Play of Passion

Play of Passion by Nalini Singh

Series: Psy-Changeling Series #9

Genre: Paranormal-Romance, Adult, Wereshifters

Publication: November 2nd 2010 by Berkley

The Plot.

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.

The Review.

Play of Passion firmly reasserts my love for Nalini Singh. I found in the last two novels of the Psy-Changeling series that Singh had been lacking a little, but everything is hanging my a thread and the world around the characters is really starting to change. Lots of political alliances are being formed, underground movements and on the surface the tensions and strained and hostility is high between the characters. This firmly entrenches me in the Singh camp of love with Play of Passion. Singh manages to excel not only on the world and political elements and war undertones, but her characters in this blossomed, challenged and set the world on fire. Play of Passion may not have been perfect, but I am incredibly excited about what Singh has in store.

Indigo River is a character I haven’t really recalled all that much from previous novels which is probably not a good thing, but I liked that she was a strong, independent woman. She’s the only lieutenant that’s female of her pack and she doesn’t allow anybody to boss her about. Despite her dominant position in the pack hierarchy she still has emotions and vulnerabilities that Singh really played up for her character. This makes her seem more human and I liked how things crept up on Indigo suddenly and then she realised what she actually needed in her life. I liked that she wasn’t afraid of anybody and that she really fought for what she needed. I hope to see more of her family in future novels because they still felt on the fringe of the story whilst Indigo was being drawn further into the thick of things.

“She wasn’t an acquisitive person, but neither was she dead. Blinking open her eyes at last, she couldn’t resists taking a slow tour of his body as he knelt to get something from the pocket of his discarded jeans. Muscled shoulders in shadow, a back so beautiful it cried out to be stroked…and boxers. Plain black and—“Silk boxer while we’re camping?”

Drew… Andrew. Where do I begin? He is sweet, charming, fun and friendly. He genuinely cares about his pack and Indigo. He’s also smart, sensitive, tenacious, stubborn and annoying. Still, I have to say, I loved everything about Drew. He’s not without faults, but that makes him loveable. He sticks his foot in it more than once with Indigo and watching them work things out entertained me greatly. I find that many characters like Drew are ones that I just don’t get, they appear all too good and have every reason to like them, and I usually don’t, which is why I was so happy to like Drew. I think it was his mischievous side that endeared him to me and his nickname of “Indy” for Indigo. I could just feel the affection coming from him and how he cared about every member of his pack particularly the younger ones, like Sienna, she’s a troubled character but he really cares for her and my favourite quote below is him looking out for her. Drew is definitely one of my favourite male protagonists.

“That’s all I get after I sent you a whole box of premium chocolate-cherry cookies?” he said, feigning extreme disappointment. “Just ‘good’?”

Furrows appeared between her brows, dark little lines that marred the beauty of her sun-dipped skin. “Drew.”

But when he grinned and took her into his arms, she not only allowed the affection, she slid her own arms around him. It had taken him months of patient care to get her to trust him with her body in that way.”

This instalment does focus quite distinctly on the romance, but the interludes of the outside world with the council, the problems in the pack and the other sub-plots that are running on managed to round the novel and keep the overall under-plot that runs through all the novels moving forward to a point where we are at a edge about to fall into the abyss I fear in the novel which is exciting and certainly makes me want to pick up the next novel in the series. I shall be off to request it from my library ASAP I shall inform you. The romance doesn’t entirely dominant the plot-line, but there was a lack of political intent and movements we’ve seen in some of the other novels which I always like. However I was just in the mood for something light and fun that kept things moving and entertained.

The Psy-Changeling series manages to deal with serious issues and lighten them up all in the same novel with the balance of romance and political movement. I’d say that you keep going with the Psy-Changeling novel because it gets better as it goes along with a few hit and misses here and there, overall I have great love for the series and would recommend them to anybody who has some spare time since there are currently 11 novels out and more in the works. The first novel, Slave to Sensation kicks off the series and I say it only gets better from there onwards. If you like werewolf/wereshifter books this is definitely for you, if you like paranormal it’s definitely for you and even if not, I suggest taking a dabble!

Nerd Fact: For those of you more curious about everything that’s nerdy behind the Psy-Changeling series, Singh has a brilliant section on her website called, Behind the Scenes where she talks about facts on the human brain, big cats and purring and much, much more! You can find it HERE.

Bonds of Justice

Title: Bonds of Justice

Author: Nalini Singh

Series: Psy-Changeling #8

Genre: Paranormal-Romance, Futuristic, Adult, Were-shifters

Published: July 6th 2010 by Berkley

Plot:

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 to 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 catastrophic mental fracture.

Review:

WHAT HAS SHE DONE?!

As of late, the Psy-Changeling series has fast become one of my favourite paranormal-romance series and I’m happy to inform you I still am. However I think this book lacked something for me! It really did not fill up to Singh standards. I’m also missing the Changeling input that we had a distinct feel of in the first 6 books.

