Waiting on Wednesday: Archangel's Legion by Nalini Singh

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week Chrissie has a "can't-wait-to-read" selection for you:

Archangel's Legion by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter Series #6)

Angels are falling from the sky in New York, struck down by a vicious, unknown force.

Vampires are dying impossibly of disease.

Guild hunter Elena Deveraux and the Archangel Raphael must discover the source of the wave of death before it engulfs their city and their people, leaving New York a ruin and Raphael's Tower under siege by enemy archangels.

Yet even as they fight desperately to save the city, an even darker force is stirring, its chill eyes trained on New York...and on Raphael. Rivers of crimson and nightmares given flesh, the world will never again be the same...

Paranormal Romance Month Review: Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter #4)

Publisher - Gollancz
Publication Date - 8th September 2011
Paperback - 320 pages
Genre - Paranormal Romance

Source - Purchased

Rating - 4 out of 5: I really liked it

Book Info - 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...

My Thoughts - Those of you who have read my reviews of the series so far will know that by book three I was starting to get a bit bored of Raphael and Elena. I still love them in my own special way but I just wasn't sure if I wanted to read anymore books about them. So when I realised Archangel's Blade was about a different couple I became very intrigued and my interest in the series became re-energised.

Dmitri is a character who has played a large part in the series so far as Raphael's right hand man and I am so glad that we get to find out more about him in this book. He is portrayed as a cold and heartless killer, but as his story unfolds the reader gets to find out what happened so many years ago to turn his heart to stone. His story is absolutely heart-breaking and it really helped me to get a better understanding of him as a character. Although I have never found him to be particularly sexy in the previous books, that definitely changed for me in Archangel's Blade. He is a typical alpha-male who is very dominant and knows exactly what he wants. But add this to the vulnerable side that we see of him here and he just becomes irresistible.

Honor is a great character too. When we first meet her she is trying to scrape back together the pieces of her life after a brutal attack by a group of vampires that happened over a matter of weeks. I loved watching her as she tries to come to terms with what happened and her strength as she becomes determined that she will not allow the attack to change her into a timid person. With Dmitri's attention, Honor really does blossom and become much more confident as the story progresses. In fact, they are perfect for each other as they each help the other to heal from past hurts.

I managed to work out quite early on how things were going to end between Dmitri and Honor and it was just the perfect Happy Ever After for them. I don't normally like it when I can work out how a book is going to end but I think I would have been seriously disappointed if it hadn't ended the way it did. I was literally sobbing with happiness for Dmitri and Honor. I even still get a warm fuzzy feeling thinking about it now and I finished reading it a couple of weeks ago *sigh*.

Summary - I think that this is my favourite book of the series so far. It has got a sexy alpha male, a kick-ass heroine and a strong mystery plot. The ending is just so amazing and heart-warming that I think everybody should read it for the warm fuzzies it will give you. Although it is book four in a series I think you could get away with skipping straight to this book as the series changes focus at this point onto a different couple. If you are a paranormal romance fan, you really need to read this book!

Other books in this series:
1. Angels' Blood
2. Archangel's Kiss
3. Archangels Consort
4. Archangel's Blade

Other reviews of this book:
Dear Author / Love Vampires / Smexy Books

This book counts towards the following challenges:
Book #6 for 2012 Speculative Romance Reading Challenge
Book #4 for 2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Book #10 for 2012 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge

Paranormal Romance Month Review: Archangel's Consort by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter #3)

Publisher - Gollancz
Publication Date - 10th February 2011
Paperback - 336 pages
Genre - Paranormal Romance

Source - Library

Rating - 3 out of 5: I liked it

Book Info - Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux and her lover, the lethally beautiful archangel Raphael, have returned home to New York only to face an uncompromising new evil...

A vampire has attacked a girls' school - the assault one of sheer, vicious madness - and it is only the first act. Rampant bloodlust takes vampire after vampire, threatening to make the streets run with blood. Then Raphael himself begins to show signs of an uncontrolled rage, as inexplicable storms darken the city skyline and the earth itself shudders. The omens are suddenly terrifyingly clear. An ancient and malevolent immortal is rising. The violent winds whisper her name: Caliane. She has returned to reclaim her son, Raphael. Only one thing stands in her way: Elena, the consort who must be destroyed...

My Thoughts - I am a big fan of this series and I absolutely loved Angels' Blood and Archangel's Kiss. But I must admit that I did not enjoy this book as much as I did the others in this series.

