I was recommended this series by a friend, Krista. She recommended this series because she enjoyed it and knew that I like the supernatural romance stuff like the Sookie Stackhouse series.
Turns out the author is from my home town and has placed the action there. Seeing that there are not a lot of books placed in eastern Washington, I was a little interested. While I was unemployed, we took a trip home to visit family and I read the back of the book. OMG! Mercy Tompson is a coyote-shifter VW mechanic that has a crazy assortment of supernatural friends. I debated constantly about buying a book when I was unemployed, but Mercy loved Volkswagens so I restricted it to just the first book.
I did a little searching online and found that the first book had high ratings on most book stores and Amazon. I also remember something about Patricia Briggs being a top author in a Seattle Times article at the beginning of the year. Even if I was not in love with the series, I shouldn’t be sad.
Thank God I got a job, because I quickly needed the next book and bought the entire series.
The series sets-up a world where fae have exposed themselves about ten years prior and other super naturals are still tucked away. Of course there are more sups out there, but they have not come out of the closet yet. With the tech advances, many groups are going to have to expose themselves or risk getting caught when timing is really wrong.
The main character, Mercy Thompson, is a history major turned VW mechanic whom is also a coyote shift changer. Mercy was raised by werewolves in Montana and has a friendly relationship with the local werewolf pack whose Alpha, Adam, lives next door. Best of all, Mercy is a self confident woman that knows who she is and what she can do. Very refreshing!
Due to getting a new job, organizing a HUGE community event and other time sucking adventures, I have not kept up on my blogging. So here is one long post for the entire series…
Moon Called
In Moon Called, Mercy is approached by a young werewolf who asks to work in her shop for cash and food. While Mercy recognizes him as a werewolf, he is oblivious to her super natural position. Just as she is warming up to him, the group he is running from finds him at her shop and all hell breaks loose. She calls on Adam, local werewolf alpha, to sort out the were issues. When she finds Adam being attacked and his daughter, Jesse, kidnapped later that evening, she put him in the car and goes back to Montana for help.
The plot is good and characters go through a lot changes. Mercy is re-introduced to an old flame, Samuel, and is confronted by her attraction to Adam. Of course, top priority is rescuing Jesse and Mercy will break any rule/order to accomplish that mission.
Blood Bound
Mercy’s customer and vampire friend Stephan requests her help dealing with a demonic vampire that is on a killing spree. While Mercy seems to have some immunity to magic, the local werewolves are driven crazy by the demonic vampire. In order to save Adam and Samuel, Mercy goes to drastic measures to stop the vampire.
The tension between Adam and Samuel escalates after Samuel moves in with Mercy. Mercy is still a little upset over what happened when she was 16 so they are re-establishing a friendly relationship. Of course with Adam actively courting Mercy, you can imagine the tension. Not to mention, that Adam is the alpha and Samuel is a more dominate werewolf.
The character development that I enjoyed the best was Mercy this time. Since Mercy was raised by werewolves, she has relatively no idea about her own skills. Mercy leverages her ability to resist magic and see dead people in order to fight the bad guy. Things that used to annoy her get turned into real skill.
Iron Kissed
Zee, Mercy’s former boss and fae friend, finds he needs Mercy’s unique skills to help sniff out another series of murders targeting the fae community. Before Mercy is able to get much information, Zee ends up the target suspect and Mercy fights to save him after the fae community resign to letting him take the fall. The best way to save Zee is the find the real murderer which could be seriously dangerous since he/she has already been successful in killing over six lesser fae.
The exciting news is that Mercy finally makes a decision between Adam and Samuel. I don’t know if I should tell you the result, so I will just say that it was done tastefully and creatively. You’ll just have to read the book to know the details.
The biggest development in this book is within the fae community. Briggs shares more about fae and the mysterious Grey Lords. The murderer seems to be collecting fae artifacts so Mercy has to lean on that history degree to figure out what everything is because the fae are not cooperating. This leads to a better connection with fae characters and I really enjoyed the expansion.
Bone Crossed
This book picks up right after Iron Kissed and has Mercy dealing with the consequences of her actions in Blood Bound. Stephan’s absence in Iron Kissed was due to the vampire queen, Marsilla. She figured out a few more details of how her vampires died and takes her frustration out on Stephan before engaging with Mercy and the werewolf pack. While Adam attempts to work out a peace treaty, Mercy heads up to Spokane to help a college friend deal with a ghost problem. Of course trouble follows and Mercy finds herself in the middle of another vampire fiasco within another vampire fiasco. Trouble clearly follows Mercy no matter where she goes.
Mercy and Adam are finally beginning that romance that had sparked at the very beginning, but Mercy was left devastated by the bad guy in the Iron Kissed leaving her with horrible flash backs. It was so sad and I felt so bad for her. While I never went through the same trauma, I totally understood the emotions and bonded with the character even more.
Silver Borne
The series continues drawing in a few loose ends from Iron Kissed. This time, Mercy is juggling fae issues along with a dangerously depressed Samuel. In Iron Kissed a lesser fae lent Mercy a book and now some bad ass fae decide they want the book. At the same time, Samuel, old friend and roommate, attempts to take his life so his ‘wolf’ side takes over. This is bad because without the human’s will to live, they go feral and have to be put down because of the extreme danger they pose.
The big character/plot development surrounds the unveiling of the ‘pack magic’ and the consequences of Mercy’s reluctance to join the pack earlier. Apparently Adam’s claim on her four years earlier left the pack venerable to attack which created agitation within the werewolf ranks. Now that Mercy has officially joined the pack and accepted Adam as a mate, she understands what no one was telling her over the years. Problem is that pack members are pissed and how far will they go with Adam over the issue?
River Marked
Adam, Jesse and Mercy’s mother surprise her with a wedding after filling her head with crazy wedding scenarios. Quickly after the reception begins, Adam whisks her away to a camping honeymoon along the Columbia Gorge (Biggs area). It doesn’t take long for Mercy to find herself wrapped up another mess, this time with a Native American river monster.
The big character development came from Mercy’s late father. Mercy never new her father because he died before she was even born. We only know that she gets her coyote form from him and his name was Joe Old Coyote. After rescuing an injured man from a drifting boat, Mercy meets several local Indians who lead her down the path of her coyote roots.
I enjoyed this story and I am happy that Adam and Mercy’s relationship continues to grow. I was a bit worried that once they got married, I would loose interest. Not so much! I continue to see the relationship solidify into something that looks better and better. It is refreshing to not have drama born out of relationship troubles.
Overall, I really liked this series and I am happy with my decision to purchase even though I was unemployed. Briggs is fabulous with giving lots of information without a big dump. Loose ends from one novel end up being a base of another novel. It gives a nice over arching bridge to the series. The series was perfect for summer afternoons on the porch.
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