Geri’s Review: Ocean Light by Nalini Singh

June 15, 2018 by · Leave a Comment

OCEAN LIGHT
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Author: Nalini Singh
Release Date: June 12, 2018

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh dives beneath the surface of her Psy-Changeling world into a story of passionate devotion and selfless love…

Security specialist Bowen Knight has come back from the dead. But there’s a ticking time bomb in his head: a chip implanted to block telepathic interference that could fail at any moment–taking his brain along with it.

With no time to waste, he should be back on land helping the Human Alliance. Instead, he’s at the bottom of the ocean, consumed with an enigmatic changeling…

Kaia Luna may have traded in science for being a chef, but she won’t hide the facts of Bo’s condition from him or herself. She’s suffered too much loss in her life to fall prey to the dangerous charm of a human who is a dead man walking. And she carries a devastating secret Bo could never imagine…

But when Kaia is taken by those who mean her deadly harm, all bets are off. Bo will do anything to get her back–even if it means striking a devil’s bargain and giving up his mind to the enemy…

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I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Tautly plotted with dynamic characters and contains of the highest stakes—both romantic and plot-wise—in the series, Ocean Light will engage not just your mind but your heart as well.

Tonight was their impossible dream.

This book picks up not far from where the last book ended. Bowen Knight survived his assassination attempt but the chip in his brain is still degenerating and with time running out, his sister agrees to a deal with the Blacksea changeling clan to take Bo deep underwater to undergo an experiment that could save his life or end it.

I am so happy that this Nalini continued to build on this universe. We’ve only heard about the BlackSea changelings in previous books but in Ocean Light, they finally take the center stage. And what a fascinating world it is. Ms. Singh’s clever world building continues to fascinate and entranced. The BlackSea changelings have their own quirks that separate them from other changelings but what remains constant is their sense of belonging to a family, a pack, or a clan. This theme has been a constant from the very first Psy-Changeling book and continues with the Trinity series. It is again a huge theme here.

As I mentioned, this book has one of the highest stakes in the series. Don’t get me wrong. The stakes in these books are always high but in Ocean Light it is even more so. With Bo’s life on the line and the Trinity Accord being attacked from the inside, not to mention Kaia dealing with trauma and mental health issues, the characters are in constant state of peril in this book. There’s a sense of urgency and doom that I wasn’t exactly sure how the author was going to resolve everything but she did and did it wonderfully.

The romance between Bo and Kaia was just as satisfying as the mystery and intrigue. Singh is one of the masters of crafting a strong romantic conflict. Bowen is a human, a leader of the Alliance that wasn’t always trustworthy in the eyes of the changelings. He’s made errors in the past but his heart is always in the right place.

Promise me.” He grabbed her hand, pressed it to his cutting-edge mechanical heart that would keep going long after he fell. “If it goes wrong, you’ll walk away. Promise me.”

Kaia on the other hand is a changeling whose past made her distrustful of humans. She sees humans and the land as forces of destruction and loss. Bowen’s presence and her peculiar reaction to him puts Kaia in a very vulnerable position.

I love how the romance developed between them. There’s playfulness to their relationship that I found endearing to read. Their HEA was EARNED and it was SATISFYING.

Ocean Light delivers on the romance along with healthy sprinkling of mystery and intrigue that will hold your attention from beginning to end. This is another win for Nalini Singh, and I highly recommend that you start from the very beginning with Slave to Sensation. Yes, it’s a lot of books and you can probably start with Silver Silence and still enjoy or even love the books but I highly HIGHLY recommend starting with the original Psy-Changeling series.

