Tangle of Need by Nalini Singh

Adria, wolf changeling and resilient soldier, has made a break with the past—one as unpredictable in love as it was in war. Now comes a new territory, and a devastating new complication: Riaz, a SnowDancer lieutenant already sworn to a desperate woman who belongs to another.

For Riaz, the primal attraction he feels for Adria is a staggering betrayal. For Adria, his dangerous lone-wolf appeal is beyond sexual. It consumes her. It terrifies her. It threatens to undermine everything she has built of her new life. But fighting their wild compulsion toward one another proves a losing battle.

Their coming together is an inferno…and a melding of two wounded souls who promise each other no commitment, no ties, no bonds. Only pleasure. Too late, they realize that they have more to lose than they ever imagined. Drawn into a cataclysmic Psy war that may alter the fate of the world itself, they must make a decision that might just break them both.  (Synopsis from B&N.com)

Hardcover, Penguin, 432 pages

Reading Tangle of Need was a good/bad experience. Good in that it was an excellent book and bad in that it's going to be a long wait until the next one comes out. The main part of the book is about Riaz and Adria, both members of the Snow Dancer pack who have incredible chemistry between them. He unfortunately has a mate named Lisette who is married to and in love with another man.  Adria has ended a long term relationship with a submissive named Martin that finished badly. Riaz is determined to live life alone and Adria wants to protect her heart at all costs.  As the relationship develops between them, both parties have to re-evaluate what they really want in their future and what are they willing to do to make that future happen.  Unlike previous couples, this one would seem to be the easiest to get together because they are both packmates and changelings, but the obstacle of the mating bond is a constant sword over both of their heads.

One of the nice things in this book is how Ms. Singh has given the reader a look at the relationship between Hawke and Sienna and how it is progressing. The level of understanding between them, the perfectness of their mating is exquisitely portrayed in this book. There are glimpses of other couples in the book as well but Hawke and Sienna really stand out without overshadowing the main couple. So much more about the pack system and how it stands or fails is explained in this book.

The tension between the changelings, the Psy and the Pure Psy people is ratcheting up and there is a lovely little cliffhanger of an ending that makes you want to scream with frustration that the next book is not in your hand immediately!