SchizoBC Review - Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh

Before you sit and do the math, yes I finished another book in 4 days.  I read a lot, I read often, and I read pretty fast...when it's interesting. 

Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh

 

It is strange that my first 2 reviews here have an angel theme, but that's how my luck rolled when I finally got to borrow the ebooks from the library. 

Archangel's Kiss is book 2 in the Guild Hunter's series, and I did read book 1, Angel's Blood, earlier this year. 

When I read a book in a series that even remotely entertains me, I do feel the need to read the other books in that series.  Don't ask me why, because I certainly would not be able to tell you.  Maybe it's a slight compulsive disorder, maybe I'm just weird.

Anyway, in Angels' Blood you meet Vampire Hunter extraordinaire Elena Deveraux, a member of the Guild Hunters.  In a world where vampires live alongside human kind, work for angels, and are Made by angels, the Guild Hunters are basically contract bounty hunters for any angel who has a rouge vampire on the loose.  Those rouge vampires are dangerous when not leashed by the angel who has them under contract.  So, when an angel has a vampire problem, they hire a Guild Hunter, and Elena is the best.  Born with the natural skills for a Hunter, Elena is soon contracted by the dangerously sexy Archangel of the city, Raphael. But this time, it's not a wayward vampire she has to track...it's an Archangel gone bad. 

Sucked up in the midst of a killing spree, Elena finds herself in an exceedingly dangerous position...and on top of that, falling for the Archangel Raphael as well.  SPOILER ALERT!  In the end of Angels' Blood, Elena connects in a way with her archangel in a way no other human has ever done before...She becomes the first Made angel, made through the love Raphael has surprisingly, wholeheartedly given.

In Archangel's Kiss, Elena wakes from a year long coma to find herself attached to a new pair of wings.  But she's weak and as a newly made immortal, with a mortal heart, she can still die.  Almost immediately, her handsome and dangerous lover, Raphael, breaks the news that she must recover and prepare for a flight to Beijing, where the archangel Lijuan is throwing a ball in her honor. Ancient and without conscience, Lijuan's power lies with the dead.  She has the ability to raise the dead and keep them sustained for as long as she is entertained by them.  And she is planning something sinister for Elena...

Elena begins rigorous training to strengthen her muscles and to learn how to get along with her new wings.  Amidst training, she has to once again use her Hunter's skills to find the person responsible for a series of beatings, kidnappings, and deaths all aimed to destroy her.  Raphael and Elena know Lijuan is planning something for the ball, and have to play along with her games in the weeks leading up to it, as she tries to scare up weaknesses in the newly made angel.

The ball is such a small part of this book, it almost makes the story anti-climactic, but it was a lot of action and surprising.  It wasn't the best written story, some things seemed to be thrown together in an attempt for explanation, but the plot flowed well, and the action was never ending. Even, the steamy kind.  There is quite a bit of passion exchanged in between the lovers, and although it goes into some detail, it's not nearly as risque as other stories I've read.  I'm listing the third book, Archangel's Consort, in my To Read list and look forward to reading it.  Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, I love it when authors come up with different concepts on the supernatural/mystical...I give both Guild Hunter books 4 stars.