Tag Archives: Adult Fiction

Book Review: Play Of Passion by Nalini Singh

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Book: Play Of Passion by Nalini Singh

Published November 2010 by Berkley Books|321 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: Psy-Changeling #9

Genre: Adult Romance/Paranormal Romance

In his position as 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 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 will. 

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

I really liked the romance in this one.  Play Of Passion was more about the romance, which was actually nice.  As much as I love the world, it was nice to take a break from all of the things going on with the Psy.  We do get that in this one, and there are some very interesting developments, but it was nice to have a book that focused more on the romance.

I really liked Indigo and Drew together.  They had an interesting dynamic, though I found myself irritated with Indigo when she wouldn’t give him a chance because of his age.  It took her until almost the end of the book to admit he was her mate, and I thought Drew was amazing since she did not make things easy.  That being said, I still like them together, and I was glad she figured out she wanted Drew.  Or at least, admitted he was the one she wanted.  I did like seeing the pack hierarchy, and it was nice to spend more time in the changeling world.

Honestly, this is going to be a short review!  I’m struggling to add more, and in a couple of paragraphs, I feel like I’ve said all I’ve needed to say.  I guess there isn’t a lot for me to talk about as far as Play Of Passion goes.  It’s not that it’s filler, since it does move things along, but it’s like…the calm before the storm, maybe?  At any rate, I think I’ve said all I need to say about this book.

4 stars.  I really liked it, and it was nice to have a book more centered on the romance and the changeling world.

Book Review: Blaze Of Memory and Bonds Of Justice by Nalini Singh

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Book: Blaze Of Memory by Nalini Singh

Published November 2009 by Berkley|373 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: Psy-Changeling #7

Genre: Adult Romance/Paranormal Romance

A woman without a past becomes the pawn of the man who controls her future…

Dev Santos discovers her unconscious and battered, with no memory of who she is. All she knows is that she’s dangerous. Charged with protecting his people’s most vulnerable secrets, Dev is duty-bound to eliminate all threats. It’s a task he’s never hesitated to complete…until he finds himself drawn to a woman who might prove to be the enemy’s most insidious weapon yet.

Stripped of her memories by a shadowy oppressor and programmed to carry out cold-blooded murder, Katya Haas is fighting desperately for her sanity. Her only hope is Dev. But how can she expect to gain the trust of a man who could very well be her next target? For in this game, one must die…

I’ve really enjoyed this series, and this book is no exception.  I’m actually kind of in the middle for this one- I liked it a lot but I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it.

I think the thing that surprised me the most was how much the romance took a backseat to everything else that was going on.  I didn’t care for Katya and Dev as a couple, and there was a lot we learned about Silence and the Forgotten in this book.  I thought it overshadowed the romance, which made me a little sad because partially why I like this series is the romance.

Okay, I haven’t loved every couple, and Katya and Dev are not one of my favorites.  But I really felt like the romance was secondary to the world-building.  That’s the other thing that keeps me going with the series, and that really stood out in this book.  We learned a lot about Dev’s family, and I liked seeing the letters written by one of his relatives to another relative.

I really liked seeing those letters, because you really see how implementing Silence changed things for all Psy.  You really see how it affected those who didn’t want to be part of it, and how they were cut off from those they loved because they didn’t believe in it.  We also learn a lot about the abilities that died out when the Forgotten defected.  I’m curious to see if we’ll learn more about those long-lost abilities, and if they’ll start popping up again.

I also liked seeing the Sunshine station or whatever you want to call it.  It makes me wonder where Singh is going with it, and if we’ll learn what’s going on there.  I’m sure we will, because I feel like Singh introduces characters and concepts long before we actually learn what’s going on.

Also…I’m starting to wonder if the Ghost is an Arrow.  I was pleasantly surprised by what we see in regards to the Arrows, and I’m curious to see who the Ghost is.  I know I mention in every single review I’ve done for this series, but this is the first time where I’ve really felt like I could even begin to come up with some possibilities.

