I wanted a nice, cozy fantasy to get me through the last few days of the year, and this one was perfect. This was pretty low stakes in high fantasy, so it was quite enjoyable to learn about a new fantastical world and not feel as if I was missing something in the world-building. Omen of Ice is set in a world in which most humans died out in a war thousands of years before the start of the book, but the druids are all that's left, and they work very closely with the fae people of the Winter Court, both groups are the small survivors of their kind. The druids are paired with a fae and act as protectors and occasionally create strong relationships; however, the druids have sigils to band romantic love attachments, and for Keltania, Valen, her face, also has the sigil to protect himself from being used.

The world of the Winter Court was one of tense familial disputes between Valen and his uncle, the Lord, with only his aunt who truly loved him. Tania shows up and adds fuel to this fire when she discovers the sassy Valen has magic and can shapeshift, which must be kept a secret. Tania marks Valen with a sigil to protect him and accidentally does it wrong, and the two are bonded together; on a quest to reverse the bond, they catch feelings, ah, my favorite trope. Instead of one bed, there's only one tree branch, ayeeeee. As the two begin to develop more and more feelings for each other, they learn that they have both been lied to their entire lives, as have their people and in doing so, they begin to keep devastating secrets from each other.

I enjoyed both main characters individually and together, so adding the kelpie hallway was a genius idea. The banter and emotional conversations created a strong connection between Valen and Tania. When they finally get to the point where they can be together, thousand-year-old politics get in the way. Many jokes aside, this is not spicy and is, hopefully, a foundation for a much more romantic second book. This is the pure definition of a slow-burn romance, and right when they can have it, it is ripped away again. It leaves you rooting for these two.