Most of the things that I loved about the first two books were still there, such as the chemistry and connection between Raphael and Elena, her strong personality and ability to stand up to her Archangel, and lots of action as Raphael and Elena take down the bad guys.

Although the book was a bit slow to start with, the pace did pick up about half way through and from that point onward I was hooked to the storyline.

I only had a couple of minor complaints with Archangel's Consort, but as they appeared frequently they started to annoy me a bit and affect my enjoyment of the book. The first one is that Raphael and Elena have such a strong connection that they are able to communicate telepathically. At first this didn't bother me at all. But after a while it felt as though this was the only way that Raphael would communicate with Elena. There were several points where they would be alone in a room having a conversation and Elena would be talking to him normally, and Raphael would keep answering in her mind. Rather than driving home the connection between the two of them, the overuse of this plot device just made me feel that Raphael was too lazy to talk to Elena.

The second point was the over-repetition of the tragic events that happened during Elena's childhood. I can understand why the author does this - to show Elena's strength and to highlight her survival instincts - but it was just too much. And in the end the tragic flashbacks lost their effect on me because of the sheer number of times that they are mentioned.

Summary - Overall, Archangel's Consort is an enjoyable installment of a great paranormal romance series. Although it's not my favourite I still liked it and am looking forward to reading Archangel's Blade. However, I am hoping that the author soon realises that less is more and stops with the over-repetition of certain points.

Other books in this series:
1. Angels' Blood
2. Archangel's Kiss
3. Archangel's Consort
4. Archangel's Blade

Other reviews of this book:
Book Chick City / Dear Author / Love Vampires

Paranormal Romance Month Review: Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter #2)

Publisher - Gollancz
Publication Date - 4th March 2010
Paperback - 336 pages
Genre - Paranormal Romance

Source - Purchased

Rating - 4 out of 5: I really liked it!

Book Info - Welcome to a dark new world where lethal, beautiful archangels hold sway over immortals and mortals both, with the Guild Hunters caught in between, tasked with retrieving those vampires who break their contracts with their angelic masters.

Elena Deveraux is a Guild Hunter. She was hired to do the impossible – to hunt down a rogue Archangel – and she succeeded where none had believed she could. But in the process, she fell in love. And not just with anyone: with the Archangel Raphael. It a love that’s as powerful, entrancing and incredible as it is terrifying, and dangerous. But the world won’t stand still while Elena and Raphael enjoy their new-found love. Vampires and angels still go rogue, and it’s still Elena’s job to hunt them down, and return them to their angelic masters. For all that she is exceptional, Elena isn’t invulnerable – and the more obvious her talents become, the bigger a target she could find herself…

My Thoughts - This book continues on from where the first book in the series, Angels’ Blood, left off. If you haven’t read Angels’ Blood then I would advise reading that one first as it will be difficult to completely understand the events in Archangel’s Kiss if you do not read the series in order.

Once again, the romance between Elena and Raphael made for very interesting reading. Elena was a strong and independent woman when she was human, and nothing has changed at all now that she is an angel. She still has trouble obeying Raphael and she prefers dealing with her troubles on her own rather than leaning on her archangel lover. Raphael, on the other hand, is used to being completely in control, so he finds Elena’s independence quite hard to deal with at times. But because of their love for each other they are willing to work hard to try and find a compromise. Also, there is a huge amount of chemistry between these two that will leave most readers feeling a bit hot and bothered!

Although most of the story is told from Elena’s point of view, there are parts told by Raphael and this adds a whole new dimension to the story. Raphael has a tough outer shell that comes from being one of the most powerful archangels around. But the parts of the story written from his viewpoint allow the reader to see exactly how he feels about Elena. He loves her above all else and will do all he can to protect her. The reader also sees that Raphael has a vulnerable side as we get to see the intense fear he feels whenever Elena is in danger or is hurting.

The action/mystery aspects of the novel are gripping and make it a page-turning read, however, at times I found the book to be slightly confusing due to the sheer number of minor characters involved. A lot of names are thrown around whilst trying to find out who is behind the threats towards Elena without many reminders as to who these people are. So I ended up spending quite a bit of time trying to remember if the character in question is archangel/angel/vampire/human and which side they belong to.

Summary - Overall, I loved this story with its interesting mix of unusual angel/vampire mythology, romance, action and mystery. I would recommend this series to all Paranormal Romance fans.

Other books in this series:
1. Angels' Blood
2. Archangel's Kiss
3. Archangel's Consort
4. Archangel's Blade

Other reviews of this book:
Book Chick City / Dear Author / Feeling Fictional / Love Vampires