My Rating: 4 stars.  I really liked what we learned about the Forgotten and Silence, but I wish I liked the romance more.

Book: Bonds Of Justice by Nalini Singh

Published July 2010 by Berkley|348 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: Psy-Changeling #8

Genre: Adult Romance/Adult Paranormal Romance

Max Shannon is a good cop, one of the best in New York Enforcement. Born with a natural shield that protects him against Psy mental invasions, he knows he has little chance of advancement within the Psy-dominated power structure. The last case he expects to be assigned is that of a murderer targeting a Psy Councilor’s closest advisors. And the last woman he expects to compel him in the most sensual of ways is a Psy on the verge of a catastrophic mental fracture…

Sophia Russo is a Justice-Psy, cursed with the ability to retrieve memories from men and women so twisted even veteran cops keep their distance. Appointed as Max’s liaison with the Psy, she finds herself fascinated by this human, her frozen heart threatening to thaw with forbidden emotion. But, her mind filled with other people’s nightmares, other people’s evil, she’s standing on the border between sanity and a silken darkness that urges her to take justice into her own hands, to become judge, jury…and executioner…

I really liked this one!  I particularly liked the romance in this one, which was a nice change after reading Blaze Of Memory, and finding that the romance took a backseat to the world-building.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked the world-building in this book.  We learn about the J-Psy, and that was cool.  I mean, they can retrieve memories from people, and eventually, they’re rehabilitated so much that they go insane or die.  I am curious to see how her abilities are used in the future.  Even though she’s perfectly fine at the end of the book, I still want to know if her continued use of her ability will eventually damage her shields, and if everything going on with PsyNet will do some damage.

As for the romance, I really liked Max and Sophia together.  I think, with her abilities and his work in Enforcement, they really understand what the other has to deal with at work, and they really balance each other out.  I know Enforcement has come up in this series, but even after finishing Bonds Of Justice, I’m still not clear what they do.  Still, I’m hoping we’ll see more of Max and Sophia in some of the other books.

I really liked seeing the Council, and how they split.  I do like seeing them fight for control and power, and with the Council being so divided, it’s going to be very interesting to see how that will tie into everything going on with the PsyNet, and how it’ll affect not just the Psy, but the humans and changelings as well.

This book seemed more grounded in reality than a lot of the other books in the series.  I am particularly fond of the psy-changeling romances we’ve seen, and overall, I prefer those romances to all of the non-psy-changeling romances we’ve seen.  I think I expected more paranormal elements, and this book didn’t really have it.  Paranormal elements or not, I really did like this one.

My Rating: 4 stars.  I really liked Bonds Of Justice, and I liked Max and Sophia together.

Audio Book Review: The Book Of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor, Narrated by Robin Miles

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Book: The Book Of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor, Narrated by Robin Miles

Published September 2015 by Audible Studios|Length: 8 hours, 50 minutes

Where I Got It: I own the audio book

Series: Who Fears Death #0.1

Genre: Adult Fantasy/Dystopia

A fiery spirit dances from the pages of the Great Book. She brings the aroma of scorched sand and ozone. She has a story to tell….

The Book of Phoenix is a unique work of magical futurism. A prequel to the highly acclaimed, World Fantasy Award-winning novel Who Fears Death, it features the rise of another of Nnedi Okorafor’s powerful, memorable, superhuman women.

Phoenix was grown and raised among other genetic experiments in New York’s Tower 7. She is an “accelerated woman” – only two years old but with the body and mind of an adult, Phoenix’s abilities far exceed those of a normal human. Still innocent and inexperienced in the ways of the world, she is content living in her room speed reading ebooks, running on her treadmill, and basking in the love of Saeed, another biologically altered human of Tower 7. Then one evening Saeed witnesses something so terrible that he takes his own life.

Devastated by his death and Tower 7’s refusal to answer her questions, Phoenix finally begins to realize that her home is really her prison, and she becomes desperate to escape. But Phoenix’s escape, and her destruction of Tower 7, is just the beginning of her story. Before her story ends, Phoenix will travel from the United States to Africa and back, changing the entire course of humanity’s future. 

