Veena’s review of Archangel’s Storm (Guild Hunters, Book 5) by Nalini Singh
Paranormal Romance published by Berkley 04 Sep 12
I am a raving fan of Nalini Singh’s work and proud to admit it. I adore her creative imagination and deeply emotional love stories. Meeting her in person at RWA in Anaheim and sharing her experiences in India was like a dream come true. I always wait impatiently for her books to release, but this one was even more special since it is set in India and, besides, having actually visited the forts and palaces featured in the book, the heroine Mahiya is Indian like me and Ms. Singh. The author skillfully blends palace intrigue in the opulent splendor of a royal Indian court with the paranormal fantasy of angels and vampires in this not-to-be-missed most recent offering of her Guild Hunter series.
Jason is one of Raphael’s Seven. The scars from his past influence him into being the angel he is today, drawing the very shadows around him to hide him in plain sight. These skills serve him well in his role as Spymaster, holding a quietly protective mantle around Raphael, Elena, and the people who have earned his loyalty. As his past is revealed, you can only admire the sheer persistence and strength of will that leads him to survive and thrive. Betrayed by a love so profound that it actually turned on the very thing it loved, his capacity to overcome his past and to find true love is admirable and creates a strong emotional connection with the reader.
Mahiya Geet is one of my most favorite characters ever. She is like a trapped butterfly with a spine of steel that no amount of torture and hate is able to destroy. A visible symbol of the deepest betrayal of a husband to wife, sister to sister brought up in an environment of revenge and cruelty, she retains a sweetness of spirit that no amount of evil is able to eliminate. She is able to reach out and fascinate this angel who has built a hard shell around his heart after being betrayed in the worst possible way, such that he is incapable of being surprised the depths to which a living being can resort.
Bound by the intimacy of a blood kiss, these two deeply damaged angels come together to solve the mysterious murders that have first taken out Neha’s consort (Mahiya’s father) and then other key members of her inner circle. Slowly but surely they begin to offer each other a measure of trust-revealing truths about themselves that they’ve never shared with another soul as their attraction grows into an intimacy on a path toward a sweet and abiding love. Aided by Venom, who comes to Neha’s court to offer his help in navigating the intricasies of Neha’s court where he lived his formative years after being turned, they discover the startling truths behind the murders.
The author has a wonderful capacity of bringing in cameos of the other characters in the series and driving the overall story forward while she builds and develops the central core of the story on the primary characters. The story opens with Dimitri and Honor’s exchange of vows, allowing us to glimpse an uncharateristic side of Dimitri and a wonderful bonding between hunters, vampires and angels. It’s almost like an extended epilogue of the previous books, as we continue to spend time with characters that we had a hard time leaving. While I do enjoy visiting with and catching up on the other characters, I feel that the cameo of Dimitri and Honor, as she is undergoing the change, did nothing to add to this story and could have been omitted and perhaps posted on the author’s website as a short story.
Raphael and Elena pledge their troth over New York City as they fall together and Elena becomes an angel, thanks to the tears that he shed. Dimitri has found his wife, who has been reincarnated in her current existence as Honor, a guild hunter. Jason has found Mahiya, angel princess of the Indian subcontinent. Angels are continuing to evolve and some of those evolutions will have unexpected consequences. I can’t wait for the series to continue and to reveal the back stories of the other members of the seven, as well as to reveal the world events that will be caused by the evolutions of the archangels.
Summary:
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.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
