Archangel's Heart (The Guild Hunter, #9) (Berkley Prime Crime)

by Nalini Singh

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh takes us into a dangerous and exhilarating world where a deadly, beautiful archangel and his once-mortal consort are caught in a fury of twisted darkness…
 
“Raphael and Elena are the heart of this series…they are what keep me coming back for more.”—Fiction Vixen
 
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.

• ISBN10: 0451488008
• ISBN13: 9780451488008
• Publish Date: 1 November 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451488008

Reviews

[FranJessca @ A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog]

I finished listening to Archangel’s Heart by Nalini Singh earlier in the summertime. I never got a chance to review it, though. This will be a quick review of the book.

This book has Raphael and Elena with the Cadre on neutral ground with the Luminata. The Luminata are impartial and don’t get involved with the drama. Although they are keeping secrets and Raphael and Elena are determined to find out those secrets. 

There was quite a bit of Elena and her past in this book. It is mainly about her mother. Elena is determined to find out more about her mom’s ancestry/history in this book and may have some leads to find out if there is Vampirism in her past, making it possible for her to be an angel. 

Let’s not forget about Raphael and Elena’s relationship and how it continues to grow. I think for myself, it’s repetitive since I know these two are strong together. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, but they are perfect together. 

I enjoyed this installment in this series, but I was ready for more drama with Lijuan and what she is up to since she could be dead or just sleeping. I want to find out what happens next with her and Cascade. 

Overall, this book gets four stars from me. I liked it but didn’t love it. 

I’m ready for the next book to have another character take the lead. 

If you are a fan of PNR and UF, then this book/series is for you.

[littleread1]

I want to be cherished like Raphael loves Elena.

[neddieb]

I think Nalini is loosing her touch. This story revolved more around Raphael and Elena, which I was extremely excited about, only to have my extreme excitement come to a fizzling halt as I continued to read. I literally skimmed through this book. It felt like most chapters were fillers and were very boring. I literally could not wait to finish this book and be done with it. Blah.

[Linda]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
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."

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

This is a favorite series of mine. I just love it. It is a cross between a paranormal romance and an urban fantasy. The reason I say that is because the first few books all follow a single couple, Elena and Raphael. Then it starts having a different couple with each book, but still goes back to Elena and Raphael every now and then. In this book, we are back with our “main” couple of Elena and Raphael. They spend very little time in New York in this story, so we don’t see many of the other favorites from the book, but we do get some time with Blue Bell and Dimtri.

If you’re not familiar with this series, it features angels, archangels and vampires. There are usually 10 archangels that are alive and awake at any given time, but right now, there are 11 because of the Cascade which is increasing the power of angels and wreaking havoc. These archangels each have their own territory that they rule. Raphael is the archangel of New York and his territory is North America. There are angels underneath the archangel. Angels and Archangels can turn humans into vampires. These vampires have to sign a contract to serve their angel for at least 100 years. The Guild, for which this series is named, will track down vampires who try to skip out on their contract. They also help with rogue vampires and even angels if needed. They are humans. Some are “hunter born” which gives them extra senses to make them extraordinary trackers. Elena was in the Guild, but is now the consort to Raphael, but she still does some stuff with them.

In this story, Raphael and the Cadre, the group of archangels, have been summoned to meet by the only group that can summon the Cadre, the Luminata. Everyone is required to attend or they could lose their territory. Raphael is permitted to bring his consort and a guard. Aodhan, aka Sparkle for his beautifully sparkling wings, is the guard that is chosen to go with them.

This is the first time we’ve heard about the Luminata. They are a very secretive group. They were robes most of the time that even hide their wings. They are seeking perfect luminesces. From the description, they remind me of a group of monks. They are also the collector of the art for the angels. They have an extensive library and art gallery, but because they are so recluse, no one gets to appreciate these treasures.

