Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh - 4.5 stars

Archangel's Blade (#4) by Nalini Singh
4.5 stars

Sometimes I am amazed at my own speed of reading. It helps when I spend a day in a bed reading but still. Anyways, Archangel's Blade. I don't know what I was expecting for this book. I was excited for Dmitri's story. From what we have glimpsed in the past three books, we know Dmitri is a hardened warrior who was Made against his will. There have been mentions from Raphael of the angel Isis but now we finally learn who she really is and how she destroyed Dmitri's life.

Then we meet Honor. She's a hunter from the Guild who is recovering from a traumatic past. She's been kidnapped by vampires and tortured for months before finally being rescued by her fellow hunters. Honor has always had a special obsession when it came to Dmitri so when she's called upon for an assignment, she is nervous to be around this powerful vampire. There is a reason behind this obsession but I won't spoil that. Honor specializes in ancient languages and symbols and when Dmitri discovers the head of a vampire with a tattoo on his face, he needs her help is deciphering what it says.

Dmitri is moved by Honor. There is something about her that intrigues him. He decides to take a leading role in helping her find and get revenge on the vampires who tortured her. This is obviously a love story and obviously they do end up getting together in the end. That's not really a spoiler. However the circumstances are a bit different. I did enjoy the twist Singh included for Honor and Dmitri. It is a way of getting them the happy ending they deserved.

What I was surprised to find in this story was Holly, who has changed her name to Sorrow, from Angels' Blood. She is the victim of Uram's tortures. She consumed some of his blood and somehow became partially Made. Dmitri promised Elena to keep an eye on her and he is keeping that promise. He wants her to survive because he sees Holly as a child. I'm glad that Singh has kept her in the story even though she is a minor character.

I didn't enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed the previous three. I think it's because I missed Raphael and Elena. We did get cameos but that wasn't enough for me. It might be that I've just grown attached to them for the first three books so it was hard to switch from one couple to another. Next is Archangel's Storm. This story is about Jason so we will finally learn about his past. I'm glad Singh has decided to show us more about the Seven but it doesn't make me miss Elena and Raphael any less.