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Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter, #1)

Nalini Singh

Start date: January 1, 2024

Finish date: January 31, 2024

Discussion: Challenges: What's the Rush

Why we're reading this: Part of our group series (re)read: Guild Hunter …more
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Challenges: What's the Rush

* 2025 Series Read: K.N. Banet's "Jacky Leon"
By Steph , Serious series addict · 103 posts · 33 views

last updated Sep 26, 2025 08:29PM

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* YEAR-LONG CHALLENGES
By Steph , Serious series addict · 1 post · 389 views

last updated Aug 17, 2010 11:14PM

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What Members Thought

Feb 12, 2010 Shannon rated it really liked it

Shelves: vampires, bought-2010, owned, 2010, novels, paranormal-romance, angels, color-orange

*3.75 Stars*

This was a unique take on vampires and hunters with the addition of angels as rulers, caretakers, lords, and lovers. I've always kind of had a thing for angels and I love that they're sexual beings in this series. It's one of the few things that makes me upset about Richelle Mead's Succubus series because one of the most charismatic and sexy characters has to remain celibate or he'll become a demon. Religion is absent in Angels' Blood and I was exceedingly grateful for that. There is *3.75 Stars*

This was a unique take on vampires and hunters with the addition of angels as rulers, caretakers, lords, and lovers. I've always kind of had a thing for angels and I love that they're sexual beings in this series. It's one of the few things that makes me upset about Richelle Mead's Succubus series because one of the most charismatic and sexy characters has to remain celibate or he'll become a demon. Religion is absent in Angels' Blood and I was exceedingly grateful for that. There is no battle waging between heaven and hell, and there are angels of all races and nationalities.

Elena Deveraux is a Guild Hunter, she goes after vampires that have gone astray and violated their contracts that they signed in blood with the angels that Made them. Elena gets hired by the most powerful angel in the United States, the archangel Raphael. She's supposedly the best when it comes to tracking vampires and he wants her to help him find someone. Along the way Elena constantly courts death, sometimes battling foes, and sometimes baiting Raphael.

I think some other reviewers have some things up pretty well; Singh can write a great story but her characters lack depth. I've only read this one book by her so I don't have anything to compare this too, but it seems from reading other reviews that this is the general consensus. I liked Elena and I liked Raphael but I wasn't pulled into the story and their lives as much as I feel I should have. In fact, I found myself pulled toward the lesser characters as they seemed to have more personality. Also, some of the sex scenes were a bit underdeveloped - it seems that Singh has a better grasp of flirtation and sexual tension than the actual act. Some of the things that Raphael said he wanted to do to her were sexier than what he actually did. When they finally do have sex it's sort of anti-climatic, ironically.

I loved the world and the concepts that Singh has come up with though, it's all very unique and something I haven't seen done before. This sort of reminds me of Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series, in that there are a lot of different beings running about, more than in normal paranormal romance; there's action, gruesome bits, good supporting characters, and great banter and sexy scenes between the hero and heroine. I just wish that the two of them had been developed a bit more, they're both basically one-dimensional, but this didn't really make me dislike them, I was just a little disappointed that Singh didn't take her characters a step further.

I'll definitely read the next book and give her other series a try. I like her ideas and I think I've found a new author to latch onto! ...more

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Aug 25, 2009 ♥Tricia♥ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: urban-fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 17, 2011 Katyana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: uf, ass-kicking-women, pnr, fantasy, favorites

Oh wow. This book was truly fantastic. I can't believe I waited so long to read it!

I loved it. The rich backstory, the complexity of the characters, honestly, I can't think of a single complaint. I simply can't wait to go deeper into this world! ...more

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Dec 03, 2010 Lisarenee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: paranormal

This book redefines where vampires come from.
In a world of supernaturals Elena Deveraux is a vampire hunter. She tracks, captures, and returns vampires to their angel masters. Only about a thousand people per year are chosen to be transformed. That is a small slice of those who volunteer for the change. In exchange for the transformation the newly changed vamps are required to serve the angel who Made them (their Master) for a certain length of time. When they attempt to renege on that agreemen ...more

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Apr 08, 2010 Jenny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: urban-fantasy, series, vampires, angels, immortals, aphla-males, kick-ass-heroines, bounty-hunter, murder, audible-book

When I first started this I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I have to say that I was very surprised. Elena is strong and doesn't put up with anything that they try on her. At time I think that she is a bit to stubborn but that is also a good thing considering what and who she is dealing with. I loved Raphael the fact that he doesn't really understand what the attraction he is feeling is or the fact that he does things and then regrets them makes seem more real at least to me it did. I have ...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Nairabell rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal-romance, 4-star, read-in-2012

Elena Devereaux is the best vampire hunter in the world, but even she may not be good enough for her latest assignment. She has been hired by the dangerous, and beautiful, archangel of New York Raphael to track down an archangel gone bad. This job will place Elena at the centre of a killing spree unlike any other...and put her at risk of falling for her employer's charms, either of which could mean her death.

