I received this book for free from the author as a free story in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the author as a free story
"Housewarming at the Orchard"
by
Nalini Singh
It is part of the Psy-Changeling #13.2 series and is a paranormal romance in a PDF edition that was published by the author on December 29, 2015 and has 11 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads
Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Must Love Hellhounds, Kiss of Snow, An Enchanted Season, Archangel's Blade, Angels of Darkness, Lord of the Abyss, Desert Warrior, Angels' Flight, Tangle of Need, Play of Passion, Archangel's Storm, Wild Invitation, Heart of Obsidian, Archangel's Legion, "Hide and Seek", "Making Dinner", Shield of Winter, "A Conversation", "Home", Angels' Pawn, "New Year's Kisses", Night Shift, "Weapons Training", "Zoë's Workshop", "Wild Night", Archangel's Shadows, Archangel’s Enigma, Shards of Hope, “Fairy Balloons”, “An Unexpected Guest”, Allegiance of Honor, "The Song of the Wolf", Silver Silence, Archangel’s Heart, Archangel’s Viper, Ocean Light, "Elena's School of Horror", Cherish Hard, "Ain’t No Party Like A Bear Party", Archangel's Prophecy, "One Night At The Refuge", "Secret Things", Rebel Hard, Rock Hard, Wolf Rain, "Clean and Dirty", "Wolf School", "Naya’s Most Important Visitors", "Grocery Shopping", "The Cannibal Princess", "A Gift for Kit", "Movie Night", "Kaleb and Sahara’s Meeting with Sascha and Lucas", "Christmas in the Kitchen", "Stalking Hawke", "Romancing Drew", "Sunday Morning", "Rowan", "Baubles & Ben", Wild Embrace, Love Hard, Rock Addiction, "Music Awards", Rock Courtship, "Rock Courtship Memo"s, Rock Redemption, "Sunshine", Rock Wedding, "With This Memo", "That Lip Ring…", A Madness of Sunshine, "Beary Tiny Ghosts", Alpha Night, "A Wedding Breakfast", "Poker Night", "Knives and Sheaths", "Seedlings", "Star Kissed", "A Walk on the Cliffs", "Wild Cat Blues", Slave to Sensation, Caressed by Ice, Visions of Heat, Kiss Hard, Angels' Blood, Archangel's Kiss, Archangel's War, Archangel's Sun, Archangel's Light, Archangel's Resurrection, Last Guard, “A Perfect Moment”, "Music in the Rain", Storm Echo, Resonance Surge, "Mate", “New Year’s Eve”, Archangel's Lineage, Visions of Heat, Mine to Possess, Hostage to Pleasure, Branded by Fire, Blaze of Memory
A free short story from Nalini Singh’s newsletter dated 29 December 2015, #13.2 in the Psy-Changeling paranormal romance series, revolving around the shapeshifters, Psy, and humans. The couple focus is on Vasic and Ivy Jane, an Arrow teleporter and a rebelling E-Psy whose story was told in Shield of Winter, 13.
If you’re interested, there is a chronological listing of the Psy-Changeling books on my website.
My Take
I do love the E-Psy, and their need to anticipate the comfort of others. Listening to Singh’s description of how Ivy renovated her home is so telling of her nature while the reasons for the renovation are interspersed through the story.
It’s a great little story of small actions that tells so much about the Arrows’ past and the road they need to tread to get past that childhood training and become real people.
What’s big are the characters, of whom we learn through Singh using third person simple subjective point-of-view from Ivy’s perspective. To truly grasp how big, you should read the series from the start, as the nuances will be so much more informative.
Singh uses an easy pace, as she provides some background on Ivy and Vasic, the town in which they live, and Ivy’s worries about bringing the Arrows out into the light.
Ya can’t help but love this series.
The Story
Looking around, Ivy Jane knew that Vasic would agree that their now-spacious kitchen and other extra spaces were what the Arrows needed. Now her hopes depended upon Vasic’s fellow Arrows showing up for this first event for the soldiers, for them to start down the road to recovery and acceptance.
The Characters
Ivy Jane is an E-Psy, an empath who needs to help people, and a low-level telepath. Vasic Zen is s a Tk-V Arrow, a born teleporter who can heal. Rabbit is Ivy’s small white dog.
Ivy’s parents, Gwen Jane and Carter Hirsch, are now farmers who love her and disappeared to keep her safe.
The Arrows are…
…a squad of black-clad Psy assassins, soldiers. Aden is Vasic’s best friend and the leader of the Arrows, a Tp with a gift for delicate healing. Abbot is with Jaya. Zaira is the Venetian commander. Axl, Amin, and Nerida are more senior Arrows. Tamar is a civilian specialist who worked with the squad.
Jaya is another E-Psy with her specialization helping people trapped in their minds, in comas — a Med-E and Ivy’s best friend. Dr Samuel Rain is a human scientist whose expertise is in robotics, enthralled with pushing the envelope.
Psy are…
…an evolutionary branch of humans who have psychic powers, each of which are different and can incite psychic violence. Decades ago, the Psy chose to eliminate emotion from their lives, making E-Psy non-existent and leading to possible extinction of the Psy. Some Psy chose to flee that world to protect family that included an E-Psy.
The Title
The title is the tale’s occasion, a “Housewarming at the Orchard”, Ivy and Vasic’s home.
