Review: Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh

Posted June 9, 2016 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Shield of Winter by Nalini SinghReviewer: Rowena
Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh
Series: Psy/Changeling #13
Also in this series: Mine to Possess, Hostage to Pleasure, The Magical Christmas Cat , Kiss of Snow, Tangle of Need, Slave to Sensation , Wild Invitation, Heart of Obsidian, Shield of Winter, Shield of Winter, Visions of Heat, Mine to Possess, Caressed By Ice, Branded by Fire, Blaze of Memory, Mine to Possess, Hostage to Pleasure, Hostage to Pleasure, Shards of Hope, Shards of Hope, Heart of Obsidian, Caressed By Ice, Branded by Fire, Blaze of Memory, Play of Passion, Allegiance of Honor, Kiss of Snow, Tangle of Need, Shards of Hope, Allegiance of Honor, Allegiance of Honor, Wild Embrace, Wild Embrace, Wild Embrace, Silver Silence, Silver Silence, Tangle of Need, Ocean Light, Ocean Light , Caressed By Ice, Wolf Rain
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: June 3rd 2014
Pages: 464
Add It: Goodreads
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four-half-stars
Series Rating: five-stars

“The alpha author of paranormal romance” (Booklist) draws us back into her extraordinary Psy-Changeling world, a world torn between violence and peace, passion and ice...

Assassin. Soldier. Arrow. That is who Vasic is, who he will always be. His soul drenched in blood, his conscience heavy with the weight of all he’s done, he exists in the shadows, far from the hope his people can almost touch—if only they do not first drown in the murderous insanity of a lethal contagion. To stop the wave of death, Vasic must complete the simplest and most difficult mission of his life.

For if the Psy race is to survive, the empaths must wake…

Having rebuilt her life after medical “treatment” that violated her mind and sought to suffocate her abilities, Ivy should have run from the black-clad Arrow with eyes of winter frost. But Ivy Jane has never done what she should. Now, she’ll fight for her people, and for this Arrow who stands as her living shield, yet believes he is beyond redemption. But as the world turns to screaming crimson, even Ivy’s fierce will may not be enough to save Vasic from the cold darkness…

I’ve put everything on hold so that I can read this series. I can’t stop. I’ve been zipping through these books like it’s no big deal. This is book 13. That’s a big freaking deal.

Vasic’s childhood wasn’t filled with backyard boogies and happy, smiling faces welcoming him home from school. No. Vasic spent his childhood learning how to become an effective killer, learning to become a part of the Arrow Squad. A squad of vicious killers who were brought up to protect Silence, at all costs. When we first meet Vasic, he comes off as cold, ruthless and devoid of all emotion. His Silence game was strong and he lived to protect the people of his race. In the background of the previous books, you can see the Arrows struggling with their purpose and the two lead Arrows trying to figure things out are Vasic and Aden. They’ve pledged to follow ex-Councilor Kaleb Krychek but they’re not the Arrow Squad of old. They don’t blindly follow anyone anymore.

Ivy Jane is an E-Psy that lives on an orchard with her Psy family. After she was sent to be reconditioned, the process really messed her up and she’s still really screwed up from that whole thing. Her Silence is shattered and she feels everything. She’s a crucial part of Kaleb’s plan to hopefully save the Psy-Net and because being an E-Psy is all about being emotional, Ivy can’t turn away. Not when she can help innocent people find a way to survive in this new world without Silence.

Vasic is tasked with the security of the E-Psys that are a part of Kaleb’s experiment and he’s paired up with Ivy Jane. The chemistry between these two was pretty explosive from the very beginning and that’s a testament to Singh’s writing style because when Vasic meets Ivy for the first time, he’s still cold and reserved. He’s got no emotions and seeing him come into his feelings for Ivy made this such a great reading experience for me.

I loved seeing the walls of ice melt whenever he spent time with Ivy. I adored seeing him deal with the confusion of the things that Ivy makes him feel. The remorse he has when he realizes that the choices he’s made are threatening his future with Ivy and that part of the story, the urgency they had to try to fix things before it’s too late had my heart racing.

Ivy was a great heroine and absolutely perfect for Vasic. She was good to him and so was Rabbit. I loved the little family they made together and enjoyed seeing Ivy make a place for herself in Vasic’s life.

On top of the romance between Vasic and Ivy, there’s the infection in the Psy-Net that everyone is trying to figure out how to fix. I thought that Singh did a fabulous job of fleshing that story out. I loved seeing them work together to try to figure out how to help their people. It was good to see everyone from the previous books and I’m surprised that I’m enjoying the Psy books as much as I am because I honestly didn’t care much for them in the other books but holy hot damn, I love Vasic and I’m so looking forward to jumping into Aden’s book.

This book was a damn good story with lots of action, a romance that melted my heart and characters that I just love to death. Nalini Singh really has a gift for writing complicated stories with complex characters that don’t quit bringing the goodness. There was much to love in this book but there is still so much to look forward to. Loved this!

Reading Order

Slave to Sensation
Visions of Heat
Caressed by Ice
Mine to Possess
Hostage to Pleasure
Branded by Fire
Blaze of Memory
Bonds of Justice
Play of Passion
Kiss of Snow
Tangle of Need
Heart of Obsidian
Shield of Winter
Shards of Hope
Allegiance of Honor

four-half-stars


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