I really liked The Book Of Phoenix!  Nnedi Okorafor always writes really interesting books, and this one was no exception.

This one is a prequel to Who Fears Death, and I kind of wish I had re-read that one first, just to get back into this world.  Also, I couldn’t begin to tell you how the two books are connected, but maybe I’ll re-read Who Fears Death just to see.

I did like Phoenix, and I thought it was horrible what people were doing to the biologically altered.  I do remember wondering how we got to the future we saw in Who Fears Death, and I am thinking that maybe everything we see in this book is what leads to that future.  I could be wrong, and I really am wishing I had re-read Who Fears Death.  But that is what I get for randomly deciding to read a book without re-reading any of the other books in that series.

That being said, I thought the book stood on its own really well, and I don’t think the order in which you read the books matters.  Also, you could probably read just this one, and be fine.  It is its own story, and I liked seeing Phoenix try to take down the towers and fight back against her controllers.

The Book Of Phoenix worked really well as an audio book.  It’s an oral history, told by Phoenix herself, and I felt like Phoenix was telling me her own story, which really worked.  Also, it’s narrated by Robin Miles, who is a fantastic narrator.  I’ve really liked the books I’ve listened to that have been narrated by her, and this one was no exception.  I’m really glad I went with the audio, and I wholeheartedly recommend the audio book.

4 stars.  I wish I had more to say about this book, but I don’t.  I really liked it, and I love how Okorafor blends fantasy and sci-fi.

Book Review: The Grip Of It by Jac Jemc

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Book: The Grip Of It by Jac Jemc

Published August 2017 by FSG Originals|273 pages

Where I Got It: I own the paperback

Series: None

Genre: Adult Literary/Horror

A chilling literary horror novel about a young couple who purchase and live in a haunted house. Jac Jemc’s The Grip of Ittells the eerie story of a young couple haunted by their new home. 

Julie and James settle into a house in a small town outside the city where they met. The move—prompted by James’s penchant for gambling, his inability to keep his impulses in check—is quick and seamless; both Julie and James are happy to leave behind their usual haunts and start afresh. But this house, which sits between ocean and forest, has plans for the unsuspecting couple. As Julie and James try to settle into their home and their relationship, the house and its surrounding terrain become the locus of increasingly strange happenings. The architecture—claustrophobic, riddled with hidden rooms within rooms—becomes unrecognizable, decaying before their eyes. Stains are animated on the wall—contracting, expanding—and map themselves onto Julie’s body in the form of bruises; mold spores taint the water that James pours from the sink. Together the couple embark on a panicked search for the source of their mutual torment, a journey that mires them in the history of their peculiar neighbors and the mysterious residents who lived in the house before Julia and James.

Written in creepy, potent prose, The Grip of It is an enthralling, psychologically intense novel that deals in questions of home: how we make it and how it in turn makes us, mapping itself onto bodies and the relationships we cherish.

I did not like this book as much as I thought I would.  It had a lot of potential, and I like the idea of a couple moving into a house only to get caught up in what had happened in the house before they bought it, and the history of the neighborhood.

I was bored when reading it, and I didn’t feel any terror or claustrophobia.  I think that’s what the author was going for, but I didn’t particularly feel that while reading the book.  It wasn’t as creepy as I thought it would be, and I didn’t particularly care about what they were going through.

There were a couple of things that didn’t work for me: the chapter length and the POV.  So, both Julia and James narrate the book, but their voices sounded exactly the same, and it was hard to tell who was narrating.  It was hard to tell them apart, especially when each chapter maxed out at about 4 pages.  The chapters weren’t long enough to really get into each character’s head.

Not only that, but switching back and forth every 2-4 pages took me out of what was going on.  Not that the chapters had to be labeled with who was narrating that particular chapter, but it would have been helpful to know who was supposed to be narrating.  At least to have a reference point, since both voices sounded the same to me.

