Archangel's Ascension

Archangel's Ascension (Guild Hunter 15)- Nalini Singh

Berkley Publishing

Release Date: May 6, 2024

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Aodhan and Illium. Adi and Blue. Sparkle and Bluebell. Friends become lovers, their future a wild unknown.

Finally reunited in New York, they must now learn to navigate the monumental shift in their relationship. But for these two members of Archangel Raphael’s legendary Seven, there is no time to rest. As they investigate a case for the Tower that echoes the darkness from Aodhan’s past, they will be forced to confront not only the scars that mark them both, but the promise of a vast power that flickers in Illium.

The threat of ascension has haunted and troubled Aodhan’s Blue for too long, the forces of change immutable and without mercy...and uncaring of Illium’s fierce wish to remain part of the Seven. Change is a constant in an immortal’s life, and this new horizon will bring with it both terrible heartbreak and a joy extraordinary enough to reverberate through time…

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Archangel's Ascension threw a curve right from the start by being broken into two timelines: "Today" which is actually 700 years in the future, and "Yesterday" which is the present for the series' normal timeline. I admit to a moment of panic when I fiugred that out, but I should have had more faith in one of my favorite authors. The majority of the book takes place in the current timeline, so situation normal.

Aodhan and Illium admitted in their last book that they loved each other and in this book we get to see them trying to figure out what that means. Because despite what they think, both men still have some issues they need to deal with. Together in New York they investigate the murder of a young vampire and his human girlfriend that has some similarities to Aodhan's past. Meaning he has to face that past, and we as readers get to learn some more about it. 

The murder investigation is pretty basic, but does a good job of helping reset a 'situation hopefully normal' and reminding everyone life doesn't need to be all about wars, zombies and other major craziness, but can be about the more day to day concerns as well. And perhaps should be. It also allows Aodhan a chance to consciously fit more into himself in a way he hasn't before. We see him trying to talk to strangers, to allow physical contact with friends. We see both Adi and Ilium talking to others to try and figure out how not to mess up their changing relationship and hurt each other as they grow. There's plenty of angst along the way, perhaps more than is needed, but readers who have been with the series since the beginning and have been cheering the two on will probably be more lenient with the repetition than they would be otherwise.

The title gives away what the "today" section will be about, and on the whole I thought that was really beautifully done. I did cry a bit in a few places, have to admit. You can tell the series is almost wrapped up, and it will be interesting to see if Singh goes back to the present day for the end, or jumps to her new future and shakes things up there.

This sequel to Archangel's Light is what readers have been waiting for- the conclusion of Illium and Aodhan's story.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review 

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