Archangel’s Ascension- Review
Archangel’s Ascension
By Nalini Singh
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Guild Hunter #17
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: May 6,2025
Source: Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review
Rating: 4.75 Stars
Description:
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…
Review:
I’m not sure how to write this review. I’ve been deep in a Nalini Singh comfort read but that’s been Psy-Changeling so it took a while for me to read my ARC of Archangel’s Ascension. Illium and Aodhan first book, Archangel’s Light, was so beautiful and this book continues that story. I wasn’t expecting the time jump though. This book jumps between post Archangel’s Light and 700 years in the future. In the current timeline, Illium and Aodhan are moving their relationship from a lifetime of friendship into romantic love. It’s not just Aodhan’s past hurts that they have to navigate but also Illium’s abandonment issues. The ways these are handling is so caring and beautiful, my heart smiles even as I cry. And man, did this book make me cry. In the future, we’re faced with the eventual ascension of Illium to archangel and what that means for his relationship with Aodhan and their mutual relationships with the people important to them. The time jump was initially jarring but once it settled, it was just heartbreaking. We were forced to confront what we’ve always known, that the mortals in the series won’t be around forever. In such a long running series, characters like Sara and Deacon are so important and now, we feel Elena’s grief, Illium’s pain over his lost mortal friends. Those scenes really broke me. But we also got heartwarming scenes as the story took us through Illium and Aodhan’s growth as a couple and gave us snippets of other favorite characters in the future. It was a heartbreaking and heart-building story. In the previous book, Archangel’s Lineage, I felt that the series was winding down and Archangel’ Ascension solidifies that feeling (I’ve also heard that the next book is going to be Raphael and Elena’s and that it’s the last book).
One additional thing I want to talk about is the sex scenes in this book. This is… a half door open book for lack of a better description. The door isn’t closed nor is it a fade to black but you can’t see everything. The usual details of a Nalini Singh sex scene aren’t there but the emotion in these scenes do hit hard. I’ve noticed in my Psy-Changeling reread that once you hit the Trinity books, the sex scenes decrease in number. I definitely think the earlier books are way steamier. So while I’m wondering if that is an artistic choice by the author, I also wondering how much of this lack of a fully opened door was because this was the first MM full length book that had sex scenes?
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