Category Archives: Books

Linda Lou’s Library: The Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs

I’m still in an urban fantasy phase with my reading, so I decided to re-read the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. Ms. Briggs has built a wonderful world and I love her character development; even her minor characters are well written and memorable. I’m partial to Mercy because she is my sister from another mister. Like me, Mercy has a problem with being ordered around. Ask politely and she will bend over backwards to help you. She will consider a suggestion, depending on the tone in which it was made. Telling her what to do? That’s going to backfire in a hurry. Kenn says anger is my go-to emotion, and Mercy has a tendency to get angry when scared or hurt or relieved… You get the picture. I spend a lot of time giggling when Mercy reacts to a situation the way I would and reading excerpts of the books to Kenn. (Kenn wants to know how long Ms. Briggs has been spying on me, LOL.)

Mercy is a VW mechanic, and yes, she has heard all of the jokes about Mercedes, the VW mechanic. Thanks to her late father, Joe Old Coyote, Mercy is a walker – a Native American shapeshifter who shifts into a coyote at will. When Mercy’s seventeen-year-old mom found a coyote pup in Mercy’s crib when Mercy was three months old, she realized she was in over her head; Mercy was then sent to live with a werewolf pack who raised her until she was sixteen. Now, in her early thirties, Mercy is happy with the independent, if slightly lonely, life she has built for herself.

According to the books, Mercy has a coyote paw print tattooed on her abdomen and a “couple of other” tattoos on her arms. The arm tattoos are only mentioned once. The book covers show Mercy with full-sleeve tattoos, chest and back tattoos, and a tramp stamp. Mercy would probably roll her eyes at the covers, LOL. Another thing to know about Mercy is that she has usually had the crap beat out of her by the end of every book; this seems to be what happens when a coyote shifter starts playing in the magical creature big leagues. There are currently fourteen books in the series. These are a some of the primary characters:

  • Mercedes Athena Thompson, aka Mercy: walker, shifts into a coyote
  • Adam Hauptman: werewolf, Alpha of the Columbia Basin pack, control freak (as werewolves tend to be), Mercy’s back yard neighbor, crazy about Mercy
  • Warren: werewolf, third in Adam’s pack, Mercy’s best friend
  • Jesse Hauptman: Adam’s fully human teenage daughter
  • Siebold “Zee” Adlebertsmiter: iron-kissed fae, taught Mercy how to work on cars, Mercy’s extremely dangerous friend
  • Tad Adlebertsmiter: Zee’s half-fae son, Mercy thinks of him as her little brother
  • Stefan: vampire with a penchant for Scooby Doo, Mercy’s friend, more than halfway in love with Mercy
  • Wulfe: vampire, bat-crap crazy, obsessed with Mercy in a creepy stalker sort of way
  • Larry: king of the goblins; even though Larry doesn’t appear until later in the series, he is worth the wait
  • Moon Called – At the beginning of the series, Mercy is working in the garage she bought from Zee and talking martial arts lessons. Run-ins with Adam not withstanding, she is happy to ignore and be ignored by the members of the other paranormal races. The appearance of a young, untrained werewolf at her shop changes everything.
  • Blood Bound – As if regular vampires aren’t bad enough, demon-possessed vampires are worse.
  • Iron Kissed – This one is a rough one, y’all. This time, Mercy doesn’t just get hurt, she gets raped. As hard as it is to read, I think it was handled well, and leads to learning more about another character. The PTSD Mercy develops as a result of the rape is also handled well in subsequent books.
  • Bone Crossed – Vampires, and ghosts, and coyotes, oh, my!
  • Silver Borne – The Gray Lords, the rulers of the fae, set Zee up to take the fall for something he didn’t do. Mercy isn’t about to let them get away with it, no matter how powerful the Gray Lords are.
  • River Marked – Poor Mercy can’t even go on her honeymoon without ending up in a wheelchair by the end of the book.
  • Frost Burned – Car wrecks, kidnapping, and a necromancer. Just another day in the life of your local VW mechanic.
  • Night Broken – This book contains the first appearance by Christy, Adam’s ex-wife. I detest Christy. I’ve dealt with Christys and Ms. Briggs does an excellent job of writing a manipulative character.
  • Fire Touched – Leave it to Mercy to make a declaration making life easier for the residents of the Tri-Cities area while simultaneously making things harder for the pack.
  • Silence Fallen – This book goes international with various characters in Italy and Prague. When Mercy almost dies at the beginning of the book, you know you’re in for a ride. This book also includes a wonderful twist that I usually forget between read-throughs. This time, I remembered, LOL.
  • Storm Cursed – Miniature zombie goats provide some levity. Otherwise, it’s another good story that’s a hard read. It’s always disappointing when a character – even a secondary one – betrays the others. I will admit to ugly crying over the kitten. Not when he was found, but when you find out why he survived.😭
  • Smoke Bitten – Christy strikes again! The woman may be pure human, but her ability to cause problems is almost magical.
  • Soul Taken – A creature from a horror movie comes to life and stalks the Tri-Cities. Also, as the owner of a Subaru Outback, the part with Mercy, Warren, and Warren’s Subaru Outback was priceless.🤣
  • Winter Lost – Never trust a frost giant.

