Heidi Hart

I don't read a lot of PNR, but everyone says if you're going to read PNR, read Nalini Singh... so I checked this out (doing my best not to judge the book by that seriously hideous cover). I liked the writing and the world-building, which felt fresh even though it employs several tropes that are so common in paranormals as to be almost cliché: the heroine seems like a plain jane until she develops her secret surprise special snowflake superpowers, the hero doesn't want to trust her or even like her much, but after just a few meetings he realizes she's his fated mate and he'll die without her, their bond is threatened by forces outside their control and death seems almost certain... 

I didn't completely follow all the scenes about the PsyNet (the psychic network of minds) that the heroine's people (the Psy) use to communicate and store information, but I liked the scenes about the Changeling pack dynamics and intra-pack politics. As is usually the case, I was a bit annoyed about the mystery subplot (a Changeling woman has been kidnapped and will be killed if her pack can't rescue her in time), because I knew Whodunnit from the very first scene in which the killer made an appearance in the story, and so the only mystery was "why" (which wasn't really answered to my satisfaction). However, the mystery was only a plot device to contribute to the tension between the Psy and the Changelings, and solving it really wasn't the point. 

I'm a sucker for stories in which a main character is prepared to sacrifice his or her life in favor of the greater good (for example, my favorite scene in any book ever is probably Harry Potter's solitary walk into the Forbidden Forest to meet Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts, which slays me every single time I read it), and this is such a book, so I found Slave to Sensation very emotionally satisfying and will definitely read on in the series.