Bone Crossed
By Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson #4
320 Pages
E book
Published February 3rd, 2009
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Monster Focus: Werewolves, Vampires, Fae, Ghost

I am just tearring through this series! Mercy's stories are always engaging and packing some series punch. The supporting characters are great and the plot always promises something new and exciting. This installment of the series picks up immediately after the last book. As in the moment the last book closed upon. Instead of giving Mercy a month or a week to settle, like the previous books have done, we jump back in right where we left off and for good reason! Mercy, in trouble once again must avoid the angry vampire Queen Marsilla who has realized Mercy is the one who killed Andre, her left hand vampire. Alos the emergence of one of Mercy's college friend's Amber. Does she sincerelly want Mercy's help, or does she have more sinister intentions?

Mercy just keeps getting better. Seeing as I am reading straight through this series, I had expected to get tired of the same world by now. Usually a series is good when spaced between some other books as pallet cleansers. However, with only one more book to go, I have to say I am enjoying this series thoroughly.

This fourth installment of the Mercedes Thompson series, in my opinion, is the best so far. Briggs' technique of book by book integration of her world's creatures is genius. Vampire, werewolf, fae, and now ghost all come together in this satisfying triumph of a book. It may not be one of the top selling books to span the genres, but it definitely sets itself apart from all the other paranormal romance and urban fantasy titles out there with its action, romance, and chills.

One thing that really sticks out to me about this series is that the sexual content is pretty mild, which is not really a bad thing. I admit i like a little smut in my paranormal romance, however Briggs tends to keep things light with just enough sizzle to keep you satisfied. In my opinion this keeps her relationship with pack Alpha Adam that much more sweet and pure. It's a plus that this series doesn't rely on sexual content like many others in its genre do. The story stands strong on its own.

Wonderful

Thank You Voters!

I am so excited about how this challenge is going! I have 71 voters on my list so far and 201 books! You guys are amazing! I know 71 might not be much with all the millions of people on the internet, but honestly I never thought people would take an interest so i am very pleased. The more voters I have the more my reading options will mix and make it that much more fun.

Tomorrow I will post the next top 5 books on my list and read through as many of them as i can Once the top 5 are up on my blog, they freeze for that week so no matter if they change positions on the original list, I will still read them in the order they appear on the blog.

One thing I am concerned about is the book Dead in the Family, appears on my list before the other two books in the series that I haven't read yet. I don't know if I should list those two on my top 5 list in order to give a visual of the order I will read them in, or retain the original order of the list. I guess I will just have to see how it looks tomorrow. Any ideas or opinions are welcome, but i doubt more than one or two people are paying much attention to this blog.

Anyway, thank you voters for voting and for sharing the books you love with me!

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs

Iron Kissed
By Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson #3
304 Pages
E book edition
Published January 2nd, 2008
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Monster Focus: Werewolves, Vampires, and Fae

When Mercy's friend and mentor Zee Adlbertsmiter is framed for murder, she must come to his aide with her investigating skills and sharp nose. This third book of the Mercedes Thompson series was abundant in Fae. In the previous books, we just see a small smattering of the Fae mercy is familiar with and learn a bit about their history coming out to the general public. The Fae are paced in reservations just like the Native American's were in early America. We learn in this volume that many anti-Fae organizations have popped up as a result of the mass fear and intolerance that is so indicative of American society.

Zee's conviction would mean his death and the Fae are in no hurry to clear his name. The Fae leaders, The Gray Lords, want the murder and investigation over with so they can do their own investigating into the situation without human involvement. Mercy, unwilling to let Zee take the fall, stops at nothing to discover the real murderer, even if it means her own death warrant. This book most definitely follows in the pattern of the others with it's well made plot and engaging characters. However, the bad guy and his motives are a little disappointing. The end of the book gets a little intense and adds a note of sadness to the series that we haven't seen yet. The character development in this volume is incredible, opening up characters that have been pretty two-dimensional thus far and deepening Mercy's bonds with her friends and the Pack. Briggs begins the resolutions of Mercy's love life entanglements which is satisfying, and shows us that Mercy really is a heroine to be reckoned with.

Great Read.

Blood Bound by Patrcia Briggs

Blood Bound
By Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson #2
200 Pages
E book edition
Published January 30th, 2007
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Monster Focus: Werewolves and Vampires

In this second installment of the Mercy Thompson series, Mercy, a "walker" who can shift into a coyote, owes her vampire friend Stefan a favor for his help rescuing the local pack leader's daughter. Unnerved by the prospect of what he may ask of her, Mercy reluctantly agrees to being an intimidation tool. Stefan must deliver a message from the vampire queen to a rouge vamp who has drifted into her territory. Mercy shifts into a coyote and goes along with Stefan only to find that the vampire she is meeting isn't at all what she expected.

In Mercy's world, most supernatural creatures have acknowledged their existence to the modern world and promised to behave themselves as long as they are not hunted or killed by humans. There are a plethora of creatures in Mercy's world, however the series has so far only focused on werewolves and vampires. I imagine other things will come into focus later on.

