Review: Howling For You by Chloe Neill

Title: Howling For You
Series: Chicagoland Vampires, Book 8.5
Author: Chloe Neill
Publisher: New American Library (NAL)
Length: Approx. 88 Pages
Publication Date: January 7, 2014
Available Format: Kindle Edition, eBook
Source: Bought
My Rating: ★★★½☆☆
Get it @: Amazon | Goodreads

Book Description:

Jeff Christopher is a shapeshifter and ally of Chicago’s Cadogan House of vampires—he’s also a tech whiz and mostly-legal hacker. And the only protective shields he’s never been able to find a way around are those of the powerful Keene Family.

For a long time, Jeff has only had eyes for the beautiful Fallon Keene. Unfortunately, she is the only sister of the lethal North American Central Pack Apex Gabriel Keene. The intricate balances of power and politics make it all but impossible for Fallon to trust her feelings.

But fate takes a hand when the Pack’s totem is stolen—threatening the Keene family’s rule—and Fallon enlists Jeff’s help to retrieve it before the Pack is thrown into chaos. Can she and Jeff find the totem, and restore order, before it’s too late? And will Jeff finally be able to prove himself to the only person he truly loves?

First off, the short story comes with a two-chapter preview of the next Chicagoland Vampires, Wild Things, which comes out on February 4, 2014. Honestly, I love that sneak peak, I can't wait to read another Merrit and Ethan story.

Now the review...

I have mix feelings about this short story. On one side I love the chance to learn more about the shifters in the Chicagoland Vampire series, on the other I had a small problem with part of the resolution.

In the end I liked the story, I wish it was longer. Is very sweet and straight to the point. I'm curious to see how this particular plot line develops in the next books on the series.

MAJOR SPOILER COMING, READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION. 

You've been officially warned. 

Review: Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh

Title: Archangel’s Blade
Series: Guild Hunter, Book 4
Author: Nalini Singh
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Length: 643 KB (Aprox 321 Pages)
Publication Date: September 6, 2011
Available Formats: Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audiobook, eBook
Source: Bought
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
Get it @: Amazon | Book Depository

Book Description:

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux and her lover, the lethally beautiful archangel Raphael, have returned home to New York only to face an uncompromising new evil…

A vampire has attacked a girls’ school—the assault one of sheer, vicious madness—and it is only the first act. Rampant bloodlust takes vampire after vampire, threatening to make the streets run with blood. Then Raphael himself begins to show signs of an uncontrolled rage, as inexplicable storms darken the city skyline and the earth itself shudders.

The omens are suddenly terrifyingly clear.

An ancient and malevolent immortal is rising. The violent winds whisper her name: Caliane. She has returned to reclaim her son, Raphael. Only one thing stands in her way: Elena, the consort who must be destroyed…

Honor strength, as a lead character, comes from sheer survival instincts. She was abused beyond recognition and now bores the vestiges from the trauma. At the beginning of the story Dmitri aptly calls her a rabbit because that is how she is portrayed, skittish and nervous. As the storyline progresses she begins to believe in herself and to pick up the pieces of who she used to be before the incident, slowly stepping into the heroine role. She’s a likable character who’s maternal instincts and soft nature contrasts greatly with Dmitri’s ruthlessness.

Review: Archangel's Consort by Nalini Singh

Title: Archangel’s Consort
Series: Guild Hunter, Book 3
Author: Nalini Singh
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Length: 656 KB (Aprox. 337 Pages)
Publication Date: January 25, 2011
Available Formats: Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audiobook, eBook
Source: Bought
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Get it @: Amazon | Book Depository

Book Description:

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux and her lover, the lethally beautiful archangel Raphael, have returned home to New York only to face an uncompromising new evil…

A vampire has attacked a girls’ school—the assault one of sheer, vicious madness—and it is only the first act. Rampant bloodlust takes vampire after vampire, threatening to make the streets run with blood. Then Raphael himself begins to show signs of an uncontrolled rage, as inexplicable storms darken the city skyline and the earth itself shudders.

The omens are suddenly terrifyingly clear.

An ancient and malevolent immortal is rising. The violent winds whisper her name: Caliane. She has returned to reclaim her son, Raphael. Only one thing stands in her way: Elena, the consort who must be destroyed…

Archangel’s Consort picks up a few weeks after the events in Archangel’s Kiss. Elena and Raphael are finally back in New York City, but the place no longer feels like home for Elena. She not only needs to deal with the constant harassment from news crews and the average onlookers, she also has to deal with her gem of a father (please note the sarcasm). Raphael fares no better, having a few vampires fully giving in to their desires thinking that Raphael is dead and won’t punished them. And because things cannot just be peaceful around this two, the very fabric of the world is threatened when all the disrupting signs point to an archangels awakening. But not just any archangel, one of the Ancients, a being so old that even Lijuan might not be enough of a match.

Review: Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh

Title: Archangel’s Kiss
Series: Guild Hunter, Book 2
Author: Nalini Singh
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Length: 685 KB (Aprox. 340 Pages)
Publication Date: February 2, 2010
Reviewed Format: Kindle Edition, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback, Audiobook, eBook.
Source: Bought
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Get it @: Amazon | Book Depository

Book Description:

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux wakes from a year-long coma to find herself changed—an angel with wings the colors of midnight and dawn—but her fragile body needs time to heal before she can take flight. Her lover, the stunningly dangerous archangel Raphael, is used to being in control—even when it comes to the woman he considers his own. But Elena has never done well with authority…

They’ve barely begun to understand each other when Raphael receives an invitation to a ball from the archangel Lijuan. To refuse would be a sign of fatal weakness, so Raphael must ready Elena for the flight to Beijing—and to the nightmare that awaits them there. Ancient and without conscience, Lijuan holds a power that lies with the dead. And she has organized the most perfect and most vicious of welcomes for Elena…

The story opens with Elena trying to adapt to her new wings and new lifestyle. After spending a year in a coma as a result of both her near death and Raphael’s kiss that turned her, she most learn to retrain her body and her new feathery appendages. She also needs to catch up in her history and learn the rules that govern the angelic culture. But just because she is at the Refuge, a place –like the name implies– that is sacred to all angels, doesn’t mean that life and political machinations won’t try to destroy her.

Review: Angels' Blood by Nalini Singh

Title: Angels’ Blood
Series: Guild Hunter, Book 1
Author: Nalini Singh
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Length: 339 Pages
Publication Date: March 3, 2009
Reviewed Format: Paperback, Mass Market Paperback, Kindle Edition, eBook, Audiobook.
Source: Won as a Giveaway Prize
My Rating: ★★★★★
Get it @: Amazon | Book Depository

Book Description:

Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux knows she is the best —but she does not know if even she is good enough for this job. Hired by the dangerously beautiful archangel Raphael, a being so lethal that no mortal wants his attention, Elena knows failure is not an option— even if the task is impossible.

Because this time, it's not a wayward vamp she has to track. It's an archangel gone bad.

The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other—and pull her to the razor's edge of passion. Even if the hunt does not destroy her, succumbing to Raphael’s seductive touch just might. For when archangels play, mortals break...

This series had been recommended to me so many times already that I honestly lost track. Then I joined Gotta Have Paranormal with a Kick: Vets VS Newbies Reading Challenge and my partner, Vet Angela (yup, I’m the newbie of the duo) chose Angels’ Blood for me. I cannot thank her enough! There are few series that I get hooked on like “can’t stop reading.” It happened when I discovered Night Huntress by Jeaniene Frost, Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward, The Midnight Breed by Lara Adrian, The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning, and it just happened again with Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter, who would have thought that ethereal beings such as angels could be so devastatingly hot!