I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Hostage to Pleasure
by
Nalini Singh
paranormal romance in a Kindle edition that was published by Berkley Sensation on September 2, 2008 and has 356 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Must Love Hellhounds, Kiss of Snow, An Enchanted Season, Archangel's Blade, Angels of Darkness, Lord of the Abyss, Desert Warrior, Angels' Flight, Tangle of Need, Play of Passion, Archangel's Storm, Wild Invitation, Heart of Obsidian, Archangel's Legion, "Hide and Seek", "Making Dinner", Shield of Winter, "A Conversation", "Home", Angels' Pawn, "New Year's Kisses", Night Shift, "Weapons Training", "Zoë's Workshop", "Wild Night", Archangel's Shadows, Archangel’s Enigma, Shards of Hope, “Fairy Balloons”, “An Unexpected Guest”, Allegiance of Honor, "The Song of the Wolf", Silver Silence, Archangel’s Heart, Archangel’s Viper, Ocean Light, "Elena's School of Horror", Cherish Hard, "Ain’t No Party Like A Bear Party", Archangel's Prophecy, "One Night At The Refuge", "Secret Things", Rebel Hard, Rock Hard, Wolf Rain, "Clean and Dirty", "Wolf School", "Naya’s Most Important Visitors", "Grocery Shopping", "The Cannibal Princess", "A Gift for Kit", "Movie Night", "Kaleb and Sahara’s Meeting with Sascha and Lucas", "Housewarming at the Orchard", "Christmas in the Kitchen", "Stalking Hawke", "Romancing Drew", "Sunday Morning", "Rowan", "Baubles & Ben", Wild Embrace, Love Hard, Rock Addiction, "Music Awards", Rock Courtship, "Rock Courtship Memo"s, Rock Redemption, "Sunshine", Rock Wedding, "With This Memo", "That Lip Ring…", A Madness of Sunshine, "Beary Tiny Ghosts", Alpha Night, "A Wedding Breakfast", "Poker Night", "Knives and Sheaths", "Seedlings", "Star Kissed", "A Walk on the Cliffs", "Wild Cat Blues", Slave to Sensation, Caressed by Ice, Visions of Heat, Kiss Hard, Angels' Blood, Archangel's Kiss, Archangel's War, Archangel's Sun, Archangel's Light, Archangel's Resurrection, Last Guard, “A Perfect Moment”, "Music in the Rain", Storm Echo, Resonance Surge, "Mate", “New Year’s Eve”, Archangel's Lineage, Visions of Heat, Mine to Possess, Branded by Fire, Blaze of Memory
Fifth in the cozy Psy-Changeling paranormal romance series revolving around three races: the “superior” Psy, the compassionate changelings, and those unfortunate humans. The couple focus is on Dorian Christensen and Ashaya Aleine. If you’re interested, there is a chronological listing of the Psy-Changeling books on my website.
Hostage to Pleasure was nominated in 2009 for the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Adult Novel.
My Take
This is an interesting buildup on tensions between two of the three races occupying Earth. Singh makes a nice case for why emotion is essential for a healthy person, and it’s so much fun how she pushes this through the wolves and leopards.
I gotta wonder just how “real” this lack of emotion in the Psy is. These Psy aren’t totally emotionless, there are those who are plotting against their people in their desire for power. Even more Psy are afraid of their Council. Sounds like emotions to me. Sadly, it’s not just the Psy who are betrayers hungry for power. As for all that backstabbing and plotting? Aren’t these powered by emotion?
Singh uses a third person global subjective point-of-view primarily from Ashaya’s and Dorian’s perspectives, but plenty of characters jump in to have their say as well.
It’s weird enough that Ashaya keeps a journal — I thought they were a way to explore one’s feelings. But as a Psy, she shouldn’t have feelings which is a fascinating switch on the Psy mind when Singh explores the effects of an emotion-less twin on her normal twin.
Although, considering what Amara put Ashaya through, oy, that journal must be the size of the bible by now! Maybe that’s what has helped Ashaya be so strong in the choices she makes to protect her son.
Those choices make for interesting fireworks between Ashaya and Dorian, as she has no qualms about calling him out on his choices. Whoa.
As for that other choice Ashaya makes, those games that Amara plays petrified me. Singh created so much tension with that twin connection and the hideous fallout that could occur. Talk about loyalty!
Keenan’s ability is dang scary. For a mother. The rules-obsessed Amara is dang scary too in her possessive attitude toward Ashaya. Her relentless pursuit of Ashaya was tense. We did get some payback when Amara experiences fear and anger. So much for Silence.
Part of Singh’s humor is the natural interaction between friends, and this is intensified by the more intimate interactions between pack members. I do enjoy the snarking between Lucas and Hawke, lol. Of course, Amara’s attitude toward Ming LeBon is refreshing, for us. Oh, oh, oh, then there’s Keenan doing his best to imitate Dorian as he works his martial arts routine . . . I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. I could just see that little boy “kicking determinedly”, lol.
Omigod, then that scene at the end when Dorian slowly comes to his senses and the delight Keenan takes, lolol.
The Psy are shooting themselves in the foot, especially when Ashaya gets some of her own back with her reveals about some of the past and potential Psy plots.
It’s amazing the loyalty that comes with consideration.
”The shortsightedness comes on without warning, and seems to affects dozens of people at a time.”
Ashaya’s “treasonous” broadcast was great fun. I know, how can someone label it “fun”? But I loved how she and the Packs put it to the “man” and how hackers throughout the world helped the message get through. Nyah-nyah, lol.
