Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: No Surrender, No Retreat
SERIES: Archangel Chronicles #2
AUTHOR: L.J. LaBarthe
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 256 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 6, 2014
BLURB:
Sequel to No Quarter
Archangel Chronicles: Book 2
Seventy years after it began, the war between angels and demons is over. Archangels Gabriel and Michael reunite at last, but a dangerous new challenge stands in the way of their happiness: someone is kidnapping angels and selling them as trophies on the black market. When Raphael, Archangel of Healing, goes missing, his tearful lover joins with the Brotherhood of Archangels and their lieutenants to rescue him.
Without Raphael’s healing touch, disease spreads quickly through the world’s human population. The situation only worsens when the angel Agrat is kidnapped: the number of sex crimes begins to rise and her husband, Gabriel’s lieutenant, loses himself to his grief. As they mount a rescue mission, Gabriel and Michael’s relationship will be put to the test. With the threat of the world dying around them and tragedy looming overhead, can Gabriel and Michael keep love and hope alive?
REVIEW:
Seventy years after a power hungry man opened several portals to hell, the war between angels and demons is over and the gates have now been sealed. While everyone is anxious to get back to their lives and away from fighting, there is much yet to be done before the earth and the rest of humanity are well. Just as things appear to be winding down, however, Rafael, Archangel of Healing, goes missing. Now it’s a race against time to find him before the world succumbs to the rising disease and the rapid decrease in treatments that work.
Originally I was a little disappointed that I didn’t actually get to witness the war between the angels and demons but I figure with a span of seventy years that would’ve been a book unto itself. 😀 This installment begins right after the war has finished and the last gate to hell has been sealed, leaving the Archangels to wrap things up and try to get back to the lives they were living before the fighting started. The opening of the book was a little on the slower side, which was understandable, as everyone was tired and looking forward to some R&R. Things began to pick up before I was even a third of the way through the book, however, and the rest of the book kept up a good momentum leading up to the final showdown of the story.
One of the things I liked best about this book was getting to see more of the Archangel ‘pairs’ besides Gabriel and Michael; many were mentioned or alluded to in the first book but you get to see the couples together more throughout this story, which was nice. Even better though was how the author connects the stories together between the previous book and this one and now how the third storyline was introduced at the end. While I feel bad that the angels won’t get that much deserved break, the next volume looks to be the most interesting of them so far so I can’t be too sorry. I still find this series to be a unique read and I look forward to continuing it. 🙂 You can find my review of the first book in the series, No Quarter, here.
RATING: 
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