Obviously, this book wasn’t for me, and I don’t think I would have picked it up if it weren’t part of a subscription box I was getting.  I get why people might like.  I mean, who wouldn’t go for a haunted house story?  I just wish it were for me.

1 star.  I didn’t like this book, and it was hard to tell the two narrators apart.  Plus, it wasn’t as creepy or haunting or claustrophobic as I thought it would be.

Audio Book Review: Sorcerer To The Crown by Zen Cho, Narrated By Jenny Sterlin

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Book: Sorcerer To The Crown by Zen Cho, Narrated by Jenny Sterlin

Published September 2015 by Recorded Books|13 hours, 9 minutes

Where I Got It: I own the audio book

Series: Sorcerer Royal #1

Genre: Adult Fantasy

Magic and mayhem collide with the British elite in this whimsical and sparkling debut.

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up.

But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large…

I really liked Sorcerer To The Crown.  It was hard to get into, especially at the beginning, but by the end of the book, I was really glad I stuck with it.  I loved Prunella, and she was such a cool character.  It’s interesting, because you’d think she wouldn’t have a huge role in the book, but she turns out to be pretty important.  I’m hoping there’s more of her in the next book.

I think the one thing that kept me going with this book was the fact that I listened to.  I originally tried to read it in print, got a few pages in, and decided to give the audio book a try.  I’m glad I did, because I really liked the narrator.  She really brought the humor and time period to life, and I think if you like Gail Carriger’s books, you’ll really like this one.  There’s something something about the history and magic and humor, though her books are quite different from this one.

There were times where I wasn’t paying attention, but I suppose that’s what happens when I’m listening at home while I’m cooking or something.  At least it didn’t fade into the background the way The Reader did when I listened to that recently.

Still, it was fun to listen to, and there were quite a few times when I couldn’t help but laugh.  And there were some really interesting things about the book as well- Zacharias has a lot of enemies, and there are a lot of people who don’t think he should be in the position he’s in, just because he was a former slave, and because of the color of skin.  And when you add in Prunella, who’s at a school because women are seen as unsuitable for magic.  I think some of that got lost in the audio book, though maybe those were the points where I wasn’t completely paying attention.

I like that it’s set in an alternate Regency England.  Can this type of fantasy stay around for a while?  It’s a nice change from the medieval Europe fantasy that seems pretty normal for fantasy, and it’s nice reading something different.  I think that might be why I liked it so much.  Plus, even though there is a sequel (which needs more Prunella, because she is absolutely amazing), it’s pretty self-contained.  It makes me curious to see where things are going to go, but there is enough going on in the book that there’s so much she could do with another book.

I also really liked the narrator.  I liked her enough that I think I want to at least see what else she’s narrated.  Her narration, like I mentioned earlier, is what kept me going with the audio book, especially since I struggled with the beginning.

4 stars.  I really liked Sorcerer To The Crown, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Book Review: The Twilight Pariah by Jeffrey Ford

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Book: The Twilight Pariah by Jeffrey Ford

Published September 2017 by St. Martin’s Press|176 pages

Where I Got It: I own the paperbook

Series: None

Genre: Adult Fiction/Horror

Three friends go looking for treasure and find horror in Jeffrey Ford’s The Twilight Pariah.

All Maggie, Russell, and Henry wanted out of their last college vacation was to get drunk and play archaeologist in an old house in the woods outside of town. When they excavate the mansion’s outhouse they find way more than they bargained for: a sealed bottle filled with a red liquid, along with the bizarre skeleton of a horned child

Disturbing the skeleton throws each of their lives into a living hell. They feel followed wherever they go, their homes are ransacked by unknown intruders, and people they care about are brutally, horribly dismembered. The three friends awakened something, a creature that will stop at nothing to retrieve its child.

The Twilight Pariah was another one from the PageHabit horror box that I’m just now getting to.  This one, like The Murders Of Molly Southbourne, was also okay, and didn’t really work for me.

