Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh

Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Fans of this series have waited a long time to see the Alpha Wolf and the Cardinal Psy get together.  It was well worth the wait.  These are some of my impressions of this book.

Hawke made it as hard as possible for Sienna. He inadvertently played a lot of emotional games, pushing her away, but then acting so territorial towards her.  He made it hard for Sienna to be happy apart from him, even though he was resisting the idea of them together.  There were times I wanted to pull out my shovel that I reserve for braining annoying heroes and give him a wallop or two.  Don't get me wrong, Hawke is still one of my favorites.  He just jumped on my nerves a bit in this book. I was glad he finally got a clue that he wasn't going to be happy if he wasn't going to be happy with Sienna.

Honestly, I struggle with the sexual values of the Changelings.  I can't see how the pack members sleeping with each other before they find their mates doesn't lead to friction with their future mates. I guess I'm too jealous. I don't like the idea of interacting with my future husband's past sexual partners.  That would definitely give me heartburn.  While I understand the concept of the importance of touch and affection, I don't get how they can be so cavalier about sexual intimacy. I don't buy Hawke's insistence to Sienna that he wasn't using Rosalie. Um, he kind of was, even if she was okay with it.   I can't suspend my personal sexual ethics enough to be okay with all that.  And the fact that Hawke was so jealous of Sienna spending time with Kit but not understanding how Sienna wouldn't like the fact that he was sleeping with another wolf felt like a huge double standard.  Maybe that was a very obvious symptom to the both of them that Hawke was seeing his mate but not "seeing" her.  The man had a head like a vibranium/adamantium alloy. In other words, really, really hard!

Normally, I am all over changeling/werewolf romance freak, but the Psy aspect of this story wins my affection, hands down. I freaking love the Psy. They are super duper kickbutt awesome.  To me, the Psy storyline drives the story.  I'm ever so excited to read and discover who The Ghost is. No, I don't know yet, so no spoilers please.  Now that I have my Hawke/Sienna book under my belt, it's all about the Psy for me.  Yeah, I'll read the Changeling stories, but gimme my Psy!

Was Sienna crazy awesome or what? I had no idea she had those kinds of powers. Singh did a great job revealing that as the story went along.  Her abilities are crucial to protect the SnowDancer pack especially with the future conflicts on the horizon.  I'm glad that she has a mate who realizes how special she is and will do just about anything to keep her safe and knows how much she is loved.

I also loved the Walker/Lara subplot.  Walker is the old adage "still waters run deep."  He fits shadows Hawke's "playing hard to get" behavior.  I think in the case of Walker, he believes he's incapable of feeling deeply for Lara, but why does he treat her like the woman he loves?  You have to read the book to find out how that goes, but I was very satisfied with their courtship.

Even outside of seeing Hawke and Sienna get together, this whole story was satisfying.  Singh writes great romance, but she also has fantastic world-building and a great story overall. And the tension and excitement of the ongoing war building up in this world of Psy versus Changeling (and the aspect that it's not as cut and dried as it seems) makes for compelling reading.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm one of the few fans of this series who has gotten around to reading this so late. But I finally did!  I'm a happy camper.



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