Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh

Title: Archangel's Blade
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: #4 in the Guild Hunter series
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Berkley Sensation  (May 8, 2011)
Source: Library ebook
Rating: ☕☕☕☕1/2

Synopsis:The severed head marked by a distinctive tattoo on its cheek should have been a Guild case, but dark instincts honed over hundreds of years of life compel the vampire Dmitri to take control. There is something twisted about this death, something that whispers of centuries long past...but Dmitri's need to discover the truth is nothing to the vicious strength of his response to the hunter assigned to decipher the tattoo.

Savaged in a brutal attack that almost killed her, Honor is nowhere near ready to come face to face with the seductive vampire who is an archangel's right hand, and who wears his cruelty as boldly as his lethal sensuality...the same vampire who has been her secret obsession since the day she was old enough to understand the inexplicable, violent emotions he aroused in her.

As desire turns into a dangerous compulsion that might destroy them both, it becomes clear the past will not stay buried. Something is hunting...and it will not stop until it brings a blood-soaked nightmare to life once more...

My Thoughts: I was a tad disappointed that the 4th book in this series would not continue with Elena and Raphael's story but that disappointment was short lived. Dmitri's story was pretty amazing.

The Good: I never really warmed up to Dmitri in the first 3 Guild Hunter books. He was cocky and came across as cruel and just a bully especially when he went toe to toe with Elena. Yet in this book Singh does an amazing job at keeping Dmitri true to who he was but rounding him out by creating such a tragic back story the reader can't help but fall in love with him. Honor is the perfect person to balance out Dmitri. With her backbone of steel and her refusal to wither away after experiencing an event that would make Superman himself check out of life, she turned into one of my very favorite female characters of all time. Together they make a near perfect couple. I loved every minute of them and their sizzling chemistry.

During the course of the book we experience 2 different plot lines inner-twinning. The mystery of the one who killed the young vampire and the mystery of the one who attacked Honor months earlier had equal time throughout the book where one didn't feel overshadowed by the other. Once again I have to sing Singh's praises on her ability as a writer. Not just anyone could accomplish two full story lines in one book while giving just as much attention to the building of a believable relationship between two broken people.

The Bad: The only thing I found to really be a negative in the book was the number of characters introduced. There are a whole slew of baddies we got to see while Honor and Dmitri investigated and I got a bit lost a couple times trying to figure out if I was supposed to already know who they were talking about. Plus there are characters mentioned who didn't make appearances at all to muddy it all up a bit in my mind. Other than that I got nothing but praise to say about this book!

In a Nutshell: This is a book I'll totally recommend to my friends. Oh, I'm sorry, you haven't read the first book (Archangel's Blood) yet? Why not!?!? Put this series on you're "I need to read this series STAT" list. Do it. Do it NOW!