I tried but I got lost in this one and DNF. I've only read one of the series, which I liked a great deal, but I found this latest confusing, probably because it's not my genre. My bad for requesting it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm sure Singh's fans will be pleased.

This book is such a paradox of elements that usually make me cringe — shifters, instalove, fated mates, people saying exactly what they think even though no one does that in real life! — and things that I FREAKING LOVE, like love-that-cannot-be, self-sacrificing leads who think they're monsters but are soft for love, dramatic reunions, and just so much melodrama. Early on, I decided to turn off my brain and just enjoy the ride and the sweet, sweet angst, and I had a fabulous time. I couldn't take a steady diet of this, but I will be returning to Singh's other books for an occasional dose when needed.

My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Storm Echo", the newest book in the Psy/Changeling series is excellent! Nalini Singh does something a little different here, giving Lei and Ivan two 'first' meetings, and letting us all piece together the puzzle of their missing time. I loved how obvious it was from the beginning that they were meant to be together, even for Ivan who supposedly as a Psy didn't have a mate sense. Despite his fears he found himself wanting to learn to play and laugh with Lei before he even realized what was happening and Singh did a beautiful job of developing their relationship- even when Ivan was sure they couldn't have one. Ivan is deeply traumatized by his childhood, his power, and his mother, and anyone who doubts that healers can be the toughest of the tough will doubt no more after watching how Lei helps Ivan learn to start coping healthily with that trauma.

The secondary story, that of the Architect or Scarab Queen, gets a stronger role here than in some of the other books as she makes her first big move in the Net, and Ivan may be the one who can deal with her thanks to his unusual power. No further spoilers here, but Singh does an excellent job of furthering the menace presented by the Architect and showing readers just what might be at stake among the PsyNet- and how long it might have been planned! There's a major shocker at the end that I didn't see coming and I definitely recommend reading the end carefully to look for as many clues as possible- but now we need to wait for the next book to see if our guesses are right.

"Storm Echo" could stand alone for new readers, but is definitely better read as part of the series as a whole, both because the series and the world Singh has created are amazing, and because the layers of world building and problems characters are facing here will make more sense in the larger context.

Fans will love Ivan and Lei and "Storm Echo"!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Another winner for Ms. Singh. Against the backdrop of Ivan and Soleil's love story we finally get some answers regarding the scarab queen and the future of the Psynet and the Psy people.  The Psy have always been arrogant and superior, the changelings have quietly crept up on them and shown their claws and teeth but it's the puny humans that might surprise everyone yet.  Can't wait to see what new adventures the author has in store for us next. I just wish we didn't have to wait a full year for the next chapter. 
The Mercant family has always been a powerful family that stays in the background with the Mercant matriarch pulling strings. Silver, Canto and now Ivan have definitely been wonderful surprises with stories that have advanced the overarching story arc. I wonder if there are any other Mercant surprises still in store for readers. Ivan is the typical tortured hero believing that he is an abnormal Psy, I loved Lucas Hunter's tongue in cheek response to this when Ivan uses words similar to what Sasha originally used to describe herself when she met Lucas. 
One of the highlights of this story is going back to Dark River and the cameos about the much-loved characters from the early series. Two of my favorites were Mercy with her pup-cub and his personality, adorable! and Nadiya Hunter's love for chocolate cake that after her feast left her with a rounded stomach and a new favorite babysitter. 
Soliel is a healer, so it makes her desire to kill Lucas Hunter such an anomaly, that has obsessed her for so long. However, when the chips are down, she sticks up for her love and will hold him to her and heal him with her love and belief in his goodness. These two together and their bonds both psy and changeling have the power to change the world, perhaps they will. 
The heart of this series is family, and we see evidence of it everywhere.  This heart is what makes readers pick up Ms. Singh's stories and become fans for life.

This is a strong contribution to the series! It advances the larger plot of the psy-changeling series (can we discuss how the name of this series really hammers in the feelings of normal humans in the books that they are an afterthought?) more than we’ve seen in a couple books. I did think it was a little frustrating to have to wait for the characters to play catch up. We, who have been reading this series for like twenty books at this point, know whatever Soleil thinks Lucas has done he did not do - but a solid 60% of this book was her catching up to that knowledge. The romance felt like an afterthought

Ivan Merchant has always known he was different. Not in just his abilities, but different on a level that can't be explained.

As a security specialist for the Merchant empire, Ivan often travels to changeling packs to continue his education. While training with a pack in Texas (??), Ivan finds himself injured in the forest. That's when he meets Lei, a changeling healer that fascinates him. While Ivan has never been fully Silent, he abides by the backbone that is Silence. To do so would unleash something in Ivan that even he can't control. Everything he believed in up to that point is changed when Lei walks into his life. Night after night, Lei & Ivan meet, bonding in a way that Ivan would never have expected.

