Fantasy Dreamer's Ramblings

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
Mercy Thompson Series: Book 3
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Year: 2008
Author's Website
Read Chapter 1

Book Blurb:

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 cares for, Sam and Adam may make the choice for her...

To be honest, when I read the book blurb on Iron Kiss, I wasn't too excited about the story being centered around the fae. I felt this way, because so far in the previous books, they really didn't seem too interesting to me other than wondering who the Gray Lords were. Boy, was I wrong! I was pulled into the story in the very first chapter.

Iron Kissed picks up about a month after Blood Bound ends. Mercy is pretty much on her own throughout her investigation into clearing Zee, her former boss and good friend, of a murder charge because the fae are willing to let him be the fall guy, so the humans don't start nosing around fae business. The vampires are mostly non-existent in this book other than a few thoughts that Mercy has about them here and there. The werewolves are all on edge because the situation between Mercy, Adam and Samuel has reach its boiling point, she needs to choose one now or things are going to get nasty around the werewolves.

Like all the previous books in this series, this book moves at fast pace with a ton of action and mystery building while keeping the characters and the world they live in believable. Mercy stays true to her character of being "Miss Independence" with a lot of tenacity, which just endears me even more to her. The following excerpt, just about perfectly sums up Mercy's habit of finding trouble, it is a conversation between Mercy and Samuel.

The first thing Samuel said was, "You have a real gift for getting into trouble, don't you? That was one thing I forgot when you left the pack."

"How is any of this my fault?" I asked hotly.

He sighed. "I don't know. Does it matter whose fault it is once you're sitting in the middle of the frying pan?" He gave me a despairing look. "And as my father used to point out, you find your way into that frying pan way too often for it to purely accidental."

The end of this book was a real roller coaster ride of emotions, that left me with a bittersweet feeling, actually thinking of the end right now, has me getting all choked up and teary-eyed again. I need to hurry on to next book, Bone Crossed because now I am addicted to the Mercy Thompson series and I need my fix.

Mercy Thompson Series - Reading Order:

1. Moon Called - My Review
   
2. Blood Bound - My Review
   
3. Iron Kissed
4. Bone Crossed
5. Silver Borne - Feb. 2010
   

---

Other Reviews:
Fantasy Cafe
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
The Way I See It

---

Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs
Mercy Thompson Series: Book 2
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Year: 2007
Author's Website
Read Chapter 1

Blood Bound picks up six months after Moon Called, the first book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. At the ungodly hour of 3:15 in the morning, Stefan calls Mercy for a favor. Mercy still owes Stefan for helping when Alpha's daughter had been kidnapped, so she agrees, although she is grumpy about the time. But what other time could a vampire call you, right? Stefan wants Mercy to accompany him to a meeting he is having with an out of town vampire. He wants her to only witness the meeting and stay uninvolved, no matter what transpires, in her coyote form. Stefan asked for this particular favor because Mercy is a walker, which means she is resistant to vampire magic.

When Mercy and Stefan arrive at the hotel, where the meeting is to take place, Mercy can smell the other vampire and a lot of blood but she also smells something she can't identify. She soon discovers what the unfamiliar smell is, a vampire possessed by a demon.

Blood Bound is mainly centered around the vampires, learning more about the vampire culture in Mercy's world. The werewolves are still very much in the picture and a very big role in Mercy's life. The sexual tension goes up several knots between Mercy and Adam, and to make things even more complicated for Mercy, it also does with Mercy and Samuel.

I really like that the vampires, werewolves and other supernatural creatures in these books are not glamorized and near perfect. The vampires are very scary, to the point of being inhumane, with the exception of Stefan. Stefan seems to have retain some of his humanity. The werewolves are just as territorial as they near kin the wolves, with short tempers to boot, so those around them are always on their toes. I also admire how Mercy displays good old fashion bravery with a sense of what's right and wrong, even in the gray areas. I can't recommend this series enough! Love, love it!

Mercy Thompson Series - Reading Order:

1. Moon Called - My Review
   
2. Blood Bound
3. Iron Kissed
4. Bone Crossed
5. Silver Borne - Feb. 2010
   

---

Other Reviews:
CheriePie's Books
Fantasy Cafe
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
Preternatural Reviews
The Way I See It

---

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Mercy Thompson Series: Book 1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Year: 2006
Author's Website
Read Chapter 1

Mercy (short for Mercedes) Thompson is not your average girl. She is an auto mechanic, running her own garage, and she is a walker. She was born with the ability to shift into a coyote. Mercy's doesn't really know much about what she is but she does know that she is rare and there aren't many like her around.

Mercy tries to lead quiet life in the small town of Tri-Cities, Washington but it doesn't quite work out that way. For one, her next door neighbor, Adam, is the alpha leader of the local werewolf pack, the VW van she's working on belongs to Stepan, a vampire and she bought her garage from her former boss Zee, who is fae. Zee sold her his garage after the fae had come out to the rest of the world because some of the humans were having a hard time adjusting to the fact that the fae existed. But the humans do not know about the werewolves, vampires or those like Mercy and they would like to keep it that way.

Mystery and suspicions arise when a young, newly turned werewolf, who reluctantly gives the name Mac, shows up at Mercy's shop looking for temporary work. She knows Mac's a werewolf because she can smell the werewolf in him through her enhanced senses. After Mercy, against her better judgment, gives the boy a job, a group of humans and a half-crazed werewolf show up, they try to kidnap the boy. Then shortly there after, Adam is injured and his daughter is kidnapped. Mercy finds herself going to Montana, back to the werewolf pack she grew up in, for help with Adam's injuries and hopefully answers to some disturbing questions. Problem with this is, she left years ago under unhappy circumstances.

I have no idea why I waited so long to start reading this series, but I am so glad I did. I am now officially a Mercy Thompson fan girl. The story had my attention from the very beginning, I can honestly say, there is not a dull moment in this book. Moon Called had me reading until the early morning hours, not caring I needed to go to sleep because I had work the next day. It is a very smooth flowing story with plenty of action and suspense, involving the supernatural. Mercy is a believable and admirable heroine with a lot sass and spunk, not to mention smart with good instincts. The romance is very light in this book, but Mercy has a couple of possible love interests. This series has made it's way to my auto-buy list. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a book based around a strong heroine in the supernatural world.

Mercy Thompson Series - Reading Order:

1. Moon Called
2. Blood Bound
3. Iron Kissed
4. Bone Crossed
5. Silver Borne - Feb. 2010
   

---

Other Reviews:
Fantasy Cafe
J. Kaye's Book Blog
Preternatural Reviews
The Way I See It

---