Casee‘s review of Deep Kiss of Winter by Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter.
Untraceable by Kresley Cole
Murdoch Wroth will stop at nothing to claim Daniela the Ice Maiden — the delicate Valkyrie who makes his heart beat for the first time in three hundred years. Yet the exquisite Danii is part ice fey, and her freezing skin can’t be touched by anyone but her own kind without inflicting pain beyond measure. Soon desperate for closeness, in an agony of frustration, Murdoch and Danii will do anything to have each other. Together, can they find the key that will finally allow them to slake the overwhelming desire burning between them?
After Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changeling series, Kresley Cole’s IAD series is second on my list of favorite paranormal series.
Murdoch Wroth has been a vampire for three hundred years. Finding his Bride is the last thing he wants to do. Seeing his brother with his Bride is enough to convince him that he never wants to find his. That all changes when he spies Daniela in the French Quarter.
Daniela is the rightful Queen of Icere, the home she left after her mother was slain. She promised her mother that she would never go back there and she hasn’t. She is half Valkyrie, half Icere. Danii not only wants the cold, she needs it. Touching anyone other than the Icere is something that she can’t do without being badly burned. Living in New Orleans is hard for her, but she has adapted so she can stay with her coven. She is intrigued when she realizes she is Murdoch Wroth’s mate, but knows that it’s impossible.
Murdoch watched his brother suffer for five years before he finally found his runaway Bride. He is dismayed that his mate is Valkyrie, even if it’s only half. Frustration doesn’t begin to cover what he feels knowing that he can’t touch Danii, nor can he feel her touch.
This definitely made for an interesting story. One thing that made it good was their lack of physical contact made them talk. They really got to know each other. Theirs wasn’t an easy road, that’s for sure. In addition to their “relationship” problems, assassins are determined to kill Danii to protect a throne that she doesn’t even want.
The whole cold thing was kind of revolting. I can’t think of another word to describe it. It seemed worse when Murdoch was with Danii b/c he wasn’t like her and the things he withstood just showed how much he loved her.
I liked both Danii and Murdoch, but this was probably my least favorite of the series.
3.75 out of 5.
Tempt Me Eternally by Gena Showalter
Aleaha Love can be anyone — literally. With only skin-to-skin contact, she can change her appearance, assume any identity. Her newest identity switch has made her an AIR (alien investigation and removal) agent and sends her on a mission to capture a group of otherworldly warriors. Only she becomes the captured. Breean, a golden-skinned commander known for his iron will who is at once dangerous and soul-shatteringly seductive, threatens her new life. Because for the first time, Aleaha only wants to be herself….
I was surprised that I enjoyed the Gena Showalter installment more than Kresley Cole’s. Not b/c I don’t like Gena Showalter; I do. I haven’t read anything in her Alien Huntress series. I don’t like reading series out of order, but I found it surprisingly easy to start with this book.
Aleaha Love has a secret. She can turn into anyone she touches. She doesn’t retain the person’s memories, but she does look exactly like them. That’s what got her into her current situation. When Aleaha finds Macy Briggs dead, she takes her identity so she can be a part of the Alien Investigative and Removal team.
While on a mission to stop aliens that bring a deadly virus with them the soon-to-be captors turn into the captives. Aleaha is taken by the commander of the group, Breean. She has to fight her attraction to the man that has taken her and her team captive. It gets harder with each day as she finds that Breean is one of the few people that accepts her as she is.
Breean brought his people to Earth in hopes of living peacefully. After the virus that AIR is so afraid of coming to Earth kills almost all his people, Breean has no choice but to try to find a place for his remaining people to survive. Aleaha is someone that he doesn’t expect and doesn’t want to let go. But her allegiance to her team may ruin any chance they have together.
4 out of 5.
This book is available from Pocket. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
I had the opposite reaction – I loved Kresely Cole’s story – I thought the chemistry between Murdoch and Danii was great – even if the action kind of fizzled out at the end.
On the other hand – Breean from Gena Showalter didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t like how he demanded things from Aleaha…I did love the other guys on her team though.
That’s funny, I was just thinking about Mandi’s review, above. I’m glad to see you weigh in on this–thanks for the review!
Maybe I will love both of the stories! Or maybe not. Anyway, now I am totally curious! Of course I’ll be reading this, as I’m a Cole fangirl, and I’ve never read Showalter.