Customer Reviews

Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changelings, Book 1)

5 star:		(102)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Imagine a world in which all inhabitants are either shape shifters (known as changelings) or Psy. Psy have varying powers and are interconnected through the PsyNet but the Silence has bred all emotions out of them. However, there is one Psy who is different....

Sascha Duncan has always hidden her inner core as she knows she is a broken Psy and would be sent for rehabilitation if this were discovered. Treated as a cardinal due to her mother's high position on the Council, Sascha is placed in charge of a joint business venture between the Psy and the DarkRiver leopards- the first joint venture between the Psy and changelings.

Lucas Hunter is DarkRiver's Alpha and he has a secret agenda. A Psy serial killer is stalking changeling women and one of his pack lost his sister to this vicious killer. Lucas' plan is to infiltrate the PsyNet through Sascha to obtain the killer's identity but he never expects to find a Psy who feels emotions. War is about to break out between changeling and Psy as the changelings believe the Psy are protecting a killer. Sascha and Lucas will have to learn to work together quickly as one of the SnowDancer's women has been kidnapped by the psychopathic Psy and her time is running out.

Nalini Singh is a relative newcomer to the romance scene but her stunning paranormal, SLAVE TO SENSATION, is sure to garner her many new fans! The plotline is intriguing and provides a very refreshing approach to both the psychic and shape shifter themes. Keep a box of Kleenex handy, however, as you will be moved to tears as this story packs a very powerful punch!

SLAVE TO SENSATION is a superb story demonstrating the power of love and physical touch. The Psy have made every effort to create a world of logical and emotionless beings similar to Star Trek's Spock. Instead, beings with no moral conscience are being formed as exemplified by the serial killer preying on the changeling women. Love and physical touch can be very soothing and healing and Ms. Singh provides an exemplary story demonstrating this vividly to the reader.

Nalini Singh breathes life into her characters and even secondary characters, such as Tamsyn, have an unexpected depth to them. This story, although complete in and of itself, is wide open for sequels as the reader will want to know more about the fabulous cast of characters created by Ms. Singh. One can only hope that a sequel is in the works as SLAVE TO SENSATION is easily one of the best books published this year in the paranormal genre.

SLAVE TO SENSATION is highly recommended and this reviewer cannot rave enough about how wonderful this book truly is. Sascha is one of the strongest, most endearing characters to come along in quite awhile and her acceptance of herself and her relationship with Lucas provides the reader with numerous gut-wrenching and heart-warming moments. If you read only one book this year, SLAVE TO SENSATION quite simply must be that book!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

Sascha Duncan is a member of a race known for their emotional detachment, cold precision and deadly sharp minds. Only Sascha isn't like other Psy. She feels powerful emotion and she grows worried she may soon not be able to repress the building surge. A business meeting with changeling Lucas Hunter, the alpha of the DarkRiver leopards, lures her even closer to the edge of certain discovery. As she is assigned as the Psy contact for the ensuing project Lucas's company takes on, she soon begins to fear grave repercussions from her people.

Lucas feels something different about Sascha--she's not like other Psy. It doesn't take long for the dominant male to begin asserting his blatant interest in her in traditionally pack ways. Could her mysterious differences be the key his and a rival pack's have been looking for? A serial killer has targeted changeling women, and the packs believe the killer to be Psy. As a Psy with connections amongst her race, Sascha will become the only saving grace in a race against time to stop two opposing groups on the brink of war. Her and Lucas's efforts will bring them to some shocking realizations as well as some heated and sensually stimulating encounters.

The first impression of this romance was that it combined an awesome feel of not only paranormal elements, but sci-fi as well. Lucas's pack dynamics will ring somewhat similar to other paranormal romances, while having their own unique qualities at the same time, most notably their love for one another and family dynamics. The chilling addition of the Psy brings to mind a more futuristic sense with their sparse and utilitarian lifestyles. There are some very interesting twists to the plot that makes good use of the pacing throughout the book, making for a very hard to put down read. Sascha is a heroine readers may sympathize with in her plight to become fully herself, while Lucas is so wonderfully sexy in his concern for her welfare. Look for the sequel, Visions of Heat (March 6, 2007) about Psy member Faith NightStar and changeling Vaugn D'Angelo

Imagine being part of a race that has developed beyond feelings. It has been totally erase. And if you somehow retain such things you are consider flawed.
Where you are connected with others by a mental link resembling the Internet as we know it now but in your mind. And is so intertwine that to try to "disconnect" could mean your death or rehabilitation. And rehabilitation is nothing short of a lobotomy.

