Danielle The Book Huntress 's Reviews > Slave to Sensation

Boy, I am so glad that I had read one of Nalini Singh's Silhouette Desire novels, and was searching for some more paranormal romances to read and finally picked this one up by her. I kicked myself for having waited so long. I loved this book. Lucas is to die for. He's totally yum. I loved the combination of paranormal with science fiction. I typically find science fiction a little bit dry at times, since I am more of a fantasy person. But there is a perfect mix of science fiction and paranormal fantasy in this book. I love how Singh created this future world where there are three types of people: Psy (completely cerebral with enhanced psychic abilities, reject emotions), Changeling (part human/part animal, embrace emotion), and Humans. This story focuses mainly on the Psy and Changeling dynamic. In Singh's Psy/Changeling world, race is not an issue. Most of the characters are of various ethnic backgrounds and interracial relationships have no stigma. I found this very refreshing. Singh's worldbuilding is so plausible that you don't doubt that in the future humans can reject emotions and build their psychic abilities to the penultimate. It takes a leap of faith to believe in changelings (shapeshifters), but if you don't have that, then you shouldn't be reading this book. If you do, then hang on.

Lucas doesn't care for the Psy. To him, they are soul-less, conscienceless beings. But for the sake of business, he deals with the Psy. When he meets Sasha, he is drawn to her. She doesn't have the stink of Psy (they have a cold, deadly metallic smell to the Changeling breed). The Psy are hated because they have ruthlessly gained control of society and are not above killing those who stand in their way. So at first, Lucas is off-put by his attraction to Sasha. Not for long though. It doesn't take this very confident cat to recognizes she is his mate, and he doesn't wait much longer to claim her as his. Their relationship was blistering hot. I was fanning myself during the love scenes. Sasha has had issues with her powers, having blackouts and feeling scary losses of control of her emotions that she has been hiding from her parental units, because Psy who lose control and break Silence (the lack of emotion) are sent for rehabilitation, eventually becoming mindless vegetables. Lucas inspires violent passion in her which is unheard of in a Psy. She has no idea how to deal with this, yet she is required to work with him. Lucas seems to enjoy teasing her and inspiring sensual feelings in her. I loved their interactions.

I am a big fan of shapeshifter stories, and I loved the descriptions of the pack of big cats of which Lucas is the alpha. I also enjoyed reading about their new allies, the pack of wolf shapeshifters, who is alphaed by the enigmatic Hawke (can't wait for his story). Really, I cannot recommend this series enough. If you are like me and typically get a little bored with hard science fiction, but want to expand your horizons, I would suggest this book and the Psy/Changeling series. The romance is the focus, and the science fiction elements teamed with paranormal is like marshmallow sauce on chocolate, just the right touch. Singh is a gifted author who has won my devotion as a fan.