This is the first book in the Guild Hunter series and, as a big fan of the author's Psy- Elena Devereaux is the best vampire hunter in the world, but even she may not be good enough for her latest assignment. She has been hired by the dangerous, and beautiful, archangel of New York Raphael to track down an archangel gone bad. This job will place Elena at the centre of a killing spree unlike any other...and put her at risk of falling for her employer's charms, either of which could mean her death.

This is the first book in the Guild Hunter series and, as a big fan of the author's Psy-Changeling series, a book I expected great things from. I definitely wasn't disappointed as the world building is just as unique and complex as that of her other books, taking vampires and angels in innovative new directions. Angels are the creators of vampires and as such own them for the first hundred years of their existence. Elena's job is to retrieve those who attempt to break that contract.

The storyline is cleverly plotted and well paced, although at times the density of the world building made it difficult for me to stay caught in the storyline. Unlike the Psy-Changeling books, this series stays with Elena and Raphael for more than a single book so their backstory isn't covered fully leaving lots undiscovered. I was a little annoyed that only snippets of Elena's history are revealed which means that the storyline will continue in the future books, but ends up being frustratingly incomplete in this installment.

Elena is an interesting lead character. As I mentioned before her traumatic past isn't fully revealed which leaves the reader only able to partly understand her, although her relationships with her friends (good) and family (bad) do explain a lot about her motivations. Likewise Raphael is fascinating and it is great to see him both acting normally and within "the cold", a side effect to a method of angelic communication. The cold removes all traces of humanity from Raphael and leaves him as a very scary being.

There were a few background characters that managed to steal scenes throughout the book: Raphael's right hand vampire Dmitri whose seductive scent keeps Elena on her toes, and Elena's bad boy hunter friend Ransom who adds a cute sideline as he realises he's fallen in love with his latest fling. The other character I loved was Illium who is the most accessible angel introduced in the book.

The villain of the piece Uram is incredibly disturbing and leads to some particularly horrifying scenes that place this book a lot closer to a gritty urban fantasy than a romance. Some of the scenes are quite graphic which I wasn't expecting, although they do fit within the storyline and aren't excessive.

The ending is outstanding and entirely not what I was expecting at all. I can't wait to see where the storyline goes next!

All in all this was a great read and I'm looking forward to Archangel's Kiss.

Plot: 9/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Cover: 7/10

Overall: 44/50 ...more

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Dec 02, 2010 Lara rated it liked it

Wish I could give this one another 1/2 to 3/4 a star. It was definitely better then 3, but not quite a 4. I flew through the 1st 3 quarters of this book basically glued to the pages, but along the way I found myself waiting for something else to pull me in deeper and it never happened. So....obviously I enjoyed this book WAY more as it started and it definitely fell flat to me somewhere along the way although I have dificulty trying to figure out what happened. Regardless I will definitely read ...more

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Feb 05, 2011 Caroline rated it liked it

Shelves: favourite-series

great new world.

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Sep 15, 2011 Midu Hadi rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, read-in-2012, series-completion-in-progress, reviewed, serial-killers-and-other-murderers, 212books, fantasy, angels, guild-hunter-series, read-in-january

An archangel has gone insane. And Elena, a Guild Hunter, will attempt to stop him. Enter Raphael, the archangel of NY.

Thoughts on the Series
A formulaic series with HEAs. It can get violent and dark though, but it can also get repetitive. I'd suggest spacing out the books--and there are a lot of them--for days when you need a certain happy ending.

Book 2 review here ...more

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Dec 16, 2009 Purple rated it it was amazing

Shelves: girlpower, romance, favorites, angels, uf, series

First book I read this year that I just couldn't put down. I finished it less than 24 hours. It's fast-paced, very imaginative, no boring page. I will definitely watch out for the next installment. ...more

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