The Twilight Pariah is your typical story where people disturb a skeleton and get haunted.  Obviously, characters in stories like these don’t know that you don’t disturb skeletons and graveyards, because bad things happen when you do.

It wasn’t as eerie and creepy as I thought it would be and there were times when the book was funny…but unintentionally.  It’s more comedy-horror than true horror or ghost story.  For some reason bizarre reason, Horrorstor is coming to mind, but maybe it’s the sometimes intentionally funny moments, sometimes unintentionally moments that is bringing the two together.

It was definitely too short, and I felt like there could have been more in terms of what was going on, and how disturbing the skeleton really upset the balance of things.  I like the idea behind it, and I could picture everything really well, but it just needed more to it.  It could be an entertaining tv or straight to DVD movie, especially around Halloween.  It’s short enough that it felt rushed and lacking in detail, so it could be interesting if the author decided to expand on it, and write a full-length novel, instead of a novella.

2 stars.  The Twilight Pariah was okay, and not as scary or creepy as I thought it would be.  I wish I had more to say about it, but I don’t.

Book Review: The Murders Of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson

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Book: The Murders Of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson

Published October 2017 by St Martin’s Press|117 pages

Where I Got It: I own the paperback

Series: Molly Southbourne #1

Genre: Adult Fiction/Horror

Every time she bleeds a murderer is born. Experience the horror of Tade Thompson’s The Murders of Molly Southbourne.

The rule is simple: don’t bleed.

For as long as Molly Southbourne can remember, she’s been watching herself die. Whenever she bleeds, another molly is born, identical to her in every way and intent on her destruction.

Molly knows every way to kill herself, but she also knows that as long as she survives she’ll be hunted. No matter how well she follows the rules, eventually the mollys will find her. Can Molly find a way to stop the tide of blood, or will she meet her end at the hand of a girl who looks just like her? 

I wanted to like this one a lot more than I did.  This isn’t a book I normally would have picked up, but it was the pick for one of the PageHabit horror boxes, back when I was getting it.

It’s a cool idea though- I mean, can you imagine trying not to bleed because it means that another one of you is created?  And can you imagine the doppelgangers running around when you’re on your period?  I have to admit, that was one thing I was really curious about.  Is it constant doppelgangers running around for a week straight?  Does it depend on the flow too, or is it the same no matter what?  I’m not sure why this particular thing is standing out, but I am really curious.

Overall, I think it could have been expanded a lot more.  It was really short, and I wanted more from it.  I mean, we do get an explanation of what’s going on with her, but it didn’t do anything for me.  I also couldn’t connect with Molly, and I didn’t feel anything- there wasn’t any emotion to it, and it wasn’t creepy or scary or terrifying the way I thought it would be.

It’s a shame, because the idea is really cool, and it had a lot of potential to be absolutely terrifying but that wasn’t something I felt when I was reading it.  Obviously, it wasn’t the right fit for me, and while I don’t really get what the author was going for with this story, it could be a better fit for someone else.  It has been a really long time since I read horror so maybe it’s not really my thing anymore.

2 stars.  It was okay, and obviously, this book and I were not meant to be.  It is a really cool idea, even though I wish there had been more to it.

Book Review: Hostage To Pleasure by Nalini Singh

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Book: Hostage To Pleasure by Nalini Singh

Published September 2008 by Berkley Books|330 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: Psy-Changeling #5

Genre: Adult Romance/Paranormal Romance

Separated from her son and forced to create a neural implant that will mean the effective enslavement of her psychically gifted race, Ashaya Aleine is the perfect Psy–cool, calm, emotionless…at least on the surface. Inside, she’s fighting a desperate battle to save her son and escape the vicious cold of the PsyNet. Yet when escape comes, it leads not to safety, but to the lethal danger of a sniper’s embrace.