My problem with this book was I didn’t connect with the characters. I felt like I was drifting through and I never really understood the connection between the two. I could see the connection and why it was there, but I could fathom the actual reasoning of it. It continued to bewilder me even until the end.

Max was a great male lead, but I felt like he was too closed off and always focused on protecting Sophia. I never particularly loved him when we first met him and I think only his intelligence and ability to work as a good cop was what made me like him.

Sophia I just didn’t understand in concept of the Psy. She was meant to be unfeeling and silent even with her conditioning breaking, she seemed totally normal most of the time except for when she was witnessing the break down of her shields. Also she had this very bizarre problem with Vaughn and this was never explained.

This book is well written, interesting with lots of new leads and excitement. Don’t doubt that the book is worth a read. The general consensus seems to be that most people enjoyed this book. Although there are a few that seem to orientate themselves to my opinion that they lacked the connection to the characters in this instalment.

I believe there is a tendency to rate a book in a series you love highly because you can’t bear to see the series shamed, but ultimately this book dropped in my expectations. I was quite frankly bored of the relationship between Max and Sophia. It didn’t hold enough passion to engage me, and I’m hoping that Singh will be able to redeem herself.

The title personally drew me. “Bonds of Justice” it sounds so exciting and even kinky, but for me this book failed to deliver on both fronts. For me, I only found this excitement in the last 50 pages of the book and when I read 290 pages without that, it can become quite dry.

Overall it was a good addition to the series, but it lacked the sparkle of some of Singh’s previous works.I will definitely be continuing to read the series and Singh still has my faith.

My Rating:

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Blaze of Memory

Title: Blaze of Memory

Author: Nalini Singh

Series: Psy-Changeling #7

Genre: Paranormal-romance, Adult, Were-shifters

Published: November 3rd 2009 by Berkley

Plot:

Dev Santos finds a woman with amnesia-and all she can remember is that she’s dangerous. Stripped of her memories by a shadowy oppressor and programmed to kill, Katya’s only hope is Dev. But he could very well be her next target.

Review:

This book became a hard one to judge. Throughout reading I was adamant this book would be a three stars and the ending entirely changed everything! I was holding back the sobs, which I didn’t expect to be. It shows that despite Singh having written 7 books previous to this on in the Psy-Changeling series, she still manages to throw a spanner in the works!

Despite the tear-jerking moments I felt that the book was a little drab in places, it lacked some of the excitement that the last few books Singh has given us, held. It lacked the spark to take of and make me race through this book without thought. It wasn’t until around 200 pages in where I really started to turn the pages.

However it is probably what you expect to find in one of Singh’s paranormal-romance books, the sexy man, the woman who has to make her own journey, a game of cat and mouse and the capture. However we do get more than this because there are sub-levels we have yet to explore from previous novels, especially with the Forgotten which was exciting.

‘Blaze of Memory’ did seem to fall flat with the involvement of secondary characters because we didn’t have not nearly as many interludes as the previous novel into exploration of other characters. I felt this allowed us to focus more on the two characters, but it was probably what drew out the read for me.

The guy on the cover is not how I imagined our lead male, Dev, not at all! He’s not nearly as masculine and brooding, so he’s not my bar for the main character. In my head he was much better, so I didn’t allow the cover to influence me on this lead.

After reading ‘Branded by Fire’ I almost feel sorely let down, but in some ways I feel like Singh had a large mountain to climb in living up to her previous book. Nevertheless, don’t not read this book because it’s invaluable to the series.

I’d tell you to read this book and the whole Psy-Changeling series which is just fantastic, but don’t be prepared to be blown away by this particular novel. It’s just above average and leading to excitement for the future, but for me it’s more of a filler novel than anything.

My rating:

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Branded by Fire

Title: Branded by Fire

Author: Nalini Singh

Series: Psy-Changeling #6

Genre: Paranormal-Romance, Were-shifters, Adult

Published: July 7th 2009 by Berkley

Plot: When a brilliant changeling researcher is kidnapped, DarkRiver sentinel Mercy, a cat, and SnowDancer lieutenant Riley, a wolf, must work together to track the young man-before his shadowy captors decide he’s no longer useful. Along the way, the two dominants may find that submitting to one another uncovers not just a deadly conspiracy, but a passion so raw that it’ll leave them both branded by fire.

Review: Before I begin, I adored this book, but something seemed to niggle at the back of my mind whilst I read it and it gained 5 stars because of my adoration of the characters and the secondary characters, not the overall ‘plot’ as such.

Mercy is a dominant female and she defines female independence and intelligence. She is a sentinel and that makes her not your cute ‘kitty cat’. You are certainly kept on your toes with her mood swings and kick ass nature, but throughout it all she becomes a character you can’t help but fall in love with. At the heart of her character outside her crusty exterior is a woman who has a heart just as much as every other women.

