Review: Archangel’s Heart – Nalini Singh

Archangel's Heart by Nalini Singh
Series: Guild Hunter #9
on 1 November 2016
Pages: 397

One of the most vicious archangels in the world has disappeared. No one knows if Lijuan is dead or has chosen to Sleep the long sleep of an immortal. But with her lands falling into chaos under a rising tide of vampiric bloodlust, a mysterious and ancient order of angels known as the Luminata calls the entire Cadre together to discuss the fate of her territory.
Accompanying her archangelic lover Raphael to the Luminata compound, guild hunter-turned-angel Elena senses that all is not as it seems. Secrets echo from within the stone walls of the compound, and the deeper Elena goes, the uglier the darkness. But neither Raphael nor Elena is ready for the brutal truths hidden within—truths that will change everything Elena thinks she knows about who she is…
Nothing will ever be the same again.

I loved Archangel’s Heart, both because Raphael and Elena were the main characters, and because we delved into Elena’s past, through her quest for genealogy while they were in Morocco on Cadre business.

I don’t know what it is about Singh, but when I read her series – even the ones where there is a lot of trife and fights and uncertainty, I feel comforted when I pick up a new book. Archangel’s Heart is no different, and I loved being immersed in Elena and Raphael’s love once more. The overall feel of this story was quite tense, because the cadre was summoned to Morocco, and the sect that summoned them needed to know whether or not one of the Archangels was asleep, and then for the cadre to decide how to proceed from there.

One of the things I loved the most about Archangel’s Heart is that the strong relationship between Raphael and Elena continue to evolve and become even stronger. The love and respect these two show each other is nothing short of amazing, and that is truly refreshing to read about. I think in the real world as well, a couple that stays together after the beginning of the romance and getting to know each other part is very sexy. And to read about a couple that continues to grow, continues to be strong, continues to love and be in love just makes me swoon.

There were a lot of secrets in the mountains in Morocco, the sect wasn’t exactly as it was set out to be. Elena especially felt watched everywhere she went. And when she managed to fly to the nearest village, she realized that she might be in the village her family came from, as some people seemed to recognize her… Needless to say, Archangel’s Heart brought me all the feels once more. And the fact that most of the action happened far away from New York made it even better to me – I haven’t been to Morocco, but now I want to go for a visit, try some of the food, go to a souk, just feel the pulse of the country like Elena was able to do.

As I said, though, there was also a lot of tensions, and being kind of locked away as they were, the Archangels became rather antsy after a while. When strange things started to happen in the stronghold, they were at first unable to agree, until Elena and Raphael managed to find something that brought a new light to the whole sect and what should be going on there.

The writing in Archangel’s Heart is beautiful! The third person past tense narrator helps to make the flow easy, and there are plenty of dialogues that show more of what the characters are feeling as well. I am amazed that the ninth book in the Guild Hunter series can keep me as much on my toes, and also wanting more, as the first and the second book did. The beautiful paintings of Morocco made me want to travel, and I could almost smell the market Elena visited, that’s how vividly it was described.

“By dint of their spiritual quest, the Luminata have no earthly ties and no loyalties beyond that to their quest for luminescence. They take no lovers, participate in no wars, and when they become Luminata, they sever all blood ties.”
“A perfect neutral body.”
“Yes. Such neutrality is a necessity because the task with which they’re entrusted is to call a meeting of the Cadre should a certain span of time pass with no sighting of an archangel.”

“Archangel, I think my business partner and my financial manager might have a zing between them.”
“Zing?”
Turning, she touched her finger to his chest, felt the spark ignite, her belly heating. “Zing.”

“Right, how could i forget?” Wrapping her arms around him, his hunter pressed her cheek to his chest, the wings of a warrior arching over her shoulders. “Don’t get dead, Raphael, or I swear I’ll hunt you down in the afterlife.”

(un)Conventional Bookviews loved #ArchangelsHeart to pieces, and now she wants to travel to Morocco Share on X

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 2016 New Release Challenge

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