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Jennifer’s Review: Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh

October 9, 2016 by ·

caressed-by-ice-reviewCARESSED BY ICE
Series: Psy-Changeling #3
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Author: Nalini Singh
Release Date: September 4, 2007add-to-goodreads-button-2

caressed-by-ice-psy-changeling-nalini-singh

The author of Shards of Hope and Shield of Winter presents a Psy/Changeling novel in which two people who know evil intimately must unlock the good within their icy hearts…

As an Arrow, an elite soldier in the Psy Council ranks, Judd Lauren was forced to do terrible things in the name of his people. Now a defector, his dark abilities have made him the most deadly of assassins – cold, pitiless, unfeeling. Until he meets Brenna…

Brenna Shane Kincaid was an innocent before she was abducted – and had her mind violated – by a serial killer. Her sense of evil runs so deep, she fears she could become a killer herself. Then the first dead body is found, victim of a familiar madness. Judd is her only hope, yet her sensual changeling side rebels against the inhuman chill of his personality, even as desire explodes between them. Shocking and raw, their passion is a danger that threatens not only their hearts, but their very lives…

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This book is BEYOND. That’s it. Just beyond. It has to be one of my favorite paranormal books ever. Definitely my favorite in this series so far.

à la Mode St. » fashion

“His eyes fixed on hers, the gold flecks darkening to amber. “An assassin who looks after his own skin? That’s exactly what I am, Brenna. I would rather die than harm you, but anyone else? I could kill them without blinking. It’s what I was born to do.”

à la Mode St. » fashionJUDD.
JUDD.
JUDD.

I am puddle on the floor because this man has melted all of my icicles. And I want to lick his giant icicle. Ok, I’m done.

My Judd:

Steaming hot:

My Brenna:


I LOVE assholes. And Judd was so cold to Brenna in the beginning that I ate him up. At the same time, he is unlike any hero I’ve ever read because he does not know or realize that he is being an ice man. As a Psy, he cannot FEEL anything. Not only is he a Psy, but he is an Arrow, which is the most lethal Psy assassin. They are so rare that they are the best kept secret among the Psy. He was trained to reject all pain and emotion, so his brain refuses to feel anything. I enjoyed the journey that Judd went through in order to let himself FEEL.

Brenna was kidnapped in the first book of this series. I was hoping that she was going to get her own book, and I am so happy that she did. Judd is her perfect other half. Because she was kidnapped and tortured by a Psy, she has lingering issues, and she feels a connection with Judd and only he can understand what she went through.
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Brenna’s eyes widened. Raising a hand, she brushed his hair gently off his forehead.
“Why do I keep telling you things I swore I’d take to my grave?”

The contact shot electricity through his nerves. “Because you know I’ll always be your shield against the nightmares.”

à la Mode St. » fashionSingh is the queen of sexual tension. In books by other authors, I’ll be rolling my eyes if the couple hasn’t had sexy by the 50% mark, but with Singh, I don’t even care. I feel the sexual tension so much in her books that I don’t even think about the sex, and I’m pleasantly surprised when they get finally get their groove on.
à la Mode St. » fashion

“Aren‘t you going to get up?”

He put a hand on the curve of her hip, a possessive gesture that had already become
familiar.

“No. Let‘s have more sex.”

20606701à la Mode St. » fashionWith this book, Singh switched everything up. She threw a curve ball, and it worked so hard! In the first two books, the heroine was the Psy and the hero was the changeling, but this is the first book in the series where the hero was the Psy and the heroine was the changeling. I NEED more Psy men in my life because Judd was my type of man!

I’ve never read anything like this book. It is…..PHENOMENAL.

THE PSY/CHANGELING SERIES

SLAVE TO SENSATION | VISIONS OF HEAT | CARESSED BY ICE |
MINE TO POSSESS | HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE | BRANDED BY FIRE | BLAZE OF MEMORY | BONDS OF JUSTICE | PLAY OF PASSION |
KISS OF SNOW | TANGLE OF NEED | HEART OF OBSIDIAN |
SHIELD OF WINTER | SHARDS OF HOPE | ALLEGIANCE OF HONOR

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Jennifer’s Review: ★Slave to Sensation★ by Nalini Singh

June 19, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

slave to sensation-ReviewSLAVE TO SENSATION
Series: Psy-Changeling #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Author: Nalini Singh
Release Date: September 5, 2006add-to-goodreads-button-2

51+haHQZ0hL._SX305_BO1,204,203,200_

THE FIRST PSY/CHANGELING NOVEL from the New York Times bestselling author of Shards of Hope, Shield of Winter, and Heart of Obsidian…The book that Christine Feehan called “a must-read for all of my fans.”