Riley we haven’t seen much of until now. We know him as Brenna’s overprotective brother and he’s certainly making his stance in the novel. It’s hard to forget his imposing character and he made me want to drool.

This book does not know the meaning to slow build up, everything is fast, hard and a struggle for dominance, but it works and it doesn’t take away from the nature of the story. I’m partial to believing this is because it’s the first changeling-changeling pair we’ve met together. It was an interesting story because these two weren’t from the same pack, so the cross pack dilemma is raised as well as the truth about female sentinels.

Secondary characters are something some authors fail to really achieve in the sense that they develop their own personalities and quirks. Singh is a master! She incorporates every tale we’ve seen previously, and teases us with the prospect of new pairings. This particularly story looked more into the Alpha pairing and Amara and Ashaya. These really made the book well-rounded because a constant presence in Riley and Mercy’s relationship I fear would have made the book dry out.

The plot is your hot man + hot woman = sex and a happy ever after.

In that we get:

• A denial
• A family initiation
• Lots of hot sex
• The couple on the verge of losing one and other
• Dilemma averted by the end

In between we get road blocks and curve balls that you don’t expect and they are introduced largely by the secondary characters, but it seems to fall into the A + B = C slot for me in terms of plot. I did in large enjoy the story, I just felt like the plot was becoming overused.

If Singh intends to spice up the series and keep it going, then I hope we don’t continue along the similar lines of a relationship forming and when it cements the lovers end in peril. It’s one of those problems with the paranormal world that everything seems to become the ‘same’.

However despite my feeling of familiarity with the plot, I adored the book! I would recommend it to fans of Singh, fans of wild animal romances and paranormal romance lovers!

Rating:

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Hostage to Pleasure

Title: Hostage to Pleasure

Author: Nalini Singh

Series: Psy-Changeling #5

Genre: Paranormal-Romance, Adult, Were-shifters

Published: September 2nd 2008 by Berkley

Plot: Ashaya Aleine was separated from her son, forced to create a neural implant that will forever enslave her psychically gifted Psy race. After fighting a desperate battle to save her child and escape the PsyNet, she’s lead not to safety, but into the lethal danger of a sniper’s embrace.

Review: The Psy-Changeling series seemed to have really picked up pace since the first two books. I went into this book highly excited after the pace of the last one, however, I had reservations about the female Psy character. All of the previous ones we’ve had have really failed to give us a real energy kick in their story. I enjoyed the fact that she had become a mysterious character in the last book and bringing her to centre stage allowed the connection to cement and really engage the reader (me) in the storyline!

The main characters.

Ashaya. She wasn’t the typical Psy we’ve met previously because she was more deeply embedded into the danger and action. She wasn’t a push over and certainly held a strong, imposing mother-figure that we’ve lacked in any of the previous characters. She wasn’t the super ability Psy who could do everything, but she worked on an intellectual level that was highly advanced and engaging. I always like the intellectual female protagonist of the story and she was undoubtedly.

Dorian. Sympathy for Dorian has been a major focus since his sister was taken and his inability to shift into Leopard form have hurt him deeply. Dorian has been on the edge of falling into an abyss he won’t return from and there is an edge of predictability that he will fall for his ‘enemy’ and bring him back. We have the danger, edge, seduction and wildness of the male lead that entices us into the storyline and his witty, sexy and a character you can’t help but fall in love with.

Things I loved:

• The characters.
• The little excerpts from Ashaya’s diary, Dorian, or letters of mysterious groups that added to the mystery and anticipation in this book.
• The danger of this novel was more prominent so the anticipation really built up.
• The interlinking of characters and new plots where we see more of the three races: human, psy and changeling.
• The secondary characters are incredibly developed in this story, especially over the series they have become more prominent and taken a seat at the back to remind you of their duty. There on-going subplots adds to the style and quality of the story and this is much better, the more you read into the series!

Things that annoyed me:

• The mystery became too confusing at times to be able to follow and it left me feeling like I could put the book down and abandon it at times.
• The predictability of the happy ever after that comes about in many paranormal-romances.
• The cover and the title. The cover and the title didn’t really fit with the story because Ashaya wasn’t really a hostage because that implies she’s been taken, when she stumbled upon the DarkRiver clan. The cover felt unnecessary compared to the other brooding, darker covers we’ve seen previously. It also made it embarrassing to have in public if people saw the cover. The other books do all have similar titles of sexual meanings, but this one felt too explicit and raunchy to really make me feel comfortable taking this book out in public.

Overall this book has a good mixture of everything, from romance to sex, teary-moments and action. The darkness is really starting to creep into the series and as ever the intermingled perspectives really built up the story. I’d recommend this book to anybody who enjoys paranormal romance, especially the wild animal instincts and futuristic settings, but I suggest buying/borrowing the book with the other cover because it’s much more conservative!

Rating

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