Sandy M’s review of Blaze of Memory (Psy/Changeling Series, Book 7) by Nalini Singh
Paranormal Romance published by Berkley 3 Nov 09

Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changeling series has become one of my all-time favorites. With this latest installment, I’ve learned it doesn’t matter who she makes her hero and heroine, I’m going to love it. I thought I would be disappointed that a changeling wasn’t in the spotlight this time around. I couldn’t have been more wrong. In fact, Blaze of Memory has now become my favorite of the series — all because she made me cry.

And I mean cry. Sobbing. I didn’t just tear or mist up. I flat out cried as I read those wonderful, heart-wrenching scenes at the end of the book. But I guess I should talk about the beginning and middle of the story first.

Dev is the director of the Shine Foundation that takes care of those Psy who chose not to undergo silence when first introduced. He keeps his people safe and out of today’s Psy’s hands the best he can. He’s become hardened, about to lose himself to the job and his gift until he meets Katya, who he’s suspicious of in the beginning. But the more he learns about her and her current plight, the more his feelings come to the surface.

She’s a Psy and she’s been tampered with by one of her own. Her mind has been so interwoven into itself she doesn’t remember anything about her or her life when she regains consciousness after her ordeal. Dev refuses to let her out of his sight, wanting to keep her near for Shine and ultimately for himself. Together they begin to unravel the mystery of Katya and how to keep her alive when they do find the answer.

Throughout all of this we get vintage Singh when it comes to the love scenes, the danger, the mystery, and, of course, the changelings and the Psy. Dev and Katya are terrific together. They grow from suspicious of each other to respect to love for one another. The sex is tender and hot. The mystery is unique and dangerous. And I enjoyed seeing all of my old friends from previous books, finding out how they’re doing.

But it’s the end of the book, near the end of Katya’s life, that makes this book so special. Dev has finally come to face the fact he needs Katya in his life, he loves her, against all odds. And now he’s going to lose her, there’s nothing he can do about it either. He’s helpless. And the way Singh writes those scenes doesn’t just pull at your heart, it tugs and tugs until there’s no more to tug on. I’ve cried here and there over a few books in the 35 plus years I’ve been reading romance, but I’ve never, never cried like did with these scenes.

Ms. Singh has it all as an author. She’s right up there with the best of them, and I anticipate every book with her name on it. If you haven’t started this series yet, you are definitely missing some terrific reads. I highly recommend this book and this series to anyone and everyone.

Grade: A+

Read Gwen’s and LynneC’s review.

Summary:

Dev Santos discovers her unconscious and battered, with no memory of who she is. All she knows is that she’s dangerous. Charged with protecting his people’s most vulnerable secrets, Dev is duty-bound to eliminate all threats. It’s a task he’s never hesitated to complete…until he finds himself drawn to a woman who might yet prove the enemy’s most insidious weapon.

Stripped of her memories by a shadowy oppressor, and programmed to carry out cold-blooded murder, Katya Haas is fighting desperately for her sanity itself. Her only hope is Dev. But how can she expect to gain the trust of a man who could very well be her next target? For in this game, one must die…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Lynne Connolly’s review of Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh
Futuristic paranormal romance released by Berkley 3 Nov 09

The cover? Weird. Dev is Asian, with a fair bit of Indian in him, and he’s a director, not a cop, but the cover seems to show a George Michael type with a weapon in a blazing street. I know the scene it’s supposed to represent, it just seems more suspense than paranormal to me.

Dev Santos is the director of the Shine Foundation, which deals with the descendants of the Psy called the Forgotten. A woman is brought to him, one who has been tortured and has a terrible implant in her psychic memory, one they can’t access and they can’t remove. She refuses to respond to her name of Ekaterina, so Dev gives her the name Katya.

He takes her in to his home and looks after her. Katya has been badly treated, starved and tortured, and so mentally battered I don’t think she would have bounced back as quickly as she did.

The story is interwoven with two other narratives. One is hundred year old letters from a woman living at the cusp of the introduction of Silence. I would have loved these written as a story in themselves, but interspersed into this story, I found it took away some of the intensity of the main narrative.

The other is accounts from somewhere called the Sunshine station. At first, I connected this with the Shine Foundation, but it’s soon clear that they are separate, although I found it a bit confusing at first. I also didn’t understand Dev’s gift and how it factored into the story until quite late on.

The romance developed a bit unevenly, with some pauses to get on with the complex external plot, and at first I thought there were probably a couple of scenes too many, with a few repetitions of how and why.

Singh’s style is great, adult, with no gimmicky aspects, which is one of the reasons I enjoy her books so much. Her characters are adult too, not overgrown teens and they reason their way through the story. Perhaps a little too much at times, but I’m not complaining.

