Review: Guild Hunter series part 2 – Nalini Singh
Archangel's Bladeby Nalini Singh
Series: Guild Hunter #4
Also in this series: Angels' Blood, Archangel's Kiss, Archangel's Consort , Archangel's Sun
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Publication Date: September 6, 2011
Genres: Romance
Pages: 310
Source: Library
My rating:
New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh is back in the shadows of a deadly, beautiful world where angels rule, vampires serve, and one female hunter must crawl out of the darkness to survive…
The severed head marked by a distinctive tattoo on its cheek should have been a Guild case, but dark instincts honed over hundreds of years of life compel the vampire Dmitri to take control. There is something twisted about this death, something that whispers of centuries long past…but Dmitri’s need to discover the truth is nothing to the vicious strength of his response to the hunter assigned to decipher the tattoo.
Savaged in a brutal attack that almost killed her, Honor is nowhere near ready to come face to face with the seductive vampire who is an archangel’s right hand, and who wears his cruelty as boldly as his lethal sensuality…the same vampire who has been her secret obsession since the day she was old enough to understand the inexplicable, violent emotions he aroused in her.
As desire turns into a dangerous compulsion that might destroy them both, it becomes clear the past will not stay buried. Something is hunting…and it will not stop until it brings a blood-soaked nightmare to life once more…
And I’m back with part two of my mini-reviews for my reread of the Guild Hunter series. In part one, I covered the first three books, all of which involved Elena and Raphael. The next three books star side characters, including three of Raphael’s Seven. So, without further ado, Archangel’s Blade…
Look, I don’t really care for Dmitri, and reincarnation love stories are one of my pet peeves. Add that in with the massively disturbing content warnings, and I really just don’t care much for this book. I liked Holly and her determination to be a survivor and not a victim, but I was a bit disturbed by the doubling-down on “some people are always going to be victims” rhetoric. It doesn’t sit right with me, or the insinuation that the non-victims are all generally violent people and the correct way to be a non-victim is to seek violent retribution. I think this is handled better later in the series (in Jason and Mahiya’s book, for instance) but it was rather unpleasantly present in this one.
Angels' Flightby Nalini Singh
Series: Guild Hunter #4.5
Also in this series: Angels' Blood, Archangel's Kiss, Archangel's Consort , Archangel's Sun
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Publication Date: February 28, 2012
Genres: Romance
Pages: 368
Source: Library
My rating:
In Angel’s Wolf
a vampire becomes fascinated with the seductive angel who rules Louisiana. But all is not what it appears to be in her court.In Angels’ Judgment
a hunter must track one of her own gone bad, while surviving the deadly tests placed in her way by the archangels themselves. Unexpected backup comes from a stranger who might just be the most lethal threat of all...Plus FIRST TIME IN PRINT
In Angels' Pawn
a vampire hunter faces off against two rival factions and the angel manipulating them both, and a vampire whose help is not entirely selfless...And NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED
In Angels’ Dance
an angel trapped in the mountain stronghold of the Refuge finds herself under siege by a warrior angel from a martial court.
Angels’ Flight is a collection of novellas, some from previous anthologies, and some new for this anthology.
“Angel’s Wolf” – 5 stars. Noel was a side character in Archangel’s Kiss and it was nice to see more of him. I loved Noel and Nimra together, and enjoyed a peek into the court of a “normal” angel. I’d read this one previously and had fond memories of it, and it definitely lived up to them.
“Angels’ Judgement” – 4 stars. I didn’t know there was a Sara / Deacon story! This was pretty fun and I liked how it showcased Sara’s “director” abilities.
“Angels’ Pawn” – 5 stars. I really love Ashwini, so of course I’d read this before. I’d call this one more a short story than a novella, honestly, though I thought it did a good job setting up the dynamic between her and Janvier.
“Angels’ Dance” – 3 stars. I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. I liked Jessamy, I liked Galen, I liked them together… but the pacing felt off. The middle of the story just dragged.
Archangel's Stormby Nalini Singh
Series: Guild Hunter #5
Also in this series: Angels' Blood, Archangel's Kiss, Archangel's Consort , Archangel's Sun
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: September 4, 2012
Genres: Romance
Pages: 352
Source: Library
My rating:
Enter New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s darkly beautiful world of archangels and immortal power, as a pact is sealed between two souls bound by blood, stirred by desire, and driven by vengeance…
With wings of midnight and an affinity for shadows, Jason courts darkness. But now, with the Archangel Neha’s consort lying murdered in the jewel-studded palace that was his prison and her rage threatening cataclysmic devastation, Jason steps into the light, knowing he must unearth the murderer before it is too late.
Earning Neha’s trust comes at a price—Jason must tie himself to her bloodline through the Princess Mahiya, a woman with secrets so dangerous, she trusts no one. Least of all an enemy spymaster.
With only their relentless hunt for a violent, intelligent killer to unite them, Jason and Mahiya embark on a quest that leads to a centuries-old nightmare… and to the dark storm of an unexpected passion that threatens to drench them both in blood.
After encountering a few novellas I hadn’t read before, we’re back to books I remember reading. For whatever reason, I don’t recall liking this one much, but on this reread, I liked it. Mahiya and Jason’s relationship is certainly unique, but I loved the ways that Jason showed Mahiya how much he cared for and respected her. They’re not a typical couple for the series, as Mahiya’s idea of revenge is to live joyfully somewhere far away from her archangel aunt (finally, a non-victim who doesn’t feel the need to go kill people!). I did feel like we were missing one of the typical romance beats, in terms of the whole black moment/grand gesture/etc, but that’s sort of inline with the kind of person Jason is – not exactly prone to grand gestures, content to be in the shadows. I loved the Indian setting and the descriptions of all the gorgeous saris and shalwar kameez.
As for the non-romance plot, I initially found the murder mystery pretty intriguing, but the resolution felt rushed and didn’t quite have the impact I think it was supposed to. Also, the book starts at Honor and Dmitri’s wedding and is interspersed with chapters of their honeymoon and Honor’s transformation to a vampire. I wasn’t a fan of their book, so I wasn’t particularly a fan of these interludes, either.
Coming up next, we return to Elena and Raphael with Archangel’s Legion (which I’m pretty sure is the last book I’ve read), jump over to Ash and Janvier in Archangel’s Shadows and finish up with another of Raphael’s Seven in Archangel’s Enigma.
