Tangle of Need: The Psy-Changeling Series [Hardcover]

Every Changeling longs for the gift of a mating bond, to know that their partner is theirs completely for life. Except for SnowDancer wolves Riaz and Adria. Lieutenant Riaz has found his mate, but she's married - happily - to someone else. While Senior Soldier Adria has had her heart broken so badly she doubts she'll ever trust a man again.

Having both returned to the SnowDancer den to lick their wounds, the last thing they want is to get involved with each other. Except the attraction between them is so strong, and all wolves need to touch...

The Psy-Changeling series is back for its eleventh instalment, continuing the recent focus on the wolves. Riaz is a gorgeous lone wolf, charming, smart and dominant, but best known for going his own way. Adria is a dominant female with strong nurturing instincts, but is emotionally battered and heart-worn. Though they frequently snap and snarl at each other, there's no denying their chemistry - or their ability to heal each other. Whatever else is going on with their hearts, they make a dynamic pair.

But this story isn't just about them. There's a lot of Hawke and Sienna scenes as we see how they're coping after the events of Kiss of Snow, while the intriguing Psy Councillor, Kaleb, also gets a fair chunk of story as his mysterious search draws towards its end. We also see more of the Arrows, Aden and Vasic, as they try to deal with the deepening fractures in the Psynet. And those are just the main side plots - there are plenty more appearances from old characters, but the Riley and Mercy scenes are my favourites.

With civil war on the Psynet growing ever closer, this book felt more like it was laying the foundations for future conflicts, than settling anything new. Danger threatens on several fronts, but very little is actually resolved, despite so much going on.

Packed with further character developments and world-building, at times Riaz and Adria were almost lost beneath the weight of everything else. Yet their story is important in terms of what happens when Changeling relationships don't go quite as expected. Even though at times their emotional conflict did verge on growing repetitive, there's enough heat and tenderness to put them on a par with others in the series - if they hadn't had to share so much space with everyone else.

A solid continuation to this excellent series, bridging the gap between the old story arc and the new, I can't wait to find out where it all goes next.

I wish I could give this 3.5 stars rather than 4. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE Nalini Singh both this series and her Angels series,I believe completely in her characters and her world. BUT (and it is a big one) somehow this book feels like a fill-in, where the author is just biding her time and getting the story arc together for the next book.

Quick summary - we see Riaz (first seen in Play of Passion) and Adria (Indigo's sister - snape) as the central pair. We also see a lot of Hawke and Sienna (a LOT) and some of Brenna and Judd (quite a lot of 'some') and Drew and Indigo AND Mercy and Riley (and no, I'm giving NO spoilers about any news aboutany of them). While it's lovely to catch up on other members of the packs, we did see a lot (really, a LOT) of the other couples - almost more than the so-called 'central' couple.
This is part of the problem.

There is also the rather splintered story line with the fall of the Psynet: you have Kaleb chasing someone (a 'her' but it's all very mysterious and, to be honest, a bit clumsy); you have Kaleb plotting (again, all very mysterious); you have Ming plotting to get Sienna (more of this later); you have your Pure Psy (again, more later); you have your Human Alliance. It's the weaving together of these story arcs and all the couples that just makes the whole book seem very fragmented - nothing seems completely 'together'.

At the end of the last book Ming seemed to be the eminence grise controlling Henry Scott's grab for power ... now he's totally fixated on Sierra, plots to grab her and then ... he's got rid of but he's swearing revenge. Given the build up of suspense in earlier sections of the book about this, it's all very sudden and rather simplistic.

The whole story arc that started earlier on in the series (Bonds of Justice)with Kaleb looking for someone (personally I suspect it's Alice that he's looking for) is, again, all too mysterious and too unlinked with anything else that happens in the book - which makes it seem like a bolt on and a bit clumsy.

The Pure Psy - in the last book controlled by Henry Scott (and therefore possibly Ming), now controlled by a supposedly dead ex-Arrow who (again supposedly) reports to Scott ... who are now trying to destroy the Psynet by killing anchors - a new designation (A) hinted at in Bonds of Justice (and other books) - but never given a designation of their own. Apparently the Net collapses if the anchors disappear... Hmm...

Again, I love Nalini Singh - her books are autobuys for me - but this feels too disjointed, too bitty and there are some interesting continuity blips... In Play of Passion, Adria is mated but this book doesn't refer to her breaking a mating bond, it does talk about the death of a relationship, but not the breaking of a mating bond. This seems odd. Early books in this series imply that the mating bond is permanent and unavoidable ... now we find out that the mating bond is always the woman's choice and it is a choice. So either side can walk away from it. Again... hmmm... (nope, not giving any spoilers)

So ...
Is the central pairing a good one? Yes
Did I enjoy reading it? Yes
Is it as good as others in the series? No
Major flaw? bitty - doesn't hang together as a whole

To be honest I was expecting more from this book, especially when I read the summary, but to be honest the 'main' two character's story was overshadowed by just about EVERYTHING else.

On top of that, the whole 'mating bond' concept (i.e causes, reason, ect) seemed badly developed and just a way to justify the character's plot line (Riaz feels bad for liking Adria etc...). It just didn't seem plausible or believable (and yes, I am aware this is under the category 'fiction'.

Hawke and Sienna had more screen time (pardon the expression) than the main couple, and it would have been okay if the book had been advertised as their second book or something along those lines.....but it was not...

All in all, I was disappointed; this book is definitely not on the same level as the first books.

Still....I'll be reading the next one!