A Review/ Blaze of Memory/ Nalini Singh/ Berkely Publshing

Title:  Blaze of Memory
Author:  Nalini Singh
Publisher:  Berkley Publishing
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Print ISBN:  978-0425231111
eBook ISBN:  978-1101149119
Publication Date:  November 3, 2009
Length:  400 Pages
Format:  Paperback
Amazon          Barnes and Noble


Book Blurb: 

Dev Santos discovers her unconscious and battered, with no memory of who she is. All she knows is that she’s dangerous. Charged with protecting his people’s most vulnerable secrets, Dev is duty-bound to eliminate all threats. It’s a task he’s never hesitated to complete…until he finds himself drawn to a woman who might yet prove the enemy’s most insidious weapon.


Stripped of her memories by a shadowy oppressor, and programmed to carry out cold-blooded murder, Katya Haas is fighting desperately for her sanity itself. Her only hope is Dev. But how can she expect to gain the trust of a man who could very well be her next target? For in this game, one must die…



My Review: 

I loved this book by Ms. Singh.  I will admit to a little fear that I would not like this book as much as the other books in the series because the hero of this book had been introduced in book 4, Mine to Possess (Psy-Changelings, Book 4), and I had not been overly impressed with his personality.  I have certainly changed my opinion after reading this book.

Kayta Haas is a Psy scientist that the world believes is dead.  She had been helping Ashaya Aleine, the heroine of book 5 (Hostage to Pleasure (Psy-Changelings, Book 5), with the Psy children that had were being experimented on, and after the explosion that destroyed the lab, she was assumed dead.  The reality is that she was alive and had been captured and tortured by Psy council member Ming LeBon.  At the beginning of this book she is unconscious when she is dropped off in front of Devraj Santos door at the Shine Foundation building.  She has been manipulated and her mind has been reconditioned turning her into a mole and assassin.  Katya soon starts to get her memories back and realizes what has been done to her and she's decided that she is not going down without a fight and has absolutely no intention of following through with council member Ming's plan.  Kayta is a fantastic heroine in that she's mentally much stronger than she gives herself credit for and is also a Psy that is full of personal integrity and an amazing amount of humanity towards others.  She is not as emotionally devoid as the average Psy and actually becomes quite adept at handling emotion.

 The hero of this book, Devraj Santos, is a complete Alpha male.  He's used to having to make very difficult decisions and does not shirk from his duties at Shine.  As the descendant of Psy grandparents, he has some Psy abilities but they are kept hidden from society.  He is part of "The Forgotten", the Psy who managed to escape the conditioning adapted by the Psy known as "Silence".  Through Dev's family journals we are provided with a large amount of back story and with a historical timeline on what occurred with the Psy society approximately 100 years prior.  I didn't think that I would like Dev, but he grew on me as the book progressed and by the end - I was totally in his corner.  He was incredibly sexy on a level that only 2 other characters in this series have reached (Lucas the Leopard Changeling Pack leader and Hawke the Wolf Changeling Pack Leader).  Dev is very dominant personality both in and out of the bedroom.

The interaction between Katya and Dev was fantastic.  Both are strong personalities yet both did bend when it was necessary to the other.  There was a very satisfactory ending and I was happy to see that even though this book dealt mostly with the Psy element on this alternate earth, that some of my favorite characters did make guest appearances.  The book has a Happy Ever After type ending and did answer a lot of questions for me as to how the Psy society could make the choices that they did.  I can't wait to read the next book in the series, Bonds of Justice (Psy/Changeling), which just released this past week.

My Rating:  5 out of 5 Crowns

FTC Disclosure:  The book reviewed was purchased by the reviewer.