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337 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 4, 2012
19/10/2016 Buddy read with the fantastic UF enthusiasts over at BB&B, because it’s Wednesday!! May our weekly Wednesday UF buddy reads live long and prosper :-D
A loving childhood that ended in blood and violence forced Jason to embrace the darkness he once feared. With his wings of midnight that absorbs both darkness and light, and his ability to use shadows to his advantage, there is no better spymaster. And when Archangel Neha’s consort is brutally murdered, Jason is sent by Raphael to assist with finding the murderer before Neha’s grief and rage spirals out of control.
To provide Neha with an assurance of faith and trust, Jason must swear a blood vow to Princess Mahiya, the daughter of Neha’s dead sister. But Jason soon discovers that nothing is as it seems, especially Princess Mahiya who keeps many secrets.
As Jason and Mahiya work together to find the killer, they discover a passion neither expected and a 300year old buried secret, one that has risen intent on getting revenge.
Perhaps she had spent her life waiting for someone to love, and Jason . . . he needed to be loved, as a wildflower needed sunlight.
Nalini Singh knows how to write heroines that I love. While Mahiya was not a warrior like most of the other women we have met, she was so strong and so brave, and I loved her. She never allowed the horrors she endured at the hands of Neha, or the painful barbs from her father make her into a bitter and hard person. She kept her hopes and her sweetness.
“I can’t give you what you want,” he repeated, some unknown thing tearing and ripping inside him at the thought of having to sever his connection to her, when it was the first time in his life he’d trusted even a part of himself to a lover. .
Finally we get another Seven’s story, and I was amazed by just how powerful Jason really is. His ability with shadows and the black lightening he can bring forth, just wowed me! And although I’ve liked the silent and mysterious Jason since he was first introduced, I did at times struggle with him as the love interest in this book. There seems to be theme with Raphael and his Seven, them believing at first that their heroines are weaker, not their equals, because they have lived longer, are physically stronger. Strength doesn’t always come from the physical, it’s the ability to survive, to keep fighting no matter what. Of course they usually come to realise the truth, but still…
Jason’s treatment of Mahiya, the way he judged her in the beginning, made me so mad. Even though I understood it was because of his own brokenness, of the hurt he endured when another woman he loved refused to fight back, that because of this it was hard for him to see the truth of who Mahiya was. Luckily he did change towards the end, as he got to know her, respect her.
“Do I matter?” It was a question with so many nuances, he knew he caught but the bluntest edge. “In the grand scheme of your existence, does my life matter to you on any level?”
He was a man used to keeping secrets, but he knew at that instant that he had to answer this, or he risked losing something he wasn’t even aware he searched for. “Yes. You matter.” .
Their romance was quite a slow burn, both are so broken, and Jason especially needed time to come to terms with his feelings for Mahiya. But they are perfect for each other. She with her heart full of light and hope, and him with his heart shadowed in darkness, broken so badly that expressing his feelings will probably never happen. But Mahiya has no need of pretty words from Jason, she sees his love in the way he is with her. Their romance was not vocal and visible, it’s more subtle and quiet and perfect for a spymaster angel.
Nothing strange about that. Only you know all the pieces of me. .
I loved all the little tender moments between Raphael and Elena, and Dmitri and Honor. And I’m very happy that Honor was finally made a vampire. She and Dmitri deserve an eternity together after what they went through.
It was great to spend so much time in the archangel Neha’s court, the Queen of Snakes and Poison. And Lijuan continues to worry me, with her plotting and her planning.
The plot continues to get more captivating with how the archangels are evolving, either becoming more powerful, or developing new abilities. All of it indicates that an event that has not happened in twenty-five thousand years is about to occur again. Death and destruction is coming….
Nalini Singh is such a talented writer with her ability to create fascinating worlds, lovable characters and passionate romances. Highly recommended to all PNR and UF fans.
In many ways, he was the opposite of Aodhan, the angel so broken, he couldn’t bear the slightest touch. Jason, by contrast, sometimes only felt real and not the phantom Lijuan had named him if he had the pressure of another’s skin, another’s wing against his own. It was as if all those years, decades, when he hadn’t felt the touch of another sentient being had created a thirst in him that could never be assuaged.
"I won’t let you go. It was a vow. No matter what happened, what Jason believed about his inability to form lasting bonds, he was hers, and she’d fight to hold him. They needed each other, her and her angel with his wings meant for the night. He was a power, had far more knowledge of the world, but she had a heart strong enough to care for a man who might never fully open his own to her . . . because even a fragment of Jason’s heart, it would be raw, honest, a dazzling joy".
“Did I have the chance to strangle you in your crib, I would have done so in a heartbeat. Without you, she would’ve forgiven my transgression long ago.” A wineglass smashing onto marble. “Be careful when you sleep, girl. I have friends who may yet snap your neck for me.” It was her most vivid memory of the man who had contributed his seed to her creation.
"The skies will be clear tonight. Will you fly with me?"~SWOOOOOOON~
"He's like that all the time, isn't he? Part of the world . . . but apart. A shadow who never becomes involved."And neither did Mahiya, Neha's niece...
...who had never mattered much to anyone.On their own, they're self-reliant yet so very lonely, but together, they melted my heart into a big-fat slushy puddle.
Strong arms, lips against her temple, wings of midnight opening to curve around her, until Jason surrounded her on every side.I know this review makes it sound like a sap-fast, but Archangel's Storm was anything but. Truly worth reading, you guys! If you haven't read anything by this author, I urge you to do so.
She must be so, so careful not to fall for him, not to seek more than the dark sexuality that swirled between them, hot and beautifully violent as a desert storm.
She wanted to run her finger over the blade of him even if it made her bleed, wanted to dance too close to the flame, wanted to take a risk that could destroy her.