River Marked by Patricia Briggs

Title: River Marked
Author: Patricia Briggs
Narrator: Lorelei King
Series: #6 in the Mercy Thompson series
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group (March 1, 2011)
Source: Library Find
Rating: ☕☕☕1/2

Synopsis: Car mechanic Mercy Thompson has always known there was something different about her, and not just the way she can make a VW engine sit up and beg. Mercy is a shapeshifter, a talent she inherited from her long-gone father. She’s never known any others of her kind. Until now.

An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River—one that her father’s people may know something about. And to have any hope of surviving, Mercy and her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will need their help…

My Thoughts: I really wanted to like this more than I did.

The Good, The Bad, and Everything in the Middle: So there were some really good things about this book. I complained (just a tad) about the lack of progression in Mercy and Adam's relationship so I'm really happy there was a wedding in this one and a honeymoon in this one. The wedding was over pretty quickly but it was so sweet and then the honeymoon starts. Where else would a werewolf take a coyote walker for a honeymoon but camping. I thought this was perfect but then I have a love of camper camping (don't give me a sleeping bag and a tent Hells no).

Of course Mercy finds trouble while camping...or rather trouble finds her. I loved the setting as they visited Multnomah Falls which I was lucky enough to visit in the 90's and would love to go back. It's so beautiful and seeing recognizable landmarks is fun as well.

Multnomah Falls

Despite the forward movement in the romance I'm just really surprised all the sexy parts happened behind closed doors. Is this new to the series or has it always been this way and I just never noticed until I powered through the Kate Daniels book and witnessed an amazingly passionate relationship? I am not one for sex scene after sex scene but I need more than just talking about their passion. I want to see it too.

I think the highlight of this book was our learning about Mercy's heritage and the American Indian lore. Sure we all knew she was part Native American but we got to meet her father, Coyote, and also meet several new characters to the series all deeply rooted in the Native lore. I really liked this but much of it was explained in dialogue I had a hard time keeping it straight. At one point Coyote was her father but yet he wasn't and in the past he was Joe Coyote but wasn't as well. Even Mercy had a tough time keeping up.

Although the pack was all but missing through this whole book, not to mention Zee, Gabriel, Samuel, etc., I did like the addition of Stephan's plot at the beginning and the end because I kind of like him...a lot. There will be more of him and Coyote because there is history there folks!

I listened to this book on audio and once again Lorelei King was a great narrator. I love everything she does but I'm currently knee deep in 2 UF series she narrates with 2 completely different protagonists. And to complicate that I just finished  the first book in a new series by Darynda Jones which Lorelei also reads. She's Mercy. She's Charley Davidson. She's Stephanie Plum. And now she's Sunshine Vicram but that is for another post.....

In a Nutshell: I'm so far invested into this series to give it up now. I'm hoping they get back to giving me some major book love like I had when I started this series. If you're new to this series don't start with this one....go back and pick up Moon Called and go from there.

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

Title: Silver Borne
Author: Patricia Briggs
Narrator: Lorelei King
Series: #5 in the Mercy Thompson series
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Penguin Audio (March 30, 2010)
Source: Library Find
Rating: ☕☕☕☕

Synopsis: Mercy Thompson, car mechanic and shapeshifter, never knows what the day - or night - may bring in a world where "witches, vampires, werewolves, and shapeshifters live beside ordinary people" (Booklist). But she is about to learn that while some secrets are dangerous whose who seek them are just plain deadly...

Mercy is smart enough to realize that when it comes to the magical fae, the less you know, the better. But you can't always get what you want. When she attempts to return a powerful fae 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...

My Thoughts: Another good installment of the Mercy Thompson series. I bought the e-book but chose to borrow the audio from the library. I love listening to Lorelei King and tend to enjoy everything she narrates.

The Good: While I really like Mercy I really think, for me anyway, Samuel's storyline stole the show for me. What a turn of events and I liked the notable difference in characteristics between Samuel and Sam, his wolf. Although there was not a large forward movement in Mercy and Adam's relationship I did like the information we learned about the pack/mate bond between them. I just hope Mercy and Adam become an epic couple like Kate and Curran. They have all the chemistry. I'm just hoping Briggs does them justice.

The Bad: Why are almost all the women in this series proving to be bitches? Mercy is the only one who seems consistent in character. Sylvia, Auriele, Mary Jo...yes even Mary Jo who should be a little bit more courteous since Mercy saved her life in the last book. As I mentioned earlier I did think Samuel's story took more of my attention than Mercy's did but I am not sure about the way his reason for, well, being can about. I don't want to give too much away but it felt very quickly wrapped up for a major storyline.

In a Nutshell: I still love this series and will definitely listen to the next one. I wouldn't recommend this book to newbies to the series as there are incidents that have happened in previous books that are not only mentioned in this one but understanding Adam and Mercy's tiptoeing around their relationship will make more sense if the books are read in order.

Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

Synopsis: Under the rule of science, there are no witch burnings allowed, no water trials or public lynchings. In return, the average law-abiding, solid citizen has little to worry about from the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes I wish I was an average citizen...

Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places-and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind.

But this new vampire is hardly ordinary-and neither is the demon inside of him

My Thoughts:It's been a long time since I read the first book in the Mercy Thompson series and I was afraid I'd be lost. I was able to just pick up where I left off pretty easily except some of the secondary characters just didn't ring a bell with me.

What I liked :Mercy. Although she's preternatural, she was not super-human. She was quicker than a human but if someone punched her, it hurt her. Unlike some other paranormal characters, who could get beat within an inch of their lives and still walk to the local pub for a pint afterwards. I also liked some of the secondary characters. Stefan is such an interesting character and one I'd like to see more of. Adam and Samuel are also pluses but they didn't intrigue me as much as Stefan did.

What I didn't like: The love....um double triangle? We have Mercy and Samuel. Mercy and Adam. And the possibility of Mercy and Stefan (he cares for Mercy, in my eyes, more than just a friend.) I don't care for love triangles let alone something this complex. Another thing I'm not loving is all the dominance being thrown around with the werewolves. The all seem to want to dominate Mercy. I understand their need to protect but there is a lot of subservience going on that I have a hard time going a long with no matter how much Briggs explains it. Another negative was that I was surprised by all the new world building that happened in this book. By book 2 we've already established general rules and such but this book focused on vampires. There were a lot of vampire rules. At times I felt there was almost too much information coming my way and the term "info dump" kept sneaking into my brain while reading. Oh and what is up with the cover? Mercy has one tattoo. ONE. Why does she have tons on the cover?

In a Nutshell: Not quite as enjoyable as the first one especially with an unexpected info dump which usually doesn't happen in a second book. However, Briggs has created some really good characters. It will be fun to see where they go from there.