Patricia Briggs

Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson #9) By: Patricia Briggs

fire-touched

Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson #9) By: Patricia Briggs

Plot:

Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.

Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?

Review:

At this point I’d read these characters doing their laundry and enjoy it. I seriously love Mercy and Adam and the entire bunch. That being said, this book wasn’t as—exciting, I guess, as previous books. Battles were fought, world plots moved forward, but the book didn’t grab me and refuse to let go like they normally do, maybe it’s because I never doubted that Mercy and Adam would figure everything out.

The beginning of the book presented a new problem, that I really wish they’d expounded on, but for the most part they just dealt with the Fae side of things. I wanted more detail, I wanted to know what else to expect. I really just want Adam and Mercy to become the rulers of the Tri-Cities and lord over everyone.

I love this series and couldn’t recommend it more. Unlike other series it hasn’t petered off with age, the characters are still fun, the world still interesting, this book wasn’t weak, it just wasn’t my favorite.

Now, I wait impatiently for the next Patricia Briggs book.

5/5

My 2015 Favorites

Movies:

2015 was not a good year for movies, for me at least. Of course, I’ve yet to see Star Wars so that could certainly change. I gave only two movies 5 stars, Tomorrowland and Mockingjay. I had several 4 stars that I remember very fondly though. Anyway, the following is a list of the movies I enjoyed the most, star ranking be damned.

    1. Tomorrowland– I was not expecting to love this movie as much as I did and I’m so thankful that I rented it. Literally the day after I watched it I went out, bought it, and watched it again. I have it downloaded on all of my devices and will just randomly watch parts of it. I love it and I could easily see this movie becoming one of my all-time favorites
    2. Jurassic World– This movie is another one that I bought, but I haven’t actually watched it yet. Thinking back to the theater I really loved it and I’m excited for more in the franchise like this. Also, Chris Pratt is awesome.
    3. Kingsman: The Secret Service– I think this movie was so great because I wasn’t expecting it. I went in with very little expectations and was pleasantly surprised.
    4. Parallels– I hesitate listing this because, while I liked it, it doesn’t feel complete. I really hope there’s more to come because the world created was very interesting.This was the year of books. I read over 100 books and so many of them were good. I did of course read a couple I absolutely loathed (I’m looking at you Fable: Edge of the World and Murder is Binding) but the majority of what I read I really enjoyed.

Books:

 

    1. Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond– I gave this as a Christmas present, that should really tell you how much I enjoyed it. I can easily see this being the first book in a series I absolutely adore.
    2. Justice Calling by Annie Bellet– This is the first book in the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series and one of my favorite discoveries of the year. Great series and I’m looking forward to reading the most recent installment.
    3. Anything by Jenn McKinlay- I read several McKinlay books this year and I loved almost all of them and the one I didn’t love I still liked. If you’re looking for a cozy mystery I highly recommend anything she’s done. She writes great characters and her stories are light and fairly believable.
    4. Clariel by Garth Nix- Even after all this time Nix stayed true to the world and showed us a great character.
    5. Magic Breaks & Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews- It’s Ilona Andrews, of course these books were amazing.
    6. Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs- Just like Ilona Andrews, Briggs never fails to give me a book I love.
    7. Cinder by Marissa Meyer- Really liked the unique take on fairy tales this series has brought. I haven’t yet read the final installment, but I’m looking forward to it.

TV:

 

I don’t write as many TV blog posts as I should, probably because I watch too much damn TV, but here’s a list of my favorites for the year.

    1. Sense 8 on Netflix– This show suffered some pacing issues, but it didn’t affect how much I loved it. Season 2 can’t come out fast enough.
    2. Marvel’s Agent Carter on ABC– Loved this show. Really loved this show. I want to be Agent Carter when/if I grow up. She’s such a great character and I’m really looking forward to season 2 which starts in January.
    3. Jane the Virgin on CW– When I’m watching this show I’m in freakin love. When I’m not watching this show I can’t really understand why I liked it so much because it sounds so crazy. Every episode delivers and it has continued into the second season, there has been no dip in quality. Highly recommend, more people should be watching this.
    4. Daredevil on Netflix– Episode two has one of the best fight scenes of the year from movies or TV, it was that good.
    5. Jessica Jones on Netflix– I didn’t think it was possible, but this was darker than Daredevil. Not really a huge fan of dark, but they did this very well. I thought Jessica Jones was a realistic portrayal of an abuse victim that happens to have some superpowers. She was rarely likable, but I never hated her, you could always understand why she acted the way she did. Actors were spot on as well, it was freaky seeing Tennant be so evil.
    6. Dark Matter on SyFy– I found this show on Netflix and was pleasantly surprised. It takes a couple episodes to gather steam but when it does it becomes an interesting Sci-Fi tv show. Nice female lead and an interesting story.

 

This has been my 2015 year in review. What did you enjoy most this year?

