Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh Series: Psy-Changeling #3
Published by Berkley on September 4, 2007
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 388
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
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As an Arrow, an elite soldier in the Psy Council ranks, Judd Lauren was forced to do terrible things in the name of his people. Now a defector, his dark abilities have made him the most deadly of assassins—cold, pitiless, unfeeling. Until he meets Brenna…
Brenna Shane Kincaid was an innocent before she was abducted—and had her mind violated—by a serial killer. Her sense of evil runs so deep, she fears she could become a killer herself. Then the first dead body is found, victim of a familiar madness. Judd is her only hope, yet her sensual changeling side rebels against the inhuman chill of his personality, even as desire explodes between them. Shocking and raw, their passion is a danger that threatens not only their hearts, but their very lives…
Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh is the third book in the Psy-Changeling series. The series delivers a hot paranormal romance with an overall arc involving Psy, humans and shifters. In Caressed by Ice, the roles are reversed and our Psy is male. Intense and filled with banter Singh gave me a couple I could sink my teeth into and root for.
Judd Lauren is an Arrow, an élite soldier in the Psy ranks who defects when his entire family was slated to be destroyed. Hiding among the shifters and working with the resistance he has not let go of the silence because he fears it will unleash his murderous instinct. Gads, Judd made me swoon on so many levels. I felt for this mighty warrior who carries such a heavy burden. Seeing him come undone and break his chains around Brenna was delicious.
Brenna Shane Kincaid is a badly damaged. She is a fierce wolf who survived an abduction by a brutal Psy serial killer. She fears she is slipping into madness as visions of blood and murder fill her dreams. With over protective brothers and a fear of opening up to others, she finds herself drawn to Judd. The tale that unfolds delivered a hot, sexy, tender, humorous romance and I found myself lost within their story. Brenna has been altered and her impact to the overall arc was fascinating. I loved how fearless, determined and oh so stubborn she was.
The overall arc continues as we move farther into the Psy world and that of the Silence. This time they are trying to weaken the pacts, and someone within the Psy network is implanting the next protocol in the Silence. They are attempting to achieve a hive mentality that will give them ultimate power. This power-hungry group will not hesitate to use their own young as test subjects.
Caressed by Ice was another wonderful addition to the overall series. I loved watching the packs work together and learning more about this world. I am anxious to move on to the next couple in Mine to Possess.
Quotes From Caressed By Ice
“God, you’re sexy when you talk Psy.”
“She was more than willing to let him walk off his temper. And the man had one, even if he wasn’t willing to admit it.”
“You’re walking funny,” Lucy said, a shit-eating grin on her face. Five days of out of this world sex with a starving man could do that to a girl.
“You’re just jealous.” Brenna pushed through the door into DarkRiver’s business HQ.
Lucy made a mournful face. “Yes, I am. Goddamn but your man is hot. And he smiles at you! I’ve seen him do it, even if no one believes me.”
Games:
Who said (enter the answer in the Rafflecopter, don’t put in the comments)
“Oh, for crissakes, don’t give me any shit. I’ve had it up to here with men and their attitudes.”
There are other options in the rafflecopter for you to enter discussion questions and quotes to share.
The quote for Who said “Tell a child something often enough and she starts to believe it.” in Visions of Heat was Sascha.
The villain was The Scotts.
Share your review/ thoughts on Caressed by Ice:
I thought it might be fun to link up reviews so we can find them all easily. It can be a link to Goodreads or a blog, or wherever you have a review (short or long).
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Observations and questions you shared from Visions of Heat:
(Thank you so much for sharing!)
- The NetMind has an evil twin! I’m looking forward to more developments regarding them both.
- I wonder if every designation experiences the psy net differently, based on their strenghts?
- Vaughn had terrible parents. Vaughn cared about his sister.
- Faith doesn’t have any relationship with her siblings
- Faith is worth a lot of money
- What species will the children of Sacha and Lucas be? Will they have characteristics of one or both parents?
- How will the new Psy – Changeling net work out? How much mental connection will there be with Changelings?
- Why were Vaughn’s parents so susceptible to that religious cult? I mean, they are leopards, how come they couldn’t scent the “wrongness” of the people in the cult?
- Does Vaughn visit where Skye is buried?
- How long has Vaughn been sculpting? Does Vaughn sell his art?
- Does Faith think about her mom?
Quotes you readers shared from Visions of Heat:
(Thank you for sharing!)
“Even if he had to coax her kiss by slow kiss. Cats were good at coaxing. It was only a more sensual aspect of their favorite game—stalking.”
“I think that’s why Vaughn can pull you out—his touch awakens that buried center.”
“Sleep Red, I’ve got you.”
“Minds bright and weak flickered around her, a thousand points of beauty and grace.”
“I’m coming home with you.”
“I’m a cat. Soft, silky things make me purr.”
“Christ, baby, tie me up before you start talking like that.”
“How do you know it’ll be pleasurable?”
“I tell you I’m dangerous and you want to put knives near me?”
“I am precisely where I need to be.”
“You’re naked.”
The brain was the single thing that remained sacred among the Psy.
Here’s your to-do list:
- Find your copies of these books, borrow them from a friend, get them at the library or buy them.
- Read novella 3.5 Stroke of Enticement which is in the anthology The Magical Christmas Cat. It is available at my library!
- Read Book 4, Mine to Possess, by March 19.
- Make a list of a favorite quote or two as you read the book.
- If you haven’t read the books before, make a list of questions you have for the discussion. If you have read them, please don’t spoil new readers.
