"Archangel's Storm", Nalini Singh

Pros: Enthralling story, entrancing romance, and lush, evocative setting and characters
Cons: …
Rating: 5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group

Jason is Archangel Raphael’s spymaster, and he has a most unique affinity for shadows and whispers. When Archangel Neha’s consort is viciously murdered, Jason agrees to bind himself to Neha’s niece, Mahiya, while he helps to figure out who could have and would have gotten away with such an act. Mahiya seems to be a quiet, powerless princess who fears Neha and refuses to stand up to her—but there’s much more to her than there seems, and Jason, as the spymaster he is, can’t help but notice. For the first time in hundreds of years, he’s found something that fascinates him.

The killings don’t stop when Jason arrives, and they seem to make no sense. They’re horrifying in their nature, and the killer is impossibly quick and powerful. Jason and Mahiya are running out of time—Neha won’t tolerate failure for long, and with each killing she becomes more agitated and dangerous. The unexpected feelings that develop between the two angels only make things worse, endangering them both.

I’ve always been fascinated by Jason in Nalini Singh’s “Guild Hunter” novels. He’s a very quiet man, much like the shadows he can disappear into. It’s been obvious that his past is similarly shadowed, but he certainly hasn’t wanted to talk about it—until Mahiya draws it out of him bit by bit in trade for her own secrets in Archangel’s Storm. Mahiya is hardly the mouse she appears to be, although the sweetness of her nature is unfeigned, and it isn’t the weakness Jason assumes it to be at first.

I love this particular pairing of characters. They’re an unusual and yet understandable contrast of personalities. Mahiya is very different from most of the angels we’ve seen so far, and I very much enjoyed seeing her in her element. Neha’s court is an intriguing and frightening place; as with the other archangels, Neha is quite inhuman and very dangerous. It’s fascinating to see how this plays out, and how she relates to the vampires and angels of her court, as well as the humans she rules over.

As always in Singh’s Guild Hunter novels, I was entranced. I read the book in a single afternoon, teared up at all the right places, and got totally sucked into the world and characters. I love her dialogue, her visually stunning settings, and the emotions that play across her characters.

If you’re following the series, we do get to see something of Elena and Raphael here, as well as Dmitri and Honor, and a brief appearance by Venom.