Archangel's Viper by Nalini Singh - Book Review

*I received this book from the Publisher via NetGalley. As always, I only ever write my true thoughts and feelings* 

Archangel's Viper by Nalini Singh
Publication date: September 26, 2017
My rating: 2.5 stars

I'm surprised.
No, scratch that, I'm shocked.
That I didn't love this book.

It wasn't the safest way to drive, but Holly was very careful not to put anyone else in danger. Only herself. Yes, she needed therapy. 

Archangel's Viper is the 10th book in the NA/Adult paranormal series by Nalini Sigh Guild Hunter.

I read the first book - Angels' Blood - in February 2015 (thanks for keeping track on me, Goodreads!) and fell in love with the characters and that world.

Because if you think paranormal can't surprise you anymore, if you think you've seen in all, if you think there's no way a story about angels and vampires can be any less that cliche... well, just read Guild Hunter and prove it wrong. Because trust me, this series is intense, dark, gritty, filled with monsters, romance, and a fantastically well-developed cast of characters. 

I also highly recommend it for any of you out there who read and loved the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas.
As I recently read - and absolutely loved - the series myself, I can honestly say that if you're a fan of Guild Hunter or a fan of ACOTAR, there's a very high chance you'll love the other one as well (: 

My only warning is that this book does contain explicit scenes of violence, language, and sexual content (to the extent ACOTAR does, I would say). It does not overtake the whole book but it is there.
I won't consider it an erotica book. It is very much paranormal romance fantasy. But this is just my take on the story. 

Last year I was lucky enough to receive the 9th book through NetGalley (review here), and this year I was lucky enough again to receive the 10th book in this favorite series of mine. 

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.
By which I mean, I didn't end up loving it.
Which is why I'm surprised-shocked, since the two characters the story is about are ones I've been dying to read about for a long time now.   

What could have been an amazing story of chemistry and romance with kickass vampire battle scenes, quickly turned out to be... not. Not even close. 

"It's been said that once you go Venom, you never go back."

The two characters started off as "hating" each other (even while it was pretty obvious they were somewhat attracted to each other). "Hate-to-love" relationships are one of my faves - I just love seeing them go from enemies to friends to something more to love. 

In this case, however, it was something more like this: enemies - enemies with benefits - 
You get the idea. It was done so rashly and weirdly and unexpectedly I had no idea what to think. 

You can't tell me they hate each other and they don't know anything about each other for 60% of the book and only then start to get them physically and romantically involved. 
Hello? Where is the progress here? How can I feel for them if I haven't even seen them do something remotely progressive in their "relationship". 

Her mind flashed to that... thing with Vanom last night, when she'd gone full weirdo crazy on him - and he laughed. Because he was nuts, too. 

There was no chemistry - which is insane because you could practically FEEL the chemistry crackling in the air around them every time we saw them in all the other books. But when it comes to their book? We are repeatedly told about how explosive those two are together. I don't want to be told that, I want to feel it. 

Romance aside (although this is a romance story more than anything else), the overall plot of the story felt somewhat boring. 

I feel bad for butchering this book. I really did desperately want to love it.
And I'm not yet done with the Guild Hunter series. I plan to keep on reading the next books to come. So yes, the last two books weren't all that great. But hey, it happens, especially in a large series like this one.
Looking forward to the next one. 

SVRCINA ft. Tommee Profitt - Tomorrow We Fight

She'd come here to try to get her head on straight but it didn't seem to be working. All she could think about was whether ducks had dreams.  

-- Angel's Blood, Nalini Singh