Thursday, March 10, 2016

Review: Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs

Fire Touched
Release Date: March 8, 2016
Publisher: Ace
ISBN:  0425256766
ISBN13: 9780425256763
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source:  NetGalley

Mercy Thompson has been hailed as “a heroine who continues to grow and yet always remains true to herself.”* Now she’s back, and she’ll soon discover that when the fae stalk the human world, it’s the children who suffer...

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?

With a ton of action, plenty of drama and our favorite coyote shifter, FIRE TOUCHED brings us back to the Mercy Thompson world with a bang.


Mercy continues to grow as a character with each installment. She is loyal, strong, and willing to get her hands dirty. FIRE TOUCHED tests all of those traits and she stuck to her convictions to the end. Mercy and Adam's relationship continues to grow and strengthen in FIRE TOUCHED. I love that Adam knows that Mercy can protect and stick up for herself, but will still do it for her when needed.

Let's talk about a few of the secondary characters that really stuck with me in book nine. Bran really disappointed me in FIRE TOUCHED. I always thought he would be there for Mercy, but he totally let her down. I understood his decision as the Marrok, but their relationship took a bit of a hit and I don't know how his decision will affect the future of  Mercy and Adam's pack. There is yet another character introduced in FIRE TOUCHED that becomes part of the pack. Not only is this character NOT a wolf, but the pack offering him protection causes problems with the Fae and they still protect him. I LOVE that about the pack! I wasn't so sure about Aiden when he was first introduced, but by the end of the book, he fit right into the pack and I can't imagine him not being a part of their future.

I really enjoyed the plot in FIRE TOUCHED and didn't want to stop reading. The author continues to surprise and shock me in the best ways. We already know so much about the world, but it still continues to grow. A lot changed in FIRE TOUCHED and the pack will need to unite as one to get through what is to come. I look forward to seeing how they accomplish it.

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Cover Reveal: Bound by Carmen Fox

Bound
The Silverton Chronicles #2
Date of Publication: April 30, 2016

Bound by blood. Bound by loyalties. Bound by love.

Florian has it all: excellent fashion sense, a kickass job with his best friend, and a hard-won place among Silverton’s werewolves. When a pack of females pads into their territory, Flo’s alpha dispatches him to handle a merger. Total cakewalk. Except Keely, their alpha, has no intention of submitting her wolves to Flo's larger pack. Worse, a single glance from her baby blues sends his eloquence on vacation and his heartbeat into overdrive. His flirtations seem welcome too, but there's a snag. She doesn’t know he’s a vampire.

While Flo struggles with his conflicts—obey his alpha, or win over Keely—his estranged sire blasts into town with a catalog of radical ideas. And hanging out with unsophisticated werewolves didn't make the list.

With violence in the air and all sides testing his loyalties, Florian must bite back, even if showing his fangs costs him the girl.

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Carmen lives in the south of England with her beloved tea maker and a stuffed sheep called Fergus. An avid reader since childhood, she caught the writing bug when her Nana asked her to write a story. She also has a law degree, studied physics for a few years, dabbled in marketing and human resources, and speaks native-level German and fluent Geek. Her preferred niches of geekdom are tabletop games, comics, sci-fi and fantasy.

She writes about smart women with sassitude, about pretty cool guys too, and will chase that plot twist, no matter how elusive.

Guarded (The Silverton Chronicles – Bk. 1) became a no. 1 bestseller in the vampire and werewolf mystery categories.

For details on this or Carmen's other work, visit her website at
www.carmen-fox.com