ARC Review: Fire & Earth by A.D. Starrling

Series:	Legion #2
Pub. Date:	July 25, 2019
Publisher:	Self-Pub
Length:	280 pgs
Source:	Author

I've been a huge fan of A.D. Starrling and her brainy books for a while now, so I'm always happy when a new one lands in my inbox. The Legion series is technically a spinoff of the Seventeen series (one of my favorites), but I don't think its absolutely necessary to start with Seventeen. Honestly, I can't exactly remember how it spins off, but I know I realized it in the first book... my brain is just getting too old to remember details in between book releases. I obviously need to take and keep better notes! You will need to read this series in order, however, as there is a continuing story arc that needs to be followed closely.

ARC Review: Blood & Bones by A.D. Starrling

Series:	Legion #1
Pub. Date:	March 26, 2019
Publisher:	Self-Pub
Length:	279 pgs
Source:	Author

If you know me, you know that I am a huge fan of the Seventeen series, and A.D. Starrling in general. So I was super excited to learn that the Seventeen series was getting a spinoff. Shockingly, I didn't really realize that this was the actual spinoff until I was pretty far into the book. Starrling is introducing a whole host of new characters at once, and I didn't immediately connect anything to the prior series.

Audiobook Review: Archangel's Prophecy by Nalini Singh

Series:	Guild Hunter #11
Pub. Date:	Oct. 30, 2018
Publisher:	Berkley / Tantor Audio
Narrator:	Justine Eyre
Length:	11 hrs 44 min
Source:	NetGalley / Hoopla

Elena and Raphael are back center-stage in this eleventh installment of Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter series. I always love coming back to spend some time with our power couple that started it all. Elena is still the beloved mortal-turned-angel of New York, and consort to Raphael, our increasingly power archangel of the territory.

ARC Review: Archangel's Heart by Nalini Singh

Series:	Guild Hunter #9
Pub. Date:	Nov 1, 2016
Publisher:	Berkley
Length:	384 pages
Source:	NetGalley

Archangel's Heart is a wonderful rejoinder back into the relationship of the couple who started it all... Raphael and Elena. This story picks up about two years after Archangel's Enigma, where we saw Naasir and Andi pair up, an ancient archangel awake, and the Cascade continue to shake things up for everyone. Things have been quiet over the past two years, and the stagnant period has everyone getting more and more antsy. With all the trouble that Lijuan has caused in the past, everyone is concerned by this long period of silence. So when an ancient sect of monk-like angels, the Luminata, called a conclave of all the archangels, I just knew things were going to get interesting.

ARC Review & Giveaway: The Angel Wore Fangs by Sandra Hill

Series:	Deadly Angels #7
Pub. Date:	May 31, 2016
Publisher:	Avon
Length:	384 pages
Source:	Edelweiss

The Angel Wore Fangs rounds out the seven deadly sins, one suffered by each of the seven Sigurdsson brothers that warranted their 700 year sentence to become vangels (vampire angels) in the war of good and evil. While I have not read all of the earlier books in the series, I followed along quite well and didn't feel like I was missing any world building or too much back story.

Series Saturday Audiobook Review: Archangel's Enigma by Nalini Singh

Archangel's Enigma 

by Nalini Singh

Series:  Guild Hunter #8

Pub. Date:  Sept. 1, 2015

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

Narrator:  Justine Eyre

Length:  12 hrs 25 min

Format:  Audiobook

Source:  Hoopla

My Rating:  

Sultry Scale:

Naasir is the most feral of the powerful group of vampires and angels known as the Seven, his loyalty pledged to the Archangel Raphael. When rumors surface of a plot to murder the former Archangel of Persia, now lost in the Sleep of the Ancients, Naasir is dispatched to find him. For only he possesses the tracking skills required—those more common to predatory animals than to man.

Enlisted to accompany Naasir, Andromeda, a young angelic scholar with dangerous secrets, is fascinated by his nature—at once playful and brilliant, sensual and brutal. As they race to find the Sleeping archangel before it’s too late, Naasir will force her to question all she knows...and tempt her to walk into the magnificent, feral darkness of his world. But first they must survive an enemy vicious enough to shatter the greatest taboo of the angelic race and plunge the world into a screaming nightmare…

The fight with Lijuan continues, only this time she is seeking a sleeping ancient instead of our beloved Archangel Raphael. Raphael tasks his best tracker Naasir to find where Alexander sleeps before Lijuan and kill the ancient, and to assist on journey will be the angel Andromeda, a scholar who studies the ancients.

Once Naasir was introduced, he quickly became my favorite of the series. We finally find out exactly what this semi-vampire is! His simplistic view on the world is a result of his animal nature, and it was utterly beguiling. I loved the way he played with his friends, and talked about his mate. The narrator did a fabulous job with his character and accent as well. As Naasir has been hunting his mate for the past seven months since the last book, he doesn't immediately desire to go on this hunt with Andromeda. However once he meets her and takes his first whiff, he can't wait to bite! There is a problem however - Andromeda has taken a vow of celibacy which cannot be broken unless Naasir can find a "stupid grimoire book."

Andromeda has been working as a scholar at the refuge with Jessame. However she has just received word that she has to begin serving 500 years in her grandfather's court within the next couple of weeks. So this hunt with Naasir is her last hurrah before she endures a half-millennium of servitude and punishment. Andromeda is a little scared of Naasir, not really because of his feral nature, but because of the way he makes her feel. While I liked Andi's character, she was upstaged so much by Naasir that I didn't focus on her that much.

I have a feeling Bluebell's book is up soon, and I can't wait to read about the fun-loving Illium. 

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Guild Hunter Series

Series Saturday Audiobook Review: Archangel's Shadows by Nalini Singh

Archangel's Shadows 
by Nalini Singh
Series:  Guild Hunter #7
Pub. Date:  Oct. 28, 2014
Publisher:  Tantor Audio
Narrator:  Justine Eyre
Length:  12 hrs 17 min
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Hoopla


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Return to New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s sensual and painfully beautiful Guild Hunter world in her new novel of sacrifice, loyalty, and the choices of love that can shatter the heart.

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.

This story takes place not long after the Raphael and crew have prevailed in the big battle with Lijuan. No one is quite sure whether she is alive or dead, and whether the city will have any lasting effects from her treachery. So when animals and humans alike are turning up mummified, the angels, vamps and hunters know the mystery must be solved quickly to avoid a city-wide panic.

Ash and Janvier have been dancing around each other for most of the series, so I was stoked to finally get to their book. Ash is such a complicated character. She has been in love with Janvier but holds him at arm's length due to some unknown secret. Let me tell ya that I had no idea what the secret was until it was revealed. Ash's family history is heartbreaking. I'm afraid to say more without including spoilers.

As for Janvier - I love that Cajun! I listened to this book in audio so hearing his Cajun French accent was great and really brought his character to life. Janvier's devotion to Ash, and what he was willing to give up for her, brought tears to my eyes.

But who really stole the book for me was Naasir - I cannot get enough of him. His mannerisms and almost childlike curiosity and innocence beguile me. The narrator also gave him a great accent and does an outstanding job with his character. I cannot wait for his book, he may surpass Dmitri as my favorite for the series.

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Guild Hunter Series