If you have read this series, I’d love to know what you think. If you have any urban fantasy recommendations, I’d love to hear them!

Linda Lou’s Library: Lindsay Buroker

Urban fantasy is one of my favorite genres and Lindsay Buroker has quickly become one of my favorite urban fantasy authors. One of the things I most enjoy about Lindsay’s books are that her heroines are not the typical urban fantasy heroines. (Her stories also have enough romantic elements to please my romantic heart.)

The series that introduced me to Lindsay is Death Before Dragons. At first glance, Val Thorvald, the heroine of the series, appears to be very much the typical UF heroine. Why? Well, Val is tall, blonde, wears a lot of leather, and is good with both guns and bladed weapons. How is she not the standard heroine? Val is sixty years old. Admittedly, she’s half-elven so she looks thirty, but still. She’s also divorced and a reluctant absentee mom. (Val is an assassin for the government; when magical bad guys hurt people, Val is in charge of making sure they never do so again. She stays away from her daughter to protect her from possible fallout from her job.) The hero of the series is Lord Zavryd’nokquetal, a dragon. (Dragons can take human form.) Dragons are powerful and arrogant and Lord Zavryd has both traits in spades. When Val and Lord Zavryd are forced to work together, the process is anything but smooth. Oh, I almost forgot – Val also has a magical tiger.

Image from Amazon.com

There are nine books in the Death Before Dragons series:

  • Sinister Magic
  • Battle Bond
  • Tangled Truths
  • Elven Doom
  • False Security
  • Storm Forged
  • Secrets of the Sword I
  • Secrets of the Sword II
  • Secrets of the Sword III

While Val and Zav’s story wraps up with the of the Death Before Dragons series, the storyline continues in the Legacy of Magic series. While Val and Zav make occasional appearances, Matti Puletasi step into the role of heroine. Of all of the heroines in the three interconnected series that make up this storyline, Matti is my favorite. Matti is short, curvy, rides a motorcycle, and refurbishes homes for a living. She’s also half-dwarven and carries a magical dwarven war hammer. The role of hero is taken over by Sarrlevi, an egotistical elven assassin. (As a big fan of Zevran Arainai, the elven assassin in the Dragon Age Origins video game, I support this choice of hero. In fact, in my head, Sarrlevi looks a lot like Zevran.)

Zevran Arainai, Dragon Age Origins

The series starts with Matti being framed for murder and Sarrlevi being the only person seemingly interested in helping her. As the series moves on, our intrepid hero and heroine move from one crisis to another – many of which revolve around Matti’s dwarven mother; the mother Matti long thought dead.

Image from Amazon.com

There are eight books in the Legacy of Magic series:

  • Hammered
  • Betrayed
  • Trolled
  • Tested
  • Wrenched
  • Fused
  • Wanted
  • Cursed

After the events of the Legacy of Magic series, the storyline concludes in the Tracking Trouble series. Heroine Arwen Forester is a socially awkward introvert; she’s also an archer, tracker, and forager. Much to Arwen’s dismay, she is also half dark elf, and is always in danger of being found and captured by her mother’s people. Arwen puts her skills to the test to track, rescue, and befriend the hero, genetically engineered half-dragon super soldier, Azerdash Starblade. (With a name like that, he has to be the hero.)