DarkRiver sniper Dorian Christensen lost his sister to a Psy killer. Though he lacks the changeling ability to shift into animal form, his leopard lives within. And that leopard’s rage at the brutal loss is a clawing darkness that hungers for vengeance. Falling for a Psy has never been on Dorian’s agenda. But charged with protecting Ashaya and her son, he discovers that passion has a way of changing the rules…

I really liked this one!  I definitely liked it a lot more than Mine To Posses, the previous book in the series.  Ashaya has come up in the previous novels, and I was really intrigued by what she was doing.  I’m really glad that we got her story, though I did figure we’d get it eventually.  It’s the same with Dorian, of course.

I thought Ashaya was interesting.  We do get more of what she was doing, especially with the implant protocol she was working on.  I also thought her shields were interesting as well, and the whole thing with her sister really got my attention as well.  Even though Ashaya was the focus of this book, I’m sure her work and everything with her twin will come up in some of the other books.  I really wanted more of it.

I also like that we got bits and pieces from her encrypted files.  That’s definitely different, but it gave a lot more insight into her thoughts and what was going on with her.  She’s definitely logical (she is Psy, after all), but she and Dorian are so good together, and they are my favorite couple.  At least, so far they are.  That could change as I continue the series, but so far, they are it.

The more I read this series, the more I love it.  The characters are all so different, but there are some great friendships, alliances and romance.  And even though each story stands alone pretty well, I also love that the world keeps building on itself.  I’m curious to see how it all comes together and how it all ends.  I’m at the point where I’ve requested the entire series from the library, and I’m waiting on the last couple of books before picking it up again.

I haven’t talked about Dorian at all!  I loved seeing him with Keenan, and I really feel for him.  I definitely get why he doesn’t want to be with Ashaya, even though she is his mate.  One thing I’m kind of curious about is how the changelings know who their mate is.  Now that I think about it, I can’t recall it ever being mentioned in detail, especially since they all seem to mate with Psy.  Maybe I’m not just remembering anything, and I’m totally cool with them just somehow knowing, but it would be interesting to get more details.  Or details that I can remember.  Maybe I’ll have to pay more attention in the next one to see if it comes up.

What is driving me crazy is not knowing who the Ghost is!  Singh is doing such a great job at not giving anything away.  Not that I’m actively trying to figure it out, and I can’t recall any clues.  I’m wondering if it’s someone we know, or if we’ve never met them before.  I’m hoping we find out, but I also don’t want to be let down with the reveal either.

And what is going on with Kaleb?  I’ve decided, I want a book focusing on him.  I’m intrigued by what he’s up to, and I can’t quite decide if he’s good or bad.  Time will tell, but I’m sure this is not the last we’ve seen of him.

4 stars.  I really liked this one!  I liked Ashaya and Dorian together, and both characters are pretty cool.

Book Review: Mine To Possess by Nalini Singh

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Book: Mine To Possess by Nalini Singh

Published February 2008 by Berkley|328 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: Psy-Changling #4

Genre: Adult Romance/Paranormal Romance

Clay Bennett is a powerful DarkRiver sentinel, but he grew up in the slums with his human mother, never knowing his changeling father. As a young boy without the bonds of Pack, he tried to stifle his animal nature. He failed…and committed the most extreme act of violence, killing a man and losing his best friend, Talin, in the bloody aftermath. Everything good in him died the day he was told that she, too, was dead.

Talin McKade barely survived a childhood drenched in bloodshed and terror. Now a new nightmare is stalking her life–the street children she works to protect are disappearing and turning up dead. Determined to keep them safe, she unlocks the darkest secret in her heart and returns to ask the help of the strongest man she knows…

Clay lost Talin once. He will not let her go again, his hunger to possess her, a clawing need born of the leopard within. As they race to save the innocent, Clay and Talin must face the violent truths of their past…or lose everything that ever mattered.

I liked Mine To Possess!  I think it’s my least favorite book so far, though there were things that I liked as well.

I really liked learning more about the Silence and the Psy-Net.  With each book, we’re learning more and more about the world, and while each book is relatively contained, and is a mostly complete story, we’re also getting more about the world they live in, and how much history there is.  There’s a larger picture that you wouldn’t see if you didn’t read each book.

The overall story gets moved along a lot in this book and that was nice to see.  We get more behind the scenes with the Council, and though there was something that I figured out early on in the book, I was surprised at some of the details.  It makes sense, but I had never thought about it before, and I’m really curious to see where it will go.

As for Talin and Clay…I didn’t particularly care for them as a couple.  I mean they make sense in terms of the story, and they have a history.  I get why Talin acted the way she did, and I felt for her.  There were a couple of time Clay was really frustrating, but for the most part, I liked Clay a lot more than Tally.  I wish I rooted for the romance more, because with romance, I want to love the characters together, and I just didn’t.  Hopefully, I’ll have better luck with the next book.

3 stars.  I didn’t like it as much as the previous books because of the couple but I did like learning more about the Silence and the Psy Net.  And I’m really curious to see where things go.

Book Review: Visions Of Heat by Nalini Singh

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Book: Visions Of Heat by Nalini Singh

Published March 2007 by Berkley Sensation|332 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: Psy-Changling #2

Genre: Adult Romance/Paranormal Romance

Hailed as a major new talent in paranormal romance, Nalini Singh takes us deeper into the world of the Psy and the changelings in her latest extraordinary novel, where a gifted woman sees passion in her future – a passion that is absolutely forbidden by her kind…

Used to cold silence, Faith NightStar is suddenly being tormented by dark visions of blood and murder. A bad sign for anyone, but worse for Faith, an F-Psy with the highly sought after ability to predict the future. Then the visions show her something even more dangerous – aching need…exquisite pleasure. But so powerful is her sight, so fragile the state of her mind, that the very emotions she yearns to embrace could be the end of her.

Changeling Vaughn D’Angelo can take the form of either man or jaguar, but it is his animal side that is overwhelmingly drawn to Faith. The jaguar’s instinct is to claim this woman it finds so utterly fascinating and the man has no argument. But while Vaughn craves sensation and hungers to pleasure Faith in every way, desire is a danger that could snap the last threads of her sanity. And there are Psy who need Faith’s sight for their own purposes. They must keep her silenced – and keep her from Vaughn.

I really liked Visions Of Heat!  I especially liked Faith and Vaughn together.  Thought Sasha and Lucas from the previous book aren’t the focus, I do like that we see them in this book, and that we still get their story, even though they aren’t the main couple in this book.

I really like the world, and I’m intrigued with the F-Psy and how isolated they are.  She lives in her own little bubble and I thought it was interesting that she decided to try to get out of it and break free.  I particularly liked seeing Faith outside of the compound she’s lived in for years, and how she begins to adjust to the outside world.

We get more of this world we saw in Slave To Sensation, and I’m curious to see if we’ll see some of the other packs and Psy in the other books.  I’m sure each book will focus on a different couple, if this book and the one before it are any indication.  She really built on the world, and though you don’t need to read the first one to understand what’s going on in this one, I still think the world and characters are good enough that you’ll want to read each one in order!

It did seem more political than Slave To Sensation- Faith is a possibility for an opening on the Council, and it’s pretty much for the control they’d have over her, and because of what she can do.  I think that’s why it’s so interesting that those with abilities like Faith are so isolated.  I mean, they do seem to train them to see certain things, but it’s interesting that they don’t try to control them more.  I don’t know if we’ll see more of the F-Psy in future books (or that we’ll see one as powerful as Faith is supposed to be), but I am curious to learn more about what they can do.

I did like her dad, and he seemed pretty cool, all things considered.  He did seem to care about her, which seemed unexpected, considering how cold and emotionless the Psy are supposed to be.  Maybe they’re not all alike after all.

We do see more of the Silence Protocol, and the NetMind, and I hope we’ll continue to see more of it in the books to come.  I’m sure we will, and while I’m fairly certain each book is going to focus on a different couple, I’m sure we’ll see appearances from Faith, Vaughn, Lucas and Sascha.  I’m very curious to see if the Psy will rebel and change how things are done.

4 stars.  I really liked Visions Of Heat, and I can’t wait to start reading the next one!