Book Minx

This anthology consists of four short stories set in Singh's Guild Hunter universe. I skipped Angel's Judgment since I had already read it in Must Love Hellhounds.

Angel's Wolf: 3.5

Nimra, the angel of Louisiana, discovers that she may have a traitor in her court after a cats dies from drinking an iced tea originally meant for her. Noel, the vampire who was tortured in Archangel's Blade, is sent to help her uncover the would-be murderer. Noel is still pretty screwed up from a brutal torture and is under the assumption that he's being sent down to Louisiana because he's broken. So, when he arrives at Nimra's court he's not the most pleasant person to be around.

Noel was a pretty fascinating character and I loved watching him work through his issues. However, his relationship with Nimra didn't work well for me. I had a hard time believing the attraction between them. It didn't help that I found Nimra a little boring. She was a little too much of a sad-sack for me to get into her character. I felt for what she went through and how the years have started to catch up with her, but I got tired of her constant depression. Even though it was refreshing to see a female angel in a position of power who wasn't bat-shit crazy. All in all, this was good short story but I wouldn't be in any rush to re-read it.

Angel's Pawn: 4

I think this was the shortest story in the anthology, but it was also one of the best. However, it doesn't have the traditional HEA the others do, but hopefully that just means that we'll eventually get a full book for Ashwini and Janvier.

If you've been reading the series, you'll recognize the characters Ashwini and Janvier since their odd relationship tends to occasionally get mentioned. Janvier is a Cajun vampire who drives Ashwini crazy by intentionally breaking his contracts, so she's forced to hunt him down in the swamps. Then, just to piss her off, he typically turns himself in to the angel he offended after leading her on a merry chase.

As the story starts in this one, their circumstances have changed a bit. Instead of hunting him down because of a broken contract, Ashwini has come to Janvier to ask for back-up in dealing with an angel who has specifically requested her help. This was a really great introduction to the characters and their relationship, but I wanted more... in a good way. Ashwini has some pretty powerful psychic abilities and the implications of that power was pretty intriguing. My only complaint is that Ashwini reminded me a little too much of Elena, both with the hints of her past and her attitude. So hopefully, if these two do eventually get their own book, Ms. Singh makes some strives to differentiate the two characters.

Angel's Dance: 4.5

This one follows the two angels, Jessamy & Galen. Jessamy has never been able to fly under her own power due to a deformed wing. Because of this, she has never left Refuge (basically a sanctuary for angels). She has also given up the hope of finding a mate, since most of the angels around her were once kids she taught. That is until Galen appears and immediately sets his sights on her.

Angel's Dance was the best story in this anthology, which, in part, might be because it had the most page time. (Banking a little over 100 pages.) So both Jessamy and Galen were able to be fleshed out and their romance had more time to evolve. However, I think most of my enjoyment came from seeing a relationship centered around two angels, which is a first for Singh.

I loved how even the dynamics in their relationship was since they were both on the same footing. This also let us see a softer view of the angel culture since there was no power plays or moral conflicts between a human and angel pairing going on. Instead, the majority of the conflict here centered on Jessamy's reluctance to get into a relationship with Galen, as she believed that due to her "deformity" she would hold him back. So this was a nice slow-burning romance.

Side note: This one left me really wanting to see Keir, the angelic healer, get his own story.