From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

Angels' Blood (Guild Hunter, #1)

Nalini Singh

Start date: June 28, 2012

Finish date: July 2, 2012

Why we're reading this: The Guild Hunter series won our next series read poll. Also, we will be doing a Q&A with Nalini Singh, in…more
[close] The Guild Hunter series won our next series read poll. Also, we will be doing a Q&A with Nalini Singh, in September! Discussion here

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Oct 06, 2009 BJ Rose rated it liked it

Shelves: paranormal, vampires, futuristic, series

I love Nalini Singh! I totally love her Psy-Changeling books! So why such a bland rating on this one? It has the very creative and inventive world-building that I've come to expect from Ms. Singh, but I just couldn't feel anything for the main characters. And though I have absolutely no problem enjoying books about vampires & shapeshifter & humans with PNR abilities & magic in general, I just couldn't get my mind to suspend all disbelief enough to enjoy the world created here: Angels live openly ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jun 28, 2012 Paula Phillips rated it really liked it

Wanting a novel that has that sense of Gothicness, Romance and Action-Packed with a hint of Fun and Sexiness ?
Then Angel's Blood , the first book in the Guild Hunter Series by Nalini Singh is right for you.

Meet Elena Deveraux , I think I've been watching too much Vampire Diaries ,either that or reading too many Kelley Armstrong books as both their main female characters are called Elena. Elena Deveraux is a Vampire Hunter , she's the best at what she does and has been rewarded greatly for it. W ...more

1 like · Like · see review

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

1 like · Like · see review

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

Like · see review

Jun 30, 2010 Ruth Violet rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fa-v, fav-writers, favorite-series, fav-vampire-series, vampires, urban-fantasy, fantasy, books-i-that-i-got-from-the-paperba, hunter-s-guild-novel, archangels

excellent story. loved it from beginning to end. loved the characters of elena and rapheal. loved learning about the hunter's guild and the archangels. wow. love this series. Hope Nalini keeps writing this series from years to come. i got both of these books from the library. now i sooo have to buy them. and how all of the archangels are different from each other. and all of their powers are diffent, also. and how rapheal made elena into an archangel. was awesome. ...more

Like · see review