Title: Frost Burned
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercedes Thompson #7, Mercy-Verse #19
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Werewolves
Dates read: 28th – 29th January 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Ace Fantasy
Year: 2013
5th sentence, 74th page: “Sweats,” Kyle whispered to me, rolling off the chair like it hurt.

In this #1 New York Times bestseller, author Patricia Briggs “has reached perfection”, as Mercy Thompson faces a shapeshifter’s biggest fear…

After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and her stepdaughter, Jesse, can’t reach Alpha werewolf Adam – or anyone else in the pack, for that matter. They’ve all been abducted.

Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. But she fears his disappearance may be related to the political battle the werewolves have been fighting to gain acceptance from the public – and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outmatched and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely.

I always forget how much I love the books in the Mercedes Thompson world. Actually, I don’t quite forget… I just don’t think that they could possibly be that good. And then I open one, and I don’t know why I don’t just read these books on repeat. (Probably because I have FAR too many other books that I also want to read…. It makes decision making incredibly hard).

Frost Burned is the seventh in the Mercedes Thompson series and takes place after Mercy has finally healed from her… activities… in River Marked. It starts with one of those beautiful moments in which everything seems to be going well. And then it’s not. Which is kind of how all such books end up going. However, unlike most books I’ve read, it kind of seems like the main catastrophe and storyline is over. When the book is only halfway through. That’s when you kind of know that the shit is about to seriously hit the fan.

Ben takes a much more central role in this story than the other stories. And so does Asil. Both characters that I absolutely adore and find completely intriguing. They have intense backgrounds and aren’t what you would traditionally classify as “good”. Which is probably why I like them so much. Their presence in Mercy’s life and the fact that, in spite of all odds, she actually likes them, helps to increase the stakes of what is happening.

Unlike the other books so far in the Mercedes Thompson series, there isn’t one big storyline, per se. Rather than a very clear beginning, middle and end with only one big obstacle to overcome, there are a small handful. It means that instead of the expected highs and lows, this story is more like a rollercoaster. And because of that, all that much more difficult to put down.

Image source: Amazon

Title: River Marked
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercedes Thompson #6, Mercy-verse #17
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Werewolves
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Ace fantasy
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: Figuring out why he’d been mad should have been a lot easier.

Welcome to Patricia Briggs’s world, a place where “witches, vampires, werewolves, and shapeshifters live beside ordinary people”. It takes a very unusual woman to call it home – and there’s no one quite like Mercy.

Getting to the altar wasn’t easy for coyote shifter Mercy Thompson and Alpha werewolf Adam Hauptman. And yet Mercy clings to the hope that their Columbia River honeymoon will be drama-free.

She couldn’t be more wrong.

Being a different breed of shapeshifter – a walker – Mercy can see ghosts, but the spirit of her long-gone father has never visited her. Until now. An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River – and innocent people are dying. As other walkers make their presence knwon to Mercy, she must reconnect with her heritage to exorcise the world of the legend known as the river devil…

In the past Mercedes Thompson books, Mercy’s Native American heritage doesn’t seem that integral. It serves to keep her apart from everyone else, creates her unique powers, but generally it isn’t touched upon. Until River Marked that is. Finally, some of Mercy’s heritage and cultural background begin to come to light. Not being American, I’m not sure how true to the actual experiences of Native Americans Mercy’s are, but I enjoyed the journey nonetheless.

I liked that Coyote plays a big part in this story, as does the Native American devil that is about to bring about the destruction of the world. They play well into what (little) I know of Native American culture and just further build upon the world that Briggs has painstakingly created. It layers the idea of immigration and European-based fae onto the natural magical beings of the Americas. I loved how this story took a completely new turn into the world of Mercy, but also helped to build it further along the same lines. I could only wish to be as adept at such beautiful and complex world building.

Adam and Mercy finally seem to be gaining their “happily ever after”. Yet, as with this entire series (and, really, every good series), that isn’t the case. Mercy’s ability to love and do the right thing, at great cost shine through, as does Adam’s love for her. Although I’ve enjoyed the courtship of these two throughout the rest of the series, it really isn’t until this book that I actually get their relationship. Their support and love for one another, coupled with the respect that they have for each others’ personalities shines like nothing else throughout this story.

And, although I loved visiting the Native American heritage of Mercy, it is the love between Adam and Mercy that shines through most vividly.

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Title: Silver Borne
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercedes Thompson #5, Mercy-verse #15
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Werewolves
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Ace fantasy
Year: 2010
5th sentence, 74th page: Sam wagged his tail, and the police officer straightened up, his face going impersonal and professional.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs brings the extraordinary world of Mercy Thompson to life so vividly that “readers will believe in shapeshifters, fae, and vampires.”

When Mercy Thompson, mechanic and shapeshifter, attempts to return a powerful fae book she previously borrowed in an act of desperation, she finds the bookstore locked up and closed down.

It seems the book contains secrets – and the fae will do just about anything to keep it out of the wrong hands. And if that doesn’t take enough of Mercy’s attention, her friend Samuel is struggling with his wolf side – leaving Mercy to cover for him lest his own father declare Samuel’s life forfeit.

All in all, Mercy has had better days. And if she isn’t careful, she may not have many more…

More of the fae come out to play in Silver Borne, and while Bone Crossed made the vampires look more scary, Silver Borne manages to highlight just how scary the fae can truly be. It helps that it is in this storyline that Mercy fears what she is up against, it makes it that much easier for the readers to feel the same way.

