Sharing the Wealth...

Nalini Singh's SLAVE TO SENSATION was something I'd totally not expected. Ground-breaking, earth-shattering, and uncommonly riveting, this is a paranormal I could sink my teeth into. How's that for a new-to-me author?

I'm always a bit nervous to try the new and popular authors who are making it their personal challenge to put more paranormal and urban fantasy books out there. Now, don't get me wrong, I love some vampires and I'm intrigued by the werewolves, but changelings and shapeshifters are a venture for me. I decided to put my big-girl underpants on and try this one; I figured I couldn't go wrong since SLAVE TO SENSATION is the first in this series.

From the blurb:

"In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of "rehabilitation" - the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was...

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion - and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities - or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation..."

Now I can't stand Neandarthal-like men or ones who feel like they "own" their woman. But that's the very quality in these changelings that define them as heroes. Lucas is quite literally the alpha male in his pack, DarkRiver, and he is at odds with the feelings growing for Sascha, the Psy who is developing the very thing that her people banish from birth, emotions and feelings. It's a scary thing for her - now that she knows what fear is - but after a while it becomes a natural thing for Lucas to touch her. No Psy is ever comfortable with physical touch, in fact, they don't encourage it.

With a rabid killer on the loose, most likely Psy, Sascha battles her terror to help the changelings hunt him down. She'll sacrifice herself to save one more woman before she becomes a victim of murder.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely. I've already got the second in the series, VISIONS OF HEAT, on deck to be read soon. From there I'll decide when to get the rest of the series. If the rest of the books are anything like SLAVE TO SENSATION, then I'm in for one helluva ride.