Partners in Persuasion By: Nalini Singh Series: Psy-Changeling Book Number: 11.1 Star Rating: Sensuality Rating:

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Synopsis

Gentle horticulturist Felix is a submissive SnowDancer wolf who was badly burned by a dominant female in the past. Desiree is a dominant leopard from the DarkRiver pack who finds Felix gorgeous and utterly fascinating, but although he thinks she's beautiful, he can barely string two words together when she's around. Dezi is nothing if not patient and persistent, though, and over time, she gently coaxes him out of his shell until he agrees to go out with her. Still Felix isn't entirely convinced that a relationship between them will work until he's able to step up and have her back when some unruly males from another pack try to interfere with one of their dates.

Review

"Partners in Persuasion" is a short novella in Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling world. Felix, our hero, I'm pretty sure was introduced in the previous full-length novel, Tangle of Need. He's a submissive wolf from the SnowDancer pack who is a horticulturist, working to replant vegetation on pack land following Sienna's devastating release of her X-fire. Felix is a gorgeous male who used to work in the modeling world, so he tends to attract some attention, including that of DarkRiver senior soldier, Desiree. However, Dezi is a dominant female, and after being badly burned by another dominant female in the past, Felix tends to steer clear of them. When Dezi first approaches him, he thinks she's beautiful, but he's extremely shy and reserved. Dezi exercises patience, reigning in her dominant leopard, until she finally gets him to agree to a date. It takes some time, feeling each other out, to see if this kind of pairing can actually work. But it's not until Felix is able to support Dezi and watch her back as she takes on some unruly members of another changeling pack that they finally realize how perfect they are for each other.

Felix is an adorably shy beta male. As a submissive wolf, he tends to show deference to all dominants, no matter which pack they belong to. It's rare in pack life for dominants and submissives to mate and virtually unheard of for a submissive male to mate a dominant female. After being badly hurt by a dominant female in the past, who left him feeling used, he has no interest in repeating that experience, but Dezi presents a real temptation. For a dominant female, Dezi is pretty sweet. She recognizes how uncomfortable and reserved Felix is with her, and she's very careful not to use her dominant powers in an abusive way, instead gently coaxing Felix out of his shell. It takes a little work for them to get on the same page and completely trust one another, but once they do, it's a really lovely moment. I adored the way Felix courts Dezi once the mating bond kicks in. He totally pulls out all the stops to romance her in a way that I don't think any female could resist. Felix and Dezi were perfect together with their relationship being somewhat reminiscent of Drew and Indigo's (Play of Passion), and since Drew is good friends with Felix, that couple have supporting roles in the story. Overall, this was a very sweet, romantic novella, and I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of the dominant female with submissive male storyline, a pairing we haven't seen before. "Partners in Persuasion" can be found in the anthology, Wild Embrace.

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Nalini Singh

Themes

Beta Heroes