ARCHANGEL'S HEART is book nine in the Guild Hunter
series by the fantastic Nalini Singh, one of my very
favorite authors. This is a paranormal romance series that
I think has morphed slightly into paranormal/fantasy. The
main couple in the series is the Archangel of New York,
Raphael, and his consort Elena who was once a Guild Hunter
tasked with tracking down rogue vampires but is now a new
Immortal gifted with wings. Most of the books feature a
new romance involving one of Raphael's Cadre or allies, but
a few have been solely plot driven without the formation of
a new couple. ARCHANGEL'S HEART is one of those plot-
driven books. There is still romance though, because boy
howdy, the love and devotion between Elena and Raphael is
strong and yet continues to deepen every day.
I adore Elena and Raphael together. Both independent
and smart individuals, they are navigating how to allow the
capable (yet still vulnerable to old Immortals) Elena to be
her deadly and autonomous self in the dangerous world of
angels and vampires. Raphael has ruled as a supremely
powerful leader in his territory for a millennium. His
love for Elena allows him to, sometimes a little
begrudgingly, *grin*, agree that Elena will be the one to
walk in front of him into danger wielding her knives to
protect them both. I think, if I had to pick one book
boyfriend, I might pick Singh's Raphael over Karen Marie
Moning's Jericho Barrons for myself. Raphael is deadly and
sumptuous. The thought of all that focus and power aimed
at me in love makes my spine tingle!
The world is approaching a Cascade, a time when angels
and archangels gain unexpected and sometimes deadly powers
as a massive battle to death between angelkind looms. To
add to this already incredible pressure, one of the most
deadly and evil archangels in the world is now missing.
It's not clear if Lijuan is dead, or is she has chosen to
go into Sleep, withdrawing from the world in stasis for a
time. Without Lijuan to keep them controlled, the vampires
in her territory are going into bloodlust and slaughtering
thousands of humans. Raphael and the other ruling
Archangels have been called to a Cadre council to decide
how Lijuan's territory will be divided up. The enmity
between Lijuan and Raphael has been building with each
successive book, and the tension leaves me on tenterhooks
the whole time I'm reading. Lijuan makes such a
deliciously creepy arch nemesis.
As I adore Elena and Raphael, their angels, and the
Guild Hunter world, I am thrilled to have this book with or
without a separate romance between new lovers. Nalini does
her usual superlative job at world building, and the
stresses and thrills interspersed with beauty, love and
friendship hit all the right notes. Singh has created a
masterful symphony of angelic war and immortal love in
ARCHANGEL'S HEART.
New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh takes us into a dangerous and exhilarating world where a deadly, beautiful archangel and his once-mortal consort are caught in a fury of twisted darkness… One of the most vicious archangels in the world has disappeared. No one knows if Lijuan is dead or has chosen to Sleep the long sleep of an immortal. But with her lands falling into chaos under a rising tide of vampiric bloodlust, a mysterious and ancient order of angels known as the Luminata calls the entire Cadre together to discuss the fate of her territory. Accompanying her archangelic lover Raphael to the Luminata compound, guild hunter-turned-angel Elena senses that all is not as it seems. Secrets echo from within the stone walls of the compound, and the deeper Elena goes, the uglier the darkness. But neither Raphael nor Elena is ready for the brutal truths hidden within—truths that will change everything Elena thinks she knows about who she is… Nothing will ever be the same again.
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