Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux wakes from a year-long coma to find herself changed – an angel with wings the colors of midnight and dawn – but her fragile body needs time to heal before she can take flight. Her lover, the stunningly dangerous archangel Raphael, is used to being in control – even when it comes to the woman he considers his own. But Elena has never done well with authority…
They’ve barely begun to understand each other when Raphael receives an invitation to a ball from the archangel Lijuan. To refuse would be a sign of fatal weakness, so Raphael must ready Elena for the flight to Beijing – and to the nightmare that awaits them there. Ancient and without conscience, Lijuan holds a power that lies with the dead. And she has organized the most perfect and most vicious of welcomes for Elena…
Archangel’s Kiss, by Nalini Singh
The events at the end of Angels’ Blood make it very hard to wait on reading the sequel. Elena and Raphael managed to stop Uram but the price was nearly Elena’s life. Now she’s the first angel Made in human memory, saved by the Archangel who loves her. The transformation doesn’t come without a price, however, and Elena isn’t very good with limits.
Of course, the Cadre is still the Cadre. Elena’s position as Raphael’s lover means she is his weakness, something both of them are having trouble adapting to. For the first time in centuries, he knows what it is to fear. When Lijuan invites them to a ball, there is no choice but to accept the invitation and hope that they’ll both survive.
I love that the events from the first book have consequences, both good and bad. Elena is an angel, yes, but instead of everything being perfect from the beginning, she’s weak. As hunter-born, she was strong for a human and she’d spent years honing her skills with weapons. She still has those skills but her body is different now and she has to learn how to adapt, especially to her wings. After all, having wings isn’t the same as knowing how to use them.
The focus of this book is still Raphael and Elena, although we get to see more of the secondary characters we met in the first book. Raphael’s Seven continue to guard and serve, which means helping protect Elena, since she’s his weakness. We explore the Refuge, where angelic children are raised, and learn a little more about the various archangels in the Cadre. Nalini is really good at creating multidimensional characters that still have a hook you can identify, and that’s definitely in full swing here.
If the first book was a paranormal romance, this book is rather firmly on the urban fantasy side of the divide. We see more of the growing relationship between Elena and Raphael, and learn some of the past that has shaped both of them, but there is no new couple here like we see in the Psy/Changeling books. (There’s plenty to suggest that will come, though.) The focus here is instead the consequences of the first book and the growing sense that something isn’t right in the world. The world-building continues to be excellent and Elena is a strong heroine without losing her ability to be vulnerable. We’re sharing in Elena’s journey as she struggles to cope with all the changes that have happened, without losing her sense of self.
Overall, I think that if you enjoyed the first book, you should definitely read the sequel. As for me, well, I have a series to catch up on.