After weeks of meeting & Ivan telling Lei all his secrets, they agree to meet the following day where Lei will tell him all her secrets. Except she doesn't show up. Ivan is crushed, though he will never admit it. At that point he accepts who he is; someone that could never hold onto someone like Lei.

When a local changeling back is brutally attacked by the Psy, a twist of fate puts Ivan at the scene. Every changeling is dead except for one. Ivan's Lei. Brutally injured, Lei is taken to the local hospital where she disappears. Ivan spends fifteen months looking for Lei, not willing to give up. Then he sees someone that looks and doesn't look like Lei.

Soleil is in San Francisco for one reason. To kill the alpha of DarkRiver. It was Lucas Hunter that executed her pack, including her grandmother and the cubs. When Soleil realizes everything she thought she knew wasn't true, she is crushed. Even though she soon realized that she could never hope to kill Lucas Hunter, she had a mission. Now she has nothing and no one. Until she catches an elusive scent that can only mean one thing. Not only that, she's found a Psy that her cat knows belongs to her.

Watching Ivan fall for Lei strictly in his POV was magical. It was a slow burn and so emotional to read. When he believes that the one chance at happiness slipped away, he's crushed. It was so moving and heartbreaking to read. When he finds her again, he's convinced that his chance of happiness has passed. The feelings that the two have for each other are not to be denied. All Soleil has to do is convince Ivan to take a chance on her. Of course nothing is ever easy in this series & Soleil has her work cut out for her. Reading about the sacrifices these two made for each other was extraordinary. Nalini has grown so much as a writer. She has a talent that few authors match. It's not just the individuals, it's about Pack. It's about family. It's about togetherness. It's quite literally spellbinding.

Rating: 4.75 out of 5.

Ah, Psy and Changeling - my favorite pairing.

This is the story of Ivan Mercant, powerful mind warrior, and sweet changeling Soleil Garcia, who pops out of the forest to treat Ivan's wounded leg. Is Ivan closed off, repressed but strangely attracted to the wild creature? Yes! Is Lei emotionally vulnerable, empathic but strangely attracted to the emotionless ice man? Yes! And I am here for it.

Swoon. Another page-turner from Nalini Singh, with both action and heart.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

This is the sixth book in the Psy-Changeling Trinity series. While it is a romance, it also moves the larger story arc begun in the first Psy-Changeling book along.

The romance features Psy Ivan Mercant and Changeling Soleil Bijoux Garcia. Both are deeply troubled people. Ivan was exposed to drugs while he was in his drug-addicted mother's womb which changed his brain structure. He had a difficult childhood until his mother died and he was found by the powerful Mercant family. The Mercants are spies but they also have a strong, close family structure despite the rules of Silence which should have governed them. Lei also had a difficult childhood. She's a healer who was raised by her loving parents, both loners, who lived outside their clan. They died in a car accident when Lei was about eight. At that time, she was taken to her grandfather's clan but was never accepted by him or by his son when he became the alpha.

Ivan and Lei meet in Texas when Ivan is at a wolf training course and Lei is contemplating leaving the clan that doesn't accept her. They are fascinated with each other, but before their relationship can go anywhere, there is a rupture in the Psynet which causes the Psy who live adjacent to Lei's pack to go on a murderous rampage killing most of Lei's pack. Lei herself is almost dead when Ivan finds her. He loses track of her when she is sent from one hospital to another in the aftermath of the rupture.

Lei has lost her memory of ever meeting Ivan. She is living only for revenge when Ivan encounters her again in San Francisco. Lei is determined to kill Lucas Hunter who is the alpha of DarkRiver. She believes that he killed the few survivors of her former pack. She doesn't remember Ivan but her cat does and chooses him as her mate. Only Ivan believes that his will shortly go crazy because of his pre-birth brain damage and, while he wants Lei, he doesn't want to take her with him when he goes insane.

I enjoyed Ivan and Lei's hard-won romance. I also liked having some of the questions that have been left unanswered in earlier books finally answered. Of course, there are still many unanswered questions remaining about this unknown enemy's determination to bring down the PsyNet and kill countless Psy.

Fans of the series will enjoy this episode. Ivan and Lei are both characters who are badly in need of a happy ending.

Thanks for the ARC NetGalley.

Very good addition to a wonderful series. I love coming back to this world and meeting new characters, while getting glimpses at old favorites too.

The love story seemed alittle rushed to me but I enjoyed both Lei and Ivan. I liked the family/pack relationships for both of them more than their own love story; I didn't hate it by any means but it was below the familial dynamics for me.

The Mercant family has really grown on me with each new member we meet. DarkRiver continues to be my favorite family.

Mercy is literally my favorite and I love seeing her and her babies so much. Wished we could have had a Riley/Mercy scene but Mercy/her child was great.

Excited to see where the series goes from here with the overarching plot. There are some revelations and reveals pertaining to the larger picture here.

4/5

In the aftermath of a fallen silence, the Psy continue to struggle with their new reality. On a wilderness retreat, Ivan Mercant’s unexpected run in with the lovely Changling Lei forever changed his path in life; for once a Mercant’s trust, honor, and loyalty is given, it is never broken, revoked, or withdrawn.

Verdict: As the 6th volume in the Psy-Changling Trinity, or the 21st installment in the Psy-Changling world, this forwards the overall arc on a macro level much more so than on a micro level. The plot felt like it was less about the romance between Ivan Mercant and Soleil aka. “Lei” and more about who or what could combat the scarab queen who does nothing but plots and schemes her way toward world domination at the expense of others. There were many returning characters from previous installments, which was an enjoyment to revisit. Event better, their appearances didn’t prevent new readers from being able to follow along with the storyline. Overall, I give Storm Echo a solid 4/5 stars.

*Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

One of my favorite reads of 2022. I ab obsessed with this series. Zero complaints. Storm Echo is hands down, amazing! Our heroine comes to the city for revenge and leaves with love. Ah. It was everything I wanted and more.

Nalini Singh continues to impress; Storm Echo was another fantastic installment in her Psy-Changeling Trinity series.

Ivan and Soleil suffered childhood traumas that until now have defined their entire lives, but Soleil is unwilling to allow their past to keep them apart. I love Nalini Singh heroes, especially her dark, quiet ones and Ivan was perfect. He was just as determined as Soleil and his single objective was to protect her, even at the expense of his own life and happiness. Soleil was such a strong heroine who fought not just for her life, but for her Ivan. I loved their journey together and, that ending, my goodness.

As always, I loved catching glimpses of past favorite characters and I simply cannot wait to see what happens next in this wonderful world Nalini Singh has created.

"New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh takes us into the hearts of two fractured people in a world on the brink of a psychic Armageddon...

Silence has fallen. The Psy are free to feel emotion. Free to love. But Silence was never a prison for Ivan Mercant. The biggest threat to his future lies dormant in his brain - a psychic monster that wants only to feed. And now, the brutal leash he's kept on that monster is slipping. He prepared for this day, for the end of Ivan Mercant...but that was before he met Lei.

As primal as she is human, this wild changeling brings color into his life, laughter to his soul. Then the dream shatters in a rain of blood, in silent bodies in the snow. Lei is gone. Vanished without a trace...until he meets strangely familiar eyes across a busy San Francisco street.

Soleil Bijoux Garcia is a healer who has lost everything. She exists in a world of desolate aloneness...till the day she finds herself face-to-face with a lethal stranger. The animal who is her other half knows this man, but her memories are tattered fragments. Sorrow and a need for vengeance are all that drive her. Her mission? To kill the alpha of the DarkRiver leopard pack.

But fate has other plans. Soon, a deadly soldier who believes himself a monster and a broken healer might be all that stand between life and death for the entire Psy race...."

A different side of San Francisco!

Sooo when do we get the next one?? I think Nalini has really hit her stride with this next part of the series. I've loved each release more than the one prior, and this is no exception.

While I don't remember Ivan from previous books, I fell in love with him almost immediately (I'm a sucker for a broken hero chasing after the woman he loves, what can I say??). And Lei was just truly the sunshine we all needed. I loved revisiting some of the characters that were not as fleshed out in previous books. And of course, I loved our cameos from Tamsyn and Nate!!

I genuinely do not have a bad thing to say about this book, it's just a fun time -- and the end?? I'm shook and sad I have to wait for the next one to come out.

Nalini with every book peals a layer off and draws us deeper into the Psych-Changeling world. This installment satisfy and leaves you wanting more.

Another amazing book in this series!

I was delighted to learn how Ivan and Lei story fit into this world. Loved how I knew more than the characters. And I fall hard for Ivan.

The story begins in the present as we meet Ivan Mercant. He is detached, powerful and considers himself a monster. Yeah, he's channeling Kaleb Krycheck which had me believing I would adore him. Of course I loved him.

