Publisher:  ACE
Release Date: First published March 11,2014 / Audio unabridged edition released by Penguin Audio on March 11, 2014
Format: MP3 Audio
Pages: 341 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 10 hours
Narrator: Lorelei King
Source: Library Borrow via Overdrive
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Date: August 13, 2014
Rating: 5 bookmarks

Synopsis: An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from her new boyfriend. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right.

Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.

Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s ex is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.(

Night Broken has you in for a nonstop ride of emotions.  Tons of action, witty banter, eye rolling moments, heart felt moments and a little heat on the side.     

Adams ex-wife Christy is the worst. The B...yes, I called her a B and I'm sure you know what that stands for - is outrageous.  Mercy is a saint to deal with that hot mess and protect the woman on top of it! In true Christy fashion, she runs to Adam looking for a place to hide out and get protection against a stalker/killer that's hunting her down. Unfortunately for everyone involved it's not that simple, it never is. Christy brings death and destruction along to Mercy and Adam's door.  Not only are Mercy, Adam, and Jessie pulled in to her drama, the entire pack is as well.  I think she's my most hated character of all time. Even though she's not a villain, she isn't innocent. Sure she loves Jessie (her daughter) and Adam in her own screwed up way, but she manipulates everyone around her and tells lies of omission on a regular basis, yet some how she gets away with it. Her actions put others in harms way, but she gets a pass just because she's human. Ridiculous. 

Gary is a new character added to the mix. He's Mercy's half brother of sorts. That whole Coyote as their father is a murky situation. As explained in previous books, Coyote only took over Mercy's fathers body....but it wasn't really him, yet she inherited some of his abilities. Yep, it's odd. Regardless, I like Gary and I like Gary as Mercy's brother.  I hope to see more of him in future books.

Coyote makes another appearance in the series and he's one to watch. I really like his character. He's a slippery little bugger. He likes to tell Mercy and his other child, Gary, half the information they need in the form of riddles under the guise of helping them, but it's always just enough to either get themselves into even more trouble or to save themselves by the skin of their teeth. He never speaks plainly and I find that a comical.  

Publisher: Little Brown Young Readers
Release Date: First published & Audio unabridged edition on April 8, 2014
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: 613 (Hardcover)  /  Audio Length: Approx 18 hrs and 11 mins
Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Source: Library Borrow via Overdrive
Genre: YA Fantasy (High Fantasy)
Review Date: August 6, 2014
Rating: 5 bookmarks

Synopsis: By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her, if there can even be a future for the chimaera in war-ravaged Eretz.

Common enemy, common cause.

When Jael's brutal seraph army trespasses into the human world, the unthinkable becomes essential, and Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people.

And, perhaps, for themselves. Toward a new way of living, and maybe even love.

But there are bigger threats than Jael in the offing. A vicious queen is hunting Akiva, and, in the skies of Eretz ... something is happening. Massive stains are spreading like bruises from horizon to horizon; the great winged stormhunters are gathering as if summoned, ceaselessly circling, and a deep sense of wrong pervades the world.

What power can bruise the sky?

From the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond, humans, chimaera and seraphim will fight, strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy. 

At the very barriers of space and time, what do gods and monsters dream of? And does anything else matter?

I finished this novel 3 weeks ago and for some reason it took me forever to get my thoughts together for this review. This story was a long time coming.  After I pretty much inhaled Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Days of Blood and Starlight, then I was waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Was Dreams of Gods and Monsters everything I hoped for? Yes, and more!

In all honesty, there's not much I can say about this book without giving away major spoilers. I don't want to do that, because you need to savor every moment of this artfully written book.  Taylor has a gift with words. While her writing style is a somewhat whimsical, it's still captivating and you feel the characters pain, joy, relief, or whatever the feeling is.