Dead Heat (Alpha and Omega #4) By: Patricia Briggs

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Dead Heat (Alpha and Omega #4) By: Patricia Briggs

Plot:

For once, mated werewolves Charles and Anna are not traveling because of Charles’s role as his father’s enforcer. This time, their trip to Arizona is purely personal, as Charles plans to buy Anna a horse for her birthday. Or at least it starts out that way… Charles and Anna soon discover that a dangerous Fae being is on the loose, replacing human children with simulacrums. The Fae’s cold war with humanity is about to heat up—and Charles and Anna are in the cross fire.

Review:

I’m sorry, I’m going to try really hard not to just squee like a fan girl, but it will be very difficult because I love Patricia Briggs. She has never let me down and always given me an amazing story with strong (but not too strong) characters.

Dead Heat picks up a while after Fair Game ended, I’m not sure exactly how long. Fair Game ended on such an epic note that I’m actually kind of glad it took a while for the next book to come out, because it gave me time to simmer down. Dead Heat was not quiet on the same scale, but it did involve the FBI and Cantrip agents.

I liked the fact that the Cantrip agents weren’t evil and stupid like they were in Fair Game. I think if they had been the book would have been too dark.

I was concerned, at first, that uber dark was the direction she was going. The series has never been light by any means, but it has never been dark to the point of depression. The story involved the Fae attacking children, which is difficult for me to read, but because other parts weren’t as evil it wasn’t overwhelming.

I did think there was a bit more info than I really needed to know about horses, but not to the point where it will lower my review. Since Briggs is a horse lover it’s understandable that she included the info and since the characters were horse breeders/trainers/etc it wasn’t out of place.

Dead Heat expanded the world and let you know that there was a war going on against the Fae. It also moved the relationship between Anna and Charles further. They’ve been married for about three years and Anna’s biological clock is ticking, Charles being older is more damaged and not sure if kids is a good thing. By the end of the book they had reached a resolution.

I loved this book and I might actually like the Alpha and Omega series more than the Mercy series. They’re both awesome but the relationship between Charles and Anna gives their series an added push.

Now I must wait forever for the next book.

5/5

Priceless (Rylee Adamson #1) By: Shannon Mayer

Priceless

Priceless (Rylee Adamson #1) By: Shannon Mayer

Plot:

“My name is Rylee and I am a Tracker.” When children go missing, and the Humans have no leads, I’m the one they call. I am their last hope in bringing home the lost ones. I salvage what they cannot. I’m on the FBI’s wanted list. I have a werewolf for a pet, a Witch of a best friend, and have no need for anyone else in my life. But when a salvage starts to spin out of control, help comes from a most unexpected direction. One that is dangerously dark, brooding, and doesn’t know a thing about the supernatural. One whose kisses set me on fire.

Review:

Wow! This book is so great and it blindsided me. I’m always looking for something to tide me over until the next Ilona Andrews or Patricia Briggs book comes out, but no matter how many recommendations I get nothing ever measures up. This was as close as I’ve gotten and I’m so freakin happy!

Rylee reminds me of Kate Daniels, she’s not as big a badass, but she’s got that same moral compass and feel to her. O’Shea is definitely not the beast lord but he’s the perfect match for Rylee and I love him already.

Enjoyed all the strays that were picked up along the way and I’m looking forward to learning more about the world.

When I bought this it was $.99 and it is worth so much more than that. As soon as I finished I bought the second one and I am thrilled to see that I have so many books ahead of me to read.

5/5

Mercy Thompson Series By Patricia Briggs

mercy thompson two wall

Books:

Moon Called

Blood Bound

Iron Kissed

Bone Crossed

Silver Borne

River Marked

Frost Burned

Night Broken

Review:

Once I finished Night Broken I had to go back and reread the entire series because I had to. You know?

After rereading the first book I realized it’s the weakest book in the series. There’s a lot of character development and world building and while there is a story it’s not her best by far. There are also some inconsistencies with what is said in it with what takes place in the Alpha and Omega series. She hadn’t written those yet and she probably didn’t have them planned. It’s not a big deal though, at least not to me.

In Blood Bound things pick up a bit but I think it’s in Iron Kissed where the series really takes off. Be warned there is a rape scene, it’s not as graphic as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but it’s there.

Bone Crossed is another vampire book, which personally I think are the weakest in the series, but whatever it’s still good.

Silver Borne finally sees Sam getting some action which makes me happy. He needed someone and you knew from the beginning it wasn’t going to be Mercy no matter what Briggs tried to get you to think.

River Marked was not one of my favorites. It’s Briggs so it wasn’t bad it just didn’t really do much for me. It was more of Mercy taking on a monster that for some reason only she was qualified to do even though she’s weaker than everyone else.

Frost Burned. Hmm. When I first read it I felt let down. It was the first book after Fair Game, an Alpha and Omega book, and I was expecting more. I wasn’t thinking or I would have gone in with better expectations. The Mercy Thompson books are about Mercy and the pack of wolves she is a part of while the Alpha and Omega books have more to do with all werewolves because the leads are a part of the Merrick’s pack. With the most recent reread I enjoyed the book more because I went in knowing what to expect.

Night Broken.

Overall I’d say the series is about a 4.25/5