Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh Series: Psy-Changeling #12
Published by Berkley Sensation on June 4, 2013
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 368
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A dangerous, volatile rebel, hands stained blood red.
A woman whose very existence has been erased.
A love story so dark, it may shatter the world itself.
A deadly price that must be paid.
The day of reckoning is here.
Heart of Obsidian may just be my favorite book in the Psy-Changeling series. I loved learning more about Kaleb, and Sahara was totally awesome as well. The overall plot of the series moved along very nicely as well, and we even found out who the Ghost is! The intricate relationships between some of the Psy and the Changeling packs, as well as the war with Pure-Psy continued, and there were quite a few things that caught me completely off guard.
Heart of Obsidian starts really strong! With Kaleb kidnapping a woman out of a high security place, and for once, he actually brings someone to his home outside of Moscow. It is unclear at first why he takes the woman, but it seems as if he needs something from her. However, her mind is completely scrambled, and she won’t speak, drink or eat. She is afraid the mirror in her room is a one way window, and she acts only on instinct. Kaleb tries to get her to eat, then he goes to work on securing the balcony around his house to make sure the woman won’t fall off it – or jump.
Kaleb shows his intelligence in everything he does – and it is so great to learn more about the man that seems so removed and calculating, to understand a little more about why he does the things he does. In Heart of Obsidian, the readers get to see some of the things Kaleb is thinking, but mostly, we get to know him through his interactions with Sahara. And while I still find Kaleb to be extremely scary, I found myself also wanting him to be able to find what most people are looking for – love and understanding.
The action is present in almost every single chapter of Heart of Obsidian, between the pure-psy upping the ante and Kaleb’s machinations as well as the kidnapping of another former councilor there is more than enough for the reader to keep track of. There is never too much, though, I could follow everything, and I was amazed at every twist and turn the story took. Singh did an excellent job of showing how complex Kaleb is, all the while giving the readers and Sahara clues to understand him. To say Kaleb has had a hard life is the understatement of the year, and his actions in prior books make so much more sense now that I know more about him and his motivations.
There are some sightings of my favorite leopard pack as well, but Heart of Obsidian’s main focus really is Kaleb and Sahara. I think Sahara is a great new addition to the series, and what she has been through in the past seven years is unimaginable. However, the fact that she went through it, and was able to preserve herself somewhat also shows what a strong woman she is – and we all know how much I love a strong female character in the books I read, right?
The writing is flawless, the story just pours out of the pages, and my enjoyment was never-ending! The character development is expertly done, and I loved how the story-arc that has been spanning over several books made more and more sense, and as the story unfolded, the readers were made aware of a lot of things that had been left open. If you haven’t started the Psy-Changeling series yet, you really should! The mix of the changelings who are so tactile and open with their feelings and the psy who are not supposed to feel at all is amazing, and the way they deal with problems so differently is amazing as well. Also, the hot and steamy scenes are just that! Hot. And steamy.
I have thirteen pages of highlighted quotes in my kindle… it’s kind of hard to make a choice but here we go:
An individual who feels nothing is, after all, the perfect graduate of Silence. Ruthless. Cold-blooded. Without mercy… without conscience.
The sunshine, the cool autumn wind, she craved it against her skin… as she craved contact with another living being, her body starved for far more than food.
The scope of it might have driven another man mad; it was to Kaleb’s advantage that he’d had his brush with madness as a child and survived.
He appeared as much a part of the landscape as the dunes and the water… and as isolated, as alone.
There was something not quite right about this captivity, something not quite right about Kaleb’s behavior. She’d been imprisoned for over seven years, knew the difference between a cage and… whatever this was.
He hadn’t folded back the sleeves as he often did at home. Instead, cuff links glinted at his wrists. The mask was back in place.
Games:
Who said (enter the answer in the Rafflecopter, don’t put in the comments)
“That bond cannot exist in a Silent World. ”
There are other options in the rafflecopter for you to enter discussion questions and quotes to share.
The quote for Who said ““I gave you multiple pupcubs. I have prowess.” in Tangle of Need is Riley.
The villain was Henry Scott, Pure Psy and Ming.
Share your review/ thoughts on Heart of Obsidian:
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 Tangle of Need:
(Thank you so much for sharing!)
- In this series has there been a Psy/Psy couple (post silence)? Do you think there will be one? yes we just got one in Heart of Obsidian.
- There are so many new pieces of information we learn in this book, and things are starting to fall into place toward the end of Silence.
- I’m excited about Mercy & Riley!
- I feel so bad for Riaz. His mate is married to someone else and he cannot claim her. He is crazy attracted to Adria and he thinks he’s betraying his mate. It’s just heart-wrenching!
- 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?
Quotes you readers shared from Tangle of Need:
(Thank you for sharing!)
“Heart of my heart, that’s who you are Adria Morgan. Chosen and forever. Wolf and man, you won every part of me.”
“I will love you until the day they put me in the earth.”
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 12.25 Flirtation of Fate in novella anthology Wild Embrace.
- Read 12.5 Secrets of Midnight in novella anthology Night Shift.
- Read 12.6 Hide and Seek, on author’s site.
- Read 12.7 New Year’s Kisses, on author’s site.
- Read Book 13, Shield of Winter, by October 15.
- 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.
Heart of Obsidian chat in a FB room (like we do for COYER book club) is:
September 19 at 12 PT, 2 CT, 3 ET and 9pm 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.
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
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 – Jen from Red Hot Books
Aug 27: Tangle of Need – Victoria @ First of All
Be sure to enter the giveaways!!!
Giveaway:
A copy of Shards of Hope, book 13. Open Intl.
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.
About Linda at (Un)conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master’s degree in English Language and Literature. She’s an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
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.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- C21-Summer
I absolutely LOVE Heart of Obsidian. Kaleb Krychek has been a deadly wild card throughout the series. We get to see the heart of the man, not just the ice cold deadly Psy he is. The book is exciting and beautiful and heart wrenching! Loved it!
Well said. Me too! I loved all the new things we learned and how much depth we are finally getting on what is happening with the Psy and PsyNet.
I have wanted to read her paranormal books. Thanks for this
I’m really loving them. It’s my first time although I have known about them since they were released.
Can’t believe it’s time for Heart. I like them all, but this is near the top.
It’s the one I’ve been waiting for and definitely one of my favorites for the series.
I was nodding along vigorously to everything you said about Kaleb and Sahara. Great insightful review, Linda!
Yes that is why I love the Read-along and FB chat to share those thoughts and ideas! And having someone besides me doing reviews and having the review link-ups!
I’m catching up! I just finished Kiss of Snow late last night. My favorite of the series!
Kiss of Snow is a favorite. I bet this one will be too. I’ll be excited to have you caught up with us. It’s 4 weeks until the next one so easier with a bit more time than the last few.
Linda, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts in your review with us! And many great quotes as well.
This book was so good!
I love hearing your thoughts on the books so I really appreciate you joining the Read-along and the FB chats.
This is definitely one of my favorite Psy-Changeling books.
It is! And it’s the story I was waiting for from the beginning.