Nalini Singh – Archangel’s Storm

The fifth book in the Guild Hunter series), published September 4, 2012.
Genre: paranormal romance
Cover: Love this cover, unfortunately my book has the ugly UK cover.



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.


It took me a while to get my reading groove back after a DNF book that really disappointed me. So I did three evenings over reading a book I normally would have devoured in 6 hours.

At Dmitri and Honor’s wedding, Jason, Archangel Raphael’s spymaster, finds out that the consort of Archangel Neha has been murdered. Afraid of the madness that could consume Neha, Raphael offers Jason’s help in finding the murderer.
In order to ensure Jason’s silence in whatever else he discovers at her palace, Jason is to swear a blood vow to her niece, Princess Mahiya, Neha’s last living relative as far as anyone knows. Mahiya is of no consequence to Neha, only a reminder of the betrayal of her consort with her own twinsister. She tortured her sister to death, but only imprisoned her consort, for the last threehundred years. And now someone has murdered him, and the guards have not seen anything. How could someone, bloodcovered as he or she must have been, escape unnoticed?

Mahiya has no delusions about her position. She knows she is expendably to Neha, who loathes her and likes to humiliate and punish her. Still, Mahiya has fought against becoming bitter and filled with hatred for her aunt. She will not let her win. One day, she will escape and be free to live as she wants to, indulge herself. At three hundred years old, which is young for an angel, she is not strong. Still, Jason sees something in her, something that intrigues him, and he will found out all about her. And she has no choice but to trust him with her innermost secrets for the small chance that he will safe her from her aunt’s fury, and take her with him. She once escaped to Lijuan’s territory, seeking refuge, only to be brought back home a failure.

Together Jason and Mahiya set out to discover who the murderer is, and the stakes are getting higher when more angels and vampires are found brutally murdered. Neha is still fighting with her grief, not paying too much attention to Mahiya and Jason. And when they find out the truth, Mahiya has some very tough decisions to make, even though Jason is honor and blood bound to tell Neha what they have discovered.


I have to admit, I did not fall for Mahiya. Though she is no weakling, I prefer my heroines to be more kick ass. And she was just not that. She fits Jason though, with her quiet strength and backbone and intelligence. Now, Jason was a mystery so far, and I was very keen to discover more of his personal history. When you read the book, you totally understand him, and you will understand why the romance part in this book develops slowly, without a definite HEA in the end as usual. Still, it fits the story perfectly, and I liked it.
There are also some short scenes with Dmitri and Honor, which I enjoyed, but they did take my attention away from the main story. I liked the part Venom played though.

I am very much looking forward to the next book.

8 stars

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian