Title: Shield of Winter
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #13, Psy-Changeling Season One #13
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Gollancz
Year: 2014
5th sentence, 74th page: “Study the details of your assigned assets, alert me of any security threats.”

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:

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 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…

Vasic’s role in the Psy rebellion throughout the series was always a little confusing – he appeared to be on the side of the good guys, but seemed to be working for the bad guys. His short appearances throughout the rest of the novels make it incredibly difficult to pinpoint his motives and alliances. The same can be said for most of the Arrows, their presence throughout the Psy-Changeling series hinting that they may be on the right side, but the very darkness that they carry due to their gifts make that a questionable assumption. Shield of Winter, however, changes all of that.

I tend to get a little frustrated when the Changelings aren’t as present throughout the story – I have a love for wolves and big cats. However, a story that focused almost entirely on the Arrows, Kaleb and the newly acknowledged empaths helped to lesson this frustration. Yes, the Changelings are incredibly tactile and enchanting characters, but the delightful mix of the caring conscientiousness of empaths and the deadly capabilities of a squad of assassins created a story that I look forward to reading again and again and again.

In Vasic’s plight and inability to accept his past, Singh highlights the ways in which we can be systematically and brutally destroyed if we go against our natures. The newly awakened place for the empaths within the world of the Psy is a great echo of this throughout the story. Constantly being told not to follow your instincts can be incredibly debilitating, not admitting their importance and being taught to go directly against them, as Vasic did is a pain that I cannot imagine.

Again, Singh has managed to not only write an amazing paranormal romance and dark fantasy, but she has created a story that makes me constantly think about my own actions and impulses. Something that all truly talented authors are able to do.

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Title: Heart of Obsidian
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #12, Psy-Changeling Season One #12
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Gollancz
Year: 2013
5th sentence, 74th page: “As most of you will recognize, that was Councilor Kaleb Krychek,” the reporter said out of frame as her camerman scanned for the next teleport.

Step into New York Times Bestseller Nalini Singh’s explosive and shockingly passionate Psy-Changeling world…

A dangerous, volatile rebel, hands stained blood red.

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.

Kaleb Krychek has been an enigma throughout the series. At the very beginning he seems to be the portent of all that is evil, but then, as the story of the Psy-Changeling world progresses, he seems to become far more ambiguous in his morality. Something that led to no end of confusion and intrigue as I’ve slowly read the series. So discovering more about him and his past, let alone the one person he holds dear was a thoroughly enjoyable journey that I encourage all Singh fans to undertake.

Heart of Obsidian not only finally explains so much about Kaleb and his ultimate goals within the PsyNet, but it also helps to tie up other storylines that had previously so confused me. The overarching role of Santano (who we had the displeasure of meeting in Slave to Sensation) in the lives of both Kaleb and many other Psys was more than a little horrifying, but it was somehow cathartic to finally realise the extent to which his actions impacted others.

The threat of Pure Psy and their ability to perform the most atrocious of acts under the banner of belief was also an astoundingly strong theme throughout this novel. Not only was the ability of these individuals to commit massacres at incredible levels enough to make me cringe and shiver at the thought, it sent a potent message – even under the banner of belief, acts of murder and genocide are not acceptable. Although this is purely fictional, the message is resounding in our everyday lives and the ways in which people are able to attack others under the guise of religion.

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Title: Tangle of Need
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #11, Psy-Changeling Season One #11
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Gollancz
Year: 2012
5th sentence, 74th page: Throwing his bottle of water toward Riaz, Elias reached back to grab Sakura, hauling her up into his arms.

Discover the exhilarating risks of passion in the breathtaking new Psy-Changeling novel by Nalini Singh.

Adria, wolf changeling and resilient soldier, has made a break with the past. Now comes a new territory, and a devastating new complication: Riaz, a SnowDancer lieutenant already sworn to someone else.

For Riaz, the primal attraction he feels for Adria is a staggering betrayal. For Adria, his dangerous lone-wolf appeal is beyond sexual. It consumes her. It terrifies her. It threatens to undermine everything she has built of her new life. But fighting their wild compulsion toward one another proves a losing battle.

Their coming together is an inferno… and a melding of two wounded souls who promise each other no commitment, no ties, no bonds. Only pleasure. Too late, they realise that they have more to lose than they ever imagined. Drawn into a cataclysmic Psy war that may alter the fate of the world itself, they must make a decision that might just break them both.

The storylines in the Psy-Changeling world just keep getting more and more complex. The fact that they do is not only a testimony to Singh’s ability to expand on her universe, whilst maintaining unique romance stories. After reading eleven books in the same series, all with their own, unique romantic partners, I was expecting to begin to feel same same about the storylines. It is hard to have a series with such a common thread have enough variety to keep one enthralled. Especially when it is not focused on one, single character’s development.

The idea of Riaz and Adria was a unique one in that Riaz was already mated, so it was difficult to see how these two could have a successful romance. However, as I just mentioned, Singh managed to find a new spin on an old theme and tell it in a way that shocked and surprised me. The choices that both characters made weren’t exactly what I envisaged, and the journey was an indescribably suspenseful one.

