Book: Archangel’s Blade by Nalini Singh

Published September 2011 by Berkley|336 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: Guild Hunter #4

Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance

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… 

I liked Archangel’s Blade!  This one is definitely interesting, but I don’t know that I like it as much as the other books in the series.

This book focused on two different characters- Dmitri and Honor.  It’s interesting to follow two different characters, especially Dmitri.  I’m glad we got to know him more, because he’s definitely an interesting character.  I can’t remember how much we’ve seen of Honor, or even if she’s been mentioned.  If she has, it clearly hasn’t made an impression on me, though her story was sad but also interesting.  Still, I was more interested in Dmitri’s story.

I’m disappointed that we didn’t get more of Raphael and Elena, because I really like both of them.  They make appearances, of course, so we still know what’s going on, but I’m hoping we get back to their world.

I guess this is where I have mixed feelings.  On the one hand, we’ve had a few books focusing on Raphael and Elena, and we were suddenly pulled from their story to see the series focus on someone else.  But at the same time, there are a lot of characters, and with someone like Dmitri around, it’s also nice to see what’s going on with some of the other characters.  So hopefully, we’ll see a balance of Raphael and Elena and some of the other characters.

I don’t know how I feel about Dmitri and Honor.  Of all the vampires Honor could have chosen, she went with Dmitri?  It’s just so strange, given what he’s into, and what’s happened to her.  It seems like she’s a reincarnation of his mortal wife, but something about them just didn’t sit right with me.  Since they’ve had their book, hopefully future books will focus on some of the other characters, and we’ll just see them in passing.  I’m not sure if I’d be interested in another book about them.

3 stars.  While I don’t love Dmitri and Honor as a couple, I still liked Archangel’s Blade, and I’m hoping we get back to Raphael and Elena soon.