Hi guys, today I have a special surprise for you. I want you to welcome my new Guest Reviewer Sophia Rose. Some of you may know Sophia from her regular posting on Delightful Reader. Today she is reviewing for us a great paranormal romance Bonds of Justice by Nalini Singh, you can read her wonderful review below.

Bonds of Justice by Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #8
Published by Berkley on July 6th 2010
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 348
Source: Bought
Buy on Amazon
Rating:
Heat:

Max Shannon is a good cop, one of the best in New York Enforcement. Born with a natural shield that protects him against Psy mental invasions, he knows he has little chance of advancement within the Psy-dominated power structure. The last case he expects to be assigned is that of a murderer targeting a Psy Councilor’s closest advisors. And the last woman he expects to compel him in the most sensual of ways is a Psy on the verge of a catastrophic mental fracture…
Sophia Russo is a Justice-Psy, cursed with the ability to retrieve memories from men and women so twisted even veteran cops keep their distance. Appointed as Max’s liaison with the Psy, she finds herself fascinated by this human, her frozen heart threatening to thaw with forbidden emotion. But, her mind filled with other people’s nightmares, other people’s evil, she’s standing on the border between sanity and a silken darkness that urges her to take justice into her own hands, to become judge, jury…and executioner…

I have been enjoying my reading journey this year through the fantastic and engaging Psy-Changling series by Nalini Singh. Her futuristic paranormal world where three races of humans (regular humans, animal shifter humans, and psychic humans) share the planet and all bring their own brand of danger and intrigue to the table with each new book installment.

This is not a good series to skip around and get the books out of order because, though it features a new romance pair with each book, there are ongoing story lines the continue through each book. The world and the large cast of characters was shared in the beginning and build as it goes.

In this latest installment, Bonds of Justice, Singh introduces the reader to another type of psychic human, the ‘J’ or Justice designation (variation on telepathic types) and pairs her with a human. All along, I’ve felt some pity for the psy because many of them stand a better than average chance of either going nuts due to their psy gift messing with them or getting their brain wiped because they are deemed unstable by their own government. Sophia Russo, a Justice Psy, has a truly tough row to hoe in that her designation of psy has a really short shelf life because of the nature of her job- dipping into the darkest of criminal minds to extract the truth so that justice can be served when the forensics and testimony at the trial aren’t quite enough. This is another one of those situations the author does so well when the reader wonders just how she is going to pull out a win for the home team. Sophia is essentially dying, she can’t walk away from the latest assignment that might well be too much and kill her, and now she has fallen in love when a man who loves her back and has had his own struggles that might break him when she dies.

Sophia and Max are a great pair and their backstory, characters, and ongoing relationship that builds between them make a good case why they are so right for each other. Sophia has lived the cold, sterile world of a psy until she encounters red-blooded sensual, but very much alone Max who teaches her to live even while she shows him he has someone to come home to finally.

Their romance is set against the conflict of a ticking time bomb that is Sophia’s eroding mental shields, a dangerous sociopath serial killer, and a cunning murder mystery that they must solve for a powerful psy councilor. There are also check-ins with Lucas and Sascha’s story and other previous couples that Max knows from earlier stories. And beyond that is the ongoing underground civil war taking place in the psy race. It might seem like it was all too much, but it wasn’t. There are quick scene changes, but they lead in and transition well. They serve to tighten the tension and keep the reader riveted rather than distracted.

It ended on a high note and left me with a strong desire to grab up the next book in the series to keep going and see what comes next. The series still feels tight and fresh with a strong conflict that is moving forward steadily. For those who love spicy paranormal romance, I can definitely recommend this series.