the case of Declaration, and uses that dominance to make decisions for the female, with varying degress of success. Eventually, these couples reach an HEA. They may start down the path because the male in each case realizes that they are mates, but they get there because they find that they love each other, AND because the male gets it drummed into his head that they are equals.
In some cases that takes more thumping than others.
Beat of Temptation Escape Rating B-: The summary is not quite right. The story isn’t about whether Tamsyn is ready, the story is about whether Nate is ready to accept that she’s ready. When the bond snapped in place, Tamsyn was 15, and Nate was 25 or so. That’s a big difference. He kept trying to give her a chance to have a bit of freedom, but didn’t take into account that part of her freedom needed to be asking her what she wanted and needed. He kept on deciding for her instead of with her, until things reached a crisis point.
Stroke of Enticement Escape Rating B: Annie, the human in this story, is skeptical about love for more than one reason. Too many people see her slight physical handicap, and not her hard-won independence, especially since her mother emphasizes Annie’s shortcomings at every turn. And Annie has to live with the example of her parents’ marriage, a relationship where her mother adores her father, but he barely remembers that she exists. So when leopard changeling Zach strides into her life, she can’t believe that this handsome creature could possibly want her for more than a fling, and he doesn’t understand why their mating bond won’t snap into place.
Declaration of Courtship Escape Rating C+: This story reminded me too much of Patricia Briggs Cry Wolf, the first book in her Alpha and Omega series. I just couldn’t get the similarities out of my head.
Texture of Intimacy Escape Rating B+: This story was different from the others, and dropped a few hints about Heart of Obsidian. At least I hope they were hints. The difference was that this story was about Lara and Walker settling in after they were mated. Walker Lauren is Psy, and Lara is a wolf shifter. Walker is discovering what it is like, not just be mated, but to experience real emotions for the first time in his life. They have a long and occasionally rocky road ahead of them. The story of how they begin to navigate it is quite affecting, and made Texture of Intimacy my favorite story in the book.
![[photo of Nina Croft]](https://www.readingreality.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Nina-12-150x150.jpg)
I’d also note that Beat of Temptation and Stroke of Enticement were previously published in multi-author anthologies (and I’m curious why this anthology didn’t include the 3rd already published novella, Whisper of Sin. Why leave just one out?) Stroke of Enticement was my original introduction to this series a few years back. Declaration of Courtship wasn’t the best entry in the volume but it did fill some world-building need in explaining the multi-den thing and the whole dominance thing more fully (perhaps too fully?) I’m with you on Texture being the most solid one of the four, but I have to admit to a soft spot for Stroke since it’s what sold me on Nalini Singh in the first place. And I think Zach is the most approachable of the four male heroes, prompting the lowest “I just want to smack him upside the head” reaction with me.
This is all your fault. You know that, right? You’re the one who kept tell me to read this series. When I finally listened, I ate them up like candy. Damn you.
Moving right along, yeah, the males often gave me that need to hit them with the “clue-by-four” and go back for a return smack. Zach either the least or he was in the position where she REALLY didn’t know what she was in for.
I think I liked Texture the best because they were closest to equals. Declaration drove me nuts. And if you’ve ever read Briggs’ Cry Wolf, they are close. Not the same, and nothing about the dens, but the alpha/omega went deja vu on me.
And it’s still your fault. Thank you.
Marlene Harris recently posted..Review: Wild Invitation by Nalini Singh
*snerk*. You’re very welcome. Having not read much Patricia Briggs–and apparently what I’ve read didn’t include Cry Wolf–I didn’t have the deja vu thing going on. I liked Coop as a character in the stand-alone (better than Nate in the standalone, anyhow, thank heavens Nate is a better character in the other novels) but I think you probably have to read the other books in the series where Coop is mentioned to fill out the “how other people view him” side of things. And I loved some of the side characters in that one. The romance was perhaps a little too ABC predictable, but while it will never be in my top 5 Singh listings, I’ll re-read it.
I’ve read all the books in the series, but not all the short stories. I guess Coop didn’t stand out for me, or he didn’t overwhelm the deja vu. I just want Heart of Obsidian to get damn here already. Like now.
Marlene Harris recently posted..The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 5-5-13
Yes!! Except I’m terrified. I’m terrified that it won’t be perfect. Much like I had to force myself to read Kiss of Snow because I had too many expectations for Hawke’s story and knew there was no way any author could live up to it.