That is the world that Sascha Duncan was born into she is "Psy". And Sascaha is flawed she feels and everyday she must fight this "breakdown" or she may face being "rehabilitated".

Changelings and Humans have coexisted with the Psy, but it's an fragile existence. Which is about to become even more uncomfortable. If what they suspect is true, that the killer preying on changeling women is a Psy, that the Psy Counsel is covering up these murders, but quit possibly is also a Counsel member.

Lucas Hunter is a changeling and the Alpha leader of Leopard pack DarkRiver. He is determined to expose this killer, and cover up. When he see a chance at getting more information as he and Sascha are brought together to work on a housing project.

The more Lucas and Sascha work together, Sascha is finding herself becoming involved in the changeling world of touch and emotion. And she soon realizes that she can no longer go on pretending indifference, even if it means her death.
Lucas is also finding out the Sascha is not like other Psy and as he begins to break Sascha defenses he is finding it harder and harder to just see her as way into the Psy's close knit society. He also wants to be the one to show her what other pleasure's she's missed out of. And that he wants to protect her as if she is part of his pack.

As Lucas and Sascha race to find a serial killer before a war breaks out between Psy and Changeling. They may be running out of time themselves.

After reading the fantastic reviews on this book, I must say I wasn't all that ecstatic about it. There were several grammatical errors throughout. And there were times where two people would be in the middle of a conversation and there would be paragraphs of someone's thoughts in between dialogue and when it was over, I couldn't really remember what the conversation was about so I had to glance back up to see what that person had said (not to mention sometimes I couldn't even figure out who was saying it!). And there were a lot of repetitious adjectives repeated over and over again (How many times do we need to hear "night-sky eyes"?!). I understand this was the author's first book so those kinds of things can slide a little, but it just got frustrating.

As for the story, it was okay. I like the fact that the author thought of a new world of paranormal romance (instead of the familiar vampire/werewolf stories). It was a unique idea (although the story of the Psy was a little reminiscent of Brave New World). But I didn't find myself excited and eager to read the next chapter to see what happens. As for the love scenes, they seemed a little rushed and some were a little unbelievable (Sascha was raised Psy... I know she was different but would she have really been that sexually aggressive?). I'm a huge Kresley Cole fan so maybe the transition from her books to this one just didn't work for me, but I wasn't too impressed with this book.

This story presents a complex but not complicated paranormal inhabited by strong personalities. The plot is fairly simple. Lucas Hunter, the alpha of the DarkRiver leopard pack, is searching for a Psy serial killer who is kidnapping, torturing and killing changeling women. In order to find out more about the mysterious Psy, he offers his business services as a consultant and agent for a construction project run by the Duncan family. This puts him in direct contact with Sascha Duncan, a cardinal Psy.

The Psy are a species who have been trained from birth to not feel emotion. The Silence was a program to stamp out emotion in order to rid itself of violence. But some Psy do feel and Sascha Duncan is one of them. The problem is that Sascha understands that to feel is weak and that the Psy do not allow for weakness within its group. The weak are culled from the herd and basically institutionalized.

The setup creates instant conflict. Sascha a Psy who must feel no emotion is thrown together with Lucas, a changeling whose entire existence is built upon feeling. Lucas feels every emotional range, from hate and vengeance, to caring and love. Importantly, however, is that the conflict in this story is external and does not rely on the Big Mis or hateful actions by the protagonists to drive the story forward.

As Sascha realizes that she is losing control over her ability to eliminate emotions, the worst thing that can happen to her no longer becomes having emotion but living without it. As Sascha becomes more important to Lucas, the worst thing changes for him as well. While there is not significant intricate layering in the story, the subject matter is provocative. The story impels us toward the maxim that feelings, no matter how gritty and painful, are more worthwhile that living without. There are extremely romantic moments and sentiments expressed by both characters.

The sexual tension is thick and the consumation scenes are intense. This book has it all: the paranormal aspect, the alpha hero, the strong heroine, the hot sexy romance, and external conflict. There was a plausible and believable ending which, if a little schmaltzy, suited me just fine. In fact, I could have even endured a few more epilogue pages to show Lucas and Sascha enjoying themselves together.

