Two Psy, each damaged in different ways. Ill-fated lovers. An emotionally repressed virgin hero who moves the earth for his true love. And all the feels. The feels! This one is definitely a keeper.
Before we start, let’s get this out of the way: I’m not going to tell you explicitly who the Ghost is in this review, but it might be guessable. Also, we don’t have a spoiler filter in the comments, so if you haven’t read the book, I’d suggest avoiding the comments until you do.
If there’s any criticism I could level at the last few Psy-Changeling books, it would be that the romances tended to be overshadowed by the worldbuilding. It’s clear that New Zealand author* Nalini Singh has been building up to some big revelations, and many of them culminate in Heart Of Obsidian.
* In true Aussie fashion, I propose claiming her for our own. It’s a long-standing tradition. We have precendents—the pavlova, Phar Lap, Keith Urban. And now Nalini Singh. Let’s start the rumour today and make it happen.
Kaleb Krychek has always been billed as the ruthless Councillor who has had no compunction in assassinating those who stand in his way, but as the series progressed it’s clear that he has his own agenda, which might not align with my first impression of him. (Jane at Dear Author posted this awesome cheat sheet on what we know of Kaleb up to Kiss of Snow.) After seven years, two week and two days, Kaleb has finally found the woman he has been searching for.
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Hey, Psy-Changeling fans! So you think you know who The Ghost is? This post might have you thinking again… (Updated 25/5/2013 to add link to Storify.)
This morning Twitter users got to ask the Ghost some questions directly. He gave us some hints as to his identity, but some of his answers just raised more questions. Berkley will post a Storify link tomorrow (click here), but in the meantime, here is a summary of what we learned:
The Ghost was damaged before the PsyNet began to degrade, but he still does not want to leave. He is a male (not multiple people) who was ‘broken’ as a child, and who got rid of his conscience to survive. It hasn’t and (he believes) will never return. But he bonded with a woman (who is not his lover and is still alive today) during that time, and she is the only one to whom he is loyal and the only one who will keep him from carrying out his plans. He refuses to say what those plans are, only that they will become clear in time and he has been putting them into effect for over 20 years. He doesn’t discuss his plans with anyone except sometimes Judd and Xavier. He suspects Judd may have an idea of his ultimate goal. Sienna is no longer a part of his plan, but he would not answer why (is it because she is no longer a surprise?).
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At some point, I’ll catch up on reading, reviewing and blogging and we’ll be back to our regular posting schedule. In the meantime, this is way too exciting for me not to mention!
If you haven’t already pre-ordered the book, you can do so at Booktopia, Galaxy, Fishpond, Amazon and Book Depository.
If you’re a fan of NZ author Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series—and who isn’t?—and you’re dying to know which main character will feature in her June release, Heart Of Obsidian—and who isn’t?—then you need to head over to her blog and find out!
Yes, after months of secrecy and that oh-so-coy blurb, we finally find out that…
(Look away now if you don’t want to know!)
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Some highlights from the 2013 Australian Romance Readers Covention (The Mercure, Brisbane — March 1 to 3, 2013).
I apologise for not posting detailed recaps of the Australian Romance Readers Convention in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago. Allison (Decadence), Jen and I attended the event, but we did so as readers first and bloggers maybe second or third—we all wore different hats over the course of the weekend—so I haven’t wanted to put pressure on us to record the event. (You’ll notice that even our tweets weren’t as extensive as they’ve been in previous ARRCs.)
Nevertheless, I know many readers who wanted to come along to ARRC but were unable to do so, and I wanted to share some of the highlights of the weekend with you. Bear in mind that I didn’t go to all the panels and keynotes, so I’m using my Storify stream to fill in some of those blanks. If you’re after a panel-by-panel recap, check the next issue of the ARRA newsletter. I believe a few of the sessions were recorded, so you can also email ARRA to check if they’re releasing an audio CD.
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Anna Campbell has once again been voted Favourite Australian Romance Author at the 2011 Australian Romance Readers Awards, held last night at Cello’s Restaurant in Sydney.
Campbell also retains her undefeated status in the Favourite Historical Romance section, the award going to her Avon Regency book Midnight’s Wild Passion. A representative from HarperCollins accepted the awards on Campbell’s behalf, reading a prepared acceptance speech that, in true Campbell style, had the audience smiling.
New Zealand author Nalini Singh picked up the most awards, winning Favourite Sci-Fi, Fantasy or Futuristic Romance for Archangel’s Blade and Favourite Paranormal Romance for the much-anticipated Kiss of Snow, the latest book in the Psy/Changeling series, for which Singh was awarded the prize for Favourite Continuing Romance series for the third year in a row. Singh’s awards were received on her behalf by selected ARRA members. Singh had also pre-recorded her acceptance speech, which was shown to the audience after her final award was announced.
Helene Young (photo by Kat)
Shattered Sky was named Favourite Romantic Suspense. Queensland author Helene Young was the only winner who was able to personally accepted her award. Young’s next book, Burning Lies, with be released in July by Penguin Australia.
Australian authors Kelly Hunter and Denise Rossetti won Favourite Short Category Romance for With This Fling… (see Kat’s review here) and Favourite Erotic Romance for The Lone Warrior, respectively. Julie James won Favourite Contemporary Romance for A Lot Like Love.
