Title: Blood Bound
Series: Mercy Thompson #2
Author: Patricia Briggs (Narrator: Lorelei King)
Genre: Paranormal Romance - Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Release Date: October 01, 2009
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 10 hours 2 minutes
Source: Bought

 

 

Blood Bound is book two in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. Each book continues the ongoing adventure with our coyote shifter, Mercy. It continues to develop the characters, relationships, and world. 

 

I LOVE this series. I LOVE Mercy! She’s a kick-ass heroine. She knows she shouldn’t play with the big boys, but she can’t help wanting to help those she cares about. 

 

In Blood Bound we dive into the dean of the Vampires and learn about their structure. Mercy gets involved with the seethe and a demon-riding vampire. She handles herself well in that she uses her connections and knowledge to locate the threat and save her friends. She’s capable and smart. 

 

The relationships between the characters are intense. We dig deeper into exploring the Vampire world and her friendship with Stefan which is a forbidden relationship for both of them. Biggs isn’t afraid to show the amazing side of the vampires, but also the darker and edgier side. We also dig into Adams pack. I love the friendship Mercy has with Warren. I like that we learn how Adam and Warren became friends and how Warren joined the pack. We see that many don’t like Warren’s sexual preference and treat him as less or they want him out. We also see that most in the pack only tolerate Mercy, but when things get dicy she can dominate them, even Adams’ second. Mercy feels that she is despised and that a coyote has no place in a pack, but as the reader we see that she does have a place, but that she just hasn’t seen it yet. 

 

The developing romance or romances. I am not one for love triangles and since I’ve read this series many times I know which direction Mercy goes, but here at the beginning we see that Mercy is not one to lead anyone on, so what will she do when her X, Samuel, comes back into her life. He’s the man she was going to be with until she found out the real reason he wanted her now she’s not sure what she feels for him. Then theirs Adam the packs Alpha and his claim that she is his mate. My heart broke for Samuel when he reveals the truth about what happened in Texas. Then theirs Adam and the developing feelings Mercy has for him. Oh my that work-out scene with Adam. Swooning! We see how she feels about Adam, but also her struggle with being controlled or losing her free will. She grew up around the wolves. She knows their structure, how the Alphas are and she’s scared. Briggs isn’t afraid to leave us in a love triangle with Adam and Samuel at the end. What will Mercy do?

 

We also get to learn more about what Mercy can do and why Vampires don’t like her kind. I enjoyed learning more about the coyote shifter and what her abilities are. No one really knows what she can do or they know, but don’t tell it all and just give us and Mercy bites of information. It’s these kind of tidbits of knowledge that I love and enjoy how the author weaves them in. 

 

Narration: Lorelei King is a spectacular narrater. She does a wonderful job with the storyline and characters. I love her voices for everyone.

 

This is one of my favorite series and I’ve re-read and listened to it multiple times. It’s a delight and each time is always like the first. I highly recommend this Urban Fantasy series. Don’t hesitate to pick it up.

 

Rate: 4.5 Stars

 

Was this review helpful? If so, please consider liking it on Goodreads (Angela)!

 

Challenge:

 

• 2020 Audiobook Challenge

 

 

 

Angela 

I was born and raised in Northern Indiana. I’m an outdoor sun loving reader living near San Fransisco. I’m a mother, wife, dog owner, animal, and book lover. I’m the owner, reviewer, and mind behind Angel’s Guilty Pleasures. My favorite animals are horses & dogs. As for reading I love all things paranormal & urban fantasy. My favorite shifters are dragons!

I started this series quite a while ago and tossed it aside because I just couldn't get into it. This time I listened to it in audiobook format and loved it so much I listened to them in sequence. I enjoyed every moment of it. 

I was initially going to read this for the demons square for Halloween bingo, however, it includes werewolves and I decided, two birds, one stone.

If you have been following my reviews you know that I devour the Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson books. I have all of the books either via ebook or one that I got in hardcover (never again, I realize I don't care for the feel of most hardcover books) and I tend to re-read my favorite parts of this series over and over again. One of these days I will get around to just posting a mega review or something. Until now, here is my review of book #2.

"Blood Bound" finds Mercy trying to get settled with the fact that she now is dealing with the fact that an old love has moved in with her (Samuel) and by the way, the alpha of the local werewolf pack is interested in her as well (Adam). If she didn't have to deal with vampires and a demon slaughtering people left and right she may actually get some time to repair some cars. 

