Nalini Singh – Shield of Winter

Book 13 in the Psy-Changelings series, published June 3, 2014.
Genre: paranormal romance
Cover: I hate this big one, my book has the smaller cover, and it has added deleted scenes.




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...


The disease in the Net is spreading, making Psy violent murders. Lots of innocent victims die, whole villages disappear from the Net. The Arrows and Councillor Kaleb Krychek try to contain the outbursts as quickly as possible. The Psy doctors are still trying to find a cure, but so far, all the infected Psy die. And it is spreading faster and faster. Desperate measures are necessary. It is time for the hidden Empaths of the Psy race to be awoken to their gifts, in order to save them all.

Ivy is one of those Empaths, she has been rehabilitated/reconditioned once, but slowly she is coming back to her senses, living with her parents and her little dog in an orchard. In a sort of back to basics community with other Psy who have left the city for one reason or the other. So when suddenly an Arrow appears before her, Ivy is terrified. She won’t survive another reconditioning.

They find 10 Empaths who want to try being an Empath, each with his or her own Arrow for protection. And with the help from Sasha Duncan from Dark River, to help them on their way. It is not easy to loose all the conditioning from an entire lifetime and embrace your emotions, and figure out a way to help others with theirs. But slowly they make progress, while growing closer to their Arrows as well. And being with an Empath, certainly helps the Arrows become more human again, a step further away from total darkness...

Of course it is not easy, and they discover that there are different grades of Empaths, and different skill sets. But Ivy is the strongest of them all, and really suited to this problem, calming down large crowds of people in a panic. But this is only the start, they need to cure the disease in the PsyNet itself, before it is too late.


Nalini Singh keeps surprising me with this series, going in directions I never see coming. I have to admit I had some problem with liking Ivy, and the romance between her and Vasic. But they really grew on me, and how they handled everything that came their way, like the Psy who want to assassinate the Empaths, as they blame all the problems on them. I liked the interaction with the Changelings of course, and well, it is just such a good story and series!

If you haven’t read it yet, what are you waiting for? I am looking forward to book 14. Bring it on Nalini!

8 stars.

© 2014 Reviews by Aurian