Book Review : Last Guard by Nalini Singh



Last Guard by Nalini Singh
Series : Psy-Changeling Trinity #5
Genre : Paranormal Romance
Publisher : Berkley
Publication Date : July 20th, 2021
NYT 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.

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I decided to re-read the last two books in the Psy Changeling series before jumping into my ARC of Resonance Surge and it was the right decision 😌 Usually I try to do a yearly re-read of these books but since I can't do that this time, I decided to just re-read Last Guard and Storm Echo! This is one series that I hope will never end because I love it just as much as I did when I started reading it!⁣
In Last Guard we have Payal Rao - the cold, emotionless Psy who runs one of the largest conglomerates and is an Anchor for the Psynet - but the latter fact is a well-kept secret. Not much is known about Anchors except for the fact that they hold the Psynet together. But another Anchor - Canto Mercant is determined to bring them together and to have them tackle a critical problem that endangers them - which is the Psynet falling apart. And when he puts forth an invitation to Payal so that she could represent them, it brings them face to face and has them rediscovering the past that they once shared.⁣
Last Guard might seem a bit similar at times to Heart Of Obsidian(which will ALWAYS be my favorite) because of the dynamics of the pairing but it's very different at the same time too! Though both Canto and Payal share a traumatic childhood, they've dealt with it differently and while Canto had a support system, Payal didn't. I really loved the slow burn romance between them!⁣
They also have their fair share of personal challenges with Payal's neurodivergence and Canto's physical disability. But, they accept them just as they are and I loved how they supported each other at all times. There's no magical fix and as Canto says they have their tools to help them when they need it. I also loved seeing the bears 🐻 and the Mercant family again!⁣
I should probably stop fangirling about this series now lol. Just consider this my yearly reminder to read these books if you haven't read them yet!😆

You can also find this review on my bookstagram here


You can find my reviews of the other books in the series here


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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