Untouchable (Published in Deep Kiss of Winter)
Kresley Cole
Publisher: Pocket Books
Publication Date: October 13, 2009
Series or Standalone: Immortals After Dark #7
Links: Amazon -Barnes & Noble – Goodreads
Rating:

MY REVIEW

Untouchable, one of the stories in the Deep Kiss of Winter anthology, finishes up the stories focused on the Wroth brothers. Unfortunately, it was my least favorite of the bunch. This book was strange to me as I didn’t actively dislike it, but it also didn’t wow me. If anything, it was a bit…forgettable. I read it and then immediately moved on. It didn’t leave a lasting impression on me like Sebastian’s or Conrad’s tale.

Murdoch Wroth has waited over 300 hundred years to have his heart beat again. When he meets Daniela the Ice Maiden, he realizes she’s his Bride, and he’ll stop at nothing to be with her. The only trouble is Danii is half Valkyrie and half-ice fae. She cannot be touched by anyone but her own kind or else she’ll feel unbelievable pain. She’s been alone for years without ever feeling the touch of another. Danii is also the true Queen of the Icere, which means she has assassins coming after her at every turn. Despite the obstacles in their path Danii and Murdoch are trying to make it work, even as the desire reaches fever peaks and cannot be sated by each other’s touch. 

First off, I will fully admit the timeline in this book threw me a bit. It took me a little bit to realize the start of this book takes place around the time of The Warlord Wants Forever and then continues over the course of the rest of the books in the series. This book did offer some different perspectives on scenes we’ve seen before, which I did enjoy, but it did take me a minute to realize this book didn’t immediately pick up after the actions of Kiss of a Demon King.

I have to say, Murdoch is probably my least favorite Wroth brother. Something about him just didn’t really click for me. He’s supposed to be this big ladies’ man as he was famous before his vampire days for being a rogue, and yet, I just didn’t see it. He was so not smooth in his interactions with Danii, so much so that she even calls him out for it saying things along the lines of “Did lines like this get you laid?” more than once. However, I did end up siding with him more than with Danii in this book. He was willing to try whatever it took to be with Danii even if they couldn’t physically touch, and it felt like he was more emotionally invested in the relationship than she was. 

Danii was not my favorite female lead either. She’s half-Valkyrie and half Icere – a type of ice fae that makes her skin impossibly cold and her untouchable. She’s also the rightful queen of the Icere, but after her mother was murdered, she’s had assassins coming after her to take her out. I liked Danii’s personality and understood how isolated and alone she felt. However, I felt like she projected a lot of her feelings onto Murdoch and then blamed him for it, even though he didn’t necessarily do anything wrong. 

Overall, the romance in this was fine. It was a tad too much insta-lust for my liking. I felt like Danii and Murdoch were in love way too quickly, but I did like the two of them together. I genuinely felt so bad for Murdoch not being able to touch his mate while he saw his brothers finding happiness with their Brides. However, Murdoch and Danii somehow managed to make the sexy times work, and now I can never look at an icicle the same way again. I did find the solution to the non-touching aspect of their relationship a bit obvious and felt it took a tad too long for them to figure it out. 

Outside that, I found the plot involving Danii being the Icere Queen a bit weak. I was expecting way more conflict and action towards the end with Jádoan the Cold, but literally, there was none. I’m not sure why he was given so much time and attention in the story. 

Overall, this one wasn’t my favorite. I don’t think it added much to the overarching series story, but it was nice to see Murdoch get his happily ever after and get some lookbacks at previous books in the series from a different perspective. If you’re a completionist like I am, you’ll want to read this, but you can easily skip it and not miss out on anything. Also, I’m not really sure why this is technically the 7th book in the series, as it can be read immediately after Dark Needs at Night’s Edge without spoiling the books after it.