Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh – Review & Giveaway

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Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh – Review & Giveaway

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Shield of Winter
Psy/Changeling series – Book #13
by Nalini Singh
Release Date: June 3, 2014

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Description:
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 stifle 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…


Review:
Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh is the 13th book in her Pys/Changeling series. Before we go to my review, I wanted to mention how much I love this series. Nalini Singh is such a phenomenal writer, that after 13 books, she still keeps us wanting more and more of this awesome series. Many times, other big series suffer from redundancy, or just lose more with each book, as we either know what is going to happen or we get bored. Not so with Nalini Singh, and our Psy/Changelings. We still have wonderful stories, wonderful couples, and a fantastic world building that just continues to smoothly head to what promises to be a wild and exciting climatic finish to this arc.

We have known Vasic, who is our hero in Shield of Winter for a long time. The description of Vasic is perfectly described above in the book description. He and Aden are the leaders of the Arrows, who originally worked for the evil Ming, and now work together with Kaleb; the ghost we discovered in the last book, Heart of Obsidian. At the end of the last book, when Kaleb broke down Silence, we expected the fallout to be bad, since Silence was created to stop violence. With Silence no more, a dangerous sickness has infected the net, and the madness threatens to destroy everyone. Nalini goes into much detail, giving us what is necessary for us to understand what is happening, why and if it was possible to fix this. She also gives us a beautiful and difficult romance, which seemed almost impossible throughout the series. Vasic, who at the age of 4, was trained to become as an Arrow, a cold and calculated killer, to help preserve Silence, and protect the rulers of the Psy Council. We knew changes were coming, but we never thought there would ever a mate for Vasic, who was close to the end.

We meet Ivy, who is an empath, and living with her parents on a remote land, hidden from the Psy’s. Empaths were looked upon with distaste or fear, but now with the fall of Silence and the infection spreading, it is the Empaths who will come out of hiding to help work with the Arrows to try save the world. All the Empaths are brought to Changeling territory under the protection of the Arrows to come up with a plan.

Ivy was a wonderful heroine, who allowed herself to feel emotions. We saw this early on, when she would smile, and play with her beloved Rabbit (her dog). Ivy saw through the cold inner wall that Vasic built around himself. He was Ivy’s protector, and in time it was wonderful to see his wall slowly disintegrate, as he finds himself with feelings he never felt before; with each passing day going by, he cannot resist Ivy. Those emotions between them became so strong, that it not only sizzled, it totally melted Vasic’s wall, bringing out the man who was falling love and it was just wonderful to watch. To watch him come to life, and be so passionate with Ivy was great. Nalini did a fabulous job bringing in much humor during their relationship. Even to the point Vasic went to Judd to find out anything he needed to know about sex.

Both Ivy and Vasic made a great couple, and to the very end, we prayed they would be able to survive and make this work. After Kaleb in the previous book, I did not think I could find another hero to redeem in Vasic. Sigh I totally loved him.

It was great to see some of our favorites again, as they played a major part in trying to find a resolution to the infection that was spreading. I enjoyed seeing Ivy, Sascha, and Sahara, plus others work together. Shield of Winter is another great addition to the Pys/Changeling series, and I must say again that  Nalini Singh is on the top of my list as a favorite author I will not miss. I cannot wait for Aden’s story next, since in this book I began to fall in love with him too.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher


giveaway

Nalini and her publisher, Berkley are offering a hardcopy of Shield of Winter to one (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

 1. Please register using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

2. If you are using a social log-in, please post your email address with your comment.

3. LIKE us on  FACEBOOK and then click GET NOTIFICATION under ‘liked’ for an additional entry.

4. LIKE us on Twitter for an additional entry.

5. LIKE Nalini Singh  on Facebook.

6. The giveaway is open to USA only

7. The giveaway runs from June 3 to June 7, 2014

 

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44 thoughts on “Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh – Review & Giveaway”

  1. Fantastic review, Barb. I love this series, and plan to start reading it after I get home from work. Since I have the book, no need to enter me to this great giveaway.

  6. Wonderful review, Barb. I have heard so much about this series. I would love to try it, but so many books to catch up. Maybe one day.

  10. I love how Nalini portrays the psys and how they respond at first to intimacy. The mental knowledge of the act is there, but there’s so much more they need to discover. This was really well played out with Judd’s brother (Ward? I know it begins with W) and his woman in a couple of books.

    FB and twitter follower of both Nalini and Reading Cafe.

  22. I adore this series. I’ve been telling my sister for months that she needs to enter the Psy-Changling world. Two weeks ago she finally started the first book. Now she’s hooked! Been counting down the days until the release. Please enter me in the giveaway!

  27. I would really be thrilled to win this. I have the kindle version to read starting tomorrow, but winning this hardcover of anything Nalini Singh would a treasure to keep.

  28. Another fantastic review.
    Nalini is one of my favorite authors. It is so amazing that even after 13 books, she can still suck me in and keep me hooked. Love the series and can’t wait to read this one.

    FB Follow and Notice- Stephanie Fredrick
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    fsteph55(at)yahoo(dot)com

  40. Wonderful review Barb, I love Singh’s writing and have really enjoyed this series as well. Due to my TBR, I’ve fallen a bit behind, I can see I really need to make time to catch up! Love her Guild Hunter series as well!

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