It’s a zippy pace with Singh packing in the action with amazing characters in an evolving series as cracks are forming within the Psy as well as the PsyNet, rediscoveries of past abilities, a re-embrace of emotion, steps that go beyond knowledge of the mechanics of sex, and so much more. Trust me. If you like a cozy romance in a fantasy genre, buy this.
The Psy-Changeling series is a fascinating exploration of the importance of a full experience that includes emotion . . . as Amara finds out! Wahoo!
Hmmm, it’s a last minute set-up, introducing us to Mercy’s upcoming romance in Branded by Fire, 6.
The Story
It’s a hideous trap for Ashaya Aleine. She hates Protocol I and what it will do to the Psy and yet she must protect her son.
It’s lucky for her that changelings are battling the Psy, compassionate toward others, and much more devious than the Psy expect.
The Characters
The claustrophobic Ashaya Aleine, an M-Psy scientist specializing in scanning the physical body to the DNA level with a knack for nanotech, has been forced to head up the team creating a neural implant intended to turn the Psy into a hive mind. Keenan is Ashaya’s son, held hostage to ensure Ashaya’s cooperation. Amara is Ashaya’s equally brilliant twin, a sociopath who never had any emotions but has a probing curiosity of her twin’s feelings. We meet their mother, Iliana, through a series of epigraphs. Ekaterina was a fellow researcher and rebel in that Nebraska lab. Keishon Talbot is Amara’s assistant and probably LeBon’s spy.
The very accomplished Dorian Christensen, a latent leopard, is one of Lucas’ sentinels. Kylie is the beloved sister murdered in Slave to Sensation, 1.
DarkRiver is . . .
. . . the predominant pack of leopards in the San Francisco area. Their alpha is Lucas Hunter, who is mated to Sascha Duncan, a cardinal E-Psy. Talin McKade, a human who turned out to be part Psy, is mated to Clay Bennett (Mine to Possess, 4). Tamsyn “Tammy” is the pack healer and mated to Nate, the oldest sentinel. They have a pair of twin cubs, the sweet Roman and Julian. Vaughn D’Angelo, a jaguar Sentinel, is mated to Faith NightStar, a cardinal F-Psy worth billions for her predictions (Visions of Heat, 2).
The Pack is all about family and does include humans and Psy. Ria, a human, is Lucas’ personal assistant mated to Emmett (Burning Up: “Whisper of Sin”, 0.6). Soldiers include Aaron, Rina, Jamie, Desiree “Dezi”, and Barker. Sentinels include Mercy. Juveniles include Kit, Mia, Nico, and Cory. Meenakshi “Meena”, a classical Indian dance star, is Desiree’s mother.
SnowDancers are . . .
. . . a wolf pack in the San Francisco area led by Hawke. They’re allied with DarkRiver. Riley and Andrew Kincaid (posted to San Diego) are brothers concerned with the recovery of their sister, Brenna, after events in Slave to Sensation, although, now they’re keeping an eye on her and Judd’s mating in Caressed by Ice, 3. The Lauren family of Psy defected to the wolves and includes Judd, a former Arrow; Walker is Judd’s brother with a daughter, Marlee; and, Sienna and Toby are their niece and nephew. Tai is one of the juveniles.
CTX is a communications company owned by DarkRiver and SnowDancer. Eamon, a leopard changeling, is a videographer. Sentinels and lieutenants are the strongest Pack members with some similarities to the Psy Arrows.
Jimmy lives in San Francisco.
The Rats are . . .
. . . allied with the leopards and wolves, utilized as spies within San Francisco. Teijan is their alpha.
The Psy are . . .
. . . a race who split off from humans when they manifested psychic gifts. They are ruled by the Council which is composed of Nikita Duncan, who is based in San Francisco and whose gift is mental viruses; Kaleb Krycheck, based in Moscow, is a dual cardinal; Ming LeBon, based in Paris, is a whiz at mental combat; Henry and Shoshanna Scott pose as a married couple; and, Anthony Kyriakus, Faith’s father, is the head of the powerful PsyClan NightStar. Santano Enrique had been a sociopathic councilor in Slave to Sensation.
Silver Mercant is Krychek’s personal assistant. Her family, the Mercants, are powerful information brokers. Zie Zen is Keenan’s “father” and a powerful, highly respected Psy.
Pure Psy is . . .
. . . a hate organization that believes in Purity and intends to enforce Silence throughout the Psy population.
The PsyNet is a neural net that split into the NetMind, the neosentient entity that is both librarian and guardian while the DarkMind is its evil twin. The Protocol is the punishing course required for a Psy to become Silent, emotionless. There are different strength levels among the Psy and they are graded from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, the Cardinal. Omega is a Psy project.
The Human Alliance is . . .
. . . a group formed to protect the beleaguered humans and based in Venice.
F Galton, the PurePsy password, had been Darwin’s cousin and a proponent of eugenics that Hitler embraced.
The Cover and Title
The cover is primarily orange with deep purples in the mountain range in the background and the bottom of the sunset — even the snowpack is tinged orange. In front of this background is a full frontal of Dorian’s eight-packed chest with the scar tattoo showing on his left shoulder. Sorry, ladies, he’s wearing blue jeans. The author’s name is at the top, offset enough to include an info blurb on the left; both are in white with a black outline. The title is angled across Dorian’s hips in a white outlined in red. A testimonial, in white, is just beneath the title.
The title could refer to either Dorian or Ashaya, for both are a Hostage to Pleasure.
