Whilst the Archangel’s away… Archangel’s Blade (Guild Hunter #4) Review

Archangel’s Blade by Nalini Singh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“The severed head marked by a distinctive tattoo on its cheek should have been a Guild case, but dark instincts honed over hundreds of years of life compel the vampire Dmitri to take control. There is something twisted about this death, something that whispers of centuries long past…but Dmitri’s need to discover the truth is nothing to the vicious strength of his response to the hunter assigned to decipher the tattoo.

Savaged in a brutal attack that almost killed her, Honor is nowhere near ready to come face to face with the seductive vampire who is an archangel’s right hand, and who wears his cruelty as boldly as his lethal sensuality…the same vampire who has been her secret obsession since the day she was old enough to understand the inexplicable, violent emotions he aroused in her.

As desire turns into a dangerous compulsion that might destroy them both, it becomes clear the past will not stay buried. Something is hunting…and it will not stop until it brings a blood-soaked nightmare to life once more…”

OH MY GOD! I take it all back. Archangel’s Consort is not the best book in the series. THIS is! This book was just brilliant.

Elena and Raphael are still in Japan sorting out his crazy mother so his second in command, thousand year old vampire Dmitri is in charge at the Tower. The story centres around him and a Guild Hunter named Honor. She survived a long and brutal attack by a group of vampires who kept her hostage and nearly dead for months. Now there’s a case that needs her help and she is forced back into action with Dmitri by her side. He’s a vampire so it completely freaks her out, but she’s determined not to live in the shadows any more. Even before the hostage incident she’s been secretly obsessed with Dmitri and he knows she’s different as soon as he meets her. She helps him with case and he helps her exact revenge those who have wronged her.

What ensues is an amazingly sexy (read SUPER hot) story about two people who seem to already know everything there is to know about each other. The tension between these two is unparamounted in the series and the resulting love scenes are truly brilliant. Its what the series has been waiting for. I wont give anything away about the why’s and wherefore’s but lets just say that the relationship with Honor is far from anything else Dmitri has experienced in over a millennium. She’s only young, and mortal, but she knows him. Just brilliant.

Usually I get narked when a series moves away from the protagonists I have already invested time and energy in, but this just worked. Yes Honor is completely new to my Guild Hunter world, but I was really glad to see all the other characters we’ve become to know and love still around. Elena and Raphael are still involved in this story, they’re just not the centre of attention. Illium, Jason, Dmitri and even Ash are integral to this story so I didn’t feel that I needed to learn too much and I could just sit back and enjoy the story. It worked really really well.

Final thought? Move over Archangel – Dmitri is HOT!

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