Title: No Surrender, No Retreat, 2nd edition
Series: Archangel Chronicles 02
Author: L.J. LaBarthe
Genre: Paranormal, Alternative World
Length: Novel Plus (256pgs)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (25th July 2012)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: 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?
Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4539
Pixie’s Review: This story is part of a series and must be read in order. The war is over between the Angels and Demons and humanity has to pick up the pieces of a world that was torn to pieces. Michael and Gabriel are reunited but it isn’t all perfect, they can’t help humanity without making the situation worse and Raphael is kidnapped which leads to the discovery that other angels have gone missing. As they launch an investigation into the disappearances, Agrat is kidnapped and her bonded begins to lose himself to grief.
This is a well-written story that combines many relationships and hardships with Michael and Gabriel leading the way. Now that the war has ended and the demon Hell portals are closed humanity can begin to pick up the pieces, the angels and archangels help as much as they can but they have limitations. But problems become worse when Raphael is taken and his power is smothered, which leads to healing throughout the world beginning to fail. The other archangels must work together to discover who is kidnapping the angels and to what end, and Michael is made to face the fact that sometimes love strikes everyone, even those that he finds unacceptable.
There is quite a bit going on in this book with Michael thinking that Raphael’s lover is unsuitable, Gabriel dealing with the loss of his children, Raphael disappearing, Israfel unsure if he is good enough for Raphael, all the angels and archangels wondering how they can help mankind and then the investigation into the kidnapped angels. It is quite a good storyline but you don’t get to feel connected to any one character as it jumps from characters to characters so you don’t get to know them that well, even though you do get interested in the storyline you miss out on the characters.
There are some very romantic moments between various characters and some couples are very sweet together in the brief times that we see them together. The storyline is good and the twist was surprising, our angels are being betrayed by someone who was an ally.
I will recommend this to those who love angels and demons, true love, disgruntled archangels, and interesting storyline and a happy ending.
Thommie’s Review: After No Quarter comes No Surrender, No Retreat and I find myself even less satisfied this time around. This second book does not pick up where the first ended; it rather skips the entire chunk of a 70-year war. This was perhaps the biggest disappointment I had, the fact that everything we’d been expecting from book one was skipped. All the epic battle between angels and demons vanished. In its stead there was left yet another sappy romance like tale that was poorly executed and made you shake your head constantly with the inconsistency of the plot.
I will go ahead and point out some of the things that made me give this book such a poor rating. Firstly there was Michael again and his impossible portrayal. That character is so unlikable the way he is depicted; it makes me pity the Archangel for the way he is abused in this read. His pettiness, his childish behavior, and not only Michael. All the Archangels are pretty much surreal in their behavior. They caused me a huge headache with their dialogues and nonsense.
The plot was a mood killer. A war was waged and according to the author changed everything, the world, as we know it is over. The very face of the Earth has changed, yet somehow nothing changed at all. While we’re being told of battles with Archangels’’ powers equal if not more than nuclear power, battles that destroyed the Earth as we now know it, while we’re being told of food forages and people trying to get on their feet, while we’re being told of clear water going low, we read about Archangels going to fast food stores, enjoying things they would the same way before a war happened, pulling water bottles for the ether for their consumption at the site of a mudslide where people are getting dysentery from unclean water and many, many more… The contradiction of the plot was just too much.
Moving on the action side and the basic story of this novel, I have to show my displeasure at the core story. Angels and Archangels are being kidnapped and enslaved, but the Archangels seek help from humans… because they could not find what was wrong by themselves… You have no idea how weak they were shown in this book, it drove me nuts. To top it all, this story would not have a happy ending if it were not for an Archdemon helping the Archangels yet again… I just disliked this, period.
As for the bonded pair of this book, I kept on waiting for the moment Shateiel would go in there and cause havoc in revenge for his Agrat’s kidnapping. What I got left me with my jaw hanging with disbelief. Really, this book killed each and every one of its intense parts/scenes with a slow death.
The erotic/romance part suffered as well. The abuse of power had the text suffer for some foreplay and sensuality. The get myself slicked with a thought and drive home was NOT erotic, neither appealing. The intensity one expects from angel-sex is not born out of writing the words “let’s have some Archangel sex.” on the contrary, that is one cheesy phrase I kept on encountering often. Disappointed cannot begin to describe it. Not to mention the bonding ritual that came right after both Michael and Gabriel witnessed how Shateiel bore his separation with Agrat. I don’t know, it’s like these Archangels don’t have a timeless existence… Plus the info-dump was overwhelming.
To end it all I was troubled by the fact that the author kept saying throughout the read that her characters needed a bit of time off as they keep jumping from one tragedy to the other, practically draining their powers, yet she puts them in another similar situation with Semjaza’s escape right after the angel slavery deal. Yes, we are to read about it when the other installment comes out, but the time pace is just insufferable and at the moment, I’m not even slightly intrigued by the cliffhanger.
Overall, I did not like this book.