The Member of the Year award when to Amy and the Bling Off culminated in a mini-parade, with authors Melissa Craig and Travey O’Hara sharing this year’s Queen of Bling title. They will be time-sharing the tiara.
Guest speaker Paula Roe spoke about the the books that shaped her love of romance reading and, eventually, led her to try her hand at writing romance fiction. Her passion and enthusiasm for the genre had the audience smiling, at times laughing, as she described some of the earlier novels she loved (and loved to read out loud to her friends in high school).
The annual Australian Romance Readers Awards are managed by the Australian Romance Readers Association. Nominees are shortlisted from member nominations and winners are decided by popular vote among ARRA members.
The event was sponsored by Australian online bookshop Booktopia. The awards were sponsored by Galaxy Bookshop, Carina Press, Harlequin Australia, Rosemary’s Romance Books and Temptation the Romance Bookstore, Romantic Reflections, Romance Direct, Penguin Books Australia and Booktopia.
Check out the photos from the event via Flickr. I plan to write up a longer post on my observations from the night, so watch this space.
ARRC 2011 round-ups
ARRA has posted some round-ups of ARRC 2011 on it blog. Take a peek at what happened at the convention on the Thursday (volunteers hard at work), Friday (volunteers at work), Welcome reception, Silent auction.
Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader has also posted part 1 of her round-up.
For a round-up of all the round-ups, check out our ARRC 2011 page.
RT Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award winners
The RT Reviewers’ Choice awards were announced at Los Angeles last week. Click here for a list of winners. Congratulations to A/NZ authors Nalini Singh (Best Shapeshifter Romance for Play of Passion) and Tina Duncan (Best First Series Romance for Da Silva’s Mistress).
Congratulations also to Valerie Parv, who was awarded a Pioneer of Romance Award.
Source: Maggie Nash and Romance Writers of Australia
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Archangel's Consort by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter, Book 3)
A solid instalment in the series, despite the exhausting intensity of the romance and a slightly underdeveloped external plot.
This review was originally submitted as an entry for the ARRC2011 Reader Challenge and was selected to be in the final round.
Archangel’s Consort continues the story of Elena, former Guild Hunter and newly made angel, and her lover Raphael, the archangel of New York. Vampires are breaking their Contracts all over the city and archangels are showing signs of madness. Either an old foe is targeting Elena, Raphael’s greatest vulnerability, or an ancient power is awakening—one that Raphael will have to confront but may not be able to vanquish.
Newcomers to the Guild Hunter series shouldn’t find it difficult to pick up the basic characteristics of the world that Nalini Singh has created. The violence is graphic, but less so than in previous books. The power struggles between angels may get confusing, but it’s easy enough to follow the external plot even without fully understanding these nuances.
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BDB cheat sheets updated
Just a quick note to let you know that the ever lovely—and very thorough—Decadence has updated the BDB cheat sheets, including the spoiler thread for Lover Unleashed. You can find links to all the BDB posts here.
Bookish people are meeting up TONIGHT
A quick reminder that we’re having a casual get together for book bloggers, twitterati, Goodreaders, Facebookers, lurkers and any other bookish people who are part of an online community. (Okay, and even if you’re not!) We’re meeting at the Arthouse Hotel (257 Pitt St, Sydney). If you have a book that needs a new home, feel free to bring it along for a book swap.
Click here for more details and to RSVP. We’d love to see you there. If you decide to come along on a whim, feel free to pop by even if you haven’t RSVPed. You’ll find us when you see books!
One more sleep until ARRC 2011
I’m so excited for the Australian Romance Readers Convention like you wouldn’t believe. If you’re keen but still unsure about going, check out Decadence’s post on why you must NOT miss this event. I’ll be at the Welcome event tomorrow night, so please grab me and introduce yourself. (You may have to do this a few times—I have trouble remember names when I’m meeting a lot of new people at once.) A few unofficial social things to think about:
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Decadence, Wandergurl and I read many more books than we’re capable of reviewing on this blog. This means that not all the review copies we get or the library books we borrow are mentioned on the blog. This is a shame! Some of the books we get have the most interesting blurbs … but for some reason they just don’t appeal to us or we don’t end up reading far enough into the book to be able to write up a decent review.
So this year, we’ll be doing a monthly post highlighting the review copies we receive, notable media releases we get via email, with the occasional borrowed or gifted books thrown in, in case other readers might find them of interest. The plan is to post every third Monday of the month. That’s the plan. You know how well we’ve managed to follow a blogging schedule thus far… *ho hum*
Authors for Queensland
Today is your last day to bid on the items up for auction at Authors for Queensland, an initiative by authors who are aiming to raise funds for victims of the Queensland floods. Romance readers may be particularly interested in signed book packs by Anna Campbell or Bronwyn Parry. Even more fun is Nikki Logan’s offer to use your (or a friend’s) name as the hero/heroine of her next romance book!
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Today, the Australian Romance Readers Association confirmed that the 2011 readers’ convention will run from Friday, March 25 to Sunday, March 27 at the Swiss Grand, Bondi Beach.
Keynote speakers include Australian author Anna Campbell (historical romance), New Zealand author Nalini Singh (paranormal romance and urban fantasy) and US author Cindy Gerard (romantic suspense).
You can read more details about the keynote speakers at the ARRA blog.
I’M SO EXCITED! So … who’s coming to Sydney?