We quickly jump back 15 months when Ivan first met Lei. It's an interesting relationship that had me guessing a lot but I was way off as to who Lei is. I'd read the blurb and knew enough to wonder about her. I was so excited when I realized how she fits into this world. A master story teller, this author did an amazing job of crafting this character from the weave of a previous book. I also loved that when we first meet her, she is bubbly and vivacious, full of color and spirit. Then when she reappears the change in her is dramatic. Thin, colorless and vengeful. It had me trying to puzzle out the change and it had me reading late to find out the answers.

Back in the present time, Ivan is another puzzle I wondered a lot about. His backstory was perplexing. Questions and more questions, I really wondered about him. His story stays opaque for a long time but was well worth the wait. Of course he is that amazing. How could he be anything else.

Overall, this book had me in awe of this author and how she brilliantly weaves this world together and brings these characters to life. I adore this world, this series, and am so happy to see familiar faces. It's so fun to know the characters and how they will react. It adds to the joy of reading. I will always read new books in this series and I will always reread this series. It is a comfort to me.

Two damaged souls find one another only to be torn apart. When luck brings them back together again, they will do whatever it takes to stay together. Time is running out for the world and they may be the only two people who can save it. But the cost may be more than what either of them can afford to pay.

Nalini Singh's Storm Echo is the 6th book in the trilogy but the 21st book in the series. The Psy/Changeling match-ups are a favorite of mine. I love watching the heat of the Changling heart melt the cold Psy as they fall in love. This is our first time meeting this particular couple though they are not strangers. Full of surprises, suspense, laughter, and thrills; Singh writes a slow-burning romance while resolving and expanding on various ongoing storylines. Lots of hints towards the identity of the Architect and what the future may hold. Cameos from many favorite characters only add to the readers' enjoyment. I look forward to the next book in the series. Hopefully, it's filled with more bears.

Is his uniqueness hiding more than he believes himself to be …

This is always the same dilemma with this series, as I try to never give spoilers nor do I never summarize the plot, why it is such a difficult task to express how much I love these books.

Yet as this book bring us back to the original place with some whole new characters and other more recent, it is a perfect cross between the old and the new story.
Still while the background plot thickens and goes more and more complex with every new book, even if the romance stands alone, I can only recommend to read the previous books, at minima Silver Silence and Last Guard for the family’s drive between the mercant and Slave to Sensation for the introduction to the DarkRiver clan.

Ivan Mercant was previously brought up as dangerously lethal and in some way much more that it is to be expected as inklings of the power he is hiding were hinted.
Like for all those sharing his family’s name, they are a close unit upfront like many powerful dynasties but also from the inside too, much more rare.
We witnessed it in Silver and Canto’s stories.
With the fall of silence, Ivan could have let go of his tight control but while he was never silent, the system was useful to hide what he was truly, damaged beyond repair.
Soleil wears her name like an emblem, a real extension of who she is from the inside. As even when she set herself on an impossible task for the healer to the core she is, she is still able to discern when she might be wrong. But one thing is sure, she was never misled about Ivan, he is written in her DNA as she is in his.

« All this time, he’d carried her in his skin. Over his heart. »

With this new story, the author reinforces the links between the three components of this world, binding two powerhouses together through two hearts.

« Thank you for loving him as a boy so he had the heart to love me as a man. »

Once again it shows psi over time were more than silence wanted them to be, some retained part of their humanity despite the demand to bury all emotions, protecting, loving those in their midst because they refused to surrender their soul.
5 stars

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 onscreen lovemaking scenes

I have been granted an advance copy by the publisher, here is my true and unbiased opinion.

So many good things in this latest installment. First, I loved Ivan. The Psy has always intrigued me because I do like the strong, silent men who don't really show emotions. That's how all the Psy are. What's even better, is that even though Ivan is all those things, he still feels very strongly. You see it in his actions. He's actually very protective and I really just enjoyed watching him fall in love with Soleil.

Soleil is the complete opposite of Ivan. She's full of life and color and doesn't hide her emotions. As a changling healer, she is very affectionate and loving, while also still being a very strong and determined woman. I love how much she fought for Ivan.

I'm really enjoying the overall plot of this spinoff and I really love seeing past characters. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Melanie: Melinda and I were super excited to get to read an ARC of this book together months before it was released. We’re obviously huge fans of Nalini Singh as well as the series as a whole. However, that being said, this was not our favorite book in this series, not even close. But look, it’s the 6th book in the spin off series, Psy-Changeling Trinity and if you count the original Psy-Changeling series, it’s book #21! There’s bound to be a few clunkers here and there. Without going into too many spoilery details, Melinda and I will break down why this book and specifically the central romance didn’t work for us.

