Deep Kiss of Winter by Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter

First... (screeching) Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter in one book!!!! swoons.

That's how I felt when I first heard of this book. Two of the hottest authors in paranormal romance all wrapped up into one deliciously packaged book - featuring two steamy stories that will keep you warm this winter. So, needless to say, I was extremely excited when I was allowed to be part of this book tour.

Kresley Cole's, Untouchable, features the last "un-blooded" Wroth brother, Murdoch. This is the sixth book in her Immortals After Dark series. Obviously, I would recommend that you catch up on the earlier titles so that you know what the heck is going on. But you can still read this as a stand-alone since there is a lot of explaining as to who is who and what is what. For those of you who have read the series, this book more or less takes place at the same time the previous five stories have wrapping everything up quite nicely with the other three Wroth couples.

A little bit about our leading couple: Murdoch Wroth - tall, dark, handsome - brooding vampire - in his mid-thirties. He was a love 'em and leave 'em type in his pre-vampire life. He had a different woman every night - even thought of as a 'manwhore' and has been without a woman for over 300 years. That is until he runs across the stunning Daniela...and suddenly his heart starts beating and he's been 'blooded' to a woman he can never touch, or have. Talk about ironic. Daniela The Ice Queen - is part valkyrie/part ice fey and a two thousand year old virgin to boot. Although she lives in New Orleans with her valkyrie brethren -she is in extreme discomfort with the hot and humid temps. Not to mention she runs the risk of thermal shock if she gets too hot and, if she's touched, even in passing, it is the equivalent of putting her skin to an open flame.

I fell in love with this couple. Daniela only wanted to be loved and touched, she led a lonely existence and fantasized about finding someone to love her. Murdoch could never imagine himself tied down to just one woman - and much less to one he could never touch. The excitement and anticipation over just how they would make it work - made it a quick and exciting read for me.

In Gena Showalter's, Tempt Me Eternally, we are once again thrown into her Alien Huntress series. Here we meet Aleaha Love (known as Macy amongst the AIR team). Aleaha is not the normal AIR agent though - she has a secret - a secret that can be deadly if found out by AIR (AIR = an elite enforcement group devoted to protecting the earth from aliens). For Aleaha can change identity - she can rapidly change bodies from the short, blonde Macy, to a tall, brunette, male, female, it doesn't matter... she can become anyone.

On her first mission to intercept an invasion of the deadly Schon, her team is surprised when instead of the expected Schon, a group of beautiful and golden-skinned Rakan emerge. Chaos ensues and only Aleaha is left standing. Breean, the leader of the Rakan, is only looking for a safe planet for his people to live in. For his race is peaceful and have had to leave their planet and their females behind because of a deadly virus which caused the female to "eat" the male population (caused by, once again, those pesky Schon). Breean's only recourse is to imprison the AIR team in order to use them in the negotiations to be allowed to reside on Earth. But Aleaha has no intentions of letting her friends remain prisoners, she must fight against the desire she feels for the leader and form a plan to help them escape.

If you've read the previous Alien Huntress novel, Seduce the Darkness, you might be thrown off a bit, because this story actually takes place before that one... so you're left wondering why they keep talking about a Schon ship landing... when you know that already happened, but anywho... once you get the time frame right, you understand and truly enjoy this story. Aleaha and Breean were fun, flirty and had some great dialogue. I loved the push and pull between them. Breean was looking for submissive (what his race is used to) and Aleaha would not let herself be a pushover. They were a great match.

Once again, Kresley and Gena have not disappointed. This is a wonderful anthology featuring two wonderful stories that can definitely be treasured... not to mention savored. For lovers of romance, paranormal/fantasy, this is a gem that you won't want to miss out on.

This book was provided for review by Pocket Books.

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