It's a book that fulfilled all my emotional needs as a romance reader, closing with a satisfactory HEA ending but still left me anxious for more. The setup for future books was excellent and not at all intrusive. I feel that this is the beginning of a great series. A for the book.

Many times I'll pick up a much talked about, much hyped book and I'll think it was good but not be blown away. Slave To Sensation is a book worth every word of praise I've heard.

Singh has created a paranormal universe that is fresh and interesting, with wonderful attention to detail and worldbuilding. I love the culture she created with her changelings and the Psy. The society she's given us is rich with information you care about and that shores up the story as a whole.

Her characters are three dimensional and interesting. I loved the chemistry between Lucas and Sascha and I loved the internal journey each one took to accept the other.

The storyline has multiple layers but isn't hard to follow or confusing but still clever and with some interesting twists. I can't wait to devour Visions of Heat (should arrive tomorrow)

I had never heard of this author so i was a little weary, but when I picked this book up I never let it down.
What a great surprise.. the characters are loveable and the hero is "yummy".
I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read her other book.
If your a christine feehan fan, go for it.
you wont be sorry!!!

This book had glimpses of a promising concept. But it was ruined by a story that didn't make any sense, some really offensive sexism, and far too many cliches.

Possessive, dominant, impossibly good looking male with a ripped physique and a tragic past - check

Stunningly beautiful, emotionally vulnerable, VIRGINAL female who desperately needs sex and protection - check.

Plot device that ensures they can only be with each other - check.

A hero who can "get it up" as often as needed because he's not human - check.

The set-up for Sascha Duncan works well as a platform for sexual tension. But beyond that, it doesn't seem to make much sense. It is simply not possible she could turn from a lifetime schooled in non-emotion to the opposite within weeks. Psychologically, she would have imploded.

This circles back to how lack of emotion is one of the major defining concepts of the book. The Psy are said to feel nothing. But if a person feels nothing, why would they even exist? How can you exist if you do not have a desire to do so? The whole concept collapses when you think about it. Wouldn't that be obvious to anyone, especially people focused on logic?

The bulk of the storyline rests on the fact the Psy have been lying when they say they are non-violent. Yet there is a constant awareness by everyone in the novel of all the violent things the Psy do; from Sascha's knowledge of the "vile" things she has seen on the PsyNet, to the lethal talents the members of the Council all possess. I don't understand how there can even be a pretense of non-violence when it seems to be open knowledge that violence is there.

Likewise, the changelings are portrayed as being the better species. Yet they are horribly violent and vicious, even among themselves. The kill themselves over territorial disputes. They tear people apart and mail off body parts as warnings. It's kind of hard to follow why one is better than the other, or how exactly Lucas Hunter is any different than Nikita Duncan.

Fanciful names like SnowDancer and Web of Stars do the book no favors. Also, the author very clearly explains the origin of the names Sascha and Nikita, yet fails to explain why male names would have been chosen. Does she know these are male names?

I also saw a problem with how "psychpath" and "sociopath" are used in the book. The author throws the 2 terms around pretty liberally. But they do not mean the same thing. And they are not characterized by lack of emotion. A psychopath has a lack of empathy and a sociopath disregards the rights of other people. Our villain in the book is supposed to feel nothing. Yet the writing clearly portrays him as feeling things like desire, curiosity, etc. If he felt nothing, then he would "want" nothing, and would have no compulsion to do anything.

There is also the concept of the mating dance. It's a psychic bond that apparently links mates together, can only happen once and can never ever be broken. I really think a romance should be written about two people falling in love without a bad plot device.

Naturally, one of the overarching themes in the novel is the nature of the animal personality in changelings. Unfortunately, it's used to justify pretty blatant sexism in the the male characters, including the use of physical force. But it also does not make sense. Leopards are felines, so their mating ritual is brief and violent, not possessive or devoted at all. They are also solitary and nocturnal, so the social structure of a pack doesn't really make sense. The author even makes a comment that one of the characters is closer to his animal roots because he prefers to be alone, so she must be aware of these facts.

