IRON KISSED by Patricia Briggs

Title: Iron Kissed
Series: Mercy Thompson #3
Author: Patricia Briggs

Summary

Mercy fulfilled her debt to the vampires, but she was only asked to kill one vampire, not two.  Now it is only a matter of time before Marsilia realizes Mercy's betrayal and targets her.

In the meantime, Mercy travels to the Walla Walla far reservation to payback her debt to Zee. Some of the fae have been murdered, and Zee thinks Mercy's nose will help uncover who is behind the murders. But when the killer is discovered dead and Zee is found at the scene of the crime, Mercy refuses to let him be accused of a crime he didn't commit.

The Gray Lords seem content to let an innocent fae take the punishment for the crime in order to protect themselves from public scrutiny, so Mercy has to take the investigation into her own hands.  And she'll soon discover that sometimes the most monstrous people don't look like monsters.

My Impression

The characters in this series often comment that Mercy, like the coyote, seems to attract trouble. While that may be the case, it's more that she does whatever it takes to save her friends, but then she ends up owing favors.  She gets involved with vampire business in Blood Bound because she needed a favor from the vampires in order to save Adam and Jessie in Moon Called. While she is fulfilling her debt to the vampires, she asks a favor from the fae, which results in a debt that drags her into fae business in this book. I like that, though Mercy does seem to always find herself in danger, she doesn't go searching for it, and what may start as repaying a debt quickly becomes protecting her friends.

The love triangle is still there, though I did appreciate that it received more acknowledgement in this one. Mercy is obviously aware of the growing tension, and she knows that she needs to make a decision soon.  By the end, there is closure! (Though I won't say how.)

I enjoyed this book more that Blood Bound, and I'm not sure if that is because this book is focused on the fae instead of the vampires, or if there is some other reason. However, as much as I liked this book, I felt that there was very little focus on the werewolves. Though Mercy has been claimed by Adam, she isn't pack, so I can understand why the wolves aren't always the focus of this series, but I find them more interesting than the other characters, especially since they are the ones who Mercy most strongly associates with.

Why I Picked Up This Book

It's the next book in the Mercy Thompson series.

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romance
My Rating: Four Stars

Interested in other books by Patricia Briggs?  Check here to read my reviews of other books from this series.