Psy/Changling Read-along: Kiss of Snow (+Contest)

NSingh-Kiss of Snow

Psy-Changeling Readalong.2013It’s here! Kiss of Snow! Hawke and Sienna! The book I waited and waited for. I don’t think I can tell you just how excited I was about Kiss of Snow. I think the first time I read it I had it finished in a few hours. And then I immediately re-read it just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. And now this is probably my fifth time to read Kiss of Snow and I’m still finding little tidbits that I didn’t the other times.

And just a warning. This book has a lot (A LOT) of stuff going on so I’m going to hit the big points. And a few small points.

– Courtney

NSingh-Kiss of SnowSince the moment of her defection from the PsyNet and into the SnowDancer wolf pack, Sienna Lauren has had one weakness. Hawke. Alpha and dangerous, he compels her to madness.

Hawke is used to walking alone, having lost the woman who would’ve been his mate long ago. 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 SnowDancer, 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…

Here are the past discussions!

Slave to Sensation – the discussion Blaze of Memory – the discussion
Visions of Heat – the discussion Bonds of Justice – the discussion
Caressed by Ice – the discussion Play of Passion – the discussion
Wild Invitation – the discussion Kiss of Snow – the discussion
Mine to Possess – the discussion Tangle of Need – the discussion
Hostage to Pleasure – the discussion Heart of Obsidian – the discussion
Branded by Fire – the discussion

World/Society:

Henry is now in charge of Pure Psy and he will not let the changelings take anymore power away from the Psy. He is determined to stop them, along with Nikita and Anthony, so that Silence will stand. He is preparing for war and has an army of zealots behind him. He intends to make sure nothing stands in his way.

It was time the world went back to the way it had been for over a century, the way it should be, with the purest of Psy in power…

When people thought of SnowDancer and DarkRiver, Henry wanted them to see the blood-soaked coast of noncompliance.

Main Characters:

For the X-Psy, Silence was a gift beyond price…

Without it…

There are some nightmares the world will never be ready to face.

Hawke – SnowDancer Alpha. He has always had a fixation with Sienna but is determined to steer clear of her. But every where he turns she’s there. Pretty soon his hunger for her will make him forget about why they can’t be together. Especially when Sienna has decided that she wants him and she’s not taking no for an answer.

Not when he had to fight the hunger to claim the most intimate of skin privileges every time she was in his presence.

Hawke doesn’t have to fight against just himself and Sienna. He has to fight against time too. Sienna is a X-Psy. The only Cardinal X-Psy to have ever been recorded. And her power is dangerous; to her and to anyone near her. And when she hits a certain point there won’t be anyway she can save herself.

I don’t know how to stop this…how to survive it – Sienna to Hawke

But Hawke isn’t giving Sienna up now that he has finally opened his heart to her. So now Hawke must find a way to defeat the coming Psy attack and figure out a way to save Sienna from her abilities. Anything less is unacceptable.

You come first. You always will. – Hawke to Sienna

Sienna – An X-Psy cardinal who defected from the Psy-Net with her family. Sienna has always felt as if there could always be something between her and Hawke but he has never allowed it. She knows he won’t ever love her as he would a mate but she’s determined to have him. Especially since she’s not sure how much longer she’ll have.

Hawke’s mate is dead. He buried his heart with her. –  Sienna

As an X-Psy, the only cardinal X-Psy on record, Sienna knows her chances of surviving even a few more years are slim. That doesn’t mean she’s given up hope, but as her powers start to grow exponentially she’ll have to face the fact that she might not survive. And now that she has Hawke she’s not going to let him die with her.

But she would find a way to send him back. Because SnowDancer needed him now, more than ever, this man with a heart so big, he’d heald a broken pack together and made it strong again, a man who’d given sanctuary to the enemy…a man who’d loved an X.

Sienna knows she won’t survive when her ability reaches critical. And so the Psy attack on Changeling lands is a blessing in disguise. Hawke gets pulled away to lead the fight and Sienna won’t be a danger to him anymore. But as she gets closer and closer to the breaking point she realizes distance might not save her wolf. So she makes the only choice she can. She might self-destruct and take the SnowDancers with her but she’ll be taking out the Psy as well.

The cold, dark thing inside of her shoved aside all else…and the flames began to feed. Screams filled the air, filled her consciousness, filled the sky… The problem was…the Psy weren’t the only targets in the vicinity.

Changeling Characters:

Kit – One of Sienna’s best friends, he does everything in his power to make sure Sienna and Hawke get together.

Updates: Lucas and Sascha – Finally get to welcome Nadiya Shayla Hunter into their family.