Did I mention the sexism? It's really hard to take. I wouldn't want any teenagers reading this book. The way the male characters treat the female characters sends a terrible message. He actually threatens to knock her unconscious at one point to force her to do what he wants.

I'll give the author points for some originality, erotic intensity, and world building. The sexual tension between the two leads sizzles and the first two thirds of the novel is does do some world building. But the grammar is not very good and the plotting and the characterizations need lots of work. The books is basically swallowed up by all the things that don't make sense in the plot.

I actually feel kind of generous giving it this high of a rating. I might regret it later because there are so many problems with the book. But I guess, in the end, it's a romance novel, and at the end of the day, it's all about getting the characters into bed with each other. So if you just want standard fluff in a different wrapper, it does that pretty well. I you like authors like Sherilyn Kenyon, Keri Arthur, and J.D. Ward, you will probably want to check this out.

*I went back and reread this book recently and I dropped my rating. I can't believe I was so generous the first time around.

Personally I found this story to be rather boring. I had a difficult time getting interested in the plot and even by the end, I still didn't care much for the characters. I didn't "dislike" them but I didn't like them either. I had to fight to keep myself from skimming pages and ultimately just found myself wishing the story to be over. Even bad stories will hold my interest somewhat because I often wonder how much worse they will get as I read. lol Slave to Sensation didn't give me any interest--it just put me to sleep.

Something I found annoying was the constant references to Lucas's panther, such as: the panther in him froze, the panther wanted to be stroked, it annoyed the panther, etc. etc. Those types of references just seemed very overused in my opinion (every time we're in Lucas's POV, usually multiple times). Also, the term "night-sky eyes" was used constantly. Those terms became old very quickly. There was actually quite a bit of repetition in this story actually--not just terms but ideas, thoughts in general.

There were a few things that just didn't make much sense in the Psy-Changeling world. For example, Lucas's "pack" are leopards. Leopards are NOT pack animals and they certainly don't mate for life. The hierarchy, alpha, aspect of their lifestyle makes no sense. I understand that the author is just trying to make a sexy cat story (yes, sleek panther-man does have potential to be very sexy) but for the pack element to genuinely work, these Changelings should have been wolves.

The Psy were not without their inconsistencies either. For example, it is mentioned briefly that there are Psy drug addicts. Sascha had never eaten chocolate before because it had no nutritional value thus there being no need to consume it. You would think a Psy would certainly not take drugs because they would see no point in doing so and recognize it as being a danger to their bodies. It just didn't make sense. That's just one example--there are other little inconsistencies throughout the story regarding the Psy, things they said, etc. I won't list them all but you get the idea.

As for the actual plot--the murder mystery--it was fairly predictable. I guessed who the killer was very early on and thought it to be quite obvious. The resolution at the end was pretty quick and uneventful in my opinion. It was more focused on Sascha's issues than the murderer or his motives. The murderer is physically dealt with "off screen" and we're told about it in just a couple of short paragraphs and given no motive to his actions other than "he's just crazy". Sure, crazy is motive enough in the real world but I suppose I was hoping for a little more reason behind his crimes.

My main qualm with this story is simply I lacked feeling anything for these characters. If I can genuinely feel for the H/h, I can normally overlook weak plots and inconsistencies. Lucas and Sascha just didn't do anything for me. Lucas was one-dimensional, stereotypical alpha male. Sascha, while having great potential for an interesting heroine, being a Psy, should have made me feel sympathy for her existence but ultimately didn't. I may be in the minority but I felt very little "steaminess" between this pair and their sex scenes were rather dull.

I do give the author credit for creating an original world with her Psys and Changelings. It is an interesting concept and I welcomed the change from other PNR stories. But, unfortunately, Slave to Sensation didn't give me any "sensations" other than drowsiness.

This was an incredibly wonderful book. I'd already heard some buzz going about it, and some people mentioned enjoying it, but I hadn't really expected it to be so great.

So, how great is it? Let me just tell you: I spent this past weekend at a spa, and I actually stayed in my room for an extra hour after lunch in order to finish the book. So it was great enough to make me give up an extra hour of being pampered in the spa in order to finish it. That good! I give it 5 stars.

