Branded by Fire, by Nalini Singh

The sixth full length novel in Ms Singh’s successful Psy/Changeling series, Branded by Fire is the story of Mercy Smith and Riley Kincaid. For those among you who haven’t followed the series, Mercy is a high ranking sentinel with the Dark River leopard pack, while Riley is a lieutenant with the Snow Dancers wolf pack.

Generally speaking, newcomers to the series shouldn’t have many issues catching up, as there is just enough background given to explain the world and set up the story, without unduly slowing down the narrative for long time fans. However, I do recommend reading this series in order, not only because the world Ms Singh has created grows more complex with each release, but also because these two characters have brief appearances in several of the earlier books, which enriches the experience of—finally!—reading their story. Furthermore, there is an overarching story arc throughout the series, with little snippets in every book contributing to its development, which on its own would make it worth reading the books in the order of release.

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