"Slave to Sensation" by Nalini Singh

This  book was a nice change from all my lite and fluffy romance books. Don't get me wrong, there were some steamy scenes in this book, but I was fascinated by the LOVE and BOND that the Animal Packs had for their mates and their familial members. Total bonding and dedication to one another and forever LOYAL to their ALPHA LEADER.
Lucas - the ALPHA PANTHER was a man/panther who earned his way to the top of his pack. He had a tough upbringing, losing his family and having to see them suffer in plain view. My heart went out to Lucas as his heart was in total despair as he watched his mother get tortured and his father beaten. I can't even begin to imagine the depth of his anger and need for vengeance boiling up in his being- so terrible! He almost died, but with his determination to seek vengeance for his family's killer, that emotion kept him alive through the whole grueling ordeal! And he did get REVENGE!!
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Enter, Sascha Duncan- born into the generation of the Psy. They are taught and programmed to have no feelings, no emotions, no human senses at all. Just their minds linked to the PsyNet to receive data, process it and aid with the PSY population to gather information in mere miliseconds.They have telekinetic, telepathic talents beyond that of the Animal packs. Unlike the animal packs, the Psy do not touch each other, do not feel emotions and pretty much walk around like robots, with the exception of Sascha. She thinks she is flawed, because she has been feeling things a normal Psy would not feel. She is put to work on making deals with Lucas- the Alpha Panther. When they begin working with each other, being from different worlds and enemies, something happens- and boy does it explode- BOOM!
The two of them instantly start having feelings for each other. Sascha knows she is not suppsed to be feeling the way she does around Lucas, but she can't stop herself. In her mind, she's saying to herself, you are forbidden to feel lust or any other feelings for this HOT PANTHER, but her body is telling her otherwise and giving off a sense that Lucas with his animalistic senses can pick up immediately. He can feel that she's different and her reactions and her body language tells him that she is a PSY with feelings. One night they are together and on and off he flirts with her to see how far she will take it and he asks her to experiment with him, a simple kiss, to see how it would be since all PSY have the "No skin priviledges" branned in their brain and memory data. She knows she's dying to feel his touch and a kiss would just be the icing on on the cake for her, since lately she's been having some pretty steamy dreams with none other than Lucas in them. So she takes the bait and he kisses her slowly, then a little more and then soon enough Sascha is bursting with Lust and wants more, wants to feel what she has been deprived of for years, and she gives in to the KISS! She feels exhilirated and filled with a completion she has never felt before in her life- TOUCH!!
This is the first book of a series and I intend to read all of them. I have a friend who has read the whole series and reports that I will not be sorry if I decide to dive into the PSY-CHANGELING WORLD, and  I plan to do just that. After reading book #1, I totally plan on reading book #2. I really loved the way the packs work. They are 100% in tune and behind their leader - what the ALPHA says goes. I love how Lucas does anything for his mate- Sascha even though she was the enemy, he could not deny his feelings for her and neither could she. She ends up feeling things beyond her wildest imaginations and dreams. I don't know if I could be like Sascha and withhold all those feelings for so many years. It would be a lifeless and meaningless world if I could not feel, touch or enjoy the simple human senses that we have. I loved their relationship and how it grew and blossomed into something that would be broken only by DEATH! Animal pride and love with the PSY is wonderful- a great read and love story!!