In a nutshell, finally, the Chimaera and the misbegotten Angels come together to fight a common enemy! Bastards and Beasts fight together against the Seraphim hierarchy. Against Jael. In essence against the white wolfs Chimaera reign as well. The Angels have come to earth and not for what the humans may have imagined.  Karou, Akiva and their joined army fight to save the humans. To save Kirin.  This is war, there's nothing pretty about war.  Betrayal, lies, backstabbing, and the whole nine contribute to this stories many layers.

Publisher:  ACE
Release Date: First published March 5, 2013 / Audio unabridged edition released by Penguin Audio on March 5, 2013
Format: MP3 Audio
Pages: 340 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 10 hours
Narrator: Lorelei King
Source: Library Borrow via Overdrive
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Date: July 9, 2014
Rating: 5 bookmarks

Synopsis: Mercy Thompson's life has undergone a seismic change. Becoming the mate of Adam Hauptman - the charismatic Alpha of the local werewolf pack - has made her a stepmother to his daughter Jesse, a relationship that brings moments of blissful normalcy to Mercy's life. But on the edges of humanity, a minor mishap on an ordinary day can turn into so much more. After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can't reach Adam - or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They've all been abducted. Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from the most unlikely of allies: the vampire seethe.

Frost Burned picks up 3 to 4 months after River Marked, mostly skipping over the remainder of Mercy's recovery from the injuries she obtained from her fight with the river fae. I was hoping that we'd get a little bit more of her time in a wheelchair because at the end of River Marked, it was interesting to see Mercy out of her element and acting out towards everyone trying to help her. Putting that aside. Frost Burned has so many layers and action that it's impossible to talk about all the things going on. The villan isn't revealed until the last 20% or so. The plot can be summed up as cat and mouse game consisting of trying to figure out who took the pack, who's pulling the strings and why. Within every installment of this series the different paranormal communities seem to take turns being the bad guy. So it's no surprise that 's time for the vampires to start causing more problems again. A huge problem starting with the kidnapping of an entire pack of wolves.

How does a pack of werewolves get kidnapped? Let's just say a case of identity confusion and drugs. One would assume that you'd need to drug a werewolf to catch it without being killed in the process. How in the would someone drug a wolf? You've got to read the book to find that out!  There's also a new wolf sent in by Bram to help with the disaster at hand. The wolf is actually very old and powerful, be he's new the the series.  I'd like to see more of him in future books.  There was a clearly less of Samuel, he was virtually nonexistent in this installment. Many of the other wolves and fae that are around were less visible in Frost Burned.  

As I expected, there is an appearance or two from the elusive Coyote!  New abilities unfold for Mercy, she's able to do amazing and unbelievable things through she and Adam's mate bond. Only she, a coyote, could pull off the unheard of things that she does at the whisper of a suggestion from the Coyote.  Of course beyond her own ability she has some fae help.  No walking stick this time, as she previously gave it to Coyote, but she does have another fae weapon. A sword that's called Hunger. Hunger eats magic among other things.  Like all fae weapons, Hunger works under it's own rules. Fight to the death anyone? Of course Mercy jumps right in. Per usual, she'll do anything to save her friends, family, and even the world.  If that involves participating in a vampire fight to the death, then she'll do it. Never mind she's weak compared to them and could totally end up back in a wheel chair.  That's just how she rolls.

Even though Adam and Mercy are adorably sweet, there isn't a lot of sex or heat in these more recent installments. I do miss that electricity between them. While it's clear their relationship is strong and there is a strong attraction as mates and as husband and wife, I just wish the heat level was a little higher.  On the flip side, I understand it's hard to be all over each other when an all out war is on the verge of breaking out. Not to compare, but somehow J.R. Ward manages to squeeze in a few serious rolls in the hay while saving the world and fighting the bad guys. I'm just saying.

In true fashion, Briggs brings us an action packed story without a lot of extra nonsense. We get right into the meat of the story without tons of preamble and plot refreshers.  I love that about her style because I don't feel like I'm rereading a huge chuck from the previous book(s). Out of the norm for these books, I enjoyed seeing some chapters narrated by Adam. I hope for more of that in future installments.  That really shook things up, and I liked it. It really allowed the reader/listener to understand that Adam really does respect Mercy, and he truly does see her as his equal.