This was a great addition to the series. I loved the story about Lumia (the stronghold of the Luminata that is located in Morocco). There is also a town outside of Lumia that had a great story with it. I love that we got to learn more about Elena’s ancestors, which we know little about until this point. We also learn more about Aodhan. There’s a reason that he is the way he is (I really hope that he might be the next story *pretty please*). This story was full of suspense, more than we are used to in this series, and lots of politics, which is more common. If I had read the book, I would call it a “page-turner”, but since I listened, I will just say that I was finding reasons to keep listening. I wanted to glue the earbuds into my ears.

I don’t know that I would say that this book had a cliffhanger, but I will say that it left you wanting more. There are some plot threads that are not wrapped up. It does make me wonder if the next book will be another Raphael/Elena book or where the story will go from here. No matter what comes next, I’m really excited to see where the series goes. I love Nalini Singh and the Guild Hunter series (Psy-Changeling too for that matter). If you haven’t tried this series, I highly recommend it.

Narration
This is a series that I started off reading and the eventually changed over to listening. Now, I’m a listener only. I just love Justine Eyre’s narration. She does a great job with all the voices. There are so many different personalities in this series and she nails all of them. I love the men and women’s voices, and there are a lot of men’s voices in this series. She does a great job with her pacing, speeding up or slowing down depending on what the scene needs. If you haven’t tried Justine Eyre, I highly recommend her.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[EBookObsessed]

I always love me some Nalini Singh, no question. Yet, this story lacks the excitement of most of the novels in the Guild Hunter series.

I guess every novel can’t be a city destroying battle between archangels like Archangel’s Blood or Archangel’s Legion. While there are interesting revelations and lots to push the series forward, this meeting of the Cadre lacks the danger and excitement of the prior stories.

We start two years since the awaken of the ancient Archangel, Alexander. Everyone is simply waiting for the other shoe to drop. Lijuan hasn’t been seen since her attack on New York but does that mean she is biding her time or has the ancient gone to sleep. When news surfaces that there has been unchecked attacks of blood lust by the vampires in China, the only group with the authority to force the Cadre to meet sends out missives to all the archangels. Even the archangels cannot ignore the request of the group of angels known as the Luminata. If they refuse, their territory would be forfeited.

The Luminata are a weird, creepy group with a sense of entitlement which, of course, will not go over well with the Cadre of entitled archangels. They are monk-like individuals searching for enlightenment and hoarding great works of art and literature and there is a big question of whether they are all their seeking a higher sense of being or just as a search for power over others.

Raphael and Elena, accompanied only by Aodhan arrive at the compound outside Morocco. Morocco is where Elena believes that her grandparents were from and plans on searching the vast library at in Lumia and the surrounding towns for information about the woman with coloring and hair like Elena. Elena uncovers more than she bargained for. Meanwhile the Cadre are trying to determine if it is time to step in and take over China from the absent archangel.

While this story lacks excitement, we do see changes coming to the series. We also get to spend time getting to know Aodhan better and hopefully that means that we will get an Aodhan story shortly.

The Cascade is still effecting the world, especially with twelve archangels awake. Raphael can’t control the healing ability or the white fire that he received but we still see sparks of it still. We also see that his bond with Elena strengthens these abilities. I also noted little bits here and there which seem to indicate that Elena might be gaining angel abilities at a faster rate than should be expected of her, not the speed or strength of Raphael, but there are many comments that Elena is a baby by angel terms yet her abilities are gaining rapidly and that I believe might be trickling down from her bond with Raphael. That will show that Elena might no longer be Raphael’s weakness for much longer.

Sadly, there wasn’t even much in the way of sexy, naked time with the hot archangel since they were in creep central and kept feeling like they were being watched.

This is a story written more for series fans than to grab new ones. If you are new and want to know what the fuss is about, grab Archangel’s Blood or jump to Archangel’s Legion for more excitement.

I started reading my ARC copy but shortly after received an audiobook copy from Tantor Audio. Since I originally binged on this series by audiobook, I was happy to make the jump over to audiobook since I missed the narration on the last few books.