Sienna and Hawke are frequently visited in Tangle of Need, their roles as the alpha pair of one of the most powerful changeling groups in the world necessitating such an inclusion. However, the transition throughout the series from a tale focused on one couple with the appearance of others, to a story of full-blown war with a constantly present cast of characters has been a slow and steady one. This change in the theme and format of the stories helps to highlight the greater theme of the series, and make sure that readers fall in love with Singh’s Psy-Changeling novels again and again and again.

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Title: Kiss of Snow
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #10, Psy-Changeling Season One #10
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Gollancz
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: Warm and curvy and muscled in a supple feminine way, she’d surprised him with the softness of her.

Since the moment of their defection from the Psynet and into the SnowDancer wolf pack, Sienna Lauren has had one weakness. Hawke. A dangerous Alpha, the response he draws from her could almost compel her to madness.

Hawke is used to walking alone, having lost the woman who would’ve been his mate. But Sienna fascinates the primal heart of him, even as he tells himself she is far too young to handle the wild fury of the wolf.

Then Sienna changes the rules and, suddenly, there is no more distance, only the most intimate of battles between two people who were never meant to meet. Yet as they strip away each other’s secrets in a storm of raw emotion, they must also ready themselves for a far more vicious fight.

A deadly enemy is out to destroy the SnowDancer pack, striking at everything they hold dear, but it is Sienna’s darkest secret that may yet savage the pack that is her home… and the alpha who is its heartbeat…

I have been waiting and waiting for the story of Sienna and Hawke since first meeting Hawke in Slave to Sensation. The slow filtering of information about their mutual attraction throughout the past nine books, just increased my need, no, my desire to find out how their story progressed. Add to that the fact that Kiss of Snow has the first real incursion by the Psy into SnowDancer territory, and this whole book was absolutely impossible to put down.

Sienna’s immense power and abilities have been hinted at throughout the stories, but the actual meaning of the X designation and the danger of this are finally explained beautifully. This, combined with Sienna’s power and the true reason behind the Laurens’ flight from the PsyNet illustrated a beautiful young woman who is beginning to grow into her powers. It is this ability and sense of growing that not only finally brings her story to the limelight, but also makes Hawke acknowledge what everyone else has long known – that the two highly volatile characters are made for each other.

Unlike the other Psy-Changeling stories, there were two tales of romance and mating throughout Kiss of Snow. Walker and Lara were a completely unexpected match, but one that somehow made complete and total sense. Their caring natures and unquenchable desire to nurture the young not only balances out the vivid fire and aggression of Sienna and Hawke’s romance, but also the costs that the beginnings of war have upon the Pack.

Image source: Goodreads

Title: Play of Passion
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #9, Psy-Changeling Season One #9
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Gollancz
Year: 2010
5th sentence, 74th page: And that, Indigo thought, was even more of a problem than the control issues of the dominant males.

Passion and reason collide with explosive force in the newest instalment of Nalini Singh’s mesmerising Psy-Changeling series. As a conflict with Pure Psy looms on the horizon, two powerful wolves fight a far more intimate war of their own…

In his role as a tracker for the SnowDancer pack, it’s up to Drew Kincaid to rein in rogue changelings who have lost control of their animal halves – even if it means killing those who have gone too far. But nothing in his life has prepared him for the battle he must now wage to win the heart of a woman who makes his body ignite… and who threatens to enslave his wolf.

Lieutenant Indigo Riviere doesn’t easily allow skin privileges, especially not those of the sensual kind – and the last person she expects to find herself craving is the most wickedly playful male in the den. Everything she knows tells her to pull back before the flames burn them both to ash… but she hasn’t counted on Drew’s determination to win her.

Now, two of SnowDancer’s most stubborn wolves find themselves playing a hot, sexy courtship game even as lethal danger stalks the very place they call home…

One of the things that I have really loved about Singh’s stories and writing is the inner strength of both of her characters – both male and female. Although often the males are incredibly possessive and protective, the women tend to match them, and sometimes even out do them in their own protective possessiveness. And Indigo is no different, in fact, the ability of a more dominant female to mate with a male was an incredibly intriguing and enjoyable way in which to alter the stereotypes that I am so used to being exposed to in the modern world.

I have read some reviews on Play of Passion that tote Indigo to be an incredibly haughty and selfish character, the only bad reviews that I have read of the Psy-Changeling books. However, I didn’t find this at all. Indigo’s inability to become vulnerable and her constant freezing out of Drew struck me as entirely understandable and reliable reactions to her surrounds. Her rigidity and inability to compromise, whilst a little frustrating, perfectly balance out Drew’s kind hearted and joking nature – sometimes, when opposites attract, it works out very, very well.

Although this book still focuses on the mating of a couple, the furthering of the war and friction within the Psy was a really important part of the story. Henry Scott and Pure Psy have slowly been becoming more and more intense in the threat department. And in Play of Passion, they become truly insipid. I can’t wait to see how their constant assault on those who aren’t a pure part of Silence continues to unfold in this fascinating series.

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