Goldilox and the Three Weres: Review: Last Guard by Nalini Singh

Last Guard
(Psy-Changeling: Trinity #5)
Nalini Singh
Release: July 20, 2021
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New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh returns to a world devastated by change in her award-winning Psy-Changeling Trinity series, where two people defined by their aloneness hold the fate of the Psy in their hands…

Termed merciless by some, and a robotic sociopath by others, Payal Rao is the perfect Psy: cardinal telekinetic, CEO of a major conglomerate, beautiful—and emotionless.

For Canto Mercant, family and loyalty are everything. A cardinal telepath deemed "imperfect" by his race due to a spinal injury, Canto cares for the opinions of very few—and ruthlessly protects those he claims as his own. Head of intel of the influential Mercant family, he prefers to remain a shadow in the Net, unknown and unseen. But Canto is also an Anchor, part of a secretive designation whose task it is to stabilize the PsyNet. Now that critical psychic network is dying, threatening to collapse and kill the entire Psy race with it.

To save those he loves, Canto needs the help of a woman bound to him by a dark past neither has been able to forget. A woman who is the most powerful Anchor of them all: Payal Rao. Neither is ready for the violent inferno about to ignite in the PsyNet…or the passionate madness that threatens to destroy them both.

Review:

Note: Because Last Guard is the fifth book in this new Trinity arc and the twentieth book in the Psy-Changeling universe as a whole I will try my best not to spoil previous books.

Y'all! Y'ALL. This book was so epic I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it even three reads later. If I wasn't already a diehard Nalini Singh fangirl, this book right here would have been the clincher. I can't stop thinking about the absolute wealth of awesome that Nalini gifted us in this book.

We got a neurodivergent heroine and a disabled hero! Both main characters are anchors! There is a queer side romance! We get more Bears! And more Mercants! Y'all! We were ridiculously blessed by this book!

I just want to live rent free in Nalini Singh's head because it has to be both an awesome and scary place. One of the things I love about this series is that a character or a minor reference in a previous book can become a main character or major plot point later in the series. Case in point, we now have a book where both main characters are anchors which, correct me if I'm wrong, were last mentioned briefly in Tangle of Need (Book 11).

The plot of the overall story arc is advancing at a fast clip with each book and we're learning more and more about the PsyNet and the whole situation with the Scarabs is giving me anxiety. As much as I love the interconnecting plot that links these books together, I absolutely adore the characters in this series! And y'all! I would die for Payal. She is everything! She may have skyrocketed into first place in my ranking of my favorite heroines in this series. Sorry, Zaira and Memory! She is the classic case of don't judge a book by its cover and I loved learning about her hidden depths as she and Canto fell in love. Also, all of her interactions with a certain cardinal based in Russia were amazing!

Oh! And Canto! He is the classic grumpy, protective hero who will do anything to protect those he claims as his own. It doesn't hurt that he is also the one in charge of the Mercant's network of spies. I loved him so much! He is super protective but he knows when to stand back and let Payal take the lead. He's supportive and irascible and is basically the Psy version of the bears. And speaking of the bears, I loved Canto's interactions with them as part of their family thanks to Silver mating with Valentin. I could read a whole book of the bears working on breaking down Canto's walls.

I loved so much about this book but I'm going to end my raving ramble here. If you haven't read this series, I would urge you to go and pick up the first book! This series is one of my all-time favorites but this new Trinity arc has gifted me with some of my favorite books and characters and I can't wait to see where Nalini takes this series next!

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.