Friday, August 22, 2014

[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of Archangel's Shadows



From the author Nalini Singh: I've been writing as long as I can remember and all of my stories always held a thread of romance (even when I was writing about a prince who could shoot lasers out of his eyes). I love creating unique characters, love giving them happy endings and I even love the voices in my head. There's no other job I would rather be doing. In September 2002, when I got the call that Silhouette Desire wanted to buy my first book, Desert Warrior, it was a dream come true. I hope to continue living the dream until I keel over of old age on my keyboard.

I was born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand. I also spent three years living and working in Japan, during which time I took the chance to travel around Asia. I’m back in New Zealand now, but I’m always plotting new trips. If you’d like to see some of my travel snapshots, have a look at the Travel Diary page (updated every month).

So far, I've worked as a lawyer, a librarian, a candy factory general hand, a bank temp and an English teacher and not necessarily in that order. Some might call that inconsistency but I call it grist for the writer's mill.
Keep up with Nalini online at her Website, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on GoodReads.


Archangel's Shadows
GUILD HUNTER Book #7

RELEASE DATE 10/28/14!

Buy from Amazon / B&N

Return to New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s sensual and painfully beautiful Guild Hunter world in her new novel of sacrifice, loyalty, and the choices of love that can shatter the heart.

In the wake of a brutal war, the archangel Raphael and his hunter consort, Elena, are dealing with the treacherously shifting tides of archangelic politics and the people of a battered but not broken city. The last thing their city needs is more death, especially a death that bears the eerie signature of an insane enemy archangel who cannot— should not—be walking the streets.

This hunt must be undertaken with stealth and without alerting their people. It must be handled by those who can become shadows themselves…

Ash is a gifted tracker and a woman cursed with the ability to sense the secrets of anyone she touches. But there’s one man she knows all too well without a single instant of skin contact: Janvier, the dangerously sexy Cajun vampire who has fascinated and infuriated her for years. Now, as they track down a merciless killer, their cat-and-mouse game of flirtation and provocation has turned into a profound one of the heart. And this time, it is Ash’s secret, dark and terrible, that threatens to destroy them both.

Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Reckless Reaper - Shawnie:

*Copy gifted in exchange for an honest review
When I was tapped to read and review Archangel's Shadows I was really excited. Ashwini and Janvier are two characters I have been waiting for. Their story is one of those things that proves that love is very mysterious. You may hate the one you are to love, at some point in the beginning, but there is a thin line between love and hate. 

Starting this book I was excited, five percent into it I was nervous. Ashwini made me nervous with her regret and wants. I truly thought she was going to do something drastic, like leave the Cajun who gave her his heart, years before. Singh has this gift and I say it every time I write a review for one of her books. She can weave emotion so well that you feel like you are experiencing it. The emotion is so strong, your mind doesn't comprehend that you aren't really going through what you are reading.

I did not know what to, expect when I started this book, but I know it isn't what I read. This book was painted in horror and then buffered with untainted love and sometimes feral curiosity from all different sides.

Singh didn't just give us Ashwini and Javier, no, she gave us all our favorite characters and with special spotlight on Naasir. It almost felt like she wrote Archangel's Shadows as an undertone to get us ready for the next full Guide Hunter book. The little side views of The Seven, the interactions at Guild Academy. It was a build up, in my opinion meant to wet our appetites, as well as tell a story that needed telling.

Ashwini and Janvier are a match like no other, they compliment each other. There is no BS or games (aside from the ones they're willing play with one another.) They are equals in every sense and you can see and feel the mutual respect and love they share. It was a beautiful thing to read about and in a way "watch" grow. It was honestly like they shared the same heart, they felt what the other felt just by speaking or looking. It is an intense thing to read about, more so to experience it as Singh has a way of doing.

The evil that is written was gut wrenching and heartbreaking. Anger and sadness mix and you can't tell when one ends and the other begins. The whole of it was so wrong, you didn't even understand the why, until it was explained and then you only understood that people are evil. It cannot be helped. New York is picking up the pieces, but some want to are it fall still. The battle may have been won but the war is still on the horizon.

The bits and pieces we see of Naasir are both eye opening and funny. They are also some times very child-like and wonder-struck. The feral and natural way of him was something amazing to read about. The unguarded nakedness he showed when with people he called his. He is a vampire, no a man who will bask in the sun, face to the sky with no problems and equally kill or eat (whatever fits his tastes) with the same ease. You get the sense that he is uncomplicated. He either likes you, doesn't like you or is withholding judgement. I found myself draw to the enigma that is Naasir. Everyone has a book boyfriend and he is mine.

Archangel's Shadows is an emotional packed, action laced, thought provoking book. It examines all spectrums of love and the compacity for it. It showcases the evil that lives in the world. It gives you hope, in a world possibly going to hell. I loved every word, sentence, paragraph and page.

Five skulls and a must read stamp of approval.

Archangel's Shadows

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