This is a reread I truly enjoyed. I like Stefan and I like the way the vampire community is depicted. But as always in this series is the attraction for me Mercy Thompsom herself. She is everything I like in a character and I like the struggles, the solutions and the way she stands up for herself and others.
The first time I read this I gave 3 stars, but I am changing it to 4 stars because this story kept it's attraction. ( )

2/19- So Mercy gets thrown into the middle of everything this time by Stephen. which I have to admit I don't like the vampires and neither does Mercy. Stephen is ok but blerg I don't like how he's infatuated with her... She learns a bit more about what she is through the vampires but also not.
You can also see her love of Adam more in this book. (In the first book you can see she likes him but hasn't realized it) notice in the basement she's touching him, then when Cory comes in she's crouching in front of him. She's drawn to him and is afraid of what that means- will she loose herself? Can she be an independent woman and still love and be in a relationship with this alpha? Is he controlling her emotions?
Samuel is there living in her house and though Mercy "loved" him when she was younger she's not really able to put a name on her feelings for him yet and it's easy to fall back on what's familiar. He's not willing to let her go, but it feels forced. The relationship seems more like super close friends/siblings
What I wouldn't give to have a few short stories about the talks Adam-Sam have ( )

Since this is the second book in a long series and you might be wondering if you want to continue past the first one, and I have read the entire series multiple times - along with a TON of other books, I figured I would just give you the nitty gritty on what to expect on the whole rather than focus on this one book. This would be what I would be looking for when approaching an unknown series that I might be interested in reading past the first book, but was wondering if it will hold up or possibly continue in a vein that I didn't like in the first book. So, here is the down low.

This is a great series that doesn't devolve into smut, it keeps a solid PG to PG-13 rating.

However the lack of sexytimes doesn't go missing if you know they aren't happening, and as the series progresses it seems that they are getting a bit more "there". Instead of a couple of vague paragraphs starting in the future, the last couple of books had a couple of pages. It's as if the author had too many requests for more steam and gave a bit more to appease the masses.

However, there isn't a lack of smolder. In the beginning before the characters finally "get together" there are kissing and heated exhanges with some groping and "if we hadn't been interrupted I would have had you on your back" and "If you hadn't stopped, I would have let you." Our cast isn't prudish, they just have traditional views on sex and romance.

While it has tight storylines and a good amount of plot and scenes in each book. The lack of smut doesn't detract in anyway from the Romantic aspects.

Also, the characters grow naturally and stay true to their "main selves" there are no Mary Sues. The cast expands as the series progresses but for the most part each new character brought in that has any kind of role, tends to flesh out and may show up as a series regular.

Each book has a main story that turns into a mystery of some sort with multiple side trips to other tangental plot points. A lot happens in each book, and they seem to always end with a couple of chapters after the "wrap-up" and not just solving the mystery and closing fluff.

Each book is self contained but there since it has the same cast tht only grows as the series progresses there are a lot of dynamics and recalling of previous plot points that basically need to have been read to fully appreciate. With the exception of one book - "Silence Fallen" the series is written in the first person POV of our heroine, and that book is an alternating Hero/Heroine first POV.

They are not straight who-dun-it murder mysteries, but a mystery "happening" that needs solving to close it out, or solving to overcome an obstacle. This series can fall under Paranormal Fiction/Urban Fantasy - with Romantic Elements. It has Vampires, Werewolves and Fae as the main cast with Witches as second tier cast and a few ghosts thrown in here and there.

After reading a lot of other PNR/Paranormal/Fantasy/Urban Fantasy series and compared them to his I feel that this is a quality series that is free from the same tired tropes, characters and plot points that a lot of second and third tier Urban Fantasy/PNR books have.

This is a First Tier Series only slightly below Illona Andrews, Jeaniene Frost and Nalini Singh, but only by a half star margin. Those are the big three in my opionion. However, I rated it as a favorite and as you can see I have read it to death. If you have a library card then you can easily get it for your Kindle or e-reader online in both the ebook and audio versions - which are well narrated. ( )

Better than the first one, Briggs is still building the world, but here she managed to deliver an interesting story as well.
I will be continuing this series, and really hoping the love triangle thing gets resolved soon.

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