- Link up your review on Goodreads or your site to the post.
- Join the COYER book chat on the Sunday following the post.
- Enter the giveaways!
COYER Challenge is adopting our Read-along. You can read about COYER and join that challenge or just the Facebook community chat HERE.
Caressed by Ice chat in a FB room (like we do for COYER book club) is:
February 21 at 12 PT, 2 CT, 3 ET and 9pn Europe, for a one hour chat.
You do not have to join the COYER challenge to participate, only the Facebook group.
Schedule:
We are doing one book every 3-4 weeks, posting on Fridays. We should have a review for most of the books with the team here at Books of My Heart plus some of our friends.
Feb 19: Caressed by Ice – Kim @ Caffeinated Reviewer
Mar 19: Mine to Possess – KC
Apr 16: Hostage to Pleasure – Berls @ Because Reading
May 7: Branded by Fire – Kai @ Fiction State of Mind
May 28: Blaze of Memory – Sophia
Jun 18: Bonds of Justice – Angela @ Angel’s Guilty Pleasures
Jul 16: Play of Passion – Robin
Aug 6: Kiss of Snow – Melanie?
Aug 27: Tangle of Need – Victoria @ First of All
Sep 17: Heart of Obsidian – Linda @ Unconventional Bookworms
Oct 15: Shield of Winter – Samantha @ The Book Disciple
Nov 5: Shards of Hope – Jen @ That’s What I’m Talking About
Dec 3: Allegiance of Honor – Anne
Miss a post?
Jan 1: Slave to Sensation – Stephanie @ Once Upon a Chapter
Jan 29: Visions of Heat – Rachel @ Waves of Fiction
COYER Challenge is adopting our Read-along. You can read about COYER and join that challenge or just the Facebook community chat HERE.
Caressed by Ice chat in a FB room (like we do for COYER book club) is:
February 21 at 12 PT, 2 CT, 3 ET and 9pn Europe, for a one hour chat.
You do not have to join the COYER challenge to participate, only the Facebook group.
Be sure to enter the giveaways!!!
Giveaway:
Grand-Prize Giveaway:
Tantor Audio is generously donating a set of 15 codes for the entire set on audio. Codes will work US or Intl.
About Nalini Singh
I’ve been writing as long as I can remember and all of my stories always held a thread of romance (even when I was writing about a prince who could shoot lasers out of his eyes). I love creating unique characters, love giving them happy endings and I even love the voices in my head. There’s no other job I would rather be doing. In September 2002, when I got the call that Silhouette Desire wanted to buy my first book, Desert Warrior, it was a dream come true. I hope to continue living the dream until I keel over of old age on my keyboard.
I was born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand. I also spent three years living and working in Japan, during which time I took the chance to travel around Asia. I’m back in New Zealand now, but I’m always plotting new trips. If you’d like to see some of my travel snapshots, have a look at the Travel Diary page (updated every month).
So far, I’ve worked as a lawyer, a librarian, a candy factory general hand, a bank temp and an English teacher and not necessarily in that order. Some might call that inconsistency but I call it grist for the writer’s mill.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
Friend or follow me at Goodreads.
- Sunday Post – 19 January 2025 @caffeinatedreviewer.com @kimbacaffeinate @readingreality - January 19, 2025
- 🎧 Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan @DervlaMcTiernan#AoifeMcMahon @HarperAudio #LoveAudiobooks - January 18, 2025
- Read-along & #Giveaway:On the Edge by Ilona Andrews @ilonaandrews @ilonaandrews.bsky.social @reneeraudman @AceBooksPub @acebookspub.bsky.social @TantorAudio @tantoraudio.bsky.social #Read-along #GIVEAWAY @victoria7401.bsky.social - January 17, 2025
Great review, Kimberly!
I thought it was a great change up to have the first male Psy hero and that he was yet another psychic designation with those uber scary good skills. It was pretty sexy to that he studied up and gave Brenna the time of her life. 🙂
It was a nice change of pace to have a male Psy. But if you read the excellent novella Echo of Silence it also had a male Psy and human female. It’s in the anthology Wild Embrace, and sits right before this story. I love how protective and caring Judd was even without “feelings.” Thanks so much for joining us and linking up your reviews!
I really need to continue this series.
Thank you for sharing your review! Well, you know you are more than welcome to join us. Also, you may have too many other commitments but the facebook chats have been great and it’s tomorrow at 2pm your time.
This is one of my favorites. I really liked seeing he whole lauren family start to assimilate.
I agree. This is one of the best but I am just new to the series with lots ahead. I do appreciate how our knowledge of the world and its races continues to grow.
Loved this installment, too, Kimberly! Judd was so lovely with Brenna, and Brenna was such a strong woman in the face with all she dealt with.
Can’t wait for the next one! 🙂
This was a really good one.
Oh, I remember reading this one for the first time and LOVING Judd… loving the male Psy and female Changeling combo. I can’t believe it was so long ago!
Yes everyone loved the change. It was just a different dynamic. And Judd is a different kind of Psy.
Great review! I really enjoyed this book. I appreciated how it dealt with Brenna’s trauma. I also like learning more about how the worlds fit together. My favorite lines from the book are in my post “The Psy has lost their ability to produce such tones after Silence, their voices too flat, too dead. But as his race didn’t listen to music, that was considered no loss.” —how sad is that the Psy can’t sing and they don’t listen to music!
Yes we are really starting to see the broader development of the world through the diversity of the characters featured. Thanks so much for joining us on the journey and linking up your thoughts Victoria.