Paranormal Romance

Shield of Winter (Psy-Changeling #13) By: Nalini Singh

shield of winter

Shield of Winter (Psy-Changeling #13) By: Nalini Singh

Plot:

Assassin. Soldier. Arrow. That is who Vasic is, who he will always be. His soul drenched in blood, his conscience heavy with the weight of all he’s done, he exists in the shadows, far from the hope his people can almost touch—if only they do not first drown in the murderous insanity of a lethal contagion. To stop the wave of death, Vasic must complete the simplest and most difficult mission of his life.

For if the Psy race is to survive, the empaths must wake…

Having rebuilt her life after medical “treatment” that violated her mind and sought to stifle her abilities, Ivy should have run from the black-clad Arrow with eyes of winter frost. But Ivy Jane has never done what she should. Now, she’ll fight for her people, and for this Arrow who stands as her living shield, yet believes he is beyond redemption. But as the world turns to screaming crimson, even Ivy’s fierce will may not be enough to save Vasic from the cold darkness…

Review:

Did I stay up until two o’clock in the morning and thus the next morning was incredibly cranky while reading this book? Yes. Yes I did.

Vasic was nowhere near as “evil” as Kaleb from the last book, there wasn’t all the hands at her neck parts so I liked it a lot of better. I know that technically speaking Kaleb isn’t evil but when all that’s keeping him from killing an entire race is the love of his woman he’s kind of evil in my book.

Vasic and Ivy were great characters and I loved that we finally got an answer to the Psy issues that have been going on in the world. Honestly the series could end at this point because the big issues are taken care of, at least all the ones I remember. However, I’m still curious to see what happens because the world created is fun and exciting.

4.5/5

Heart of Obsidian (Psy-Changeling #12) By: Nalini Singh

HeartofObsid_Medium

Heart of Obsidian (Psy-Changeling #12) By: Nalini Singh

Plot:

A dangerous, volatile rebel, hands stained bloodred.
A woman whose very existence has been erased.
A love story so dark, it may shatter the world itself.
A deadly price that must be paid.
The day of reckoning is here.

From “the alpha author of paranormal romance” (Booklist) comes the most highly anticipated novel of her career—one that blurs the line between madness and genius, between subjugation and liberation, between the living and the dead.

Review:

Now that I’m sort of refreshed on the world I picked up where I left off. Heart of Obsidian had a few things I’d forgotten about, but I quickly got back up to speed. I liked the fact that the story was about Psy, they’re interesting and different from other books I’ve read.

Kaleb was a very dark, tormented character. Sahara was surprisingly strong and recovered from her ordeal fairly quickly. Honestly, I didn’t really like these two. They were super powerful and seemed to do and recover from setbacks quickly. Actually, there weren’t many setbacks. They were just so freaking powerful.

What was done to the world in this book was more interesting than the characters. What happened in the end changes the entire Psy community, so I look forward to reading what happens next because of that.

3.5/5

Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changeling #1) By: Nalini Singh
Thank goodness for a kindle

Thank goodness for a kindle

Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changeling #1) By: Nalini Singh

Plot:

Nalini Singh dives into a world torn apart by a powerful race with phenomenal powers of the mind-and none of the heart.

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.

Review:

I’ve read this book before, but I’ve been thinking about it lately and decided on a re-read.

Last time I read the book I wasn’t writing, this time I read it from a different perspective. Looking at it now I loved the world building, there was so much going on in this book and having read several books down the series, it’s obvious that Singh was already thinking ahead.

The Psy are so cold and in control and the concept of them is so interesting. The Changelings are like most other shifters and based on what little was discussed on the humans they’re the same as normal. What was fun and interesting was the fact that they all lived together. There was no moment of ‘holy cow psychics and shifters are real’ moment. It was just accepted and you got to look at what a world with them would be like.

Honestly I could have done with less of the romance because the world was so interesting. The thing is I liked the romance as well and probably wouldn’t want to read the book without it. Kind of like the New Species novels by Laurann Dohner.

I’ve read up until number twelve in this series and I enjoyed the books at varying degrees, none below a three star. The series is excellent and I would recommend it to anyone that like these types of books.

4.5/5

 

When a Beta Roars (A Lion’s Pride #2) By: Eve Langlais

When a Beta Roars

When a Beta Roars (A Lion’s Pride #2) By: Eve Langlais

Plot:

How degrading. Stuck babysitting a woman because his alpha said so. As Pride Beta, he has better things to do with his time, like washing his impressive mane, hunting down thugs for fun, and chasing tail—sometimes his own if his lion is feeling playful. But his babysitting job takes an unexpected turn when the woman he’s assigned guard duty over turns out to be his mate. A female threatened by an outside wolf pack.
A woman he wants to call his own. A mate who doesn’t fall for his charm. Usually Beta’s leave the roaring to the Pride’s alpha, but in this case given his level of frustration, he might have to make an exception. And if anyone doesn’t like it, they can kiss his furry tail. Rawr!

Review:

So much action! From the first sneeze all the way to the end so much was going on, I really loved it.

Arabella and Hayder made a good couple. She’d been beat into submission and he showed her that not all men are horrible.

This book did not paint werewolves in a nice light. The last book it was more calling them dogs, but this book made them out to be just horrible. Felt really bad for Arabella for having to deal with them.

I liked this one a lot more than the last and can’t wait to continue the series.

5/5

The Mystery Woman (Ladies of Lantern Street #2) By: Amanda Quick

Mystery Woman

The Mystery Woman (Ladies of Lantern Street #2) By: Amanda Quick

Plot:

Beatrice Lockwood, one of the intrepid ladies of Lantern Street, is in the middle of a case when her past comes back to haunt her.  Joshua North, a former spy for the Crown, has come out of a self-imposed retirement after a disastrous case that left him scarred and forced to use a cane.  He is hunting the villain who is blackmailing his sister.

The trail leads him to Beatrice who is his chief suspect.  But when he realizes that she is not the blackmailer they set out to find the real extortionist.  Passion flares between them as they dodge a professional assassin.  Meanwhile a mysterious scientist intent on resurrecting his dead lover using an ancient Egyptian formula for preserving the bodies of the dead is also hunting Beatrice. He is keeping his dead love perfectly preserved in a special, crystal-topped sarcophagus filled with the special fluid.   But he needs Beatrice’s paranormal talent to activate the reviving properties of the preservative in the coffin.  Time is running out for everyone involved.

The two cases collide at a mysterious country-house filled with artifacts from ancient Egyptian tombs.  The drama concludes in the mad scientist’s laboratory where Joshua discovers that the past he thought was dead is still very much alive — sort of.

Review:

I love Amanda Quick, Jayne Castle, whatever she wants to call herself. Under her Quick name her books are more historical but they still have the paranormal bent which is great. I’m not a huge historical romance reader but the addition of psychic powers makes it so much more fun.

Joshua was, possibly, the first male lead I’ve read who openly refuses to believe in psychic abilities. He’s polite to Beatrice and never really calls her a liar or fraud, but he says that her observations were made because of logic. It’s cute and never really gets annoying and was actually kind of refreshing.

Beatrice was your normal strong female who has psychic powers and lives in the Victorian age. Nothing really amazing about her, I liked her, but nothing really stood out. I did feel bad for her sexual encounters, though, Joshua could have worked a bit harder in that area, if you know what I mean.

4/5