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”–the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was…

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion–and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities–or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation…

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Review5 stars

5 I-dragged-my-children-to-3-bookstores-in-the-rain-to-purchase-the rest-of-this-series Stars!

What do you get when you mix Star Trek and Avatar together? THIS BOOK! But only if Spock was a woman, and Avatar was shape-shifter hotness. And the giant nerd in me is soooo into it!
If any of you know Lana, you know that she LURVES Nalini Singh. She has been recommending this series forever, so I decided to give it a go.…..and I loved it!

I’m not just saying this because of Lana, y’all. If I didn’t like this book, I would have told that hooker she was cray-cray without batting an eyelash. But let me tell you, I honestly LOVED this book.

My Lucas:
Clément Becq:
My Sascha:

Liza Soberano /philippines actress: Sascha is the star of this book, and she blew me away! She is a Psy, a group of people who do not feel emotion, but she is constantly battling the emotions inside of her. She believes that she is flawed, and if the Psy Council finds out about this flaw, they will kill her. This battle that she fights is so strong and I felt for her. Sascha is cold on the outside. She has to be. But she is always battling with her emotions.

“Sometimes I remember that I can’t always protect those I love.” Under his fingers, her hair was soft and silky.
She didn’t try to tell him that he wasn’t God, that he couldn’t protect everyone. He knew that.
But knowing and believing were two different things. What she did say succeeded in stopping his heart.
“I wish you’d love me.”
“Why?”
“Because then maybe you could protect me, too.”

Lucas is a Changeling, a hot, alpha-shifter and leader of his pack. Lucas and Sascha begin working together on a project to bring the Psy and Changeling community together. Each side has their own agendas and secrets. As Lucas and Sascha work together, there is chemistry and attraction, a push-and-pull because Sascha cannot let herself FEEL anything. But I felt everything that she wasn’t letting herself feel! AND there’s mega-hot-dream sex.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Bad dreams?”

“No dreams.” It was a husky whisper. “That was the problem.”

Singh writes half of this book from inside Sascha’s mind, but not just her thoughts, her actual mind, and I have never read anything like it. It’s hard to explain, so you’re just going to have to read it. It is brilliant and fascinating.
I am always looking for something UNIQUE, and this book is definitely unique. It is so much more than “paranormal romance.”
Now, I want to devour the entire series! My body is ready Nalini Singh. Bring it on!

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Spotlight, Review & Giveaway: ★Allegiance of Honor★ by Nalini Singh

June 15, 2016 by · Leave a Comment

review- Allegiance of honorALLEGIANCE OF HONOR
Series: Psy-Changeling #15
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Author: Nalini Singh
Release Date: June 14, 2016add-to-goodreads-button-2

Allegiance of Honor_Medium

The “unparalleled romantic adventure”* of Nalini Singh’s New York Times bestselling series continues as a new dawn begins for the Psy-Changeling world… 

The Psy-Changeling world has undergone a staggering transformation and now stands at a crossroads. The Trinity Accord promises a new era of cooperation between disparate races and groups. It is a beacon of hope held together by many hands: Old enemies. New allies. Wary loners.

But a century of distrust and suspicion can’t be so easily forgotten and threatens to shatter Trinity from within at any moment. As rival members vie for dominance, chaos and evil gather in the shadows and a kidnapped woman’s cry for help washes up in San Francisco, while the Consortium turns its murderous gaze toward a child who is the embodiment of change, of love, of piercing hope: A child who is both Psy…and changeling.

To find the lost, protect the vulnerable—and save Trinity—no one can stand alone. This is a time of loyalty across divisions, of bonds woven into the heart and the soul, of heroes known and unknown standing back to back and holding the line. But is an allegiance of honor even possible with traitors lurking in their midst?

