Silver Silence by Nalini Singh Narrator: Angela Dawe
Length: 16 hours 1 min
Series: Psy-Changeling Trinity #1
Published by Berkley on June 13, 2017
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 496
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I received this book for free from Publisher, Tantor Audio in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh introduces a bold new chapter in her extraordinary paranormal romance saga with the Psy-Changeling Trinity series. Wild passion will encounter the darkest of betrayal...
Control. Precision. Family. These are the principles that drive Silver Mercant. At a time when the fledgling Trinity Accord seeks to unite a divided world, with Silver playing a crucial role as director of a worldwide emergency response network, wildness and chaos are the last things she needs in her life. But that’s exactly what Valentin Nikolaev, alpha of the StoneWater Bears, brings with him.
Valentin has never met a more fascinating woman. Though Silver is ruled by Silence—her mind clear of all emotion—Valentin senses a whisper of fire around her. That’s what keeps him climbing apartment buildings to be near her. But when a shadow assassin almost succeeds in poisoning Silver, the stakes become deadly serious…and Silver finds herself in the heart of a powerful bear clan.
Her would-be assassin has no idea what their poison has unleashed...
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I have to admit. I loved the bears more than the cats AND the wolves in the Psy-Changeling series. They like to have a good time and their clan is really laid back. Valentin is the bear’s Alpha and I think he makes a great one. I found Valentin very open and lovable. There is a group of bears that disagree with him being Alpha and have moved out of Denhome. Their leaving has Valentin so distraught. He continues to check on them and play with the cubs, but deep down, these bears have really hurt him. He also has some mommy issues. But his biggest problem right now is how to have Silver Merchant as his mate. I think the things he does to win her over are so romantic. He calls himself her teddy bear and that is pretty much how I feel about him. So lovable!
Valentin just happens to be in the right place at the right time for a decision to be made about where Silver must stay. Now he can really woo her. He thinks he needs to be “sneaky like a cat” to win her over. Silver is determined to stay Silent, but being around the bears has her bringing down her shields. She is so open and welcoming to Valentin and the other members of his clan. She fits right in. But with her emotions comes side effects that could take her life. Big decisions need to be made along with some serious sacrifices.
The road that Valentin and Silver take is slow, but I felt it was very romantic too. Silver becomes someone completely different than the ice queen she was before entering Denhome. There is so much more to her character.
Silver Silence focused a great deal on the romance, but we also have serious emergencies and attacks on humans that EmNet is trying to deal with. There seem to be two groups that are both trying to sabotage the Trinity Accord. We get some insight into their plans and their reasoning. Their plan to take out Silver failed, so now they are looking to other areas to create as much conflict as they can. At the same time, Silver is trying to build EmNet with a good, even sprinkling of the three races so it cannot be said that one group is going to be dominant over another.
This was definitely an emotional read. I felt like I really connected with the bears, and I wanted to see big, lovable Valentin with his mate. Their lives are in turmoil from many different sides. I laughed (almost every time someone sighed “bears”), and I did cry. I love these two together so much. I didn’t think I could love a couple more than Vasic and Ivy Jane, but Valentin and Silver grabbed me and didn’t let go.
I thought Angela Dawe did an amazing job. She had to do most of the book in a Russian accent which would have been so difficult. Angela must have had to do a lot of prep work for this book. I did have trouble making out the Russian words. They always seemed to be spoken at a lower, quieter level that was hard to make out.
Silver Silence will make you laugh, cry and just get plain mad, and that roller coaster kept me glued to every page of this book. I hope we get to see more of these two. I’m not sure who the next book will be. I do know there is a bear that has a certain fascination with Silver’s brother. Maybe our next romance with be there. Whoever gets the new book has a lot to live up to against Silver and Valentin!
Excerpt
Silver took a seat on the grass. When the female bear looked her way, she inclined her head in a silent greeting. The bear did the same, then they both watched an alpha bear play with two energetic cubs, his hands holding rough care for their small bodies.
By the time Valentin made his way back to her, he was drenched and his eyes weren’t human in any way. When he spoke, his already deep voice was so low it felt like thunder against her skin. “Couldn’t resist,” he said, pushing back his wet hair with one big hand. “If you weren’t in recovery and if I wasn’t in terror of Nova’s wrath, I’d have invited you. The small monsters wanted to play with you.”
Silver didn’t get to her feet. “Can we stay here a little longer?” It was patent that Valentin had an extremely high tolerance for the cold, but he might want to dry off.
“Sure,” he said, and, moving away several feet, shook off the wet.
Fine droplets settled on the skin of her cheek, but she didn’t flinch at the unintentional tactile contact. She also controlled her urge to reach up and touch the water where it lay against her skin. There was no reason to do that, and Silver was alive because she only did things that were rational.
Settling beside her, Valentin waved at the cubs as their guardian led their tired forms toward a path in the trees that was at the same level as the stream. “Gentler climb,” Valentin told her.
“They seem too exhausted to make it to Denhome.”
“It’s all an act—they’re hoping for a ride on their aunt’s back.” His tone held the same fond affection she’d heard when he spoke of Dima. “It’d take more than a few minutes’ play in the water to wipe out those two.”
The cubs had played with Valentin for almost a half hour. “They’re hyperactive?”
“They’re baby bears.”
Silver watched as those baby bears turned toward her and rose up on their back paws, as if in challenge. A stern sound from their caretaker, and they dropped down and scrambled to catch up with her. Their bodies disappeared into the trees as dusk began to turn from orange to shadowy gray.
Beside her, Valentin sprawled out, bracing himself on his elbows. His drenched T-shirt clung to the ridged muscles of his abdomen, pulled tight across his pectoral muscles, shaped itself over his shoulders. His jeans weren’t much better, outlining the raw muscle of his thighs.
Valentin Nikolaev was a man of violent physical strength even in human form. Yet he clearly had iron control over it; when he’d played with the children, they’d displayed zero fear of their alpha.
“You thought about where you’re going to live when you escape the bears who’ve kidnapped you?”
When she raised an eyebrow at him, he grinned. “Fringe netter with his own Internet channel sent out a breaking report last night. Pasha—who obviously needs more work duties—made up a fake account and posted a comment swearing to have seen you being pulled into a black van by six burly bears in bear form.”
“You don’t seem too concerned.” Amber eyes and deep voice, he remained very much a bear in human form.
“Well, according to this ‘eyewitness,’ the getaway driver was in bear form, too. Must’ve been tough for him to steer with one paw since he was drinking a beer at the same time.”
“Bears,” Silver said, making Valentin throw his head back and laugh that huge laugh that wrapped around her.
Posted by arrangement with Berkley, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © Nalini Singh, 2017.
The Author
About Nalini Singh
I’ve been writing as long as I can remember and all of my stories always held a thread of romance (even when I was writing about a prince who could shoot lasers out of his eyes). I love creating unique characters, love giving them happy endings and I even love the voices in my head. There’s no other job I would rather be doing. In September 2002, when I got the call that Silhouette Desire wanted to buy my first book, Desert Warrior, it was a dream come true. I hope to continue living the dream until I keel over of old age on my keyboard.
I was born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand. I also spent three years living and working in Japan, during which time I took the chance to travel around Asia. I’m back in New Zealand now, but I’m always plotting new trips. If you’d like to see some of my travel snapshots, have a look at the Travel Diary page (updated every month).
So far, I’ve worked as a lawyer, a librarian, a candy factory general hand, a bank temp and an English teacher and not necessarily in that order. Some might call that inconsistency but I call it grist for the writer’s mill.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
