Dorian By: Nalini Singh Series: Psy-Changeling Book Number: 5.1 Star Rating: Sensuality Rating:

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Synopsis

Dorian Christensen is a latent leopard changeling who spent all of his life unable to shift into his animal form due to a genetic anomaly. It could be rough for him growing up when other kids teased him, but his family and his packmates always had his back and he strove to be the best he could be in spite of his challenges. Now as an adult, he's met him mate, Ashaya, whose expertise in genetics have made if possible for him to finally shift. It's a major adjustment, but a happy and welcome one that he hopes his packmates will be able to celebrate with him.

Review

"Dorian" is a short story in the Psy-Changeling world, which, as it's title suggests, is all about the character of Dorian, who was the hero of the previous full-length novel, Hostage to Pleasure. The first two chapters provide additional backstory, with chapter one taking place during his childhood and chapter two taking place during his teen years. Both offer insights into his struggle to find a sense of belonging and his efforts to live with the leopard inside that couldn't come out due to his latent status. Despite this genetic flaw, his family and the DarkRiver pack always embraced him, while Lucas, Mercy, Vaughn, and Clay were loyal friends. Chapter three picks up pretty much where Hostage to Pleasure left off, showing what happened after he was finally able to shift for the first time and how his packmates reacted to this happy news.

This short story was a nice addition to the series that offered a few welcome new insights to Dorian's character. There's a mere touch of romance in it with only a couple of scenes showing Dorian and Ashaya together that are sweet with a bit of sexual tension. Mostly, though, the story is about Dorian and how he first adjusts in childhood to his genetic anomaly and then how in the present he also must adjust to finally being able to release the beast. I enjoyed the friendship and camaraderie between him and the other sentinels. Overall, I'd say that this is a nice little extra for fans of the series that's great as a follow-up to Hostage to Pleasure. But since it's primarily giving additional information on a specific character rather than being a self-contained story, it probably wouldn't be of great interest to anyone who hasn't read Dorian's book yet. "Dorian" can be found in the anthology, Wild Embrace.

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Nalini Singh