Archangel's Kiss Advanced Review *Nalini Singh*

**There are spoilers for Angels' Blood**

In the mood for a dark, intense and smoldering sexy read that may have you gasping for breath? Nalini Singh delivers this in ways you can’t imagine with Archangel’s Kiss, the second book in her Guild Hunter Novel series. The first book, Angels' Blood introduced vampire hunter Elena Deveraux, who lives in an alternate New York City universe where angels rule and are things of wonder to bow down to and be very afraid of. Elena was ordered to hunt down a supernatural serial killer than ended up being an archangel. The seductive and dangerous archangel that rules New York City, Raphael, is thousands of years old and has decided that Elena will be his new sexual pet. They engage in a battle of wits and an almost disturbing sexual dance as she hunted for this killer while Raphael hunted her at the same time.

Angels' Blood ended with Elena and Raphael killing the serial killer. Elena died from the outcome, but Raphael was able to save her. Now Elena is the first human in a millennia to be changed into an angel. Archangel’s Kiss begins after a year, where Elena was in a coma, has now awakened and is recovering, hidden away for her safety at the Refuge, where angels are all around her. Human are unaware of this place and only the angel’s vampire servants are welcomed. Elena, being hunter born is now an anomaly. She is very much like a new born, who’s learning to walk, or rather learning to fly. Raphael is there to help her, but their relationship, which is very new and scary, could go either way. Elena has come to love Raphael, the superior archangel who owns her heart, but Raphael is so used to taking what he wants and to treat Elena as his equal and not as a pet or a possession makes things very unstable between the two. Plus, there’s a possibility that Raphael could still kill her.

Raphael is close to amoral as you can get and has lived many centuries as both a ruler and treated like a god. He longs to engage in mind numbing sex with his new angel mate, but because she’s still weak and his wild and brutal appetite could break her while they are intimate, he holds back. Raphael is quite the giver to the point where Elena may break any way because she’s so frustrated because of the way his foreplay (Raphael uses his finger and mouth to give Elena satisfaction). Raphael has an elite group of warriors, called his Seven, which is a tight-knit group of vampires and angels who protect Raphael against any threats and danger. And now their most important responsibility is to protect Elena from being killed by Raphael’s fellow archangels, including Michaela, a very deranged and unstable archangel who despises Elena with a passion.

As Elena goes through angel physical therapy, she keeps having nightmares about her mother’s and sisters’ brutal murders, as well as trying to understand why her father has turned his back on her. Also, one of the oldest archangel’s still living on Earth, Zhou Lijuan, has invited Elena to the Forbidden City. This invitation is a trap because Lijuan is creating a new race of undead, an army, where she can truly be a god in every sense of the word. Then angels and vampires are being brutally murdered, even angel children. And because of Elena’s special tracking powers, she’ll try to find this killer who may be in league with Lijuan. Elena must watch over her shoulder because she’s an easy target. And because Raphael’s feelings for Elena sometimes confuse him, he may lash out and become something he doesn’t want be. As long as Elena can love and accept him for who he is, they can be together for all eternity.

Archangel’s Kiss is an amazing, well written, awesome world building book that I couldn’t put down. You can see how far Nalini has come with her writing and character building. She excels in writing such interesting characters, from Raphael who’s an amoral hero who walks a fine line into villainy, to Elena who puts all other urban fantasy/paranormal heroines to shame. The secondary characters of, Illium, a happy go lucky loving angel, is one that needs his own story. Even the near psycho Michaela with her questionable actions keeps the reader on their toes.

There is so much going on with these pages. Intense is the perfect word when describing Archangel’s Kiss. The sensuality between Raphael and Elena is explosive and Nalini explains things she didn’t in Angels' Blood. I really can’t find any faults except for the fact that the religious aspect is glazed over in regards to these angels. It may not be a big deal, but I would be interested in knowing more about these angel’s background, as in if there is a higher power ruling over these creatures and a Heaven and Hell, or they’re just a special society that always has been around.

I would recommend you read Angels' Blood first before Archangel’s Kiss. It introduces the world and characters why they act the way they do. I can see many placing Archangel’s Kiss in their top ten lists for 2010, especially because of Raphael, that very original character, who through love has found a way to keep his heart’s desire with him forever. Sometimes, I question how a supernatural couple can sustain their love in a believable way for hundreds or thousands of years? Nalini has given us proof that this is possible with Elena and Raphael. I’m already anxious to read their next installment. (February, Berkley Sensation)

Final Grade: A *and a possible top 20 best read for 2010*

A few other Archangel's Kiss book reviews on the web:
Errant Dreams Reviews
Fresh Fiction