Book Review: Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh

Title: Shield of Winter
Series: Psy-Changeling, Book 13
Author: Nalini Singh
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Sensuality Rating: Sensual
Source: Review copy provided by publisher
Published: June 3, 2014 by Berkley

Assassin. Soldier. Arrow. That is who Vasic is, who he will always be. His soul drenched in blood, his conscience heavy with the weight of all he’s done, he exists in the shadows, far from the hope his people can almost touch—if only they do not first drown in the murderous insanity of a lethal contagion. To stop the wave of death, Vasic must complete the simplest and most difficult mission of his life.

For if the Psy race is to survive, the empaths must wake…

Having rebuilt her life after medical “treatment” that violated her mind and sought to stifle her abilities, Ivy should have run from the black-clad Arrow with eyes of winter frost. But Ivy Jane has never done what she should. Now, she'll fight for her people, and for this Arrow who stands as her living shield, yet believes he is beyond redemption. But as the world turns to screaming crimson, even Ivy’s fierce will may not be enough to save Vasic from the cold darkness.

Reviewed By: J9

In a Nutshell: Some series weaken as they progress but this series continues its paranormal romance supremacy. The romance is just as intense as the previous couples’ in the series and the world building stellar.

The Set Up: Vasic is an Arrow, one of the elite Psy assassin-soldiers but his role has changed since the Psy race is struggling against a psychic infection. Now Vasic must lead a group of Arrows to protect newly awakened empath Psy. Ivy is one of the empaths and she’s drawn to self-contained Vasic. Vasic knows he’s living on borrowed time but he can’t resist Ivy. Vasic and Ivy have to first stop the psychic infection to have any hope for their race’s future and stay alive long enough for them to have a future.

Why I Read this Book: This author sets the standard for paranormal romances that I most enjoy.

What I Like: This is a lovely romance. Vasic and Ivy are both adult characters with lives and meaningful relationships with people around them. Vasic and Ivy have a tender and passionate relationship progression. From the first time they meet when Vasic teleports to Ivy’s farm to ask her to train in order to fight the psychic infection, they have a chemistry and it lasts the entire book. The sexual intimacy matches their growing emotional intimacy and I loved how Vasic’s psychic powers manifests when the couple are intimate.  It’s both humorous and heartfelt to watch Ivy and Vasic negotiate together their changing relationship, including their sexual relationship. I have to also mention that I think this is the most sexually graphic of the books and to me that’s a GREAT thing!

What I Also Like: The other reason I love this series is the world building and it’s at its peak in this book. The Psy have an interconnected web that their minds link to for survival. For the past few books this web has been in danger of an infection and that comes to a head here. This author writes excellent suspense and does brilliant world building. How the psychic infection is handled allows both Ivy and Vasic to grow as people but also grows the world and includes other characters: the brilliant but damaged scientist, Vasic’s mysterious grandfather and fellow Arrows as well as Ivy’s fellow empaths. This plot and world building captured my attention from beginning to end.

What I Didn’t Like: I’m a Psy-Changeling series fan but I admit that newcomers likely couldn’t start here and have a clue what was going on. So don’t; read the previous 12 and you’ll adore this 13th as much as I did. 

IMO: Shields of Winter is a perfect read with a passionate and heartwarming romance and an edge-of-your-seat plot wrapped up in a captivating sci-fi world. This author is synonymous with out-effin-standing paranormal romance so do yourself a favor and read this series.

J9’s Rating:

 
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