#BookReview: Hostage to Pleasure by Nalini Singh - 5 Wine Glasses

Title: Hostage to Pleasure 
Series: Psy-Changeling #5
Author: Nalini Singh
Format: eBook/Mass Market Paperback, 330 pages
Published: September 2nd 2008 by Berkley
ISBN: 0425223256 
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Kindle  | B&N
Source: Purchased by Reviewer
Reviewer: Crystal
Rating: 5/5

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...

Thoughts:
Psy-Changeling is a sexy, twisty, utterly addictive series and Hostage to Pleasure has to be my favorite book to date! 

Dorian Christensen may be latent and unable to shift into his leopard form but that doesn't stop him from being one of the baddest Sentinels in the DarkRiver pack. An exceedingly capably sniper and computer guru, Dorian is no slouch when it comes to protecting his pack . But after loosing his sister to a Psy serial killer, darkness swirls within and the leopard's rage has been clawing at his insides. It only worsens when he has a beautiful Psy in the sights of his scope. (Mine to Possess) Ashaya Aleine is a brilliant geneticist working unwilling under the council and her only way out is if the Changelings uphold their word in exchange for setting the children free (Mine to Possess). But it's just not Ashaya's life at stake, the life of her young son is on the line as well if the DarkRiver pack does not come through for her. But the council is not going to let her go easily, and her twin sister is an even bigger adversary. Finding refuge on DarkRiver lands Ashaya and her son are suppose to be safe, but the biggest threat to her is the cat sharing the same room with her... 

I loved Dorian so much! He has such charm and sensuality that we've seen in previous books, but it's buried in Hostage to Pleasure due to anger and hate. And understandably so. His character held so many dimensions,  I could empathize with his struggles and feelings of guilt. Fighting his attraction to a Psy, the very same race that brutally murdered his baby sister. 

Ashaya was a different take of the leading female Psy's that we have seen in previous books. There were already glimpses of emotion in her and failure of Silence. You could tell that she obviously cared for her son and his well being right away, no mater how she denied it to protect them both. And though she fought her attraction for Dorian during the day, she couldn't help dreaming about him at night. Their relationship was definitely an uphill battle, each with their own secrets and inner demons to fight before they could truly come together.

Amara, Ashaya's twin sister, was a very disturbing character and one that I never grew to like. Though I don't think we were really suppose to. That girl is the epitome of cray-cray. She is so possessive of Ashaya that she will stop at nothing to keep Ashaya her's, and her's only! But the real clinger here is that Ashaya and Amara are connected beyond the PsyNet and if Ashaya cut's that connection with Amara, Amara would die. No matter what your sister may put you through, that is a hard decision either way. Especially when she is threatening everyone you hold dear. I was in a constant state of suspense while reading this aspect of the story, wondering how this would be solved but Nalini Singh pulled it all together masterfully. 

I am blown away by the evolving and ever-changing story lines throughout the series. The witty dialogue and the charismatic characters kept me connected to the story, and the sizzling passion and gripping plot didn't hurt either. One of my favorite reads of the year, Hostage to Pleasure, held me hostage beginning to end!