Romance comes to the fore in Archangel’s Consort, book three of Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter Series.

The initial books were far more gritty and filled with danger and tension, but with Archangel’s Consort we can take a short breath and concentrate more on Elena and Raphael as they navigate the shoals of their relationship. This means that there’s a lot more sex in this book then before.

A lot.

Dare I say, a little too much?

In Archangel’s Consort Elena and Raphael must face the global threat of his mother waking from her self-imposed centuries long sleep. As she moves closer to consciousness the world is wracked with earthquakes and severe weather events and vampires and angels become prone to rage, violence and murder. For Raphael he must deal with the fallout around him, but also focus on the fact that despite all else, Caliane is his mother.

One of the things I love so much about this series is the depth of the political maneuvering and complex, world building. In large the series has been so intriguing because it’s focused on the intersection between different societies, or the archangels themselves with their power based morality.

I love Elena and Raphael and am so glad that they have maintained their strengths and idiosyncrasies despite being Archangel and Consort. And I’m also glad to have spent more time in their minds and hearts.

I do regret however that we had less time on the fascinating peripheral cast, political context and, frankly, murder and mayhem. I was also desperate for a stronger conflict with the rising of Caliane. However with an author as good as Nalini you can be sure that she will add all the clues dropped in Archangel’s Consort and weave us a bloody good story in book four.