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A review by loverofromance
Last Guard by Nalini Singh
4.0
Last Guard is the fifth installment in the Psy Changeling Trinity series, and it continually baffles me how long of a series this is becoming especially if you combine all the books in this marvelous series together. I was actually wanting to enjoy this so much but unfortunately, it didn't quite make it to the rating that I was expecting. This story just didn't engage me immediately like I was expecting it to, and it took a while to really become invested in the story. I think I have tried to read this over the past couple of months, but finally pulled myself together to get it read. And I am so relieved that I was able to do that. Because while it starts slow, once you become invested in this pairing, you won't be able to put it down. This is the talent of this author, that I just wanted to see how these two would find their HEA and overcome the conflict that is facing their people.
Last Guard features our two main leads:
Canto Mercant-Head of the family, Spinal Injury, Cardinal Empath and Anchor
Payal Rao- Anchor, Designation A, Cardinal Telekinetic, CEO, Indian Descent
Last Guard features two characters that once knew each other as children, where they were tortured among the unwanted at the time, until they were rescued and they never saw each other until now when they are to work together in the search of solving the problems involving the psy net, and now the net is dying, and only if the anchors work together will they be able to save it. But Canto recognizes Payal for the girl he always loved and never stopped, but he also needs her to help save the net. Payal, the girl he once knew, is hidden behind her cool exterior, but he is going to take a lesson from the courting handbook of the bears, and court his girl no matter how long it takes. He is dedicated to digging deep and finding that sweet strong girl who loved fiercely. Payal is not the girl that Canto used to know. Her father and brother are brutal psychopaths, who only use her for their own means, and as a means of survival, she protects herself behind a shield of ice. She doesn't truly know Canto, but there is a hidden part of her that trusts him completely. And with each day, she feels her shields against him, softening and slowly trusting him and desiring full on "skin privileges" and more with Canto. But they have enemies, and the whole psy's survival depending on them. Will Canto and Payal find their way fully together and saving their people?
Last Guard was such a brilliant story and I was so much in love with this one here. But it took a while to get to the "love" part of the story. I do struggle with books where you want to love it, but can't quite get on board all the way through. However, despite the struggles I had initially, I just knew that I would eventually fall for this book, and man Singh really worked her magic in this book. I just couldn't get enough of Payal and Canto. They were utterly brilliant together, and one aspect I have truly adored about this author, but most especially in this series, is seeing characters fight for each other in such a equal way. I truly appreciate the way that she shows the hero AND the heroine fighting for each other in the relationship. In most romance, you will see more fight from the hero than the heroine, but in this one, even though the fight begins with the hero at the beginning of the story, this heroine fought for the hero in the latter half defended him, and protected him. And this is my true catnip in a romance and will win my heart every time. This book also contains many of the tropes I adore: friends to lovers, childhood sweethearts, second chance romance, forced proximity. The secondary characters in this one (most specifically the BEARS) were hilarious, and I just wanted more of them. They are the true delight from this "trinity" series that Singh has implemented. Loved seeing members of the Mercant family and even some delights from our beloved favorite psy "Kaleb Krychek". I am very curious about what Nalini Singh has planned for the series next because I need more but she is an author worth waiting on.
Overall I found Last Guard to be a story that combines the beauty of two lost souls finding each other once again, to the intensity of the battle in the fighting for your people, a sweet yet sturdy courtship that wins your heart with each step in the dance, a romance that will strike a transcendent chord in your soul and leave you with a smile on your face.
Last Guard features our two main leads:
Canto Mercant-Head of the family, Spinal Injury, Cardinal Empath and Anchor
Payal Rao- Anchor, Designation A, Cardinal Telekinetic, CEO, Indian Descent
Last Guard features two characters that once knew each other as children, where they were tortured among the unwanted at the time, until they were rescued and they never saw each other until now when they are to work together in the search of solving the problems involving the psy net, and now the net is dying, and only if the anchors work together will they be able to save it. But Canto recognizes Payal for the girl he always loved and never stopped, but he also needs her to help save the net. Payal, the girl he once knew, is hidden behind her cool exterior, but he is going to take a lesson from the courting handbook of the bears, and court his girl no matter how long it takes. He is dedicated to digging deep and finding that sweet strong girl who loved fiercely. Payal is not the girl that Canto used to know. Her father and brother are brutal psychopaths, who only use her for their own means, and as a means of survival, she protects herself behind a shield of ice. She doesn't truly know Canto, but there is a hidden part of her that trusts him completely. And with each day, she feels her shields against him, softening and slowly trusting him and desiring full on "skin privileges" and more with Canto. But they have enemies, and the whole psy's survival depending on them. Will Canto and Payal find their way fully together and saving their people?
Last Guard was such a brilliant story and I was so much in love with this one here. But it took a while to get to the "love" part of the story. I do struggle with books where you want to love it, but can't quite get on board all the way through. However, despite the struggles I had initially, I just knew that I would eventually fall for this book, and man Singh really worked her magic in this book. I just couldn't get enough of Payal and Canto. They were utterly brilliant together, and one aspect I have truly adored about this author, but most especially in this series, is seeing characters fight for each other in such a equal way. I truly appreciate the way that she shows the hero AND the heroine fighting for each other in the relationship. In most romance, you will see more fight from the hero than the heroine, but in this one, even though the fight begins with the hero at the beginning of the story, this heroine fought for the hero in the latter half defended him, and protected him. And this is my true catnip in a romance and will win my heart every time. This book also contains many of the tropes I adore: friends to lovers, childhood sweethearts, second chance romance, forced proximity. The secondary characters in this one (most specifically the BEARS) were hilarious, and I just wanted more of them. They are the true delight from this "trinity" series that Singh has implemented. Loved seeing members of the Mercant family and even some delights from our beloved favorite psy "Kaleb Krychek". I am very curious about what Nalini Singh has planned for the series next because I need more but she is an author worth waiting on.
Overall I found Last Guard to be a story that combines the beauty of two lost souls finding each other once again, to the intensity of the battle in the fighting for your people, a sweet yet sturdy courtship that wins your heart with each step in the dance, a romance that will strike a transcendent chord in your soul and leave you with a smile on your face.