Even before her brain injury, Auden Scott never lived up to the expectations her two high-Gradient telepath parents had for her. Her mind doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to—with scattered thoughts and fuzzy memories. The only thing she is confident in is her desire to protect her unborn baby. A baby she has no memory of conceiving and who is drawing an unnerving amount of interest from the Psys around her.
Leopard alpha Remi Denier is a man driven by the primal instinct to protect. Protect his pack, protect his allies, and most recently, protect the mysterious woman who has become his unlikely neighbor. With eerie eyes that see too much and a scent that alters in disturbing and impossible ways, Auden Scott is the enemy. But nothing about this strange Psy is what it seems, and Remi’s feline heart is as fascinated by her as his human half.
But when Auden asks Remi to help her shatter the wall of secrets that is the Scott bloodline, what they unearth will reveal a nightmare beyond imagination. And this time, the battle is to the death…
Blurb taken from Goodreads
Where did you get the book: Arc from the publisher.
Publisher: Berkeley.
Release date: 23rd of July 2024
Primal Mirror is the latest installment in the Psy Changeling Trinity series which is the spinoff from the original Psy Changeling books. It focuses on a brand new pack that features some characters who appeared in the original series and it was great to see them and have a bit of a catchup and to see how they were faring.
Remi Denier is a new alpha and has set up a brand new pack in the Smokie Mountains. The new responsibilities of being a pack leader is also helping him to cope with the grief of losing his mother who died due to a rough illness and creating a new pack and home gives Remi a fresh start. But when he encounters a group of Psy who owns property next to his territory he encounters a young Psy, Auden Scott who shares a bittersweet but loving memory of his mother via her psychometric powers, although her mental state is fragile and fragmented, it draws out protective instincts in Remi. Auden is also the daughter of Shoshanna Scott who was one of the original Councillors who instigated an insidious plot to the Psy race. It is only months later when Remi encounters Auden again, who is now heavily pregnant and is spending time in the cabin that her family owns next to his pack. Sparks fly between them with Remi’s alpha protective instincts for the lone pregnant Psy and Auden soon begins to trust him to help protect her unborn child from the clutches of her family because of the experiments she endured that caused her mental instability.
I loved the growing romance between Remi and Auden, it was sweet, cute and loving, although I did wished there was more time spent on expanding on their relationship because so much of the plot was about the mystery of the abusive experiments and the ongoing arc of the disintegrating of the Psynet. I felt that it was only at the end of the story that their romance finally got developed. However I loved the delicate and gentle overtone of their relationship even though it got very heated and passionate at the end. But I really wanted more of that.
Primal Mirror also brought forward a lot of plot threads of the previous books concerning the Psynet and the mission to save it and the Psy that is connected to it. I really liked how these storylines interconnected and it added a tension in the background during Remi and Auden’s mission to save her baby and to escape her family’s machinations. There was a sense of dread and urgency that pushed the pace of the story which I loved! In a lot of ways Primal Mirror felt like a vintage Psy Changeling story and went back to its roots with original characters featuring heavily in the story. Yet, at the same time, this installment was also about new beginnings and a rebirth and I am really looking forward to seeing how things pan out now with major revelations happening with the ongoing arc.
Primal Mirror is a tender and heartwarming romance with a good dash of heat whilst the plot was an engaging, taut and absorbing entry to the series which has left me wanting more and I can’t wait for the followup!
I give Primal Mirror a B!