STS is set in an alternate universe, in which Earth is populated by three different species of men and women. There's the humans, there's the changelings (shape-shifters who can change into a certain animal) and there's the Psy. I'm not 100% sure of how exactly the Psy differed from humans and changelings originally (maybe because of their psychic abilities?), but their difference as the book starts is very clear. They don't feel. At all. I'll let the author explain it herself. From her website:

"In an effort to reduce the overwhelming incidence of insanity and serial killing in the Psy population, the Psy Council decided, in the year 1969, to instigate a rigorous program called Silence. The aim of Silence was to condition young Psy from birth. The aim of the conditioning was to teach them not to feel rage.

However, the Council soon discovered that it was impossible to isolate that one emotion. In 1979, after a ten year debate over the millions of minds in the PsyNet, it was decided to change the aim of Silence. Its new mission was to condition young Psy to feel nothing. Not rage, not jealousy, not envy, not happiness and certainly not love."

As the book starts, it's 100 years after Silence started aiming to suppress all emotion, and the different species coexist pretty peacefully. But that's in danger of changing, because there has been a spate of killings of changeling women that the other changelings have discovered were committed by a Psy.

The last woman taken was from the DarkRiver leopard pack, and its alpha, Lucas Hunter, has barely managed to stop an outright war between Psy and changelings from erupting. He's managed to keep the other packs in control by promising he'd discover the culprit and then they could punish him. In order to do this, Lucas needs an opening into the very closed Psy society, and to do that, he has initiated a business deal with the Duncans, a very influential family among the Psy.

Sascha Duncan, who's assigned by her powerful, Psy Council-member mother to oversee the deal, is a woman with a huge secret. Unlike the rest of the Psy, she feels. She always has, and she's spent all her life hiding it and building defenses so the other Psy won't notice. Lately, though, she's been feeling more and more out of control. She suspects it's a matter of time before someone realizes what's wrong with her, and she fears she'll be sentenced to a fate she considers worse than death: rehabilitation, a kind of mind-wipe.

When Sascha meets Lucas, things become even worse. She is so powerfully attracted to him, that she feels herself going out of control even faster. As for Lucas, his attraction for Sascha is just as strong, and he's just as conflicted about it as she is. How can he be feeling such warm feelings for one of those cold Psy, someone who might even know the identity of the murderer and be covering up for him? Surely that feeling that there might be quite a lot behind the icy façade might be just that, a feeling, even if his leopard insists its instincts are right about that...

That's all I'm going to say about the plot. Suffice it to say Sascha and Lucas' initial adversarial relationship soon becomes one of the most convincing and beautiful romances I've read lately. It's got it all, both sexual tension so thick and hot it will curl your toes (and the pay-off! Those love scenes, oh, my!), and a lot of feeling behind it.

You know how, in books where the hero and heroine start out as antagonists, often you don't really understand how they get from that point to falling in love? Well, that's very definitely not the case here. The change in the relationship between Lucas and Sascha is very gradual and natural, especially the change in Lucas' attitude. There was always a certain tenderness and protectiveness in his feelings about Sascha, but at first it was tempered by mistrust. That mistrust slowly lifts in a way that feels perfectly believable, and only the good feelings are left.

And Sascha! It was a beautiful thing to watch her slowly become more and more comfortable with all the different and powerful things she's feeling, and to gradually open to Lucas and the rest of the Pack. I just loved the development of her relationship with the other changelings, those scenes were just as affecting as the scenes with Lucas.

The universe in which the story is set is fascinating and complex, but Singh makes it easy to understand and to follow. She gives us exactly the right amount of information, neither so much that it bogs down the story, nor so little that the world-building feels half-baked. It's just enough, even though it includes some tantalizing hints about stuff I would have loved to know much more about. I think the reason it worked so well is in that you got the feeling that the author had thought about all this stuff, that if we're not being told about something, it's because it'll either be more developed in the future or because they're not relevant and would only clutter the story.

The next book is set in the same universe, and I really have to commend the author because at no time did any scene feel like sequel baiting. She did introduce quite a few interesting and well-drawn secondary charactes, any of which I would be very interested in reading about in a future book, but none of them were parading around, waving placards reading "future hero here". Authors, take note. That's the way it should be done!

The only negative I could find in STS is that the ending felt a bit anticlimactic. After the big final scene there's a longish bit that, though really needed to close certain things and give us a HEA, felt a bit too slow.

But this is just a very tiny niggle. On the whole, STS was pretty much perfect!