Hostage to Pleasure (Psy-Changeling, #5) in Dangerous Hero Addict Support Group

Sep 30, 2010 Lady Jayne *~*The Beach Bandida*~* rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned-read, romance-paranormal, author-nalini-singh, shifters

5 Stars!!! - Also reviewed at:

Time to catch up on my reviews for this series鈥�

鈥淚 heard the sniper鈥檚 voice against my ear when I woke today. He whispered sensual promises so savage, I can hardly believe these thoughts come from some corner of my own psyche. And yet they must. Because, at the end, he called me prey.

And told me to run.

- From the encrypted personal files of Ashaya Aleine鈥�

Now why does that give me a delicious shiver?! Because it鈥檚 DORIAN!! *sighs and swoo ...more

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Nov 02, 2008 Danielle The Book Huntress rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, tortured-hero, hero-to-die-for, character-multi-ethnic-heritage, action-adventure, scary-sexy-cool-dangerous-hero, heroine-i-adore, fated-to-be-mated, interracial-romance, family

This book was fantastic. I thought that this series would get less interesting as it continued, but it seems to get even more intriguing. I loved the hero Dorian. He is full of contrasts: ice cold, but hot, violent but controlled, and deeply sensual. He is unable to change into a leopard, which he has mostly made peace with. Instead he has honed his skills as such a formidable warrior, that being unable to shapeshift is not a liability. However, being unable to shifts makes him no less in touch This book was fantastic. I thought that this series would get less interesting as it continued, but it seems to get even more intriguing. I loved the hero Dorian. He is full of contrasts: ice cold, but hot, violent but controlled, and deeply sensual. He is unable to change into a leopard, which he has mostly made peace with. Instead he has honed his skills as such a formidable warrior, that being unable to shapeshift is not a liability. However, being unable to shifts makes him no less in touch with his animal nature. As a lover of shapeshifter romance, I love how Singh depicts the feelings and thoughts of the leopard that dwells inside the man. Dorian is a totally hot hero, although he is an ice cold sniper for the Snow Dancer Leopard pack. He sets his sights on Ashaya Aleine, a member of the hated Psy race, but his leopard recognizes his mate. I love fated to mated books, so it totally worked for me that Dorian decides early on that he has to have Ashaya. And once he recognizes her as his, he will move heaven and earth to protect her and her child.

Ashaya is a Psy who never accepted Silence, the nonemotional protocol of the Psy race. Instead she has continued a charade. She is a scientist with a woman's heart who saves children being subject to horrible scientific experiments. When she delivers them to the Snow Dancer pack for protection, she asks that they extract her son who is being kept hostage to keep her working on a high priority project for the Psy Council. This how she encounters Dorian. Dorian hates the Psy since his beloved sister was savagely killed by an insane Psy Councilmember. His heart is full of vengeance against the Psy for what was done to his sister. Dorian almost shoots her, but his leopard recognizes his mate, although at first he is unable to accept this. Although in theory she is his enemy, the conflict doesn't get drawn out too long because the mating bond is much stronger between Dorian and Ashaya.

The attraction between Dorian and Ashaya is red hot and drives this book. You want to keep reading to see the fire between them. I loved the banter and interactions between Dorian and Ashaya. However, the plot is very readable as well. Ashaya has a twin who is a best a sociopath, at worst extremely dangerous. I felt for Ashaya's burden of trying to keep her twin under control, and how this has affected her life in many ways. Ashaya is rational and scientific, but is equally loving and loyal to those who matter to her.

Hostage to Pleasure was definitely a joy to read. I had trouble putting the book down, and was impatient to finish it. Nalini Singh has definitely earned my loyalty as an author by writing this fantastic series that mixes science and fiction that is a delicious package. Science fiction can be dry at times to me, but not the way that Singh writes it. She understands that the love story and the sexual chemistry, along with strong depiction of interpersonal relationships, has to be the glue in a paranormal book with science fiction elements, and succeeds without question. I also love how racially and ethnically diverse her characters are. Ashaya seems to be of European and African ancestry, while Dorian has predominantly Nordic features. As long as she continues to write these books with sexy, alpha heroes, and the women they love, I'll continue to eagerly read them. ...more

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Feb 03, 2010 鈾arlyn P鈾� rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2012, steam-hot, genre-paranromal, audiobook

I loved this one! I enjoyed the previous books enough to slowly continue with this series when I was in the mood, but I honestly never understood the fan crazy fascination with this series until now. This one really made me a believer.

