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Hostage to Pleasure (Psy-Changelings, Book 5) | 
 enlarge | Author: Nalini Singh
Publisher: Berkley
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $3.87
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Avg. Customer Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 7352
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.2 x 1
ISBN: 0425223256
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.92
EAN: 9780425223253
ASIN: 0425223256
Publication Date: September 2, 2008
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Product Description
Nalini Singh writes paranormal romance at its best(PUBLISHERS WEEKLY).
Ashaya Aleine was separated from her son, forced to create a neural implant that will forever enslave her psychically gifted Psy race. After fighting a desperate battle to save her child and escape the PsyNet, shes lead not to safety, but into the lethal danger of a snipers embrace.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 27 more reviews...
 This series rocks November 21, 2008
Finally we get the long awaited story of Dorian Christensen, the Dark River Leopard, whose only flaw is that he can't shift to a cat. Due to the inner conflict after his sister's violent murder, everyone is worried about him. He despises the Psy, but when Ashaya arranges a pact with the Changeling leaders to rescue her son Keenan, it becomes his job to do the rescue. What neither Ashaya nor Dorian planned on where the feelings that develop between them. Will they save each other from the dark side of life?
Every time you think the series can't get any better Ms. Singh surprises you with a new book and a new twist in the series. HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE is a major turning point in the series, because the Psy culture is nearing its breakdown. The former ruling society is now facing an even bigger enemy and they have to join forces with their former enemies, the Changeling. The story is something that will stay with you for a long time, even when you have already closed the book after finishing it.
Both Dorian and Ashaya are tortured souls, who are going through their personal hells. Dorian, the Dark River's sniper is on the verge of becoming a renegade, because he can't get over his sister's death. Whereas Ashaya is suffering because her son is being held hostage to insure her good behavior. It's wonderful to see how these two wounded souls find each other. Their relationship is very emotional and steamy. A pure pleasure to read.
Although HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE can be read as a stand-alone, I recommend you read the other books of the series prior tp reading this one, even if only for reading pleasure, but you will also understand the whole world-building and relation between the species more easily.
Ms. Singh has written another keeper with HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE, which I can highly recommend.
Courtesy of Loveromances and more!
The Leopard Stakes His Claim on the Woman November 17, 2008
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 his 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 an 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 depicition 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.
 Not bad- but not my favorite. November 13, 2008
I'm really enjoying the Psy/Changeling world that Singh has created. However her latest entry, Hostage To Pleasure, lacked some of the "umph" that I've come to expect from this series.
HTP does an excellent job of giving us more insight into the workings of the PSY/Changeling world, but in doing so the author sacrificed some of the character development that actually drives a series for me. I couldn't help feeling this one fell more on the side of Urban Fantasy rather than a Paranormal Romance because of all the threads the author had to tie together in her world building- although it certainly is not Urban Fantasy in it's purist form.
In HTP we get Dorian's story- the one Changeling from the DarkRiver pack who is unable "change". He's been with us from the beginning of the series and suffered a great tragedy in the loss of his beloved sister to a psychopathic Psy who brutally kidnapped and murdered her. These two aspects keeps him separate yet part of the pack- because he needs them to keep him sane. (A top notch sniper/ sentinel, he continues to protect the pack above and beyond to compensate for the fact he can't transform into the leopard who resides inside him who is also so overcome with bitterness over his sister's death, it's eating away at him.)
Enter Ashaya. A beautiful bronzed skinned Psy who secretly defied the evil Psy Council to help rescue children in captivity connected to Dorian's pack. Ashaya's been under the thumb of the Psy all her life- but she's hidden her true self from them. When it became clear that the Psy Council will use any means necessary to keep her working on a secret project that would destroy anyone exhibiting emotion- including using her son as leverage- she decides to get out. She calls in her marker with DarkRiver pack and fakes her own death to escape. And it works. Until she decides to expose the Psy's plans to the world for the good of the people and thereby exposes herself to those who want what she knows- no matter what the cost.
Dorian's appalled. He's assigned to protect this cold Psy who's motives are muddied at best- but she's of the race of the man who destroyed his sister. How can he do his job when everything in him screams for him to avenge his sister's murder? Of course there's another problem- he's helplessly attracted to her.
And Shaya is not what she seems. She's an ice maiden for a reason. When Dorian discovers why, he's even more determined to protect her and her son- despite what he feels.
In the meantime, not only are the Psy making plans to eliminate her, but other factions as well. And as the Silence (the total suppression of emotions) crumbles around the Psy, they become even more desperate to end Shaya's life. For what she knows will be the key to their undoing.
Although I did enjoy HTP, I was a bit disappointed in the love connection in this novel. Oh I liked both Shaya and Dorian tremendously- I just felt like their story took too much of a backseat to all the explaining that had to be done to make Singh's world fit.
So, in the end, it gets a 3.5 from me. Not bad- but not my favorite.
 Great Entry in the Series November 3, 2008
Ms. Singh keeps up the good work, putting out another great entry in the Psi/Changeling series. While this book has a bit too many POVs for my taste, it's still a compelling read. One word of caution: don't jump into the middle of this series. Start from the beginning or you'll be too lost to fully appreciate the unique universe Ms. Singh has created.
Romance an afterthought... October 29, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I think that Nalini Singh got so wrapped up in her science fiction plot, that she almost forgot to write the romance in her latest Psy-changeling book. I loved her first three installments in this series due to the highly interesting plot, sensuality, and intense emotional connection between the main characters. However, this most recent book was almost devoid of sensuality and I could care less by the time they actually had a lovescene (which was good, because the lovescene was so short).
Nalini Singh seems to be getting out of the romance business like so many romance novelists who finally get a good fan base. We just keep buying, hoping that they revert back to how they were in the beginning.
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