Mercy’s romantic entanglement with Sam is officially at an end, but her new journey with Adam is just beginning. And both situations leave a trail of confusion and trials in their past. Although Sam doesn’t feel that way about Mercy anymore, there is still something missing in his life, which leads to him being completely out of control throughout the majority of this story. There is a sense of his loss, not necessarily in being non-romantic with Mercy, but not having anyone to be in love with, for lack of a better term. The loneliness he feels as Mercy moves onto the next stage of her life leads to some very interesting complications, but there is also something saddeningly familiar about it. Contrastingly, Mercy and Adam seem to be about to start a great new adventure together… if somebody else wasn’t so keen to mess around with it. And that in and of itself leads to far reaching consequences that neither of them could have predicted.

For those people who haven’t had a chance to read the novella Silver, it provides a great backstory into this novel. Not only Ari, one of the fae who is introduced along the way, but also into the history of Sam (and his loneliness) and the thing which Mercy is being forced to protect. Although it isn’t necessary to understand what is happening (I hadn’t read it when I first read Silver Borne), it does make the story, particularly the last challenge a little more understandable. After all, it takes an entire novella to tell the tale that is only briefly introduced and explained in a few paragraphs…

Image source: Goodreads

Title: Bone Crossed
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercedes Thompson #4, Mercy-verse #13
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Werewolves
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Ace fantasy
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: Still, as Warren had said, it is a good thing to know your enemies.

Welcome to Patricia Briggs’s world, a place where “witches, vampires, werewolves, and shapeshifters live beside ordinary people. It takes a very unusual woman to call it home – and there’s no one quite like Mercy Thompson.

As a shapeshifter with some unique talents, ace car mechanic Mercy has had to maintain a tenuous harmony between the human and the not so human within the Tri-Cities of Eastern Washington on more than one occassion. But this time she may be in over her head.

Marsilia, the local Vampire Queen, has learned that Mercty crossed her by slaying a member of her clan. Now she’s out for blood. But since Mercy is protected from the vampire’s direct reprisal by the werewolf pack – and her close relationship with its sexy Alpha – it’s not Mercy’s blood which Marsilia is after…

It’s her friends’.

Although the activities in Iron Kissed were kind of horrifying, it was nice to end on the note that it did. With Mercy making her choice, and starting her life with Adam. The last scene is the very beginning of their courtship, and I remember when I first read Iron Kissed, I actually double checked to make sure that my book wasn’t missing a page. Which is just where Bone Crossed picks up… Mercy and Adam figuring out their completely new relationship. Although, to be fair, very, very, very little of this story is about that… mostly it’s about the fall out from Mercy’s actions in  Blood Bound, with just enough romance and emotional connections to make it heart warming and beautiful.

Bone Crossed also introduces a part of Mercy’s past (not to mention her mother) that hadn’t previously been seen. The return of an old nemesis (of sorts), and promise of a clean getaway from Marsilia’s revenge are, as predicted, dramatic. Mercy is forced to literally jump from the frying pan into the fire. And, although you just know that that is what’s happening, the way in which Briggs goes about it is still surprising. The amount of trouble that Mercy finds herself in, and the quarter from which it comes is spine tingling and enjoyable.

Werewolf politics are thoroughly investigated in the first few books of this series. Even the motivations of the fae are delved into a little, but, it’s only in Bone Crossed that the far reaches of vampire politics begin to be explored. There is something about vampires that is not only more terrifying, but also far more convoluted than anything the werewolves or fae have managed to concoct thus far…. Although, that might just be until the next book….

Image source: SF Reviews

Title: Iron Kissed
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercedes Thompson #3, Mercy-verse #12
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Werewolves
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Ace fantasy
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: The magazines on the bottom shelf had given up any pretense of art – judging by the photos on the covers.

I could smell her fear, and it satisfied something deep inside me that had been writhing under her cool, superior gaze. I curled my upper lip so she could get a good look at my sharp teeth. I might only weigh thirty or so pounds in my coyote shape, but I was a predator…

Mechanic Mercy Thompson can shift her shape – but not her loyalty. When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it’s up to Mercy to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not.

Mercy’s loyalty is under pressure from other directions, too. Werewolves are not known for their patience, and if Mercy can’t decide between the two she cares for, Sam and Adam may make the choice for her…

This is both one of my favourite, and least favourite books. Mostly because of the fact that it features sexual abuse. The very ending of the book makes me cry every single time. Not just because of the horrors that Mercy is forced to face, but also because of the fact that she has an amazing support system. And, that you finally find out what has happened in Ben’s past to make him such a dick.

Where Moon Called was about werewolves, Blood Bound about vampires, Iron Kissed delves deeper into the world of the fae. Zee’s calling in of a favour (much like Stefan’s) leads to a world of pain, and Mercy’s further discovery of the things that truly go bump in the night. I love that there is a lot of well-informed bases upon the lores of the fae. But, Briggs is able to bring it to a modern setting and in a way that makes it almost plausible to believe that the fae could be existing alongside us.

Iron Kissed forces Mercy to not only begin to face her past, but it also forces her to make a choice about her future. Sam and Adam have been vying for her attention since Moon Called, and she needs to make a choice before it all ends in bloodshed. Sometimes a good love triangle is fun in a story, but the fact that Mercy is so quickly forced into a decision in this series, actually is more enjoyable. I loved the fact that she is kind of indecisive, but there is also a lack of the back and forth that is present in a lot of series. Don’t get me wrong, that is fun. But it’s also nice for a romance to start quite early in a series.

Image source: SF Reviews