Caressed By Ice by Nalini Singh

I'm not sure my brain is in the right place to do Caressed by Ice any justice but I have to start blogging again sometime.

Hey, I heard that! I've been a little bit absent.

So let's get too it.

KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER, KEEPER!!!!

I'm in love with a man named Judd. Really, it's that simple.

Cindy Blurb: Judd Lauren is one bad ass mofo of a Psy who recently defected to save his brother, nephew and two nieces from having their brains put into a vegetative state. Did I mention this is a paranormal? It is. And there are psychics of every kind imaginable and were- animals and some humans. From what I can tell, Judd is probably one of the most powerful of his kind although he has hid it well from not only those who would try and manipulate him but also those who think they know him.

Judd's family found refuge from a wolf pack that decided not to kill them on the spot. Shortly thereafter Judd was instrumental in rescuing a female pack member, Brenna from a horrible sadistic bastard who had many of the same powers that Judd himself has.

After the rescue it is Judd that passionate, affectionate Brenna turns to. Judd does all he can to protect himself from Brenna and his 'coldness' that is very much part of the Psy does give Brenna concerns.

Brenna is a proud wolf who although robbed of her innocence, knows herself well enough to know that Judd is not exactly the kind of mate her wolf side needs. The were community is affectionate by nature while the Psy have been programmed to ignore emotions (Judd actually believes he cannot have emotions - which was wickedly awesome when he had a jealous moment - YUM).

So we have two people trying to find out how to adapt to each other because it's clear to both of them that they can't be without each other.

Damn. I'm not doing well here. The blurb does this book no justice at all and I'm telling you, this book rocked!

Judd hit all my 'hawt' buttons. A guy coldly in control of everything and intensely logical who gets smacked up side the head by a woman. I mean, what's better than that. Also, I know there are people who don't like to read about people who are assassins but you just can't fault Judd for who he is. Only knowing the basics about how the Psy treat their children, I'm shocked more of them haven't become raving lunatics. (Although many in the higher ups are just that!)

If it were simple for Judd to love Brenna he would do it in a heartbeat but the Psy teach their young that something as simple as a touch is painful. Every time Brenna needs a hug or even his hand to hold Judd experiences pain. Just falling in love creates brain damage so severe it could kill him.

It just about killed me!

Brenna meanwhile has her own demons as well as a hot temper that can have Judd sitting on the outside trying to figure out what he did wrong. Not that they have any huge misunderstandings, just cultural differences that make each question if they are right for each other.

At one point Judd finally tells Brenna that even if she finds her mate, he won't let her go. I really liked this twist in the usual lore of 'fated mates' and it did create problems for Brenna. She knew she belonged to Judd but her wolf side didn't recognize Judd as it's mate, if that makes sense.

Now I need to be honest. There were a few moments there where I started to worry that there wasn't going to be a sex scene in this book. I mean, talk about tension. I'm not really sure how far into the book it was before these two actually kissed but it was a looooong way. Not only that, I wasn't as drawn to Judd at a certain point in the story because a 'flame out' temporarily stopped his psychic abilities hence, the ability to touch Brenna without pain. Seeing as how I like my men a little angsty having him so carefree for lack of a better word was somewhat out of character, at least for me.

Oh and there's other stuff going on but you really should read the book if you want to know. And I had no clue who the bad guy was - I was all sure it was who I thought it was and it wasn't. Cool.

Dangit!

I almost forgot to mention the power of Singh's ability to world build. I know that J.R. Ward has become quite well know but I personally think that Singh's world is just that much better than Ward's world. There are rules in Singh's world and even though things are changing in the world, they do so because much of what is present is already broken. High praise from someone who is a fangirl of Ward's though.

I'm thinking the new order in Cindy's world is Anne Stuart, Nalini Singh, J.R. Ward. These seem to be my auto-buy authors and well, let's just say that after Ward's last book, she's skating on some thin ice.

I'm going with an A-.

If you haven't tried Nalini Singh's Psy books, RUN! RUN! to the bookstore now!!

Order of books:

Slave to Sensation

Visions of Heat

Caressed by Ice

Now I'm going to immerse myself in the 'great book blues'. While reading this book all I could think is 'this, this is what I want more of!!'.

For real reviews I know Rosario has done one and I believe Holly should have one up soon.