Dark River Sentinels SnowDancer Lieutenants
Nate – Senior Riley – Senior
Dorian Indigo
Vaughn Judd Lauren – Psy
Mercy Jem
Clay Alexie
Cooper
Matthias
Kenji
Riaz
Tomas

Psy Characters:

Henry – Is the leader of the group Pure Psy. He has decided that now is the time to strike against the Changelings and has gathered an army to do it. He is no longer working with anyone in the PsyCouncil. His wife Shoshanna is off the grid as much as she can be and Tatiana has bowed out of the fight.

Vasquez – Henry’s second in command in Pure Psy. He is fanatical in his belief that Silence must not fall.

Update:

  1. Nikita – Doing what she can to bankrupt Henry.
  2. Anthony – Has reported that all the F-Psy under his care have had visions of war.
  3. Ming – Is not entirely convinced that Sienna and the other Laurens are dead. He is also helping Henry plan the first battle against the Changelings.
Psy Designations Psy Council
Tp-Psy – Telepathy Marshall Hyde Anthony Kyriakus
Tk-Psy – Telekinesis Ming LeBon
M-Psy – Medical Henry Scott
F-Psy – Foresight Shoshanna Scott
E-Psy – Empathy Nikita Duncan
Ps-Psy – Psychometric Santano Enrique Kaleb Krychek
Tk-Cell – Influence physical bodies on a cellular level Tatiana Rika-Smythe
J-Psy – Justice Psy
X-Psy – Control of Cold Fire.
Tk-V – True Teleporter (Traveler)

Human Characters:

Alice Eldridge – Alice is a human who was cryogenically frozen over a hundred years ago…before Silence was implemented. She was working on a study of all X-Psy. Everyone thought she was dead until The Ghost found her and brought her to Judd. Now she is the only person alive who might have the knowledge to save Sienna.

Subplots:

Walker and Lara – Walker and Lara work through their own issues and finally get together after months of dancing around each other.

Hints for the Ghost:

Please no spoilers about who the Ghost is in the comments!

He can search the Obsidian archive. A place that holds vast amounts of information in the PsyNet. He might be the only person to know it exists.

Glossary of Terms

Vocabulary from the previous novels can be found on their discussion pages:

Discussion

  • Are you satisfied with how Hawke and Sienna finally got together?
  • Did their age difference bother you?
  • Were you surprised by what Sienna’s ability turned out to be?
  • What about Alice Eldridge? What do you think her role is going to be in the grand scheme of things?

Giveaway

Thanks to Nalini Singh and the wonderful people at Penguin, I have a couple of every single novel in the Psy-Changeling series, and while some of them have been claimed, all of them haven’t. So this is what we’re going to do – we’ll be giving away all the books in one shot at the end of the Read-Along. That means you have 13 different chances to enter for any one of the Psy-Changeling novels. Join in on any of the discussions and you’ll automatically be entered to win.

To enter, all you have to do is answer this one question: What do you think is going to happen to those Psy who depend on Silence to control their dangerous abilities? Don’t be afraid to answer any of the discussion questions above either!

The contest will stay open until July 1st, at which time we’ll determine the winners with help from this snazzy plug-in that Jackie has.

About Courtney 33 Articles
I teach Special Education and have three demented dogs. Between my students all day and my dogs all night my stress relief is reading. It is the only thing that keeps me from going crazy. Or should I say from going crazier? I read anything but I prefer fantasy, sci-fi and steampunk. I also love urban fantasy and historical romances. If it has dragons and magic, vampires and werewolves, crazy machines and corsets or aliens and spaceships then I’m happy. Mix in a Scotland laird or two every once in a while and I’m ecstatic!

4 Comments

  1. I am definitely more than satisfied with how Hawke and Sienna finally got together! And their age difference didn’t phase me. Nalini clearly showed how “old” Sienna really was, despite her age.

    I’m not worried about the Psy who depend on Silence to control their abilities. More and more Psy (Faith, Judd, other Arrows, etc) are beginning to understand that removing emotions may not be necessary to control those especially powerful and dangerous abilities. Judd knows that Slience helped him, but pain didn’t have to be part of his training. Some of the Slience training helped Faith with her dark visions. Clearly parts of the protocol helped, but it’s more obvious that most of it is damaging to the Psy and PsyNet.

  2. The conflict between the Changeling and Psy is more straightforward and easier to follow than some of the previous skirmishes and it comes with a very satisfying ending. Of special interest were the minute changes in Sascha and Nikita Duncan’s relationship. A large portion of the change is brought about by the imminent birth of Sascha and Lucas’ child and Nikita’s grandchild. Most of the story revolves around Lucas’s vigilance, but the reader does have glimpses of Sascha’s daily challenges of carrying a psy/changeling child.

  3. I figure some of them will have to be imprisoned in some shape or form. Cause just like every race there are some good folks and some bad folks look at psycho who was killing changeling girls. Unless like Sienna they can find a focus some of them will burn themselves out with their abilities.

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