1st read: May 2020
2nd read: April 2023

Brenna, a changeling wolf, was kidnapped by a psychopath and tortured. After her rescue, she's having trouble adjusting to normal life again. Her family is being overprotective and not giving her space and the only person that she wants to be around is Judd, a former Psy assassin who defected to save his nieces and nephew.

I really like this book. I like the characters' relationship with each other and I liked the growth that they both showed.

The changeling groups are interesting and it's fun to see more of the Snow Dancer wolves, when most of the first few books in the series focus more on the Dark River leopards. ( )

*2.5 ( )

Things were turned around in book 3 of the psy-changeling series. This time the psy was male and the changeling female. You'd think that that would also change the power dynamics, but no. Because the psy is a highly-skilled assassin, and the changeling is 1) not a soldier and 2) recovering from a vicious attack that happened in one of the earlier books.
So, plenty of room for the genres tropes, but I actually had a very low level of annoyance. The stereotypes were obviously present, but nothing that really crossed any lines for me (which did happen on a low level for the other books).

I enjoyed it. ( )

While I'm not as invested in this series as I am the Guildhunter one, these books are always a great read!

Worldbuilding:
Set in the same world and setting as the previous books (as it is a continuation). This book brings us to the wolves, yay! We learned a lot about both sides (shifters and psy) without it feeling overwhelmed. All scenes and environments were clear and well detailed and kept me fully immersed within the story.

Character development:
The Man of Ice (Judd) vs the tortured shifter Brenna, let's see who has more willpower (and patience... so so much patience).
I liked how we have seen these characters in the previous instalments but that they now have the whole stage to really tell their story. We all know what happened to Brenna, but getting to know so much more about Judd was sooo nice! I mean... who would have known!? :) They fit very well together, I don't think Brenna could have managed the full touchy-feely caring of a shifter, at least not for matters of the heart.
As always, the author writes the books in such a way that you're right beside them during their story. They feel real and believable and you just want to know more about them (and well, everyone really).

Pacing and flow:
Were good, I pretty much only had to put the book down because of a severe headache (not because I was reading so much, heaven forbid haha). There was a great balance between what was going on (all the action) and the conversations, keeping it moving forward very smoothly.

The book:
The book itself was well written with no (noticeable) errors. There is sex described (if that is important to you).
The book is 352 pages long, spread over 49 chapters and written from both Judd's and Brenna's point of view.

Final thoughts:
I just pretty much love everything this author writes :D And as I've said before, I might not be as 'invested' in this series, coming back to the series and reading about all the characters again, since the big story arc encompasses all the novels, is just awesome. I'm always happy to read more about Sascha and Faith :D ( )

I really like Judd and Brenna. I don't like the over protective brothers.

I'm working my way through this series mostly because of the overarching Psy/Changeling/Human conflict plot. I enjoy the conflicts within the world, and the relationships that must overcome one person's inability to recognize their own emotions and when or how to act on them.

I find myself getting pushed out of the story when the Alpha/Pack stuff (which is based on discredited "science") means that the part-human characters act a certain way. Also, the split in the characters where they internally call part of themselves their animal like it's a separate being bothers me.

( )