Melinda: Melanie’s right, this wasn’t our favorite of Nalini’s books but all of them can’t be amazing! After so many books in the Psy/Changeling world we’ve seen pretty much every kind of combination of characters and romances. Storm Echo opens with Ivan Mercant, who we know in passing because of his family ties, stumbling across Lei, a changeling who is new to the series.

Ivan and Lei get to know each other over a very brief 3 days. They share some laughs, picnic together, and at the very end of their time share some serious truths with each other. Ivan essentially tells her about his mercenary side and he fears that she won’t return to him after this reveal. And then…she doesn’t.

This was all in the setup of Storm Echo, and for me, it was too brief to understand the connection Ivan feels to Lei. And my lack of connection to Lei and to their connection directly lead to the rest of my issues with the book later on.

Melanie: To say that the romance in this book feels rushed is an understatement. I would even go so far as to say the romance in this book isn’t even the real focus of the book. And maybe because so little time and attention is paid to the 2 MCs and their growing relationship, it leaves the readers (in this case, Melinda and myself) struggling to connect to the MCs, to the romance between them, to this apparently all-encompassing bond between them that, at least in my opinion, really just springs out of nowhere.

There is a bit of an insta-….something, I hesitate to label it lust OR love, that happens in the first section of the book, when Ivan and Lei first meet. After Lei disappears, a good 15 months pass before Ivan lays eyes on her again and the bond is still present. Now, part of that is due to events that took place right before Ivan lost track of Lei 15 months prior (I can’t delve too much into this as it would constitute a spoiler) but there really doesn’t seem to be a solid foundation for why there is such a strong emotional connection between these 2 characters who had all of 3 days together before they were separated. That’s not to say people can’t form a strong bond over the course of 3 days, just that in this particular story, I couldn’t really get a sense of the bond being created beyond being told it existed.

Melinda: I’ve definitely read books where I’ve believed and rooted for a romance that developed in an extremely short period of time. But, Melanie’s right in that I just didn’t get a good sense of the romance here in this 3 day time period. I think there wasn’t enough on the page time spent during these 3 days for this development to feel strong. There’s much we can’t say due to spoilers about the separation but when that bond is still there for Ivan, I was left to wonder why.

Beyond just the lack of a connection, the Psy/Changeling books work so well, and have gone on for so long, partly because Nalini Singh is a genius who has planned out overarching storylines. Each book generally has a romance plot and an overarching plot, and to me, this book suffered due to not being well balanced between the two. The PsyNet and its potential collapse, which has been building up over many books, felt like it took over the romance.

Melanie: If you’ve spent the last however many books wondering about the identity of The Architect – the main villain of the Trinity series, then you’ll definitely want to read this book as the ending is a real eye-opener. (I absolutely cannot say anymore – in fact, I’m terrified I’ve already said too much). However, this book does suffer from being way too heavily focused on the ongoing destruction and collapse of the PsyNet and the Scarab storyline that plays a huge role in this particular story, especially with Ivan and his particular Psy skillset. I’ll be honest, I’ve read the entire series, many of them twice, and I’m always far more interested in the relationships, romantic and otherwise, between the characters than I am in any of the PsyNet stuff. So for me, this book was a bit of a bore in that sense.

However, that’s not to say this book was completely without its charms. This is one of the first books in a long long time that returned the readers to DarkRiver territory, which is where the Psy-Changeling series first began all the way back in 2006! And given the setting, we were treated to a whole host of cameos from long-lost friends I’ve come to know and love over the course of the past 20 books. Personally for me, that was one of the biggest highlights of the book, these pop-ins from characters from books past, getting to see them and catch up with them. Aside from that, this was also a great story in terms of family bonds and pack loyalty, whether it’s the DarkRiver pack or the Mercant family. One of the most interesting aspects of the story was the way Nalini highlighted how much the DarkRIver changelings have in common with the Mercant family who are all Psy, despite their very obvious differences.

Melinda: Yes, getting to see old friends in DarkRiver, and a few others, was such a delight for me. This is always a highlight of the series, and one the author does so well, just sprinkling these appearances lightly throughout the books. My personal favorite was getting to see a bit more of Arwen Mercant. I hope he’s being set up for a book down the line, because I found him so delightful!

I think if you’re a reader who has been eager for answers on the PsyNet and Scarab plot, then this book will be for you. It will keep you on your toes the whole time with various revelations until the very end. However, if you’re a reader who is there mainly for the romance, and everything else is secondary, this might not be your favorite book in the series. But we can’t wait to see where Nalini goes with the next book.

Content warnings: mention of drug use in the past by secondary character, parental death in the past, car accident in the past, violence, murder, mention of attempted kidnapping in the past

Grade: C