Review: Angels' Blood

Title: Angels' Blood
Author: Nalini Singh
Page Count: 358 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: urban fantasy/paranormal romance
Copy for review was from my personal library

50 words or less: Elena is a Hunter who brings wayward vampires back to their angel makers. Raphael is an archangel who needs another, crazy archangel brought to heel. Who you gonna call? ELENA! She's the best in the business but even Raphael isn't prepared for what happens between them.

Have you ever had a book on your shelf for a fairly long time, and you know it's going to be good, so that's why you take so long to get around to reading it? That's what happened to me with Angels' Blood (and is happening to me right now with Blaze of Memory from the Psy-Changeling series actually.) I knew I would love it, as I love everything, literally everything, that Nalini Singh has written so far, so I kind of put off reading it. It's like saving a tasty bottle of wine for a special occasion.

If you're a regular follower of my escapades here, or feel like clicking back to January on the nav bar, you know how much I love the Psy-Changeling series. I wasn't sure than anything would be as good as that, but Ms. Singh has outdone herself by having not one, but two awesome series! Angels' Blood is a great take on both angels and vampires and creates a world and mythology that's very unique, while introducing a power couple that definitely has staying power, in more ways than one. You probably won't be doing any dramatic readings from this book in the break room at work- there are certainly many NSFW moments- but once you pop, the fun most certainly won't stop. Prepare to be addicted!

Elena and Raphael as a couple remind me a lot of Eve and Rourke from the In Death series- Elena is a superstar at her job who's trying desperately to overcome a difficult upbringing, and Raphael is a big time hotshot who, although totally used to getting his own way when it comes to absolutely everything, is totally broadsided by Elena, her determination, and his feelings for her. Although they sort of move in the same circles, Elena and Raphael both have a lot to learn about each other, about trust, and about relationships, and watching the interplay between these two grow and develop was one of the best parts of this story.

This isn't a cuddly, kittens and puppy dogs kind of book, though. There's also a crazed, murderous archangel on the loose, and the death and destruction is splattered all over every page. The crime scene descriptions are vivid and horrifying; even if there weren't plenty of sweaty bits, this book would get a Scandalous Books designation just because some of the imagery is indeed very disturbing. The need for this killer to be caught is immediately clear; the ultimate showdown between good and evil at the end of the book was nailbiting. I don't think I blinked for the last fifty or so pages, seriously.

I really can't say enough good things about this book. If you've been tempted to read this series in the past but haven't gotten around to it, move it up your TBR pile and read it. You'll like it.

Overall Grade: A