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Nalini Singh on the future of the Psy-Changeling series

Is Allegiance of Honor the end of the Psy-Changeling series?

No, it’s not. 🙂 I ADORE this world and the characters and I have so many Psy-Changeling stories yet to tell. (I’ve often joked that I’ll be writing this series until I’m ninety-eight!)

Where do you see the Psy-Changeling world going from here?  Who is the next book about?

(Slightly spoilery answer to follow if you’re just starting the series).

Allegiance of Honor sets up a lot of possibilities for the future. There are many avenues I could take. However, for me, this arc is all about what happens not just to the Psy, but to the world, now that Silence has fallen and all the rules have changed.

We’ve had the immediate aftermath books, both of which focused on the Psy race (Shield of Winter & Shards of Hope), but what about the wider long-term future? Because Silence existed for a reason. The Psy still have these incredible abilities that have the potential to drive them murderously insane, and the world is still a fractured triumvirate. And there are players about whom we know very little, like the falcons and BlackSea.

As for who’s book is next, I’m not ready to announce it yet because I want to be certain this character is ready – but I think you’ll be pleased. 😉

Excerpt

Lucas had had to chase Naya around the aerie at bedtime last night—her walk might still be a little shaky, but she was a rocket when it came to crawling. Dressed only in a diaper, she’d laughed uproariously and said a loud, firm “No” each time Lucas caught her and put her in her crib.After which she’d clamber out—she’d figured out how to escape a month earlier—and the game would begin again. Of course, since Lucas was a cat, he’d been having just as much fun as their daughter. Sascha, meanwhile, had sat in the living room with a cup of hot chocolate and just indulged in the sight of her mate playing with their cub.

She’d had to pretend to be stern when Naya ran over and pleaded her case with loud sounds and wild gesticulations of her hands. “No, Naya,” she’d said, biting her tongue in an effort not to laugh. “It’s time for bed. Go with Papa.”

At which point, Naya had growled at her, eyes sparkling with mischief.

And Sascha had cracked, laughing so hard she’d had to put down her hot chocolate before she spilled it. Lucas had shaken his head as Naya plopped down on her diaper-covered butt and joined in, clapping her hands at having made her mommy laugh. “No discipline.” Lucas had mock-growled at her before picking up their misbehaving baby. “And you”—a growly nuzzle that made Naya laugh harder and pat his stubbled cheek—“time for bed.”

He’d finally got her to sleep—by walking around with her pressed up against his bare chest.

Today, their cub was playing in the living area just outside the kitchen nook. Sascha had locked the aerie door to ensure Naya wouldn’t undo the latch and go out onto the balcony, and Lucas had childproofed the entire main area of the aerie, so Naya was free to roam as she liked. A lot of the time she practiced her walking skills. And no matter how often she fell down, she started back up again after a little break.

Stubborn, determined baby.

Peeking out from the kitchen, Sascha found her concentrating on stacking the colored alphabet blocks Faith and Vaughn had given her as a gift. Beside her sat a more than slightly ragged wolf plush toy, aka “The Toy That Shall Not Be Named.” Hawke had given that to Naya when she was a newborn, and it remained her favorite snuggle toy, much to her father’s despair.

Though Lucas did enjoy it when Naya went leopard on the toy, growling and “fighting” with the wolf. Then he’d smile and say, “That’s my girl.”

 

Posted by arrangement with Berkley Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © Nalini Singh, 2016.

Find Nalini online: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Review4 stars

I still remember the first time I picked up a Nalini Singh book. I was at the library and looking for more PNR to binge on (I was going through a huge PNR phase). And then I spot a series of books that looked like the covers belonged on a bad 80’s action movie. My inner cover wh*re cringed a little but I will forever be grateful I picked up that first book because that turned into what I now refer to as the PNR binge of 2010. When someone asks me what my favorite PNR series is to date, it’s without a doubt Singh’s Psy-Changeling series. And now 15 books into the series, I can continue to hold true to that statement.

Where am I going with this? I’m getting there, mkay?