The use of this new, more dangerous, kind of vampire was a nice, creepy deviation from the norm. The fact that even the other vampires were afraid of him made it that much more frightening when Mercy takes him on. There was a good plot twist near the end, which was interesting, however predictable. I have to admit there were a few parts in this book that freaked me out which is a major plus. I love it when a book can scare me because it means the story was good enough to draw me in and make it real.

Besides the creepy and the scary, we have the sexy. Mercy's men have only gotten better, though there is a decisive lac of steamy goodness going on. This is definitely not one of those series that has sex in abundance like Black Dagger Brotherhood. Actually I have yet to come across a sex scene or even a slightly steamy scene, that hasn't been interrupted. In my opinion this means that thus far in the series the author hasn't decided who she wants Mercy to be with. I know it sounds like I'm complaining, and I may be just a tad, but honestly, this story stands strong without it as did the first book.

All in all, Mercy is a great heroine. I'm enjoying this series immensely and recommend it to you all.

Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

By Karen Marie Moning

258 pages

Nookbook edition

Published October 16th, 2007

Series: Fever #2

I finished this book before just before the challenge began so I thought I would put this review up since I really enjoyed it. I read the first installment in this series, Darkfever, as a book club pick last year. I decided to pick up this next volume while I was in the mood for some mischievous fae.

Bloodfever, is the continuing story of MacKayla Lane and her search for revenge against the one who murdered her beloved older sister Alina. Teamed with Jericho Barrons, Mac has become an OOP (object of power) detector with the ultimate goal of finding the Sinsar Dubh, an ancient faery Hallow that Alina requested Mac find in a frantic voicemail that would be her final message.

Most of the story takes place in Dublin, Ireland, but there is also an OOP seeking trip to Wales and a surprising siesta in the world of Faery. The very sexy Seelie prince V'lane returns for this fast paced, dark urban fantasy.

To be perfectly honest, when I began the series I was not a fan of the lead female character Mac. She was a spoiled, shallow, self-absorbed person that made me think, "Do I really want to read something where the main character is so vain?" I almost didn't finish Darkfever because I was so put off, but her character progresses throughout the first book enough to keep me interested in the second. The second book is where Mac makes some real change. I was really impressed with how she has taken her frightening situation and made the most out of it. The responsability of handling the Spear, another Hallow, and taking over Barrons's store has really given her a chance to blossom.

I enjoyed reading this installment in the series and barely noticed flipping pages. When the end came I was so surprised I had finished it as fast as I did. I guess it just takes a great book to make you forget the time.

This series is a Book Angel favorite!

Reviews and Tech Probs

Ok so now that I kinda have the hang of some of the features on this blog I am going to switch some things around a little bit. I can only edit and not add new posts to pages other than Home. So i am moving the challenge and rules to the tab marked The Challenge and putting book reviews and any updates here. I'm not super tech savvy so if anyone has tips please send them here! I will not pretend I know exactly what I'm doing here. I also need some ideas for a rating system like how to insert stars and such. I would like halos because I think that would be appropriate and cute.

Thanks for bearing with me. The challenge begins tomorrow! I will have the review for Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning but here as my first review since I was finishing it up before this challenge began. Thank you again!

The Challenge

Ok people so here it is. I am terrible at making decisions. Well, let's be more specific... I hate making decisions on what to read next. There are so many books out there I want to read. Hundreds if not thousands of books have caught my interest and thousands more wait to be discovered. I guess you could cal me a book worm though I don't really like the connotation of that image. I am not a slimy, cylindrical shaped insect that likes to burrow in the ground and is a popular bait for fish. I am a nice, cute young lady that loves to read and get lost in the worlds of the books I read. Now I would never claim to be an angel, I am far from angelic, and I doubt angels do dishes and cook their husbands dinner on a regular basis. However, I do think they are lovely and i could easily see a sweet little cherub snuggled into a cloud with a book in her hand and her rosy cheek nestled in her palm. Therefore I would like o be a book angel over a book worm.

"Now, what is it you are doing here little book angel?" you may ask. My answer is, begging you wonderful people to help me in my quest for the best reading year yet! Like I mentioned before I am no good at deciding the fate of my future reading endeavors, therefore I would like to propose a challenge. In 2011 I will only read books others choose for me. I will make no decisions on my reading choices and allow you fine people to be my candle on the water if you will. Not only does this solve my problem of indecisiveness, it also allows me to discover new books and series I may no have come across otherwise.

The Rules

1. Read from the top of the list to the bottom for the entire year with the goal of reading 100 books. Please help me by voting: 100 Books for 2011. There is the link so please use it!

2. Review each book at its finish and post it to the Review page (tab above)

3. Answer any questions blog viewers may have about the books!

4. In the event a series book that comes later in the series than I have read to is next on the list, I will read the next book in the series that I am currently on. I will address other discrepancies as they appear.


I may add more rules as I think of them. Please vote on my list! I will be beginning my reading challenge on Sunday and will update the top 5 picks every Sunday as well. Any suggestions, comments, and/or questions are always welcome. Thank you for participating and I hope this is as fun for you as it is for me! Polls to come!

Under Construction!!!

The Book Angel is not in right now! Please come back once the blog is fully prepared for your enjoyment! While you wait, please visit and vote for Book Angel's 2011 reading here: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8463.100_Books_to_Read_in_2011