Nalini Singh brings us Hawke’s long awaited story in Kiss of Snow, the tenth installment of the Psy-Changeling series.  This novel is everything fans have been waiting for and more.  Action, suspense, political intrigue, romance, sex, and everything else we have come to expect from the series are found here in spades.  As the war between the races becomes a reality, the Psy-Changeling universe will never be the same.
Hawke is the alpha wolf of the Snow Dancer changeling pack.  From the age of fifteen he has led his pack with a strong hand and allowed his wolf to be closer to the surface than most changelings in order to help them survive.  Hawke has resigned himself to a life alone since the death of his mate when they were children.  He never expected Sienna Lauren.

Sienna is a cardinal X-Psy with unimaginable deadly power she struggles to control.  Her family was unfairly persecuted by the Psy Council due to their immense psychic powers and found sanctuary with the Snow Dancer pack.  When she meets Hawke the connection is immediate.  He is older and determined to keep his distance from her, but there is no escaping the bond that hangs over their heads.  As war approached between the Psy and the Changelings, Sienna’s powers become more unstable.  Hawke will need to figure out how best to protect his pack while learning what his heart truly needs before he loses Sienna forever.

Hawke and Sienna’s relationship has been developing for a while.  When Sienna first gets to Snow Dancer she is underage, but due to her experiences she is no child. Hawke finally realizes this fact in Kiss of Snow, along with his feelings for her.  It takes him a while to accept what she is to him, particularly since he had given up on ever having any kind of mate when he was ten years old.  Sienna, despite being nineteen years old, is more than a match for him.  The chemistry is incredible as most fans had expected it would be, but the way Ms. Singh develops the relationship is really what is at the heart of this story.

As wonderful as the relationship between the main characters is, Ms. Singh brings us another treat with the secondary storyline of Walker and Lara.  These are not the main characters, but the relationship is developed so well they might as well have been.  The fact that Ms. Singh managed to do that without short-changing Hawke and Sienna’s story amazed me.  It is very rare for an author to be able to maintain multiple storylines without impacting the main one.  Nalini Singh is a master storyteller.

The beauty of the Psy-Changeling universe is that while the relationships are very well written and the heat level is always high, Nalini Singh did not skimp on the plot.  This is a very complex universe with three distinct races fully fleshed out, each having their own culture, political structure and problems.  This is no skeletal backdrop for a sensual feast, but a true setting that plays a major role in the lives of the characters.  The characters themselves, both the primary and secondary ones, have distinct voices and motivations.  Their world is alive, and because of that the potential for future storylines is infinite. 

Kiss of Snow is arguably the best book so far in the Psy-Changeling series.  Fans will fall in love with this installment and will want to read it over and over again.  Readers who are new to the series will enjoy the relationships and the characters but will be totally confused by the plot.  This is not a stand-alone novel, and to read it as such is a disservice to the intricate world created by Nalini Singh.  This series is a masterpiece of paranormal romance, lovingly developed by the author in its many installments and should be enjoyed as such.  So go ahead and get the entire series.  When you read Kiss of Snow you will enjoy it to the fullest and find that Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series is now on your auto-buy list.  The series and this book are just that good.

~ Denise