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.

 

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) by Patricia Briggs

I loved this book. Mercy Thompson is an excellent heroine. Her strengths are not defined by her mystical powers as a walker but as an adaptable person with special abilities. Raised by werewolves she understands the inner workings of being part of a pack without the bother of actually having to conform and be pack. It is the readers priviledge to get an inside look at Mercy's knowledge of "others" and things that go bump in the night.

Mercy is an auto mechanic who finds herself deep into a mystery which involves newbie werewolves invading the local alpha's territory, kidnapping, and a handful of vampires (everyone knows vampires cannot be trusted.) So what is a young headstrong woman to do? Get involved. Of course.

What I found completely fasinating about this book was that Briggs created a world that ties together basic "knowledge" of werewolves and vampires and her vision of the otherworld seemlessly. As a reader we get history 101 on werewolves without feeling like we just sat through a boring 8 hour lecture.

The other characters in the book are just as wonderful as Mercy. I can't wait to read more about them in future books.