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

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Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh (Psy/Changeling #1)Slave to Sensation (Psy/Changeling #1)
Nalini Singh
Published: 2006 (Berkley)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon

Reviewed by: Chelsea

Rating (out of 5): 4 stars

Can someone please tell me why I didn’t start this series sooner? As a fan of the sexy/dangerous mixture of Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series, I should have known she’d offer a one, two punch in a straightforward paranormal romance.

Slave to Sensation has a mental game of cat and mouse, shifters who are all about “skin privileges” and completely enthralling sex scenes. Really, Slave to Sensation in one word is enthralling.

The romance is heady. Lucas and Sascha fall into the enemies to lovers trope, but it’s more than that. They agree to work together on a business deal, both with ulterior motives. Sascha is a Psy. Her emotions are supposed to not exist. She is supposed to be clinical, detached and logical. (Kind of like Vulcans.) This makes her kind the opposite of everything the changelings value. Changelings, or shifters, are about nature and emotion. The best example of the difference is not that Psys avoid touch, but that they’d prefer to use science to make children instead of doing things the—ahem—old-fashioned way.

Here’s the thing, though. Sascha isn’t a normal Psy. She feels and it takes constant effort to keep up mental walls, to make sure no one knows. The consequences for feeling in her world are worse than death. Only Lucas makes her feel. He makes her question what she knows about her own kind. He makes her want something more, even if it only lasts a few days.

Singh was smart in the way she brought these two together. Sascha is so cerebral and so scared of anyone finding out the truth, she starts to open to Lucas in shared dreams. Dirty dreams where she tests the waters, imagines what it would be like to touch someone, to be touched back. It’s these baby steps that make her reactions to her first real kiss with Lucas feel genuine. We get pulled through their love story with growing tension that makes putting the book down near impossible.

While I clearly devoured this book, I wasn’t immune to some of the obvious points in the plot. Maybe I read too many angst-filled novels, but I felt like the big conflicts toward the end of the novel could have been harder on them both. I expected things to fall apart and have to be repaired, and it didn’t ever get that bad. That said, the characters were engaging and the writing super sexy.

I may have immediately downloaded Visions of Heat (Psy/Changeling #2) after finishing Slave to Sensation. The romance will keep me coming back to Psy/Changling again and again.

Sexual content: Graphic sex

7 Responses to “Review: Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh (Psy-Changeling #1)”

  1. Alison Robinson says:

    I too avoided this series at first – I think the series name PSY/Changeling made me think more SciFi less paranormal. Also it is (IMHO) more Changeling/PSY as there seem to be more stories about changelings as the series progresses (although the PSY still feature heavily.

    I have enjoyed all the books and despite the numerous couples that have emerged I find them very easy to recall/distinguish when they reappear

  2. Patricia says:

    I felt the same way after I read the first and devoured the series. She is an awesome writer.
    I think the name turned me off, too – and then I was stuck with nothing to read – so I downloaded Slave to Sensation and was hooked!

  3. Amanda says:

    I can’t wait to hear what you think of the rest of the series…Play of Passion was one of my favorites, as was Kiss of Snow.

  4. Lesley says:

    I actually prefer this series to her Guild Hunter series, wait until you get to Judd and Hawke’s books they are fabulous!

  5. I had a copy of this book and ended up never reading it and giving it away boy do I regret it, especially after reading her Guild Hunter series and seeing what a great writer she is.It had something to do with the name of the series that turned me off.

  6. Spaz says:

    I am so happy you’ve finally made it to this series!!!! One of my FAVES!! Can’t wait for you to get to Judd’s book 😀

  7. I started this series a couple of months ago on audio. I didn’t love this book but each book gets better IMO.

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