I wasn’t sure about reading this book, because as far as ensemble books go, they’re a bit of a gray area for me; meaning they’ll either really work for me or they really won’t. Look, I have the attention span of a rodent, and when you have that many POVs my mind tends to wonder. Don’t judge me. So by now you want me to get to my point, right? Alright.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, Allegiance of Honor is an ensemble cast book. It’s completely different from any other book in this series in absolutely everything. There’s no central romance, no main couple, but there’s very much a central plot. Singh is a pure genius when it comes to weaving together multiple POVs but not making it be chaotic. Yes, there are multiple characters from previous books that make an appearance here and you get to catch up with all your favorites, but of course the alpha that started it all is the one that gets the most page time. Lucas and Sascha obviously get the most story because it seems that their child is going to be pivotal in the books to come.

Allegiance of Honor is essentially a bridge book that closes the chapter on “Season One” story arc and introduces all the ingredients of Season Two that the readers will be looking forward to. I won’t lie, when I realized I wasn’t going to be getting a central couple, I wondered why this wasn’t a novella instead. A 478 page ensemble book? But here’s the thing, there’s A LOT that happens here. This series is not meant to be read out of order, and if you’ve been keeping up, you’ll be very interested to know what happens.

There’s the Trinity Accord and the brewing tension with the rise of The Consortium. We knew that when silence fell, it wouldn’t be the end and this book basically sets up the story line for the next books flawlessly. You get to see all your past favorites; a much need HEA for Riaz and Adria, which I was desperately hoping for, and even a bonus story of Father Xavier.

Even with all the multiple POVs there’s a lot of meat to the story. There’s a lot that happens, and fans of this series will find this book to be pivotal for what’s to come.

This could have easily been a 5 star read for me, but unfortunately in parts of the story I did find all the POVs to be slightly cumbersome. While many of the POVs weaved together to drive the plot forward, some of them felt more like a bonus. And while it was nice to have, considering the length of the book, it did make it drag a little for me. I would have rather had them as bonus novellas but this is entirely a personal preference. Many readers may really appreciate these little bonus POVs. I tend to  get sidetracked when a book is too long and I find other POVs to be distracting.

I’ll also admit that it took me some time to finish this. I felt like the first half took me forever to get through, but then when you really started getting deeper into this new story arc, I was hooked. Well and truly hooked. I finished the final half in one sitting.

Nalini Singh is a brilliant author that created an incredible rich world filled with multifaceted characters. The world building in her Psy-Changeling series is unlike any I’ve read before. It’s phenomenal. What’s even more incredible is while this book has quite a few POVs and should almost feel like an extended epilogue, it wasn’t. All the POVs, all the little subplots, everything tied together and drove the plot forward. I have to tip my hat off to that, because that is no small feat and I honestly can’t think of any other author that would be able to pull off something like that.

And while I can’t say this book was my favorite in the series, I can tell you that it is not to be missed. There’s so many hints dropped here and amazing set ups for the next generation of Psy-Changeling, that I’m practically vibrating with excitement for it right now.

PSY-CHANGELING SERIES

SLAVE TO SENSATION (Psy-Changeling #1)
VISIONS OF HEAT (Psy-Changeling #2)
CARESSED BY ICE (Psy-Changeling #3)
MINE TO POSSESS (Psy-Changeling #4)
HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE (Psy-Changeling #5)
BRANDED BY FIRE (Psy-Changeling #6)
BLAZE OF MEMORY (Psy-Changeling #7)
BONDS OF JUSTICE (Psy-Changeling #8)
PLAY OF PASSION (Psy-Changeling #9)
KISS OF SNOW (Psy-Changeling #10)
TANGLE OF NEED (Psy-Changeling #11)
HEART OF OBSIDIAN (Psy-Changeling #12)
SHIELD OF WINTER (Psy-Changeling #13)
SHARDS OF HOPE (Psy-Changeling #14)

Giveaway

Want to win the hardcover of ALLEGIANCE OF HONOR? Enter the giveaway on my Facebook page HERE

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