Well, in what should surprise no one if you’ve followed along with my wrap ups, my summer of Nalini Singh binging did not lead to me completing the board, but honestly it’s impressive how many I managed to slot in. Interestingly there was only one new to me non-Nalini Singh even though I definitely had books that fulfilled most of the challenges! Regardless, I did complete one Bingo and I got to re-read Trade Me by Courtney Milan and remember how much I adore Tina Chen.
Next year I think I’ll make more of a concentrated effort on actually completing the Bingo board instead of letting myself get extremely distracted by my love of one particular author. That said, #noregrets because the Psy-Changeling series is utter perfection. I do wish I had gotten around to reading the Cat Sebastian book I’d picked out, but I have time.
I’m just going to do a quick run-through of the books I read for the categories I completed, in case you can’t read the very tiny pictures.
Heroine is Older than Hero: Play of Passion by Nalini Singh, a friends to lovers romance where Drew has to convince Indigo to take him seriously as a partner. It’s one of my favorites in the series.
Fashionista: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang has been everywhere so you may already know that this book features Michael, an escort and also a tailor and fashion expert, and Stella, our heroine who is a genius stats person (something about economics too, idk), is on the spectrum, and has decided to try and figure out how to be in a relationship because her parents won’t leave her alone. This turns into fake dating, which y’all know is my jam.
Extreme Location: Nalini Singh’s latest release, Ocean Light, takes place under the ocean and we get to spend more time with Black Sea members. The book features Bowen, leader of the Human Alliance, and Kaia, a Black Sea changeling. Kaia thinks Bowen has betrayed Black Sea, but she can’t resist the pull she feels to him. Also, Bowen could still wind up essentially comatose in a few days so that’s a risk, but CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE, ya know?
Forced Proximity: Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh was a great installment to the Psy-Changeling series, featuring Vassic, a true teleporter and member of the Arrow Squad, and Ivy Jane, who, it turns out is one of the mysterious, but vitally important E-designation. Vassic essentially becomes Ivy Jane’s body guard and they fall in love. Obviously.
Set at a Summer Camp: A re-read of one of my favorites is always a good time. Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy pulled me in just as well as it did the first time around. I still adore this book for all that it’s a m/m romance written by two (pretty sure) straight ladies. This book is chock full of angsty feelings (Wes) and teddy bear perfection (Jamie).
Happily Ever After: Rock Hard by Nalini Singh is one of my absolute favorites and I just couldn’t resist a re-read on my drive home in audio form over the summer so… I popped it in here for yet another excuse to talk about it. Charlie and T-Rex are perfect. Read it.
Hero Smells Like Man: Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh is probably my favorite of the Psy-Changeling series and resisting the urge to just keep reading it over and over is proving to be a challenge. I just love this book so much. In it, Hawke, the Alpha of the Snow Dancers, has to deal with his attraction to Sienna who is quite a bit younger than him, for all that she’s been through more in her 19 years than most people. This book is perfection, honestly. But you have to read these chronologically to get the full effect of Hawke and Sienna FINALLY getting together.
Birds are Somehow Involved: Branded by Fireby Nalini Singh, which is one of my other favorites in the series. Mercy and Riley are Dark River and Snow Dancer sentinel/lieutenants respectively and the alliance is still shaky. But when Mercy gives in to the need pulsing through her and Riley is there to scratch that particular itch, things sort of take off. Birds are involved in that there are Falcon changelings. It counts, okay?
Enemies to Lovers: Archangel’s Viper by Nalini Singh was only mildly less satisfying of a hate to love type of story as Kiss of Snow. Holly and Venom have been at each other’s throats for a while when this book begins, and suddenly there’s a bounty out for Holly’s head. So Venom kind of becomes a bodyguard for her and it’s honestly just delightful.
Time Travel: Re-reading the All Souls Trilogy was a delight and if you haven’t picked it up and you enjoy witches, vampires, and history, and won’t be put off by an alpha hero who can be a little irritating, I highly recommend. There is time travel in book two and I really enjoyed seeing Diana come into her own.
Heroine’s Eyes are Described Using the Ocean: I adore books where the couple became close while not knowing the actual identity of the other person they were talking to and their real life selves do not like each other. Other than our heroine knowing who our hero is the entire time, that is the trope of Love in the Afternoon and it is done so well. I really enjoy this one and think it’s really funny.
Hero Named Harry: Poppy is such a sweetheart and probably she deserved more than being trapped in a marriage with Harry, but like… I love them. Tempt Me at Twilight begins with Poppy chasing after her sister’s ferret who has stolen a love letter from Poppy, which leads her into this secret tunnel. She encounters Harry, the owner of the hotel, but doesn’t realize who he is at first. Harry, meanwhile, is utterly captivated by Poppy and decides he has to have her. He’s quite underhanded in how he goes about the whole thing, so ultimately earning his HEA with Poppy is the bulk of the story. I just really appreciated the way this book is written even though in real life, I would forever be #TeamPoppy and be desperately trying to keep her away from Harry.
Tech in the Big City: I could write an ode to Tina Chen, the heroine of Trade Me. With my complete adoration of Hold Me, I seem to have forgotten how much I love Tina, but after this re-read, I remember. She is such a fantastic heroine and I just love her so much. Oh and Blake Reynolds is a wonderful man. I know I complain sometimes about how too many heroes are broken for no reason and it seems like the heroine just has to fix him, but Blake is a full character. His problems feel real and it makes sense and he’s not asking Tina to fix him. He’s trying to fix himself. I love this book so much.
Damsel in Distress: Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh is the second in the Psy-Changeling series. Rescuing Faith NightStar before her Psy-Net shields crack or the Council’s attempts to recruit her gets her killed was not really in Vaughan’s plans. But something about the feisty redhead draws him to her and Faith, despite feeling overwhelmed by Vaughan, can’t seem to resist him either. This book is really fun, though not my favorite of the series. But the series is just too fantastic so you know, I could read it a thousand times.
Did any of you participate? If so, how did you do?
xx
firewhiskeyreader 