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KMont

Lurv a la Mode 2

Romance (and scifi and fantasy) reading enthusiast, general lover of puppies and kitty kats, dark chocolate snatcher, writing playgirl, coffee luvah, chai latte chuggah, kidlet toting mama of one plus marriage credentials.

Currently reading

Three Parts Dead
Max Gladstone
Progress: 60 %
Dragon Keeper
Robin Hobb
Progress: 51 %
Into the Dark Lands
Michelle Sagara West
Progress: 13 %
The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1)
Scott Lynch
Archangel's Kiss  - Nalini Singh A quick drive-by-opinion:

This was a good book. I wasn't as happy with it as the first book. I felt that the first several chapters (up to Chapter 13, yikes) were a little slow. I appreciated that we got a deeper look into the exclusive world of the angels, but I kept waiting for the plot to really kick in.

Also, Elena struck me at first as an average paranormal romance heroine enamored of the super sexy, bad-ass hero, not at all like the Elena established in book 1. She does eventually get back on track as the Elena we came to know before, and perhaps some of her eralier star-struck-ness can be attributed to her delicate situation with her new angel status. Still, I appreciated her character more when she started acting a little more "down to earth".

One other aspect of the book's world that seriously began to irk me was how SUPER everything almost every character that is mentioned was. If they're attractive, they're not just attractive - they're the most intensely attractive individual that has ever lived. I realize that this is pretty inherent in paranormal romance and we've all probably contemplated the pros and cons of reading about fabulously gorgeous and powerful as opposed to average and plain, but when (as another reviewer, AnimeJune) every character is described as the uber ultimate in sexiness and power, what exactly makes ANY of them that special? Instead I became more than a little tired of supporting characters that one and all could drop it like its paranormal hot.

That being said, if one can ignore such redundancy, the book is pretty damn good. I still think the first book's story was strongest - Singh really pulled off the initial interactions of Elena and Raphael well. This time, we still question whether or not Raphael is the type of male and being that can adequately care for Elena without breaking her, but we also see that he indeed CAN if he tries hard enough. At first I didn't think he would be able to, as he acts pretty detached and staid even with Elena a times, going extremely cold when a few pages back he was as hot as hot could be. I found it a little overkill when he'd do this, go so cold, because he does go out of his way to prove that he cares and likely loves her.

There were other times I felt the tone Singh set was overkill as well - we will be left with NO DOUBT that angels are not heavenly beings in Singh's world. They are killers, prone to mental asshatry the likes of which humans can never aspire to no matter how evil. The vampires they create are all the most lethal beings ever to swagger the Earth. Some of the angels are also oddly normal, with seemingly normal families and values, yet it's the killers that are most touted. It gets a bit much.

Once again, though, if the story can be focused on, then it's a good one. Especially if I'm willing to take away only one star for all the things that irked.