Review: Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh
Title: Slave to Sensation
Author: Nalini Singh
Genre: paranormal romance
Grade: A
Reason for Reading: There was so much buzz about this book last year that I was curious.
Synopsis: This novel is set in an alternate and slightly futuristic Earth where there are three different species of humans. Psys are the ones with mental abilities, who have been ruthlessly conditioned not to feel emotions. Our heroine, Sascha Duncan, however, is flawed. She's always been able to feel emotions, a fact that she has to hide from every other psy or risk her own death.
Sascha begins working with Lucas Hunter, the alpha of a leopard changeling pack which is trying to build new homes in its territory. The changelings are everything the psy are not--highly emotional, sensual creatures. Sascha gradually finds herself drawn to Lucas. But there's more to their interactions than some business deals. Someone's killing changeling women, and Sascha and Lucas are drawn into a perilous situation that could end in war if the killer isn't caught.
My Thoughts: I knew this was going to be an A book when I started it this weekend. Singh does everything right, and she had me rooting for these characters from the very beginning.
I loved Sascha. She's gone through a hell of a lot in her life, and she very much wants someone to love her, but she's afraid to open herself to that. My heart ached for her, and I was rooting for her and Lucas, and honestly, at one point, I wasn't sure how Singh was going to manage to make everything work out between them without resorting to a deus ex machina. Thankfully, she didn't.
As for Lucas? Well, let's just say that I have a soft spot for shapeshifting cats and leave it at that. I thought he was smoking hot, and I loved the chemistry between him and Sascha. There were definitely some scenes I read on the bus that had me squirming in my seat and wishing for ice water.
The secondary characters are wonderful, and I especially liked watching Sascha's budding relationship with Tamsyn, Dark River's healer. So often girlfriends in romances simply aren't ever around, and I was glad Singh created a bond between the two women. Also, Tamsyn is already mated, so she wasn't set up for sequel bait. In fact, though we do meet some of the characters that feature in the next books, there's no way Singh could have told the story without including them.
As to the setting? I loved it. I want to go visit this version of Earth, and I was left with questions that I hope are answered in the next books--like what the place in society is for those humans who are neither psy nor changeling.
If I have a quibble, it's that the villain was a bit obvious in retrospect. But then, I'm not sure how else Singh would have explained things, so possibly I just need to get over myself.
Anyway, a lovely book. Very highly recommended.
Author: Nalini Singh
Genre: paranormal romance
Grade: A
Reason for Reading: There was so much buzz about this book last year that I was curious.
Synopsis: This novel is set in an alternate and slightly futuristic Earth where there are three different species of humans. Psys are the ones with mental abilities, who have been ruthlessly conditioned not to feel emotions. Our heroine, Sascha Duncan, however, is flawed. She's always been able to feel emotions, a fact that she has to hide from every other psy or risk her own death.
Sascha begins working with Lucas Hunter, the alpha of a leopard changeling pack which is trying to build new homes in its territory. The changelings are everything the psy are not--highly emotional, sensual creatures. Sascha gradually finds herself drawn to Lucas. But there's more to their interactions than some business deals. Someone's killing changeling women, and Sascha and Lucas are drawn into a perilous situation that could end in war if the killer isn't caught.
My Thoughts: I knew this was going to be an A book when I started it this weekend. Singh does everything right, and she had me rooting for these characters from the very beginning.
I loved Sascha. She's gone through a hell of a lot in her life, and she very much wants someone to love her, but she's afraid to open herself to that. My heart ached for her, and I was rooting for her and Lucas, and honestly, at one point, I wasn't sure how Singh was going to manage to make everything work out between them without resorting to a deus ex machina. Thankfully, she didn't.
As for Lucas? Well, let's just say that I have a soft spot for shapeshifting cats and leave it at that. I thought he was smoking hot, and I loved the chemistry between him and Sascha. There were definitely some scenes I read on the bus that had me squirming in my seat and wishing for ice water.
The secondary characters are wonderful, and I especially liked watching Sascha's budding relationship with Tamsyn, Dark River's healer. So often girlfriends in romances simply aren't ever around, and I was glad Singh created a bond between the two women. Also, Tamsyn is already mated, so she wasn't set up for sequel bait. In fact, though we do meet some of the characters that feature in the next books, there's no way Singh could have told the story without including them.
As to the setting? I loved it. I want to go visit this version of Earth, and I was left with questions that I hope are answered in the next books--like what the place in society is for those humans who are neither psy nor changeling.
If I have a quibble, it's that the villain was a bit obvious in retrospect. But then, I'm not sure how else Singh would have explained things, so possibly I just need to get over myself.
Anyway, a lovely book. Very highly recommended.