Visions of Heat (Psy-Changeling #2) by Nalini Singh
Publisher: Gollancz
Goodreads Summary: Used to cold silence, Faith NightStar is suddenly being tormented by dark visions of blood and murder. A bad sign for anyone, but worse for Faith, an F-Psy with the highly sought after ability to predict the future. Then the visions show her something even more dangerous - aching need & exquisite pleasure.
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: Faith NightStar is a cardinal F-Psy, able to see the future. Her visions are one of the most accurate in the world, and her value is priced dearly at many billions. When she escapes her isolated home in search of Sascha Duncan, the only known Psy to have ever escaped the PsyNet, she instead finds Vaughn D'Angelo, a jaguar changeling with his allegiance sworn to DarkRiver.

In Visions of Heat Faith and Vaughn's story takes the centre stage, but Sascha and Lucas are also a major part of the story. This development enables other romances and keeps it interesting. Faith's story is quite different from Sascha's which I liked because it showed the originality of the series. In this book Nalini Singh explores the F-Psy and the consequences of Silence in yet another brilliantly written novel. The plot twists weren't as easy to predict, though mystery wasn't as prominent a part of the story and I thought it was solved a little too easily. Faith's romance with Vaughn worked differently as well, with the similar themes of "I don't want you to die trying to save me", "you're mine", etc which I found slightly repetitive, but perhaps necessary.

One of the things I liked the most about this book is Faith's communication with the PsyNet NetMind. In Slave to Sensation, Sascha was always trying to avoid getting detected by it, which Faith is talking to it and we get a better understanding of how it functions and its thought process. The communication through images is another obstacle they much overcome to achieve the result.

I have an addiction to the author's dual third person perspectives. Something about them makes me love reading the books in this series so much. The emotional side of it affects me as well, but not as much as some other books. Visions of Heat gave us more background and discoveries about the basis of the Psy world, however the storyline didn't move forward as much; I suppose there must be a balance. Something about the book made me enjoy it more than Slave to Sensation, making it easier to write this review and earning it an extra half star.
Purchase Location: ~I received a copy from Hachette New Zealand and willingly reviewed it~
Edition: Paperback
Buy the book: Book Depository
Recommended for: Fans of adventure, escape and romance.

Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changeling #1) by Nalini Singh
Publisher: Gollancz
Goodreads Summary: THE HOT NEW NAME IN PARANORMAL ROMANCE.

Nalini Singh dives into a world torn apart by a powerful race with phenomenal powers of the mind-and none of the heart.

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of "rehabilitation" - the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was...

Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion - and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities - or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Review:  Sascha Duncan does not have the easiest relationship with her mother Nikita. She is Psy, the race taught not to feel any emotion at all. On top of that, she is a Cardinal Psy, her eyes marking her as different from others, the most powerful type of Psy. When she is tasked with forming a deal with the Changelings, she meets Lucas Hunter, alpha leopard of the DarkRiver clan.

Sascha's flaw allows her to feel emotion, which is expressly forbidden, and should she be found she will be sent into rehabiliation, a place that is rumoured to be worse than death. However the Changelings see a different side of her, and soon she is immersed into their world, cut off from the Psy.

Lucas Hunter is an intriguing hcaracter. He's an alpha male through and throuhg, but he's a little different from both the 'human alphas' in romance novels and the shapeshifter (mainly werewolf) men found in fantasy novels. He is a leopard, but called a panther due to his black colouring in animal form. I found that I like his panther side a lot and his animal characteristics.

There was very little missing or wrong with Slave to Sensation, however I found that the serial killer was very predictable and I guessed it correctly from near the start of the book. I would've liked to hear more about Sascha's mental exercises and how they calm her down as well. A more detailed description of Lucas's panther would also have made me like the book more.

This book contains mystery, romance and paranormal in an all-in-one. No pat of the above lacks when compared to the others, they are equal parts of the book and treated as such. I enjoyed reading Nalini Singh's writing and how she decided to write Sascha's perspective because of her important but difficult choices, her development and changes as well as the hardships she went through in order to survive.
Purchase Location: ~I received a copy from Hachette New Zealand and willingly reviewed it~
Edition: Paperback
Buy the book: Book Depository
Recommended for: Fans of paranormal romance and mystery.