North of Need

by Laura Kaye

Publisher: Entangled Publishing

My Rating: 

While attempting to escape the agonizing memories she associates with Christmas, twenty-nine-year-old widow Megan Snow builds a snow family outside the mountain cabin she once shared with her husband and collapses in tears against the snowman at the sight of what she’ll never have.Called to life by the power of Megan’s tears, snow god Owen Winters appears unconscious on her doorstep in the midst of a raging blizzard. As she nurses him to health, Owen finds unexpected solace in her company and unimagined pleasure in the warmth of her body, and vows to win her heart for a chance at humanity.

Megan is drawn to Owen’s mismatched eyes, otherworldly masculinity, and enthusiasm for the littlest things, and her heart opens enough to believe he’s a Christmas miracle. But this miracle comes with an expiration before the snow melts and the temperature rises, Megan must let go of her widow’s grief and learn to trust love again, or she’ll lose Owen forever.

My Review:

The legend of Frosty the Snowman meets contemporary paranormal romance in Laura Kaye’s enchanting new book, North of Need.

I very much enjoyed this book.  Megan is a lonely woman, grieving over her deceased husband and spending the holidays secluded in her grief in her cabin in the snow.  One day, she builds a snowman family, and as she cries into the snowman wearing her husband’s clothes, magic is released.  Owen Winters is a god of sorts. He is a winter god, one of the Anemoi.  After heartbreak of his own, Owen had spent centuries in elemental form, in seclusion.  When a descendent (Megan’s former husband) asks the gods to help his wife, Owen is put to the task of making Megan happy and being there for her.  When Megan creates her snowman, magic turns that snowman into Owen.  In order for Owen to join the human world permanently, Megan must love and choose him, before winter is over.  The elemental gods do not co-operate, and Owen has only days to get to know Megan, help her overcome grief, and get her to fall in love again before Owen leaves the human world for good.

The magic combined with legend in this book creates a very sweet and emotional read.  Both Owen and Megan are lonely people, and despite coming from very different worlds, they have a lot in common.  Owen is very tender with Megan, he is considerate and I was very impressed with how well he handled being in human form.  He is not a perfect character, he is not always upfront with Megan, but his hesitancy to reveal his true nature is understandable.  I also like Megan’s character, although she really does hold on tight to her grief.  I really like how the relationship between Megan and Owen develops, they build a friendship, they have fun, and they allow themselves to enjoy their chemistry.

The paranormal elements in North of Need are quite unique and interesting.  The concept of the “Anemoi,” the elemental gods is both fun and different.  North of Need puts a basic structure to the supernatural world, and some of these other elemental gods characters sound very interesting as well.  I really liked Owen’s powers, as a god of winter, he controls the snow and lives in winter storms.

North of Need is a fabulous winter read, it is a book that you want to read while curled up the the fire.  North of Need is a very sweet romance with steamy attraction between the characters, powerful paranormal gods, and a bit of legend mixed in.  Paranormal readers, if you are looking for a good book to read, I recommend picking up North of Need.

North of Need releases November 1, you can pre-order at: Barnes and Noble or Amazon: