Winter's Kiss by F.E Heaton

Title:  Winter's Kiss
Author: F.E Heaton
Genre: Paranormal Werewolf Romance
Publisher:  Alinar Publishing
Publication Date: June 2009
Stand alone or series:  Stand Alone
First Line: 'A scream rent the still night air.'

Synopsis  (from Goodreads)
The tales of the mansion near Nika’s remote Russian village say that its lord drinks blood to live and that the guards are dead men walking, but that doesn’t stop Nika from falling for one of them—a man who seemingly hasn’t changed in twenty years, a man she wishes would be hers. One snowy spring night, her world and his collide when she is attacked by wolves and he rides in on a black horse to rescue her. But her knight in shining armour is far from saintly. He is a vampire, and she is becoming a werewolf, and love between such species is forbidden—the penalty death.

Winter is a commander of the Validus, the most powerful vampire bloodline in Europe. Faithful to his family and his lord since his turning one thousand years ago, he follows the law to the letter and places duty above all else, but his resolve is about to be tested in the most painful way and his world shaken beyond salvation. The girl he watched grow into a woman, a woman who has stolen his heart, is now a werewolf and his dream of making her his has been shattered. Only vengeance can be his now or the Law Keepers will hunt him down and kill both him and Nika.

But Winter’s plan to take Nika home to her family only leads to her witnessing the destruction of her village and the death of her father at the hands of the werewolf trying to claim her, and Winter finds that he can’t leave her. His heart demands that he protects Nika from the werewolf, Willem, by killing him and that he finds her a new home, somewhere she will be safe without him, for he must even protect her from himself. But Nika tempts him more than he can bear and it isn’t long before he finds himself treading the knife’s edge between upholding the law and succumbing to desire.

Nika does everything in her power to convince Winter to stay with her, to go against the laws and risk death, but in the end will she have done enough? When they reach the last bastion of the werewolves, will Winter leave her with her kin? Will the nights they spend together change his heart and his mind, or will she spend eternity dreaming of Winter’s kiss?

My Thoughts
I'd seen the cover of this book on Vampires Realm and thought wow, so when I won this on a twitter competition I was stoked!  I found this review really hard to write so this is why it has taken me so long.

I found the beginning of this book really interesting but I couldn't help noticing that I didn't really 'feel' for the characters straight away.  It wasn't until about a quarter of the way in when I learnt more about what was going on and the relationship between Nika and Winter began to develop.

Winter is a very loyal commander of the Validus, who stands guard outside the gates of his lord's household from sunset to sunrise.  The only thing that breaks this tedious duty is a woman by the name of Nika who passes him most nights.  Winter has watched Nika pass him by almost every night ever since she was a little girl.  When he hears the screams in the night he takes no notice at first, until he realises its her and takes off into the woods on his horse to her aide.

There is so much inner turmoil with each character all throughout the book.  Winter has a duty to his Lord and falling for a girl who is a werewolf is a big no-no in the vampire community, punishable by death.  Nika has just been turned into a werewolf against her will, and watched her village and father die.  She falls in love with Winter and can't understand what is stopping them being together. 

A fabulous book told in third person present tense, in both Nika and Winter's POV.  Winter's Kiss is a tale of forbidden love destined to fail and well worth the read.  (Theres a bit of violence and a raunchy sex scene too)