As always Lorelei King is amazing. I really love how she's able to play these characters and make it sound so natural.  Some narrators should like they are trying too hard or just can't stretch their voice.  Not Lorelei King, she alters her voice and tone for both the different POVs and characters, and she does it well.

Next up is the most recent release, Night Broken, which came out earlier this year. I'm both excited and sad to get started on it because after that I'll need to wait until 2015 for the next installment. So sad, but I'll get over it, there are tons of books to keep me occupied until then.

Happy Reading & Listening,
~Tamara

Publisher:  ACE
Release Date: First published March 1, 2011/ Audio unabridged edition released by Penguin Audio on March 2, 2011
Format: MP3 Audio
Pages: 326 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 9 hours
Narrator: Lorelei King
Source: Library Borrow via Overdrive
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Date: June 10, 2014
Rating: 5 bookmarks

Synopsis: Coyote shifter Mercy Thompson knows that life with her mate, the Alpha werewolf Adam, will never be boring, but even their wedding doesn't go as planned. Nevertheless, a ten-day honeymoon camping on the banks of the Columbia River, alone, just the two of them, should make up for it. But the trip - and the pimped-out trailer they're using - is courtesy of the fae. And nothing from the fae comes without strings attached...

Being a different breed of shapeshifter - a walker - Mercy can see ghosts, but the spirit of her long-gone father has never visited her. Until now. An evil is stirring in the depths of the Columbia River - and innocent people are dying. As other walkers make their presence know to Mercy, she must reconnect with her heritage to exorcise the world of the legend known as the river devil...

Briggs does it again. Action, romance and suspense all rolled up in a neat little package.  River Marked picks up a few weeks after Mercy's month long stint in Fairyland from Silver Borne, which ironically was essentially a day in fae time.  She comes home to find herself needing to live with Adam and the pack, which in itself is a huge adjustment for her. That's just the beginning because she Mercy has even bigger and bolder changes ahead.

What's next for Mercy and Adam? The honeymoon from hell, that's what!  Before we jump to the honeymoon, we have to talk about the wedding for just a second.  I just loved their no nonsense wedding, full of little surprises thanks to Mercy and Adam's family and friends.  It was very sweet and utterly Mercy and Adam.

No sooner as they start their honeymoon in by the lake, they quickly figure out that they were manipulated into honeymooning at that location.  Obviously it's for a reason, a deadly fae reason.  As we know, Mercy never comes out of a fight without a near death experience. While she'll live, it's clear that her body took a serious beat down this time.  It was so bad that I suspect that this situation will bleed over into the next book, Frost Burned.

Publisher:  ACE
Release Date: First published March 30, 2010 / Audio unabridged edition released by Penguin Audio on March 30, 2010
Format: MP3 Audio
Pages: 342 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 9 hours
Narrator: Lorelei King
Source: Library Borrow via Overdrive
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Date: June 4, 2014
Rating: 5 bookmarks

Synopsis: When mechanic and shapeshifter Mercy Thompson attempts to return a powerful Fae book she'd previously borrowed in an act of desperation, she finds the bookstore locked up and closed down.

It seems the book contains secret knowledge-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 Sam's life forfeit.

All in all, Mercy has had better days. And if she isn't careful, she might not have many more to live...

Here we go again! Silver Borne takes us even further into the fae world.  Who knew that the fae could be so terrorizing? Well, if you read any books about the fae you know that they can be more than dangerous, especially fairy Queens. They are almost always very bad and that stands true for the villain of Silver Borne.  Mercy has something that the Fairy Queen desperately wants and she's not above trickery, kidnapping and brainwashing among other things to get it.

Before the fae roller-coaster begins, we find Samuel having a tough time, and it gets pretty bad for him. I always assumed that Samuel is a very strong person as his wolf is so dominant, but apparently he's not as strong as I thought.  With him teetering on the edge of no return, thanks to Mercy, things start looking up.  Towards the end of the book Samuel experiences a huge change in his personal life that I'm very happy to see. He deserves a slice of happiness.

