"Archangel's Kiss," by Nalini Singh

From Amazon.com:

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux wakes from a year-long coma to find that she has become an angel-and that her lover, the stunningly dangerous archangel Raphael, likes having her under his control. But almost immediately, Raphael must ready Elena for a flight to Beijing, to attend a ball thrown by the archangel Lijuan. Ancient and without conscience, Lijuan's power lies with the dead. And she has organized the most perfect and most vicious of welcomes for Elena... 

I only recently read "Angel's Blood," by Nalini Singh, and I found myself wondering why I hadn't read any of her books before. Well, I thoroughly enjoyed "Angel's Blood," and so I snapped up "Archangel's Kiss" the moment it was released.

All I can say is that "Archangel's Kiss" was a very satisfying continuation of the story of Elena and her archangel, Raphael. Not only must they face off against Lijuan and her growing army of reborn, but they must contend with the threat posed by murderous power-play of an unknown, but powerful angel.

I love the characters and world that Ms. Singh has created here. I think I actually liked the second book better than the first one, as Elena and Raphael are past many of the "where are the relationship boundaries?" part of of their relationship, and now present a united front against their enemies.

I also very much enjoy the cast of secondary characters. In addition to Dimitri, Venom, and Illium, we now have Galen, Jason, and Aodhan. All of them have pasts that beg to be explored, and I look forward to learning more about them all. I suspect that we'll also explore more of Raphael's past, and I am anticipating a future visit from his absent mother.

I'm starting in on Ms. Singh's Psy-Changeling series shortly. I am grateful to have discovered Mr. Singh's wonderful work.

Rating: 5 stars