Angels' Blood by Nalini SinghGenre: Urban Fantasy Romance
Nalini Singh introduces readers to a world of beauty and bloodlust, where angels hold sway over vampires.
Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux is hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael. But this time, it's not a wayward vamp she has to track. It's an archangel gone bad.
The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other—and pull her to the razor's edge of passion. Even if the hunt doesn't destroy her, succumbing to Raphael's seductive touch just may. For when archangels play, mortals break.
Review:
Forget about everything you’ve heard about angelic Angels and step into Nalini Singh's world—where the only things angelic about Angels are their appearances. Angels rule over the masses as all powerful beings since the beginning. Humans are nothing to them, simply toys in there immortal existence to play with and destroy. Angels can turn humans into Vampires to serve them for one century of servitude for immortal life and anything goes. In Singh's world the Angels might as well be the demons of Hell. Tempting, seductive, and something you'd willingly give your soul to—even knowing you won't be coming out on the other side whole again.
This is a dark and seductive world; rich in its complexity, but cutting in its bold taste of darkness. The world is terrifying at times, as Angels can causally claim the loss of a couple hundred lives as nothing in the grand scheme of things. Angels are untouched by time find themselves untouched by human emotions. What is the use of love when there is fear? What use is family when there is power? After seeing the harsh cruelty that Angels live in one can really appreciate the harsh joy of living a short—human—life.
Elena is a strong kick-vampire-booty heroine that is every UF reader’s dream slayer. She's got a clever mouth and an even cleverer blade. Raphael is the tortured immortal Archangel that just might be as evil as he is drop dead gorgeous. He can tear out hearts while unconsciously seeking out redemption for the kind of monster he's become. The two have a heated sexual tension throughout the book that reminisces some of early Anita Blake’s forbidden passion between Anita and Jean-Claude. In the end it might even surpass that legendary lust/romance because both Elena and Raphael take turns telling the story, heightening the emotions. There's only one love scene, but all the foreplay, tension, and downright lustiness had me feeling like I needed a cold shower to the end of the last page.
What I love about Angel's Blood the most has to be the cast of characters. The Guild Members that Elena works with are all so fleshed out that I was falling in love with them and could understand why she would choose them as her family. Ransom is a bad boy with commitment issues is and an absolute hoot. Sarah, a loving mother and wife, is the head of the Guild Hunters and is a force of woman you don't want to mess with. There’s a crazy pair of characters that I absolutely want more about: a grenade launching hunter and her annoying bayou Cajun prey. Hearing about their antics just put smile on my face. The vampires Dimitri and Venom exuded enough sex and lethal death to make me swoon for them every time they popped up onto the page. The evil villain was well done, his body count is spine shivering high and the manor of the deaths are enough to make anyone queasy reading them. It’s the terror that an Archangel can go to a point of such moral depravity that other beings that waste human life can actually look upon him with horror.
There are enough answers and mysteries solved to satisfy for this first romp into Singh's world, but plenty left in the dark to keep readers willing to sell their souls just to get the next book. The side of the book claims that it is Urban Fantasy Romance, and I can say that sums this read up nicely. It has all the grandeur of the finest UF, and all the hot edgy romance of some of the best PNR out there. There's still a lot of room for Elena and Raphael to grow, which is a good thing that the next book is still focused on the two. Pull on your big girl/boy pants and jump into a darkly seductive world of Angels and Vampires.
Sexual Content:
Graphic sex scene and other explicit scenes. (Graphic gore of mutilated bodies as well, this is not for the easily squeamish.)
5/5- Fabulous, a beautiful obsession!
Add it:
Amazon: Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter)
goodreads: Angels' Blood
No comments:
Post a Comment