She's a mortal cursed with dark power....

After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: a terrifying ability to channel electricity and to see a person's darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude ... until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world's most infamous vampire.

He's the Prince of Night....

Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all - but whatever you do, don't call him Dracula. Vlad's ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him: a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, passion ignites, threatening to consume them. It will take everything they have to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames.

This series is in the same world as the Night Huntress series. You can read the Night Prince series without reading the other, but I highly recommend reading Night Huntress first. Many previous characters come to visit Vlad and you can understand their relationships more if you have had the pleasure of reading the other first, but Night Prince can stand on its own.

Now, I read Once Burned when it first came out in 2012. I LOVED it! I devoured each book as they came out, but then the fourth and final book came and I never got around to reading it. When a series you love comes to an end it’s hard to finish that last book, but now I’m going to, so I’m going back and listening to the series for the first time to refresh myself.

*****

Once Burned is book one in the Night Prince series by Jeaniene Frost.

Vlad, oh Vlad. I love him. I loved him the moment he was introduced in the Night Huntress series and he is just as sexy and aragonite in his own series. I can’t tell you have happy I am that he got his own series. He’s damaged, dangerous, complex, and sexy. There is more to this Vampire than meets the eye. He’s lived through things that most people would have broke from.

Leila is a young women who had an accident that left her with some interesting side effects that changed her life. Her touch electrocutes anyone who she comes in contact with. Besides that she has the power to see the past and future just by touching an object. 

These two meet in their minds first, but soon she’s under his protect. I loved these two together. Leila stands up to Vlad and no one stands up to him. They work together to find out who wants Vlad dead, who wants to use Leila to do it, and as they work together they grow closer, but will Vlad every love. 

Frost is a talented writer. How she builds the romance and shows that a virgin heroine is not a burden, but a strong, capable, and special women. 

Narration: Tavia Gilbert did a spectacular job. I loved her voices for all the characters, but especially Vlad. She gave him that old world charm and cariama. The story and plot come to life. I adored the audio and highly recommend this series and the audiobook. 

Rated: 4.5 Stars

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

Challenge:

• 2020 Audiobook Challenge

When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it's up to shapeshifting car mechanic Mercy Thompson to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not. And she'll have to choose between the two werewolves in her life-whether she wants to or not.

**Spoiler Warning** 
This review has some spoilers. 

Iron Kissed is book three in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. Each book continues the ongoing adventure with our coyote shifter, Mercy, where we continue 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 get involved in Fae affairs, but she can’t help; wanting to help her friend and someone she cares about. 

In Iron Kissed we dive into the Fae reservation and learn about some of their secrets.

Briggs writes a world that isn’t too different from ours. I think why I love Mercy so much is that she’s a regular women dealing with the same issues we do, who happens to be a coyote shifter, and gets caught up in another world.

We get to see more of the Fae and learn about some of their secrets. New characters are introduced and old favorites become more intriguing. Briggs features a rape scene in this novel. To see Mercy, a strong and capable women, go through this, well it broke my heart. The emotional struggles she and all the characters go through during and after the incident is heartbreaking. I’ve re-read/listened to this novel many times and I new this scene was coming, but it doesn’t make it easier. Briggs does this scene justice and shares the emotional struggles well. Oh my, Ben. I like him more after this novel. We see more of him, learn more about his past, and we see him stand up to Adam to explain, in his way, what Mercy is going through and tells Adam that he needs to fight for her or lose her. 

Briggs finally addressed the whole Adam/Sam love issue and she did it well. She manages to write it so that Mercy finally chooses Adam, but still doesn’t disregard Samuel whom she once loved in the past. 

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/listened to it multiple times. This novel is a delight each and every time I read/listen to it. I highly recommend this Urban Fantasy series either reading or listening. Don’t hesitate to pick up this series.

Rated: 4.5 Stars

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

Challenge:

• 2020 Audiobook

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!

Under the rule of science, there are no witch burnings allowed, no water trials or public lynchings. In return, the average law-abiding, solid citizen has little to worry about from the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes I wish I was an average citizen...

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.

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

 

THE FIRST MERCY THOMPSON NOVEL!

Moon Called is the novel that introduced Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson to the world and launched a #1 bestselling phenomenon... 

Mercy Thompson is a shapeshifter, and while she was raised by werewolves, she can never be one of them, especially after the pack ran her off for having a forbidden love affair. So she’s turned her talent for fixing cars into a business and now runs a one-woman mechanic shop in the Tri-Cities area of Washington State.

But Mercy’s two worlds are colliding. A half-starved teenage boy arrives at her shop looking for work, only to reveal that he’s a newly changed werewolf—on the run and desperately trying to control his animal instincts. Mercy asks her neighbor Adam Hauptman, the Alpha of the local werewolf pack, for assistance. 

But Mercy’s act of kindness has unexpected consequences that leave her no choice but to seek help from those she once considered family—the werewolves who abandoned her...

Moon Called is book one in the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. 

I read this series years ago and have re-read it many times; before I decided to try the Audiobook. I listened to the audio for the first time in 2017 and have re-listened over the years to get ready for each new release. As many of you may know, if you follow me, this is one of my all time favorite series. Mercy Rocks!

We are treated to Action, Adventure, Suspense, Mystery, Magic, Supernaturals of all kinds, and so much more. The author does a splendid job introducing us to a verity of characters and supernaturals in the Tri-City area. Adam is the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack, Mercy our heroine is a coyote shifter, Stefan the vampire, and many others. There are no shortages of interesting and unique secondary characters to enjoy. 

Mercy is one of my all time favorite heroine’s. She makes my top three list of kick-ass women. She’s a tough cookie that understands the werewolves behavior’s, (since she was raised by one), and knows how to deal with their moods. She’s got brains and can think for herself as well as she listens to her instincts. She’s got bit and doesn’t need to undergo any training to be capable; because she’s already a strong capable women, but she also has some vulnerabilities too. I love that both sides mesh.

Adam Hauptman – Man he’s hot and sexy. He’s a strong Alpha leader. You can see his strengths and weaknesses. He does get his ass handed to him a few times in this novel, but he weathers it well. He doesn’t put anyone down and works with those around him. He promises to be a perfect love interest for Mercy and a strong Pack leader. I adore his relationship with his daughter, Jesse.

Jesse, Adam’s daughter. I love kids in my novels. Especially when they are written to improve the story and characters. Her relationship with her father is wonderful. I also like her relationship with Mercy too. You can see she will play a part in getting her father and Mercy together. 

Sam aka Dr. Samuel Cornick – His introduction was done well and the past he has with Mercy, well you see that it changed her life. Will she go back to Sam or move forward. Only time will tell, but I can say that Sam is another interesting character and promises fun things. 

Stefan – The vampire. He’s got a unique relationship with Mercy. You wonder if they can be friends or not for vampires kill Walkers. He’s got this good/bad vibe to him. You can see he’s different from the other vampires we meet, but is he different enough. 

Briggs is an amazing world builder. The author does an outstanding job introducing all the characters and building the world. The story is fasted-paced. We are kept on our tows trying to find all the players and figure out what’s going on while hopping everyone is safe. 

Narration: Lorelei King is one of my favorite narrators. She does an outstanding job with all the characters and building the story. The voices are perfect for all he characters introduced. I can’t recommend the audio enough.

Moon Called is one of the best Urban Fantasy’s out there. I can’t recommend the Mercy Thompson series enough. It’s got so much to love. 

Rated: 4 Stars

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

Challenge:

• 2020 Audiobook Challenge