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I am Lover of romance, who indulges in the romantic adventures of literature

My name is Renee, and I am the host of this site. I am a 34 year old woman, on the prowl for her mate, searching out the best of books, exploring the wilds of the imagination and delving into the heart of a beautiful love story.

 

Novella Book Review-Declaration of Courtship by Nalini Singh

by | Jan 23, 2016 | Book Reviews | 14 comments

Novella Book Review-Declaration of Courtship by Nalini Singh

Novella Book Review-Declaration of Courtship by Nalini SinghDeclaration of Courtship by Nalini Singh
Also in this series: Slave to Sensation, Caressed By Ice, Mine to Possess, Hostage to Pleasure, Branded by Fire, Shield of Winter
Series: Psy Changeling #9.5
Published by Berkley on November 5th 2013
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Shape Shifting
Pages: 119
Format: eBook
Source: Self Purchased
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four-half-stars

A PSY/CHANGELING NOVELLA
New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh returns to her explosive Psy/Changeling world as predatory desire becomes a sensual game of control...

A dominant changeling wolf, SnowDancer lieutenant Cooper is not known for his patience. But when it comes to courting the shy, sexy woman he wants in his life and in his bed, he’ll have to use every ounce of control in his body to keep both man and wolf in check…at least until he convinces Grace he only bites a little.
One of the most submissive wolves in the SnowDancer pack, Grace knows nothing can come of her sensual fascination with big, bad, beautiful Cooper. He might possess her over and over in erotic dreams that leave her aching for the rough heat of his touch, but she knows that in reality, he is far too dangerous for her to handle. Then Cooper decides to change all the rules…
Declaration of Courtship previously appeared in Wild Invitation

My Review

Declaration of Courtship is one of the best novella’s I have read in a long while. Of course, there is no doubt when reading Nalini Singh right? Well Singh has written another beautiful love story. In Declaration of Courtship we have our hero Cooper, a snowdancer lieutenant, a alpha male and dominant in the pack. He knows who his mate is, Grace a submissive and new to the pack. He only sees a beautiful woman who is smart and funny and kind. He knows that their status in the pack, will make for an interesting courtship, but he is determined to have her. Grace is a submissive, but has a quiet inner strength. She knows that she could never handle Cooper. He is a dominant but the gap between them is bigger than she and her wolf could handle. Even some of the dominant females in the pack would be reluctant to have him as a mate. But she is drawn to him in a way she can’t explain, and despite their differences she sees a man who is haunted by his dreams and his past and she aches to heal those demons and be the woman he needs.

The romance between these two almost brought tears to my eyes. I really enjoy unrequited love stories, but wow, does Nalini Singh create a fabulous story here. I didn’t feel like the romance felt flat at all, despite it being a novella. In fact, there was a depth to this story I wasn’t expecting. The whole focus of the story is the love story though. We see how careful Cooper is, despite how much his wolf is tearing at him to claim Grace. But he knows, he has to be very careful in how he handles their courtship or he could scare her away for good. What I really liked was seeing the differences between the dominants and the submissives in the pack of changelings. We see how much they are both needed. Dominants provide safety and protection and direction for the pack. Submissives provide healing, affection and laughter. They help balance out the needs of the pack. We see how each of these qualities and displayed between Cooper and Grace. It was quite interesting seeing this love story grow. I fell in love with both of the characters and I honestly couldn’t get enough. There were moments where we see they need space when the factors of one being dominant and the other being submissive comes into play in the relationship and we see how they each need a breather and some space to work things out internally. We see how Grace, is such a strong woman. She knows a relationship between a dominant and submissive can work, since her adoptive parents have the same kind of relationship. However Cooper is more alpha and dominant than most. However we see how he puts his nature on hold. He is patient and kind with Grace and understanding of her reservations. He doesn’t go after her like a bull. He is slow and tender and this was quite refreshing to see from a powerful alpha male. Grace is a heroine I really came to admire. Especially in the end, where we see her true self and how strong she is and I loved the way she handles Cooper, when she realizes that she can be what he needs, and she is the right woman for him. We also see how Grace handles Coopers family and most especially Mercy. She tends to drive away the women he is with. But Grace holds her own, and wins over Mercy instantly. Which is saying something since Mercy is quite a alpha herself.

A truly entertaining, and poignant love story I loved and the only change I would make is to have the story longer. I loved seeing these two together and I realized how much I need to read more of this series and all the novella’s that I am missing out on. If they are as good as this one….I need to pick them up.

Series Order

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.

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14 Comments

  1. Carole's Random Life

    This is a series that I really want to read. I am hoping to get caught up on a few others before I start any new ones but the wait is killing. I am so glad that you enjoyed this one. It sounds like a really wonderful story. I love shifter romances when the pack dynamics make up a big part of the story. Wonderful review!

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh you definitely should read it, especially if you have a interest in pack dynamics. Nalini Singh does such a fantastic job and ranks on the top of my list for shifter romances.

      Reply
  2. Blodeuedd

    I stopped reading, even though I enjoyed, and do not even know who arrow is

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh really? The series? Its one of my favorites. Arrow is a term for a Psy soldier. One of the characters in the series is an arrow.

      Reply
  3. Jennifer_FairyTales

    Nalini Singh is the best! This wasn’t my favorite of her Psy-Changeling novellas, but I liked it. My favorite is the one with Tamsyn and Nate. I’m glad you enjoyed this!

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      I know!! She is simply fabulous to read. I swear it doesn’t matter what she writes, I fall in love. But this series is one of the best shifter series I have ever read. I love seeing the pack dynamics. I haven’t yet read Tamsyn and Nate’s yet, but I am planning on grabbing up the anthology on monday when I visit the library. I really liked this one though, I don’t know why so much, I think mostly because she hasn’t written a pair like this and I had been hoping that she would.

      Reply
  4. Lekeisha

    I’ve read Slave to Sensation, but have yet to catch up on the series. I won the 10th book, I think It’s 10, last year in a giveaway. I just need to hit my library up for the others.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Yeah Slave To sensation is pretty great!! I definitely recommend catching up with the series, each book is simply wonderful.

      Reply
  5. Alyssa Susanna

    OMG that is so many books in this series! Would you believe me if I told you I have never read anything by this author? It defies statistics, really, because she has so many and I love romance novels! But anyway. I’m liking what you said about the romance! Bringing tears to your eyes, that is some powerful stuff!

    Lovely review! 🙂

    Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh no really? NEVER??!!! She is one of my favorite authors to read.

      Reply
  6. Lexxie

    I had no idea about this novella, Renee, but I know I need it in my life! I love the universe Singh has created in this series, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy the novella too, since I already know how things work for the psy-changelings 🙂
    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Samantha

    I love Singh’s stuff. This is one of my favorite novellas by her as well. Grace and Cooper are very cute together and I loved how patient Cooper was.

    I think Singh is releasing another anthology of her novellas soon. I’m excited to get two more novellas from her.

    Reply
  8. Vik BookLover

    I am ashamed to admit that I have never read anything by NS yet. I have tried doing an audio of can’t remember which one now… but I believe there were vampires in New Orleans (? maybe lol). However, I know so many people who absolutely love her writing. What do you think would be the best series to start off with? Have you tried audio of any of her books?

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      oh really…she is AMAZING!! Probably my favorite author when it comes to PNR. I believe the audio you listened to was part of her UF series. Her psy changeling series is fantastic though, and I would recommend starting with these books. I don ‘t think I have done audio’s of any of her books, I have always borrowed them through the library or bought them.

      Reply

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