Dorian and Ashaya started off as opposite as could be. She is a cold non-feeling psy, and he is a hot tempered changeling with a blinding hate for her race. He fought his attraction, but as Ashaya broke away from her silence and started showing human emotions, he ...more

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Nov 02, 2008 Holly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nalini-singh-psy-changeling

Hostage To Pleasure starts right where Mine To Possess left off. The DarkRiver clan has paid off it's debt to Ashaya Aleine and have kidnapped her son and hidden him away in their Pack. With her son safe, Ashaya also manages to escape the Council's sphere but her contact had to abandon her in lynx territory. Surrounded by the vicious animals, DarkRiver sniper Dorian Christensen comes to her rescue, drawn to the smell of her blood and the unmistakable scent of her exotic femininity. The scent tha Hostage To Pleasure starts right where Mine To Possess left off. The DarkRiver clan has paid off it's debt to Ashaya Aleine and have kidnapped her son and hidden him away in their Pack. With her son safe, Ashaya also manages to escape the Council's sphere but her contact had to abandon her in lynx territory. Surrounded by the vicious animals, DarkRiver sniper Dorian Christensen comes to her rescue, drawn to the smell of her blood and the unmistakable scent of her exotic femininity. The scent that has been haunting him for the last two months. The last time Dorian had seen Ashaya had been through the scope of his sniper rifle and seeing her again brings back all the hate and rage he has towards her kind, as well as a fierce need to claim her as his own. Dorian needs to come to terms with his conflicting emotions because she needs his protection now more than ever. She has information that could bring down the Psy Council and she's not going to hesitate to use it. Ashaya hopes by bringing her story public, it will make her and her son untouchable in the eyes of the Council. Unfortunately she has another enemy that is a much bigger threat to her safety, someone who has been slipping in and out of her mind since childhood and knows her every secret. Ashaya's twin senses her emerging feelings for the DarkRiver sentinel and refuses to share her. Ashaya has been dealing with the burden of her twin sister's sociopathic tendencies since the age of seventeen and it's this responsibility that keeps her from falling for Dorian's seductive lure and the promise of a full life with him. Dorian however is not going to deny his feelings for her and neither is his cat. He uses every sensual weapon he has and slowly wears down her battered defenses. She has been living a lie for so long and wants nothing more than to accept him, but can the two of them survive both her twin sister and the Council that is hunting them?

Dorian Christensen has a lot of bottled up anger inside him, due to his inability to go full leopard and the brutal murder of his sister. He can't stop blaming himself. If he could go full leopard, maybe he could have been a little bit faster in saving his precious baby sister. His rage at first holds him back from seeing Ashaya as his mate, the female who his latent cat has recognized as it's own. His moods shift dangerously from lust to anger and back again as he tries to come to terms with himself and the fact that Ashaya is protecting a Psy very much like the killer who destroyed his sister. Dorian is deliciously dominant with Ashaya who doesn't let him boss her around. She quickly learns that she needs to stand up to his cat if he is to respect her and listen to her. Ashaya is heartbreaking to read about in that she's a woman stuck between her need as a mother to protect her son and as an older sister trying to protect her younger sister. She doesn't flinch from what needs to be done and tries to execute everything as precisely as possible.

This is the fifth book in Nalini Singh's Pst/Changeling world and it was excellent. It has a slightly darker feel to it than earlier books and there's a definite tension running throughout that you can practically taste. She is steadily building a coming war between the Psy and the Changelings and she is also bringing the human world into the fight. After eons of being in third place, the humans are about to make their move, which is only muddying the waters and adding to the conflicts. Silence is breaking at a much faster rate within the Psy race, creating a power vacuum that could turn into anyone's game. While reading Hostage To Pleasure you can actually see the Psy/Changeling world developing under Nalini Singh's skill as an author and her seamless world building just gets better and better. This series is one of my favorites and I can't wait to read the next one! ...more

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Jan 14, 2009 Cindy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: keepers

The world of the Psys - an emotional-less society who live in constant touch with the mental stimulation of the Net - when one is not suited to the niche one has been assigned...

The world of the Changelings - a world of sensation, able to embrace both human and animals Changelings embrace emotion and touch...

The world of Humans - a world pressured from both of the other races, filled with people trying to get along...

Order is important with this series, each of the h/h are continuing characters ...more

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Jul 01, 2010 RogueHireling rated it really liked it

Really really like this book, so much so I couldn't put it down.
Much more fantastic intrigue and world info. Plus a pretty cute romance.

I especially love that all the characters from previous books aren't overlooked, plus the foreshadowing for the next book is smoothly slipped in there.

Can't wait to read more! ...more

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