The end of the story contains a device that will be familiar to fans of the Psy/changeling series. Everything seems lost. I know, from writing “Sunfire,” how much fun these scenes are to write, but when I got to that part (desperately trying to avoid spoilers here!) I thought “I’ve read this before.” But I was happy to read it again, and see how these people coped with the dilemma.

I loved Dev, but I felt the romance was a tiny bit lacking. I’m not even sure why, because it’s all there – the sex, the growing intimacy, tenderness and care, but I did feel disassociated from the characters occasionally, not as involved as I wanted to be.

Still, I love this series and I’m eagerly awaiting the next one.

GRADE: B

Read other reviews of this series by clicking on its tag here.

Summary:

Nalini Singh returns to the Psy/Changeling world and its “breathtaking blend of passion, adventure, and the paranormal”* as a woman without a past becomes the pawn of a man who controls her future…

Dev Santos discovers her unconscious and battered, with no memory of who she is. All she knows is that she’s dangerous. Charged with protecting his people’s most vulnerable secrets, Dev is duty-bound to eliminate all threats. It’s a task he’s never hesitated to complete…until he finds himself drawn to a woman who might yet prove the enemy’s most insidious weapon.

Stripped of her memories by a shadowy oppressor, and programmed to carry out cold-blooded murder, Katya Haas is fighting desperately for her sanity itself. Her only hope is Dev. But how can she expect to gain the trust of a man who could very well be her next target? For in this game, one must die…

Read an excerpt here.

Other books in the series:

		The Cannibal Princess
A Gift For Kit

Gwen’s review of Blaze of Memory (Psy-Changeling Series, Book 7) by Nalini Singh
Futuristic paranormal romance released by Berkley 3 Nov 09

At this point, I’ll sound like a broken record I’ve said this so much.  Nevertheless, I’ll say it again.  Singh is one of the best storytellers out there today, and the best paranormal romance author.  Her stories are set in an interesting, complete world, have luscious heroes and heroines, good plot lines, full and logical story arcs, excellent villains, and really dreamy romances. 

Blaze is no exception to these rules.  We get a full, rich romance with lots of great details and a really fun story.

Singh tells us a story about the head of the Shine Foundation, Dev, and a psy named Katya.  They meet under unusual circumstances.  Katya initially suffers from complete amnesia. (I know, I know, it’s a familiar tune, but it works here.  Honest.)

Over the course of the book, Dev and Katya, with other psy and changelings, solve the mystery of Katya and her condition.  They fall in love, have some awesome sex, and thwart a seriously nasty plot set in action by the villains.

I won’t give away any other details except to say that if you’re following this series, you definitely want to read this book.  If you’re new to the series, you might be a little at sea with Blaze - by this book, there’s so much backstory that you might miss quite a lot jumping in here.

Blaze is a romping good time with a new group of characters in this rich, interesting series.

Grade: A

Read other reviews of this series by clicking on its tag here.

Summary:

Nalini Singh returns to the Psy/Changeling world and its “breathtaking blend of passion, adventure, and the paranormal”* as a woman without a past becomes the pawn of a man who controls her future…

Dev Santos discovers her unconscious and battered, with no memory of who she is. All she knows is that she’s dangerous. Charged with protecting his people’s most vulnerable secrets, Dev is duty-bound to eliminate all threats. It’s a task he’s never hesitated to complete…until he finds himself drawn to a woman who might yet prove the enemy’s most insidious weapon.

Stripped of her memories by a shadowy oppressor, and programmed to carry out cold-blooded murder, Katya Haas is fighting desperately for her sanity itself. Her only hope is Dev. But how can she expect to gain the trust of a man who could very well be her next target? For in this game, one must die…

Read an excerpt here.

Other books in the series:

		The Cannibal Princess
A Gift For Kit

This just in…

Nalini Singh has a lot of terrific news to share with fans. So listen up!

~ First her Psy/Changeling series. Nalini has just signed a contract to write four more books in the series!

~ Slave to Sensation, the first book in the series, is now out in ebook in several different formats.

~ There is a new short story, A Conversation, which takes place some time after Mine to Possess, that is now available on Nalini’s site.

~ Also added in the most recent site update is a blurb for Blaze of Memory, Book 7 in the series, due out in November.

~ There will also be a novella about Ria, Lucas’ administrative assistant, sometime in 2010.

~ And don’t forget, Branded by Fire, Mercy’s story, is due out July 1!

~ Now for Nalini’s new Guild Hunter series. She’s also just been contracted to write two more books in this series.

~ Archangel’s Kiss is the new title for the second book in the series, which should be out sometime early 2010.

Consider yourself flashed.