A Deep Kiss of Winter: Kresley Cole, Gena Showalter

Good Reads Summary:  Two never-before-published paranormal stories to delight the senses and tantalize the imagination!

KRESLEY COLE delivers a breathtaking tale of a brutal vampire soldier about to know love for the first time...and a Valkyrie aching to be touched.

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?

GENA SHOWALTER puts a daring spin on a tale of huntress and hunted...and concocts a sensual chemistry that is positively explosive.

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....

This novel is perfect for the reader who enjoys a few medium-length stories in one book.  The first story, by Kresley Cole, will leave the reader excited and feeling as if she/he really knows the characters well.  The characters are both "spit-fires" whose conflicting personalities and ideologies will keep the reader interested.  The culmination of the novel doesn't fall flat, but leaves the reader dying to read the rest of the novel.  The story is fast-paced and the supporting characters help pull the novel together.  The reader will admire Daniela's determination and sincerity, while ogling the love interest, Murdoch, who the author describes in aching detail and fits Murdoch with a "devil may care" attitude.  The love scenes are explicit and detailed.  The ending is fulfilling and will leave the reader with a surety that he/she needs to obtain more of Kresley Cole's books. 

The second portion of the book is no less satisfying.  Aleaha is a strong character who is portrayed as a team fighter, Breean is handsome, a fighter, and just as hard-headed.  What else could happen expect sparks flying between the two?   The author's choice of utilizing aliens as both main and supporting characters will serve to interest the reader further in the novel.  The novel is a very quick-read, the reader will easily finish in one sitting.  The novel has several twists to it, the plot is intriguing, the characters will become friends to the reader, and the love scenes leave nothing to the imagination.  The dialogue between the main characters is, at times, a light banter or firm and unyielding.  The ending is a slight surprise, but just as good as the reader will have hoped. 

This novel is terrific for any adult reader who enjoys a little alien/Ice Maiden mixed into an exciting romance.