This book actually deals more with the vampires in the Tri-Cities than the prior one did. We have Mercy agreeing to help out her vampire friend Stefan which has her getting involved with local vampire politics with the head of the seethe Marsilia.  I do like how Briggs in her series let's you know first and foremost vampires are predators. They are not sparkly and friendly (well except for Stefan, and only the friendly part). 

When the werewolves gang up to take out a new enemy everyone in Adam's pack has to deal with it too. 

I do love Mercy. She has become one of my favorite urban fantasy characters. I can read about her and Kate Daniels (see Ilona Andrews) all day. I will say though that this book includes my least favorite thing ever, a love triangle. Thank goodness that Briggs deposes of that triangle in book #3. I am not a fan of who should I be with in my long running series, see Janet Evanovich. Also, Briggs does a great job developing Mercy through this series. We are only provided so much information about her, but we find out about things real time for the most part just as she does. I rather have that instead of a info dump.

My favorite characters are in this one, Adam, Stefan, Zee, and Samuel. I do wish that we got more Samuel in the later books since he kind of disappears after Silver Borne, Mercy Thompson #5. 

I do love the writing in this series. I always think that Briggs can make dialogue really work. I also have to say the flow for this one works. We also get to see a new dimension to Mercy's powers besides shapeshifting. I will echo something another BL member has mentioned here before, Mercy has I think zero female friends, which is weird. I didn't realize that when I was reading the series the first time. But honestly, besides Honey (in the later books) most of Mercy's friends are male. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I will still keep wishing that Mercy becomes closer to Charles's wife (see Alpha and Omega series) or other females such as Honey. I can see why she doesn't reach out to women more though since she is a male profession (auto mechanic) and her hobbies include self defense courses along with ghost hunting. 

The setting of the Tri-Cities in Washington state is always a fun one to return to. 

I did like the ending of this, but if you want to be wowed by this series, check out Iron Kissed, Mercy Thompson #3. That one almost wrecked me. It was really good. 

Going to read this for the werewolves square instead of the demons square just to complete that square. Now I'm going to need a book for the demons square. 

Blood Bound is the first book in the Blood Ravagers series. Each book can be read on its own. I read book three a few months ago and at the point of me writing this review I am about to start book 2. Based on my experience with book 3; I picked up this installment hoping for an equally exciting read. However, it did not live up to the success of its successor. For me it was just an OK read.


What I Loved.
I loved the idea of a half demon/half human trying to create a place where others like himself feel safe. The sacrifices made to accomplish this was commendable. Few people would willing put their lives on the line the way Dante did. He endured torture and many atrocities to ensure that he achieves his goal.

I enjoyed exploring the world the author created. I loved the blending of aspects of paranormal with motorcycle gangs, which made for an interesting and intriguing read.

I found the story to be well written. I enjoyed the descriptive style of writing, which contributed greatly to maintaining my interest in the story. The story moved at a steady pace until about seventy percent (70%) into the book when things got heated. At this point, I eagerly turned the pages as my curiosity levels increased.

What I did not Love.
I could not establish a connection with the protagonists. Anna’s behavior annoyed me. She does not listen and because of this; she places herself and Dante in danger. Her character was underdeveloped, and I never had the chance to feel her effect on the story. Dante spent centuries feeling unworthy of being loved. This was due to his treatment from both humans and supernatural beings. I was hoping for more on this aspect of Dante’s life, unfortunately the author failed to explore this further. As a result, his character did not evoke any sympathy neither did I experience the joy and uncertainties to be expected when he discovered what Anna was his life mate.

The villain of the story lacked credibility. He is a full demon and sadistic in nature, but he did elicit any feelings of fear. I found his role to be boring and flat. It was evident that he was involved in illicit activities, but this thread needed to be better developed.
The romantic elements was not adequately explored. As is typical of this genre the attraction between the protagonists was instantaneous. The problem I had was that the focus was on the physical aspects of the relationship while the emotional aspect was completely ignored.

Conclusion/Recommendation
This story had the potential to be an exciting paranormal/MC romance, however it turned out to be an average story. The story was not bad, but the characters did nothing for me.