Title: Kiss of Snow
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #10, Psy-Changeling Season One #10
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Gollancz
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: Warm and curvy and muscled in a supple feminine way, she’d surprised him with the softness of her.

Since the moment of their defection from the Psynet and into the SnowDancer wolf pack, Sienna Lauren has had one weakness. Hawke. A dangerous Alpha, the response he draws from her could almost compel her to madness.

Hawke is used to walking alone, having lost the woman who would’ve been his mate. But Sienna fascinates the primal heart of him, even as he tells himself she is far too young to handle the wild fury of the wolf.

Then Sienna changes the rules and, suddenly, there is no more distance, only the most intimate of battles between two people who were never meant to meet. Yet as they strip away each other’s secrets in a storm of raw emotion, they must also ready themselves for a far more vicious fight.

A deadly enemy is out to destroy the SnowDancer pack, striking at everything they hold dear, but it is Sienna’s darkest secret that may yet savage the pack that is her home… and the alpha who is its heartbeat…

I have been waiting and waiting for the story of Sienna and Hawke since first meeting Hawke in Slave to Sensation. The slow filtering of information about their mutual attraction throughout the past nine books, just increased my need, no, my desire to find out how their story progressed. Add to that the fact that Kiss of Snow has the first real incursion by the Psy into SnowDancer territory, and this whole book was absolutely impossible to put down.

Sienna’s immense power and abilities have been hinted at throughout the stories, but the actual meaning of the X designation and the danger of this are finally explained beautifully. This, combined with Sienna’s power and the true reason behind the Laurens’ flight from the PsyNet illustrated a beautiful young woman who is beginning to grow into her powers. It is this ability and sense of growing that not only finally brings her story to the limelight, but also makes Hawke acknowledge what everyone else has long known – that the two highly volatile characters are made for each other.

Unlike the other Psy-Changeling stories, there were two tales of romance and mating throughout Kiss of Snow. Walker and Lara were a completely unexpected match, but one that somehow made complete and total sense. Their caring natures and unquenchable desire to nurture the young not only balances out the vivid fire and aggression of Sienna and Hawke’s romance, but also the costs that the beginnings of war have upon the Pack.

Image source: Goodreads

Title: Play of Passion
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #9, Psy-Changeling Season One #9
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Dark fantasy, Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Gollancz
Year: 2010
5th sentence, 74th page: And that, Indigo thought, was even more of a problem than the control issues of the dominant males.

Passion and reason collide with explosive force in the newest instalment of Nalini Singh’s mesmerising Psy-Changeling series. As a conflict with Pure Psy looms on the horizon, two powerful wolves fight a far more intimate war of their own…

In his role as a tracker for the SnowDancer pack, it’s up to Drew Kincaid to rein in rogue changelings who have lost control of their animal halves – even if it means killing those who have gone too far. But nothing in his life has prepared him for the battle he must now wage to win the heart of a woman who makes his body ignite… and who threatens to enslave his wolf.

Lieutenant Indigo Riviere doesn’t easily allow skin privileges, especially not those of the sensual kind – and the last person she expects to find herself craving is the most wickedly playful male in the den. Everything she knows tells her to pull back before the flames burn them both to ash… but she hasn’t counted on Drew’s determination to win her.

Now, two of SnowDancer’s most stubborn wolves find themselves playing a hot, sexy courtship game even as lethal danger stalks the very place they call home…

One of the things that I have really loved about Singh’s stories and writing is the inner strength of both of her characters – both male and female. Although often the males are incredibly possessive and protective, the women tend to match them, and sometimes even out do them in their own protective possessiveness. And Indigo is no different, in fact, the ability of a more dominant female to mate with a male was an incredibly intriguing and enjoyable way in which to alter the stereotypes that I am so used to being exposed to in the modern world.

I have read some reviews on Play of Passion that tote Indigo to be an incredibly haughty and selfish character, the only bad reviews that I have read of the Psy-Changeling books. However, I didn’t find this at all. Indigo’s inability to become vulnerable and her constant freezing out of Drew struck me as entirely understandable and reliable reactions to her surrounds. Her rigidity and inability to compromise, whilst a little frustrating, perfectly balance out Drew’s kind hearted and joking nature – sometimes, when opposites attract, it works out very, very well.

Although this book still focuses on the mating of a couple, the furthering of the war and friction within the Psy was a really important part of the story. Henry Scott and Pure Psy have slowly been becoming more and more intense in the threat department. And in Play of Passion, they become truly insipid. I can’t wait to see how their constant assault on those who aren’t a pure part of Silence continues to unfold in this fascinating series.

Image source: Pinterest