Of archangels, vampires, and magical human beings

Hey, everybody! How is your January so far? I talked to Nick earlier today and I was like, “Can you believe January is almost over?” Like, what did I even do this month? Time needs to chill the heck out.

Anyway, I started a Twitter thread for my 2018 reads early in the year. So far, I find it real convenient to update on my reading and gush about books in bullet points. No wonder bookish people like doing this kind of threads.

Now for some reading updates/series review:

Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews [★★★★]

Yes, I have jumped on this bandwagon (albeit a little late).

Hidden Legacy is my first venture into urban fantasy, and I’m now clamouring for more! I’ve been hearing so many good things about HL, and I was able to borrow all three books (thanks, Eri!). I finally finished book #3, Wildfire a couple of days ago and just, wow.

I have so many feelings for the characters in this book. Nevada Baylor is strong-willed, feisty, and she has a big heart. I absolutely adore her and her family. I love her dedication to putting food on the table for them. The other members in the Baylor family are also excellent characters on their own: Nevada’s younger sisters Catalina and Arabella are forces of nature and I hope they both get their own spinoff novels, her younger cousins Leon and Bernard are precious I want to adopt them, and Nevada’s veteran mother and grandmother are total badasses. 

I also have a lot of love for Connor “Mad” Rogan, the hero in this series. He can be such an ass sometimes but I love his protective streak, sarcasm, and scary ways. The fact that he’s a billionaire is also a plus, hahahah. The chemistry between Nevada and Rogan are so great *fans self*. I love their dynamics; I love Nevada for standing up to Rogan and telling Rogan point blank that she won't stand for some of his actions (especially when it comes to coddling her to keep her safe) because Rogan is an alpha male whose mind is permanently set to War and Survival mode and sometimes he can be a little unreasonable. His heart is in the right place, but he can be a little overwhelming.

I’m so buying the paperback copies as soon as I have spare money.

Guild Hunter 1-4 by Nalini Singh [★★★★]

I love the UK covers more than the US ones so I decided to display these instead.

This series is also one I heard a lot about, and it’s a little intimidating considering there’s so many books in this series. I finished four main books and a couple of prequel novellas in the past two weeks…I’m hooked. I haven’t read books with angels as characters ever since I finished Susan Ee’s Penryn and the End of Days trilogy, I think? Nalini Singh built a very interesting world where archangels command over vampires and humans, and there is an elite organization of vampire hunters called Guild Hunters to track down rogue vampires (those who breach their contracts with the angels etc.). 

I’m super into the romance between Elena, one of the best Guild Hunters, and (super hot, super scary) archangel Raphael. The first book is full of tension between them, and book 2 and 3 are them basically being a power couple. Book 4 is about Dmitri, a vampire and Raphael’s right-hand man (right-hand vamp?). 

I’m currently reading Book 5 which is about an angel named Jason, who’s a part of Raphael’s circle of trustworthy companions. It’s quite angsty so far because Jason’s a broody sort… 

Please be warned that this series has a lot of violence: torture, murder, decapitation (surprisingly a lot), and book 4 has descriptions of rape that might be triggering.

I’ve been so busy reading books from these two series that I’ve been neglecting my January ARCs, LOL. 

Until next time!

Read any good romances lately? Have you read these books? 

Tell me in the comments!