Smart Girls Love Smut

I pretty much blew through the previous books in this series, and basically since book three, I’ve been powering through to get to this particular book.

Hawke and Sienna.

I mean…how could you not just be desperate for their story?  Lonely alpha wolf and young girl just growing into womanhood.  That alone would make for a fascinating story in itself.  But Hawke and Sienna are, of course, so much more than that.

Hawke is the alpha of his pack.  A loner.  Well, a hot loner who just happens to be powerful and amazing.  But yeah…he’s an island state.  And we know that the reason for his self-imposed solitary is because he found his ‘mate’ at a very early age…and she died while they were still children.  We know from all the previous books what mating means to the changelings.  Mates are the heart of each other.  And they only do it once.

But from the moment the Lauren family defected from the Psy-Net, Hawke has been connected to Sienna Lauren.  The only problem is – Sienna is underage.  And well, she’s off-limits.  And to Hawke’s credit, he never once acts on his feelings, never once does anything inappropriate.  In fact, he allows her to go and stay with the Dark River cats to give her some space so she can be her own person without having to fight the connection he knows she feels as well. 

Nalini Singh did a really great job developing this story because, let’s be honest, it could have come off a little creepy.  And Hawke could have totally come across as some dirty perv.  And it never once felt that way.

Sienna is nineteen when we start Kiss of Snow.  She’s come back to the den, working as a soldier for Snow Dancer.  And she’s dealing with the increasing threat of the power she has inside her as an X-Psy.  No one really understands the depth of this power except Sienna and Judd.  And even they don’t fully understand it because most X-Psy die before they reach adulthood.

And – as Hawke learns – Sienna has definitely reached adulthood.

Their chemistry is off the charts.  And even though Hawke tries, he just can’t stay away from her.  And I was obsessed with each and every interaction between them. 

He’d wanted to taste her, stroke her, pet her.  Simply holding her, simply dancing with her, had driven his wolf half to madness…

But Sienna wasn’t going to take less than everything that Hawke could give her.

“You’re giving me just enough to make sure I can’t forget you and not enough to go against your all-important principles.  Well, fuck you.”  Quiet words, because she would not scream and yell, would not allow him to see her break.  “I don’t want the crumbs from your table.”

Yeah…

They were volatile. 

And hot as fuck.

My only complaint (yes, I have a complaint) about their story is the number of times we were cockblocked.  Now, I don’t mind a well-placed cockblock.  Especially when you’re trying to build the sexual tension.  But JFC, we’ve had seven books of unresolved sexual tension between these two already.  And it felt like every kiss, every touch, was interrupted by something, some crisis, or someone.

Ugh.

I got frustrated.

We did get the added bonus of a side love story between Walker and Lara in this book.  And I loved it…so fucking much.  They were the perfect way to balance the angst and fire between Hawke and Sienna.  Their story was surprisingly sweet and emotional, gripping and downright sexy.

The shit hits the fan in regards to the war in this one.  And things are only going to get darker and more inflammatory as the series continues.  I have a million feelings about the key, secretive players.  Especially Kaleb and The Ghost.  Or Kaleb, the ghost, as I like to call him.  I could be DEAD WRONG, but I think it’s him.  And if it’s not…no one will still be able to convince me that Kaleb is a bad guy.  I think he’s good…or at least torn.  But I’m guessing he’ll ultimately come down on the right side of things.

The conclusion of this story was (almost) worth the angst of getting us there.  Actually, I was very happy with the resolution.  And what makes me even happier is that I don’t think we’re done with Hawke and Sienna, much like we’ve never been done with Sascha and Lucas after ten books.

Looking forward to the next one, and seeing where Nalini Singh is going to take us next in this wonderful world I’ve been obsessed with.

I wish I could give this five stars, but the still-frustrated whore in me is knocking off a half star for repeated cockblocking.

However…I STILL LOVED IT!!!!!