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.

Archangel’s Shadows is a very good instalment in the Guild Hunter series, I really enjoyed that while the main focus was on Ash and Janvier, other characters were involved and got quite a bit of ‘screen-time’ as well.

My Archangel’s Shadows review:

I’m not sure who I loved the most in Archangel’s Shadows, Ash or Janvier. Ash is a strong woman, a hunter who knows how to fight, how to be cunning, and how to keep a sexy vampire at arm’s length. Janvier with his sexy Cajun French, his strong feelings for Ash and all his skills isn’t half bad, either. And because Ash is adamant to not fall for Janvier – even though she may have already fallen – and he is sure she’s the only woman for him; in fact he’s been sure of that since the first time they met a few years ago, their romantic tango was very agreeable to me

Archangel’s Shadows starts at the very end of the battle that took place in Archangel’s Legion, and the atmosphere of this story was a little darker than the previous novels. Both because many angels were still recovering from their wounds, and because the city of New York hadn’t gotten away completely unscathed. And of course, there was a new threat as well, one that Ash and Janvier had quite a bit of trouble getting to the bottom of – following several leads, a red herring, and some big clues, they really had their work cut out for them!

While I am the first reader to complain if I read a Guild Hunter story with no Elena or Raphael, in Archangel’s Shadows, they were almost as present as the main couple and I would have enjoyed to see Ash and Janvier more. They are mostly in the background in the other novels, and they really deserved their time to shine. At the same time, I certainly was happy to spend time with Elena as well, and there were many important developments happening in this story. Both in New York and around the world.

Written in third person point of view, past tense, and from several different characters’ perspective, Archangel’s Shadows brought a great overview of where the story is at at this point in the series. It also made sure some loose ends have been collected, and set up the next few books in a good way. I, for one, cannot wait to read Archangel’s Enigma which is due for release in September…

Some of my favorite Archangel’s Shadows quotes:

Ashwini navigated the darkened stairwell with quick steps, careful not to make a sound. Given the layout of the stairs – a kind of square spiral complete with a well in the center that went from the top of the seventy-three-story building to the basement – the echoes would bounce off the walls into a thundering racket.

Lips twitching, Dmitri hoped with every cell in his body that Illium would find his way through the crushing pressures of immortality and power, that he wouldn’t lose the joie de vivre that had been a part of him since he was a fledgling.

The pain hadn’t mattered. She’d found the lonely dark of the road, waved a truck to a stop, and taken her life in her hands when she’d jumped into the cab.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
• Bookish Resolutions Challenge 2015

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The post Review: Archangel’s Shadows – Nalini Singh appeared first on (un)Conventional Bookworms.