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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh

Archangel's Kiss - Small

“ Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux wakes from a year-long coma to find herself changed—an angel with wings the colors of midnight and dawn—but her fragile body needs time to heal before she can take flight. Her lover, the stunningly dangerous archangel Raphael, is used to being in control—even when it comes to the woman he considers his own. But Elena has never done well with authority…
They’ve barely begun to understand each other when Raphael receives an invitation to a ball from the archangel Lijuan. To refuse would be a sign of fatal weakness, so Raphael must ready Elena for the flight to Beijing—and to the nightmare that awaits them there. Ancient and without conscience, Lijuan holds a power that lies with the dead. And she has organized the most perfect and most vicious of welcomes for Elena…” –Book Cover

** Contains spoilers from the first book, Angels’ Blood only **

After a year long coma, healing from the certain-death she survived at the end of the previous book, Elena finds herself in a position of weakness, status she is ready to change at all costs. She have to learn to use her new angel body, but it promises to be a hard journey because not everyone is happy with the presence of the first Made angel in living memory.

The refuge isn’t a peaceful escape. A series of murders and bloody pranks are disturbing the sanctuary and some of these attacks are specifically aiming Elena. Surrounded by numbers of pissed off vamps, angels and archangels, Elena will do her best to train hard, learn Angels History and uncover the malevolent mastermind behind the carnage.

Archangel’s Kiss is a great follow to Angels’ Blood. I had a great time following Elena’s steps into her new immortality and her new angel quality did nothing to her snappy attitude. Rebel to the bones, she finds herself fighting for her ground in her recent relationship with the Archangel Raphael. With two stubborn beings meeting in a face-off it can lead to catastrophe but they handled it fairly well. Both lovers are hunted by memories of the past and it was nice to finally discover more about their shady history.

Elena has been training with a few of Raphael’s Seven and I particularly enjoyed those moments. Playful, yet dangerous, those moments added an edge to the story with Elena’s spicy and colorful remarks. Illium, also known as bluebell, was my favorite, followed closed behind by Jason, Raphael’s Spymaster. Dmitri is present in the first third of the book but will eventually vanish from the plot, except for a mention here and there.

This book is once again filled with sexual tension and a fair amount of steamy scenes, even though I don’t feel like the scenes were necessary to the plot, it didn’t weight down the story either, so the balance was just fine.

Singh managed to keep the suspense high in this book and we don’t discover who’s at the head of all the bloody events until nearly the end. I also liked the end, great final battle with room for a third book, without any gut wrenching cliff-hanging end.

If you haven’t started this series yet, I strongly suggest it, but beware virgin eyes steamy scenes are an intricate part of those books.

Read an Excerpt

 

Guild Hunter Series:
1. Angels' Pawn

2. Angels' Blood

3. "Angels' Judgment" in Must Love Hell Hounds anthology

4. Archangel's Kiss

Book Stats:

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Berkley (MM); Original edition (Feb 2 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0425233367
  • ISBN-13: 978-0425233368

     

    Book Source: Review copy sent by Penguin Canada

  • Tynga is a 32 years old mom of two, from Montreal, working as a lab technician in an hospital specialized in heart disease. In her free time, she enjoys reading all things Paranormal and photography.

    Follow Tynga on: Facebook | Twitter

    2 People left their mark' :

    1. Looks good, thanks for the review!

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    2. I LOVE this series. It's so...dark and steamy and all good things thrown into one! And I love the progression of Elena's character and her relationship. I wasn't as big of a fan of the mystery this time around, but it still kept me glued to the page. Can't wait for the third book! (and nice review, by the way!)

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