Archangel’s Kiss (Guild Hunter #2)

Book 2 in the Guild Hunter series about Elena and Raphael, the Guild hunter turned immortal angel and her archangel lover, delivers another fantastic story. I love how author Nalini Singh weaves a believable story in her world of archangels, vampires and humans. A cast of interesting support characters and stories to match, though not always shared, make this more than just a love story or paranormal romance. The writing is rich and the reader is easily drawn in to cheer for our poor hunter who is trying to hold her own in the angel/vampire world while giving her heart and trust to her angel. And as ruthless as Raphael can be, his love for Elena is never doubted. Throw in the villains, child harming angel, godlike ancient angel, vampires with an attitude and the story just gets better and better. Its so nice to read a romance that is not fluff but has real substance. Ready to keep reading the next book in the series. Warning: 1. Sexually explicit language and situations. 2. Abuse of a small child. 3. No need to read first book to enjoy this one but it explains a great deal about the relationship between Elena and Raphael and Elena and others.

Archangels, angels, vampires and vampire hunters. Romance, epic villains, stalker and family drama. I have read every book in this series multiple times and it was so worth is! The strong female lead is constantly in danger from more powerful beings. Her guy has lots of power to spare and wants to protect her. She, however, proves resourceful, intelligent and strong in her own right and is no delicate flower to be coddled. Something new an unexpected happening all the time. The characters grow and learn that what they once believed or what they want is not necessarily what is actually right. If you enjoy paranormal romance and/or paranormal suspense, then this is a must have series. The author has come up with an unusual interpretation for her world. Angels are not religious beings and vampires are not made by other vampires. All of the beings share the world and the power structure puts humans on the bottom. I have read other books from this author and they are all very good, but this series is something special.

Archangel\’s Kiss picks up right where book one left off. Raphael has accomplished something incredibly rare by making Elena into an angel. She\’s vulnerable right now and anyone who wants to get to him will now try to go through her. I don\’t really get why the Archangel\’s can\’t trust each other. As a small group, you would think that they would protect each other. They do seem to stick together, but any sign of weakness and they strike against each other. They seem to be power hungry and very selfish. This whole book was basically Raphael protecting Elena from anyone who wish them both harm. Now that she is still pretty weak, the danger is hitting them fast and furious. We get to see a very protective Raphael in this book. He\’s still a bit cold but you do get his thoughts on Elena and he loves her very much. She\’s a lucky woman. Elena is still a very brave woman. Sometimes too brave. I like that she still has the ability to hunt and I can\’t wait to see her in action when she gets stronger. I hope that is soon. Right now she isn\’t well liked by his Seven since they all think she is Raphael\’s weakness. I really like these two and can\’t wait to see them grow as a couple. I\’m sure there will be a lot more danger to come and some awesome action from Elena. On to book three.

I read a \”top four\” of urban fantasy series list awhile back. When I saw that out of the four, I\’ve read and loved three of the series (The Dresden Files (the best!!), Mercy Thompson (Hauptman!) series (such a close second), and the October Daye series (which admittedly I didn\’t really start to love until like book 5), I thought I\’d love the fourth listed which was The Guild Hunter Series. And after getting through book two I\’m out. I can\’t read any more of them. As a reader, if feels like about half of the content is plot/character development and about half of the content is \”adult relations\” in graphic detail. And I mean graphic. I know the first book or two of a series can be a bit clunky as the author and characters find their flow, so I did purchase the second book of the series after not enjoying the first. I felt like the characters had some potential if their development was focused on and the plots were more detailed and \”alive.\” But as I read the second one I found myself skimming though up to four pages at a time of detailed \”adult relations\” as I sighed. And as an adult, a few times I did try to actually read word for word a few of those sections but found that they were not well-written or particularly sexy. As a comparison, I am the BIGGEST fan of Sarah J. Maas\’ Crescent City book which has rich characters, a plot so nuanced and life-life I couldn\’t put the book down I was so captured by its world, and contained well-timed and quite naughty and entrancing adult relations between the characters. Or another comparison, how about when Harry Dresden and Susan have adult relations in his apartment after she rescued him from Nikademous? (SP? I listen to James Marsters perform the books). As Harry intones telling the reader about it, \”Somehow I knew it wasn\’t the right thing to do…..\” Very sexy and so part of the heartbeat of that book. This book and the first one of the series really is of a poor enough quality that they remind me of the Harlequin romances I used to take from the free bin at my local library as a pre-teen.

Another reread and I raced through this in record time. This deals with the aftermath and fallout from the first book when Raphael and Elena after that epic violent showdown fell together and their fates were forever entwined. What happens when an Archangel loves with all of his heart and soul he becomes a little bit human and makes a baby Angel. His willingness to die for Elena producing ambrosia a very rare phenomenon and triggering Elena\’s metamorphosis. Elena awakens here from a year-long sleep with wings of midnight reborn as a young immortal shes as weak as a baby but with new enemies on the horizon, she must push herself to grow stronger both physically and mentally. Elena has enemies at every turn and being Raphaels known weakness she must rise to the occasion. Here we learn about the refuge a guarded secret haven for young angels most of the story takes place here as Elena recovers and gains strength. This upped the romantic factor and I could literally devour Raphael here he was just so possessively intense and protective whilst at the same time giving Elena the room to grow. And there was no way you could doubt his adoration for his beloved hunter even placing her life before his own. Loved this and Im very much enjoying getting lost all over again in this imaginative world of Angels and vampires. I definitely recommend this series highly.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member