It is a sad day to say that this is the very first Nalini Singh book I've rated under 4 stars. I'd like to say that I still think this is a pretty good book and the drop in rating is only because of ONE (possibly two depending on how you look at it) things:

I cannot STAND how the LI approached his relationship with the MC in this book.

Basically, Faith isn't used to touch. Changelings rely on touch so Vaughn, her changeling mate, wants to get her used to touch not only for their mating bond but also because lack of touch is a tool the Psyclan she's in uses to control her. I don't have a problem with that being a plot point. What I DO have a problem with is how he decided to do this, which was repeatedly crossing or outright ignoring her boundaries with touch, including her verbally telling him to stop and him refusing to. Not only did this make her uncomfortable and overwhelmed, it also resulted in the feedback from the touch being so bad that she falls unconscious because of it, which she TOLD him would happen and he STILL ignored. In the second instance of this happening he STILL didn't stop touching her after she fainted and continued to hold her in his lap.

I wish I could say him crossing her boundaries stopped with his plan to "get her used to touch" but I can't. Vaughn as a character is a bit more "you woman, me man" than any of the other LIs in this series have been, and that doesn't bother me in small doses but he is about twice as intense about it as the other LIs. That was more a minor annoyance. The real problem here is the absolute entitlement he feels towards her because they're mates, and he crosses the line mentally and verbally/physically WAY more than any of the others have. And that is given with this whole 'fated mates' trope Singh has going on but he takes it too far. Let me share some quotes that made me very uncomfortable:

"The next shove at his mind was tinged with desperation. Aware he’d pushed her too far, though it wasn’t anywhere near far enough for him, he let her body fade from his mind and forced himself to think thoughts she couldn’t see. Not knowing the reason for their connection was probably driving Faith nuts. Good. She needed to experience the unruliness of the wild or she’d never break free of Silence. And she had to smash through those walls. She no longer had a choice."

"Have you asked her whether she wants to leave the Net?" "She's my mate." Of course she'd leave the Net. "I'll try to give her some time to get used to the idea, but in the end, she has no choice."

"He crouched down in front of her, but didn't touch. He didn't trust himself enough to." This being said when he is mad at her.

"Even as her eyes widened, the beast began to haze his brain with unforgiving need. He wanted. And he was through with waiting. Faith was his mate. It was his right to take her."

"He was through playing by Faith's rules. The jaguar was loose and it was hungry. A roar came from his throat, rough and dangerous. Faith Nightstar was about to come face-to-face with a predator determined to possess her. No compromises. No mercy."

"The thought of abusing her was abhorrent to him, but he was afraid of caving in to the violent need of the beast and losing his capacity for rational thought. And when he rose from the animal hunger, he might find that his claws had permanently marred Faith’s skin, that he’d bitten and cut. The possibility terrified him as nothing else had ever terrified him."

“The longer we wait,” she said, her voice that of the most practical Psy, but her eyes holding the first flicker of lightning, “the worse it’s going to get. It’s become clear to me that you need touch and I haven’t been giving it to you.”

I don't think I even need to explain why these statements are HUGE red flags to me.

If this wasn't a Nalini Singh book, I would've DNFed purely because of his behavior towards her. I finished and rated it higher than I would have with any other author because the story and every other character were just as fascinating as they always are in one of her books. I am DEARLY hoping this is a one-off type of character because I can't stand men like this.

C.A.P.E Rating:
Characters - 3/5
Atmosphere - 5/5
Plot - 4/5
Enjoyment - 4/5