Outside of Samuel, the rest of the cast of characters; including the wolf pack members, local vampires and fae, make for a more in-depth story and add a piece to the puzzle.  There are so many layers and connections among them that the character development among the secondary characters is impressive.

Publisher:  ACE
Release Date: First published February 3, 2009 / Audio unabridged edition released by Penguin Audio on February 5, 2009
Format: MP3 Audio
Pages: 309 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 9 hours
Narrator: Lorelei King
Source: Library Borrow via Overdrive
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Date: May 28, 2014
Rating: 5 bookmarks

Synopsis: By day, Mercy is a car mechanic in the sprawling Tri-Cities of Eastern Washington. By night, she explores her preternatural side. As a shapeshifter with some unique talents, Mercy has often found herself having to maintain a tenuous harmony between the human and the not so human. This time she may get more than she bargained for.

Marsilia, the local Vampire Queen, has learned that Mercy crossed her by slaying a member of her clan—and she's out for blood. But since Mercy is protected from direct reprisal by the werewolf pack (and her close relationship with its sexy Alpha), it won't be Mercy's blood Marsilia is after.  It'll be her friends'.

Briggs is really spoiling me with all of these near perfect books! Lions, tigers and bears, oh my! In this case, it's more like Vampires, Ghosts, Werewolves and Fae! The last few books seemed to focus on one supernatural community at a time, but that's not the case in Bone Crossed. This installment has a boat load of plot movement and supernatural creatures galore. The blurring of the paranormal communities make for fast paced story telling and non stop drama.

There's two bad guys in the story. Marsilia, the never ending bad guy that will continue to be a pain in everyone's side and the short lived bad guy, a Vampire who's called "The Monster" among his own community. Just as the nickname implies, this guy is dirty and low down. This guy is all about being what you eat.  That's a pretty clear statement on what he's doing in this book.

Mercy has picked up a new talent in Bone Crossed.  She can commanding the dead, Ghosts and even Zombie like dead people. Not Necromancy, she's not raising the dead, just commanding them.  How do we find this out? Basically Mercy takes the opportunity to leave town to help out an old college friend with a ghost problem. But of course, that's never it, there's always more to it.

Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: November 13, 2012
Format: ebook
Pages: 448
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Genre: Romance, Young Adult
Review Date: May 26, 2014
Rating: 5 bookmarks

Synopsis: Former piano prodigy Nastya Kashnikov wants two things: to get through high school without anyone learning about her past and to make the boy who took everything from her—her identity, her spirit, her will to live—pay.

Josh Bennett’s story is no secret: every person he loves has been taken from his life until, at seventeen years old, there is no one left. Now all he wants is be left alone and people allow it because when your name is synonymous with death, everyone tends to give you your space.

Everyone except Nastya, the mysterious new girl at school who starts showing up and won’t go away until she’s insinuated herself into every aspect of his life. But the more he gets to know her, the more of an enigma she becomes. As their relationship intensifies and the unanswered questions begin to pile up, he starts to wonder if he will ever learn the secrets she’s been hiding—or if he even wants to.

Disclaimer: I received this ebook last year courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Sea of Tranquility is thought provoking, sad and hopeful all at once. This is the story or Emilia who reinvents herself as Nastya after she experiences a horrific life altering event.  Not only is it Nastya’s story, its Josh’s too. First as a boy and then as a teenager, Josh losses everyone he loves.

I don’t remember the last time a story affected me in this way.  So many feelings are going on while reading their story, I laughed, I cried...almost.  Be warned, this is a tearjerker. If you cry easily, have your tissue handy. You’ll need it.  For me this story was harder to take emotionally than reading about kids with cancer.  Yes, I know that sounds dreadful, but I’m being honest. My tear ducks remained bone dry when I read The Fault in Our Stars, but I must admit, I was struggling to hold it back once or twice with this book.