Blood Bound - Review

Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson #2) by Patricia Briggs

Publication date: 30 January 2007 by Ace Roc

ISBN 10/13: 0441014739 | 9780441014736

Category: Adult Urban Fantasy
Keywords: Urban fantasy, vampires, weres, fae, shapeshifter
Format: Hardcover, mass market paperback, eBook

From goodreads:

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.

Thuy's review:

**This review is spoiler free but this book is part of a series. You may not want to skip this review if you haven't read the previous books in the series.**

I have a new love and her name is Mercy Thompson. This series is just so fun and I love all of the characters. Blood Bound pics up a few months after the events of Moon Called. Things have been relatively quiet until Stefan calls in the favor the Mercy owes him. A dangerous creature is on the loose and Stefan needs her help to find out more about him in order to stop him. Mercy is soon neck deep in dangerous vampire business. And when Stefan and some of her friends go missing, head mistress vampire Marsilia, asks Mercy to help. She believes that Mercy's unique powers will help her succeed where others have failed.

This book made me love Mercy even more. She's no super woman. She gets scared and frustrated and is often physically weaker than her opponents, but she deals with it moves on. I love her loyalty and the fact that she will jump in to help her friends, even when it's clear that she has little chance of success. I love her dry humor and sarcastic voice, too.

Things in the Mercy-Adam-Samuel triangle heat up. Samuel kisses Mercy twice! Mercy also has a nice sweaty workout with Adam (yum!) and learns more about the werewolf hierarchy and how it affects her. I am just dying for her to make out with Adam (or more). Briggs also throws another curveball in there with possible romantic interest by Stefan. The series also has some great secondary characters. Warren and Kyle are probably my favorite gay werewolf/human literary couple (not that there are many). They have a real relationship complicated with paranormal issues. We also get more Ben, who fascinates me. I think his whole woman hating jerk persona is a facade to cover something else up - and I want to know what it is! I know he has a heart hiding in there somewhere. I would be so happy if Ben got his own book one day.

Another fantastic read by Patricia Briggs. I am totally hooked on the characters and the world of Mercy Thompson and look forward to reading book 3!

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Visit the author online at www.patriciabriggs.com and follow @Mercys_Garage on Twitter

Moon Called - Review

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson #1) by Patricia Briggs

Publication date: 31 January 2006 by Penguin/Ace Roc

ISBN 10/13: 0441013813 | 978-0441013814 

Category: Adult Urban Fantasy
Keywords: Urban fantasy, vampires, weres, fae, shapeshifter
Format: Hardcover, mass market paperback, eBook

From goodreads:

Werewolves can be dangerous if you get in their way, but they'll leave you alone if you are careful. They are very good at hiding their natures from the human population, but I'm not human. I know them when I meet them, and they know me, too.

Mercy Thompson's sexy next-door neighbor is a werewolf.

She's tinkering with a VW bus at her mechanic shop that happens to belong to a vampire.

But then, Mercy Thompson is not exactly normal herself ... and her connection to the world of things that go bump in the night is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble.

Thuy's review:

Moon Called is the first book in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. Surprisingly, I hadn't heard much about this series until I spotted it earlier this year at the LA Festival of books (at the always awesome Mysterious Galaxy booth).  The covers were eye catching and I decided to give them a chance, and boy, am I glad I did.

Mercy Thompson, coyote shapeshifter and VW mechanic, is living a relatively quite life when runaway werewolf Mac shows up at her garage looking for work. Mercy decides that she can use the extra help while keeping an eye on him at the same time. Unfortunately, trouble follows Mac and all hell breaks loose. Mercy must work with the local werewolf pack, a vampire den and covert military ops to make it right.

I was really surprised by how much I liked Moon Called. Briggs does a great job of drawing a world full of its own unique characters and mythologies. Sure, you have familiar creatures like vampires and werewolves, but Briggs puts her own spin on them. Mercy feels like an old friend, someone you can have a beer and a laugh with.  She also likes to bake a lot, which made me like her even more.  She's a fascinating heroine - independent and stubborn , with a dry sense of humor and sarcastic wit. She's no invincible superhero but she's smart and loyal and manages to hold her own against some very scary creatures. I also love the chemistry  between Mercy and Adam.  There's not much romance happening just yet, but it promises to get steamier as the series goes on. There's a bit of a love triangle going on with Samuel in the picture, but I'm rooting for Adam. 

There are some great supporting characters in the book, too. Mercy's friend, Stefan, happens to be a vampire and a big Scooby Doo fan.  Adam's third in the pack, Warren, is probably the only gay werewolf I've ever met.  He and his boyfriend Kyle are adorable together. Jesse, Adam's human daughter is awesome as well and is funny as only a teenager can be.

There is plenty of action and intrigue to keep the book moving. Things did get confusing at the end with the double crosses and ulterior motives. I admit that I was confused about who was working for whom and what the end game of certain characters were. However, it all ends up working out and I am dying read the next book. This series promises to be a new favorite for me and I have already gone out and purchase the rest of the books in the series. Yes, I am that confident of its awesome-ness. If you haven't tried this series yet, get to it! You won't regret it.

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Visit the author online at www.patriciabriggs.com and follow @Mercys_Garage on Twitter