Hostage to Pleasure

Psy-Changeling Series, Book 5

By: Nalini Singh

Narrated by: Angela Dawe

Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Separated from her son and forced to create a neural implant that will mean the effective enslavement of her psychically gifted race, Ashaya Aleine is the perfect Psy: cool, calm, emotionless... at least on the surface. Inside, she’s fighting a desperate battle to save her son and escape the vicious cold of the PsyNet. Yet when escape comes, it leads not to safety but to the lethal danger of a sniper’s embrace.

DarkRiver sniper Dorian Christensen lost his sister to a Psy killer. Though he lacks the changeling ability to shift into animal form, his leopard lives within. And that leopard’s rage at the brutal loss is a clawing darkness that hungers for vengeance. Falling for a Psy has never been on Dorian’s agenda. But charged with protecting Ashaya and her son, he discovers that passion has a way of changing the rules.

Mind over matter: listen to more in the Psy-Changeling series.

©2008 Nalini Singh (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"One of the greatest pleasures of these books is their ability to deliver both an intensely personal love story as well as a riveting societal drama. Singh is on the fast track to becoming a genre giant!" ( Romantic Times)

Love this world, but...

I really love this world & the characters! However, I really hate the forced overuse of the word c**k in this and previous couple of books in the series. I can only assume it's an effort to be edgy or sexy. It's neither. It adds nothing to the storyline or mood, is unnecessary, and a turnoff.

Amazing!!!

Any additional comments?

NUMBER OF HEARTS: 4 1/2
REVIEW:
Dorian has been through so much in his life that he is teetering on the edge of a very dangerous cliff. One wrong move or one wrong emotion could send him over. The last thing that Dorian needs it to get tangled up with a Psy. Or that might be the very thing he does need.
Ashaya has been hiding secrets for years. But now that she has defected all her secrets are starting to come out. The only question is who can she trust with them?

Seriously Nalini must be a writing god. I love everything about this series and these books. And this book made me cry! So loved reading Dorian and Ashaya’s story. But I do have a few questions that I hope will get answered in future books.

Angela does an amazing job again in narrating this book. I love that you know each character’s voice no matter which book you are listening too.

If you have not started this series yet you really really need to. But you have to start with book 1.

Disclaimer:
I purchased the book from Audible.com and this review is my own opinion and not a paid review.

Loved this couple!

I've learned that I really like it when a hero misjudges the heroine. I relished the idea of when he would find out he had been wrong about her. Not sure why or what that says about me.

I loved it even more when the heroine refused to defend herself. It made it that when he realized the truth, it was so much sweeter. Thankfully he never mistreated her. He wasn't kind but he didn't do anything that I couldn't get past as a reader.

Things with the Psy Council seems to be escalating. I can't wait for them to fall but then I know the series will be over when that happens. I'm not ready for this series to be over. Off to the next book...

Doriannnnn!!!!!

Hostage to Pleasure is such a great book. I have loved Dorian since we first meet him back in Slave to Sensation. He has been through so much and he has all of this guilt from not being able to save his sister from the Evil Psy: Santano Enrique. When Dorian meets Ashaya he does not know how to deal with the emotions that she provokes in him. From the beginning there was something between them but neither one of them wanted to act on their feelings.

One of the main reasons why I love this book so is because of Ashaya's Journal that she keeps. It all started as a cooping mechanisms because of her fear claustrophobia. When we get a glimpse of what she is truly feeling when it comes to Dorian I love this book more. I have to say Dorian and Ashaya has to be one of my favorite couples of this series along with Judd and Brenna. I have to say I really do not like Sascha and Lucas. There is something about them that makes me want to skip ALL of their scenes.

I cannot wait to see more Dorian in Wild Embrace.

Best one so far

Was so sad when it ended. Loved it more than any other so far. Best!

Exciting and touching addition to the series....

Hostage to Pleasure is a very exciting and touching addition to the Psy-Changeling Series. I can't see how a reader could get much enjoyment out of this book without listening to the first four in the series. Each story builds on the next, and Singh continues to flesh out the world building with each successive book. Hostage to Pleasure features Dorian, a dormant leopard shifter, and Ashaya, a medical pys. Both Dorian and Ashaya have reasons to dislike and distrust each other, but they are forced to work together to save her son.

Although a large part of the story is devoted to the ongoing struggle between the Psy Council and the Shifters, the romantic aspect is heartwarming and touching. Watching Ashaya let down her psy barriers and learn to accept her feelings is a beautiful experience. I especially loved watching Ashaya and her son, Keenan, worm their way into Dorian's angry, cold heart, returning him to the person he was before his sister was murdered. I can't say more without spoilers, but Singh nailed the ending!

Angela Dawe has narrated all the books in the series, and she does her usual terrific job in Hostage to Pleasure. She is now the voice of the psy-changelings, and she does a terrific job with all the different characters and personalities. I see that she continues to narrate the entire series, and I think that was an excellent choice on Audible's part. #Shifter #Near Future #Tortured Hero #Magical # Mindbending #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes

The leopard unleashed!

Dorian is a favorite. His story had to be great. This story had some surprises interspersed within the continuous action, and two strong characters. I also like that I could catch up on all the previous characters in the series, too. I am really looking forward to Book 6!

Increasingly Complicated

These books have an overarching storyline that is getting more complicated. At first they were books about the Changelings vs. the Psy and now they've added the humans. I really enjoy knowing that even though the main storyline between Dorian and Ashaya is done, we'll be seeing them in future books. These are books I will definately revisit in the future. I especially liked the interactions between Dorian and Ashaya's son. The narrator did a fine job as always.

Mixed emotions in a good way

One thing I have to say about this series that sets it apart from others of the Paranormal Romance genre is that the bigger events happening in this world are actually important and play a big part in the stories. Ms. Singh also introduces delicate situations and moral quandries that are great food for thought. (It's not every day you read a standard issue romance that deals with the complexities of caring about a sociopath. I'm just saying.) In that sense, this book is a great natural progression of thoughtful issues that are brought up in this series. I found myself questioning what I would do in the same situation, and that kind of reflection is always a good thing in a book, even if it makes me uncomfortable or if I don't agree with the thoughts or actions of the characters. As such, it made it very compelling reading, especially adding in the romance between Dorian and Ashaya, which was totally believable and hot. So yeah, continued awesomeness. Worth the money and the listening time, no doubt!

Flaws in the writing and editing more obvious

This book, like the previous one, was still too angsty to me. The main male character is all torn apart by guilt and treats the female character fairly badly. It becomes somewhat hard to believe that they could fall for each other given the way they act toward one another.

The use of the word 'however' is also becoming annoying in these stories. I get that there are a lot of details and positions that need to be represented and all that really does add to the story and the world, but the editing needs to be cleaned up and the use of a thesaurus is highly recommended.

I would like to see more integration of the upcoming main characters and previous main characters in these books. We get to know the characters and then they just become very very peripheral. It's like we're missing part of the story without knowing more about the lives of those who have come before.

Anyway, aside from some specific flaws that are fairly easy to overlook, the series is still one of my favorites and I can't wait to get the next one and start listening.