Wow. Never has a series fallen like this for me before.The Mercy Thompson series is just a lot of filler and rehashing of older story-lines and the Alpha & Omega series...woo boy just go read up on the last book, fans are still reeling from that mess.
The newest Mercy book had too much going on (fae on a rampage, lone wolves kidnapping and setting up to take over the Pack, Aurielle and Christy BS (again), Jesse and her relationship/future, people close to Mercy in danger again, Adam and Mercy's relationship (again), Bran and the Pack (I still hate Bran), Wulffe and his stalking, what Underhill is up to. I don't know, I probably forgot something.
All of this together didn't work, there were moments that cracked me up (hence the 2 stars) and then I would get back to the plodding plot and be annoyed all over again. I honestly think that Briggs should start thinking of a way to wrap up this series. She can look to how Ilona Andrews handled the end of the Kate Daniels series and how she used that series to open up another one starring our favorite terrible character, Hugh. At this point, I don't care about the Pack, I am getting annoyed with the fae, and the vampires seem to be the only ones with any kind of sense (except for Wulffe).
"Smoke Bitten" starts off with a fight. We don't know what's going on, but quickly are brought up to speed that Aurielle listened to Adam's ex-wife again, opened up Jesse's mail (WTF) and got in Mercy's face. Hey remember when Adam said if someone disrespected his wife that was it? Yeah that no longer matters cause something is wrong with Adam and Mercy's mate bond. BTW I guessed at what was wrong cause hey the last book, but it took way too long for Adam and Mercy to get there.
Oh back to Aurielle's BS. I no longer want to hear about Adam's ex, she's awful and at least everyone told Aurielle she was being stupid. I honestly wish she and Daryl would leave the Pack.
Oh that's another thing, they have lost members so now the Pack is hurting for some new wolves. Oh hello lone wolves who are trying to take the Pack from Adam. No we have not heard of you all before, but it's great that Charles just has dossiers for everyone.
Oh look, now we have Wulffe threatening Mercy and stalking her. Let's all ignore that for most of the book.
Oh a fae that is dangerous got loose from Underhill and has the power to shapeshift after biting people? Interesting. Yeah interesting. Only Mercy has the power to defeat him? How Mary Sue of her.
Honestly the whole book was like this. It just gets boring after a while. The only thing that made me roll my eyes was of course there is a fae that has a power that doesn't work on Mercy so it's up to her to save the day. I can't with this mess anymore.
The character of Mercy stays consistent I will give her that. She's dumb again about a lot of things and not so dumb on others. I really hated her whole phone conversation with Bran. Him talking like a fortune cookie on some things made me roll my eyes. Hey Bran, still a terrible character after the reveal in the last book? Yes? Okay be gone.
Adam and his issue was so ridiculous I have nothing for it. I literally went, so are they both stupid now? Just tell someone what is going on!
The Aurielle thing eh. We get a dumb reason for her disrespect of Mercy that makes zero sense and I no longer care.
Jesse and Aiden are highlights in this one, so is Warren. Marsilla too for refusing to take Mercy's call and calling Adam back. Stay petty Marsilla.
The writing and flow was all over the place in this one. The Pack is constantly rushing around dealing with lone wolves, killer fae, oh wait here's Wulffe, they are under attack, etc.
The ending was a big what the hell was that. I mean two characters serenade Mercy and I fell over laughing. I don't know you guys. I am glad I no longer auto-buy these so I am not out any money. They are definitely library reads for me for the foreseeable future.