Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh

Kiss of Snow is the 10th book in Nalini Singh’s wonderful Psy/Changeling series.  Kiss of Snow is also the long awaited story of Hawke and Sienna. 

We have known about the Laurens from the start of this series, as they are defected Psy’s, who came to Snow Dancer to save the lives of the children.  Hawke, the Alpha of Snow Dancer, allowed them all to live, and become part of their changeling world.  They have hidden from the outside world, as they were deemed to be dead, and only the Dark River Changelings knew of the Laurens. 

Sienna Lauren, who is now only 19, is expected to be the most powerful Psy.  She has spent her early years learning to control her powers, and to fight her attraction to Hawke. Their relationship has always been intense, as they constantly fought each other.  Hawke, at first frustrated with Sienna, struggles with his growing feelings for her.  It is important to note, that Sienna is not like most 19 year old girls.  Her experiences starting at 5 years old in the PsyNet, especially under the evil Ming, has made her mentally old in years.  Sienna can no longer handle her feelings for Hawke, nor that he refuses to look at her as a young woman, but as a child. She decides to take matters in her own hands. His jealousy changes things, when he realizes he must pursue her, or he will lose her to another male. 

What I loved about Hawke and Sienna’s romance, was how Singh handled it.  When Hawke finally started pursuing Sienna, he did it slowly.  Having a little fun playing games; just getting the feel of each other being close; talking freely and truly getting know one another.  He forced his wolf to go slow and not rush things, and when the time came to consummate the relationship, it was beautifully done. Despite his taking extra care not to hurt Sienna, and ensure her dangerous powers stayed under control, we still were able to feel the emotions, and scorching passion between them.  Well done Nalini.

Throughout the story, it was constantly stressed how powerful Sienna was, as possibly the only Cardinal X-Psy alive.  An X-Psy, with fire, was considered extremely dangerous, and uncontrollable, and most were eliminated years ago, as they were like a major nuclear weapon. Knowing full well about who and what she is, Sienna learned to control her powers, with the help of Judd, Sascha and Faith.  She lived in fear that she could be the cause of hurting all those she has come to love within the Snow Dancer and Dark River group.  But the danger remained, that if she reached a critical stage, there would be no way to maintain that control.

I have always loved Hawke, his sense of humor, especially with Lucas and Sascha; his strength, and loyalty to his pack.  Even though we have known Sienna for a long time, I totally loved her in this book.  Her strength against such odds, her confidence, her love for her family and friends, and her utmost love of Hawke, was wonderful to see.  Sienna showed that the power of love can shut down Silence, as she was willing to give up her life for all of them. 

I always enjoy the way Singh continues to keep all the other characters from the previous books in her storylines, and many of them played a big part in this story.  Walker Lauren finally has his own romance in this one with Lara, the Snow Dancer healer. I enjoyed seeing both of them, and it was great to see them together. Both Judd and Walker were instrumental in this story, as they are family to Sienna.  We got to see Sascha and Lucas again, and I love how both packs are now fully together.  

Back to Hawke and Sienna, I was so moved near the end, with Hawke pouring his heart out to Sienna.  It was very emotional, as Singh powerfully does with just words that blew us away.

Nalini Singh’s continues to do a wonderful job with keeping things evolving and changing in each book with this worldbuilding, as the war comes closer.  In Kiss of Snow, the war is escalated, and both Snow Dancer and Dark River must rise up to face some of the Psy council members, & the Pure Psy group, who are amassing a massive attack.  This was exciting from beginning to end, but the last third of the book was awesome.  Once again, bravo to Nalini Singh for keeping the Psy/Changeling series fresh, and exciting even now in the 10^th book.  I for one hope she continues for a long while with this series.   

Reviewed by BARB