Review: Nalini Singh - Archangel’s Storm

Guild Hunters Series:

Book 5:

Archangel’s Storm – Jason and Mahiya



Purchase on Amazon: Nalini Singh - Archangel's Storm (Guild Hunters)
Summary:
From Goodreads.com
Enter New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s darkly beautiful world of archangels and immortal power, as a pact is sealed between two souls bound by blood, stirred by desire, and driven by vengeance…

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.

Review:
Nalini Singh does not disappointment with this title, it lives up to what I have come to expect from a Singh novel. The characters are extremely well fleshed out, you feel like you actually know them. Even the minor characters take on a life of their own. What I have noticed with this series is it kind of sneaks up on you. You read the books and you think, it was pretty good. I enjoyed it, but I don’t think of them as 5 star books. But what happens is they linger in the back of your mind, something keeps on calling to me until I pick the book up again for a re-read. In the re-read, I get drawn in even more until I’m rethinking the book and what I initially thought of it and I’m loving it more then I had initially. Archangel’s Blade was a prime example, I initially gave it a 4 star but it kept lingering so I re-read it, and re-read it again, and now I’ve probably read it 5 times and it’s one of my favorite books. I expect Archangel’s Storm to be he same way. It just that Singh writes so beautifully, her descriptions come come alive you are immersed in this world that Singh built. It just seeps into you and you can’t and don’t want to get out. The Guild Hunter world is so unique, dark and sexy! This series is fast becoming one of my favorite.

I have maintained through this whole series that Jason is my favorite of the Seven and he remains so. He’s the strong, silent, powerful type, with a mysterious very dark background. Nalini dishes out the details of Jason’s past sparingly, we are finding out details all the way until the last few pages. I honestly thought Jason’s past was going to be way worse than it actually is. He by no means a great past but I was expecting worse. LOL  There were some details that I wish we had more of. We got the details on what happened (Which is heartbreaking and I’m not ashamed to admit I was tearing up during the telling) but I wanted more of what happened after. Those details are thin and I felt like would have contributed to us knowing more as to why Jason is the way he is. The emotional hang ups that Jason has to overcome are significant and as the strong silent type he keeps us guessing if he can overcome them. We get to see more of Jason’s powers, but it was not enough for me. I wanted more, I know there are more that Singh is keeping from us! I want to know, I know Singh does everything for a reason but I’m selfish like that, Jason has intrigued me from the beginning so I want to know everything. When I pictured Jason’s HEA I always pictured a warrior type woman, not unlike our women of the Guild. What I found was the Nalini Singh knows her men better than I do, because as it turns out Mahiya is a gentle, loving soul and EXCATLY what Jason needs.

Mahiya, has a horrific past of her own. As the daughter of the Archangel Neha’s consort and Neha’s twin sister (Whom Neha brutally excuted upon Mahiya’s birth), Mahiya basically grew up as Neha’s whipping post. Her favorite “toy” to torment.  And for 200+ years, Mahiya has lived under Neha’s rule. What I loved about Mahiya was that se made a conscious decision to not let Neha break her.  She knew with everything in her that she would not let herself become like Neha, a bitter bitter person who lets anger eat at their very soul. Somehow after 200 years of torment Mahiya has managed to keep her soul intact and had such a capacity to love and care for others.  However, she knows that she has to get out and soon if she is going to remain intact. She’s been starving emotionally and when Jason comes to Neha’s court and he intrigues her like no one has before she can’t help but to let that caring and love spill onto him.  She knows the dangers in falling for a man like him, but accepts them and loves him anyway. If anyone could heal the scars on Jason’s soul it is Mahiya.

I was kind of sad that this book takes place in Neha’s court, this means we see less of the Seven and Raphael.  We do get a tantalizing visit from Vemon, who is another one of my favorites as he stops by Neha’s court to help out a little. We get glimpses at Honor and Dmitri post wedding. I loved this brief glimpses because I wasn’t quite ready to let these two go yet. I loved Dmitri and Honor! I think their book is still my favorite of the series. We don’t get much Raphael and Elena until the very end, but Singh will make that up to us in the next book. Which she has already announced is going to go back to Raphael and Elena.

Singh left a lot unresolved in this book. There was no real conclusion, more is in flux than ever. There are more unanswered questions, but I still feel like the book left off in a good spot. It wasn’t like an abrupt ending or even a cliffhanger, it was more like a “Stay Tuned, More to Come” I am really intrigued as to where Singh is taking us with this series.

I have a policy, if you make me cry, you get a five!