Image from Amazon.com

There are five books in the Tracking Trouble series:

  • Marked by Magic
  • Bound by Blood
  • Driven by Destiny
  • Pursued by Peril
  • Tested by Temptation

If you enjoy urban fantasy, I highly recommend these books. There’s a lot of action and so many wonderful secondary characters. I enjoy the fact that the characters introduced in earlier books continue to make appearances throughout the series.

Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think? If you like urban fantasy, who is your favorite author?

Linda Lou’s Library: The Psy-Changeling and Psy-Changeling Trinity series by Nalini Singh

Nalini Singh is one of my all-time favorite authors. Every time I read one of her books, I am in awe of her as a storyteller. Nalini is an incredible world builder and writes compelling stories in the worlds she creates. The Psy-Changeling and Psy-Changeling Trinity series are populated by three races:

  • Psy – the members of the Psy race are gifted with a variety of mental abilities ranging from telepathy and telekinesis to empathy and foresight and everything in between. These strength of these abilities range from negligible to Cardinal, which is off the charts. All Psy are mentally connected to the Psy-Net at the moment of birth and remain there for life; without biofeedback from the Psy-Net, a Psy will die within minutes, if not seconds. Due to an increasing number of violent crimes among the Psy a century ago, they implemented a protocol known as Silence which attempted to remove all emotions from the race as a whole. (For the Star Trek fans out there, the Psy attempted to become Vulcans.) At the beginning of the series, one hundred years after the implementation of Silence, the Psy ruling council is reluctantly coming to terms with the fact that the protocol implemented to save their race may have actually doomed it. The Psy as a whole suffer from a massive superiority complex and consider changelings to be nothing more than dumb animals and have no qualms with ripping ideas from the minds of humans, even if doing so leaves that human a vegetable.
  • Changelings – Changelings would be called shifters in other books. However, changelings are not “turned” after birth, they are born with an animal half that is an equal part of them. Normally, changelings gain the ability to shift into their animal form when they are toddlers. They delight in letting the Psy underestimate them at the negotiating table only to put the Psy firmly in their place when the deal is finally done. Changelings have a natural shield that prevents the Psy from being able to rummage through their minds at will.
  • Humans – The humans are like you and I. They have no special mental abilities nor can they shift into animal form. Humans are basically at the bottom of the food chain and have become resentful of the Psy – especially those who have had proprietary data stolen from their thoughts by the Psy who then implemented and patented it, leaving the actual inventors with no recourse against the theft.

The Psy-Changeling and Psy-Changeling Trinity series are classified as paranormal romance, even though they would be captivating books without the romantic elements. However, as a closet hopeless romantic, I’m glad the romances are there. On the steaminess scale, these books are easily rated M for Mature – there are a lot of explicit sex scenes. Like, a lot. These are lengthy series and I have read them both multiple times. The Psy-Changeling series is complete, but the Psy-Changeling Trinity series is ongoing, the newest book released on July 23, 2024. I will add the names of the main characters to the list of books that follows, along with any notes that come to mind. The secondary characters are too numerous to mention; the characters you meet in each book will show up in the following books.

The Psy-Changeling Series is set in San Francisco, California and the surrounding areas. The books in this series are:

  • Slave to Sensation – the story of Psy empath Sascha Duncan and Lucas Hunter, alpha of the DarkRiver leopard pack. Since empaths are all about emotion, the Psy have spent the last century trying to wipe them out of existence. In order to live, Sascha has had to don the mask of the perfect Psy, but now her mask is crumbling.
  • Visions of Heat – the story of F-Psy Faith Nightstar and jaguar changeling Vaughn D’Angelo. As an F-Psy, Faith has the gift of foresight – she sees the future. F-Psy are considered among the most mentally frail of the Psy, frequently getting lost in their visions. Faith’s every movement and thought is monitored for signs of distress.
  • Caressed by Ice – This is one of my favorite books in the series and is the story of wolf changeling Brenna Kincaid and rare Tk-cell Psy Judd Lauren. Brenna is scarred both mentally and physically as a result of being abducted by a Psy serial killer and is chafing at the continuing over-protectiveness of her brothers. Judd Lauren has been trained as an elite soldier since childhood and has been forced to use his rare gift in horrible ways. Trained to be cold and pitiless, Judd doesn’t understand the attraction that Brenna professes to feel.
  • Mine to Possess – the story of leopard changling Clay Bennett and human Talin McKade. Clay and Talin grew up together only to be separated by trauma. Now, fresh trauma brings them back together.
  • Hostage to Pleasure – the story of rebellious Psy scientist Ashaya Aleine and leopard changeling Dorian Christensen. Dorian hates all Psy since one murdered his sister.
  • Branded by Fire – the story of leopard changeling and DarkRiver sentinel Mercy Smith and wolf changeling and SnowDancer lieutenant Riley Kincaid. I love this pairing and story, in part due to Mercy being a fellow hard-headed redhead.
  • Blaze of Memory – the story of human(?) Dev Santos and Psy Katya Haas. Full disclosure, I read this book during my first readthrough and have skipped in all subsequent ones. I think I’m supposed to think of Dev as a sexy Dom and I just think he’s an ass. I have no desire to re-read his story and skipping it doesn’t hurt the overall storyline.
  • Bonds of Justice – the story of human cop Max Shannon and J(Justice) Psy Sophia Russo. I’ve read this book a couple of times but will skip it going forward. It’s not a bad book, it’s just not very compelling IMO and Max and Sophia play minor roles going forward. I don’t think a whole book was needed to introduce the role of the J-Psy.
  • Play of Passion – the story of wolf changeling and SnowDancer tracker Drew Kincaid and wolf changeling and SnowDancer lieutenant Indigo Riviere. This is an interesting take on a reverse age gap romance. (Indigo is older than Drew.)
  • Kiss of Snow – the story of Cardinal X-Psy Sienna Lauren and wolf changeling and Alpha of the SnowDancer pack, Hawke Snow. (And yes, the name Hawke makes me roll my eyes.) Of all of the stories, this is the one that I would normally have a problem with because of the age gap: Sienna is nineteen and Hawke is in his early thirties. However, Nalini makes it work. Sienna has never been a child; little is know about her abilities as most X-Psy don’t survive childhood, they self-immolate. Sienna has been trained in combat and military tactics since the age of six so she is far from the average nineteen year old. Having watched the attraction between them develop over the first part of the series, it’s nice to see it finally work out. (Sienna is another strong-willed redhead. Hawke may be alpha, but he never really stood a chance, LOL.)
  • Tangle of Need – the story of SnowDancer wolf changelings Adria Morgan and Riaz Delgado. The fur flies (see what I did there?) when two dominant wolves tangle.
  • Heart of Obsidian – the story of Psy and dual Cardinal (telepath and telekinesis) Kaleb Krychek and Psy Sahara Kyriakus. Kaleb is easily the most enigmatic character in the series and I’m glad he got his own story. I always suspected their was more to Kaleb than he showed the world and I was right.
  • Shield of Winter – the story of Tp-Psy Vasic Zen and empath Ivy Jane. Another one of my favorite stories. Vasic’s appearances in the previous books intrigued me and I’m glad he got a book of his own. Vasic deserves a happily-ever-after.
  • Shards of Hope – the story of Aden and Zaira. Both are members of the Arrow squad, elite assassins previously known as the bogeymen of the Psy. This book is a change in that the female, Zaira, is the one who is broken and Aden is the perfect man to help her put the pieces back together.
  • Alliegance of Honor – this is the final book in the Psy-Changeling series and doesn’t focus solely on one group or one couple. The Silence protocol has fallen and the Psy leaders are left dealing with the damage it has done to the Psy-net they require to live while the remaining Psy are coming to terms with being allowed to express their emotions. In an effort to heal the divisions of centuries, the Psy, changelings, and humans have signed the Trinity accord to promote a new era of cooperation.

I’m not sure why Nalini decided to split the books into two series: one before the Trinity accord and one after, but it’s her books so she can do whatever she wants. The books in the Psy-Changeling Trinity series are:

  • Silver Silence – the story of Psy Silver Mercant and Valentin Nikolaev, alpha of Moscow’s StoneWater Bear clan. If you had asked me if Silver Mercant could carry off being the lead in a book, I would have said no. I’ve never been happier to be wrong. This book is hands down (paws down?) my favorite book in both series in large part due to the bears. The bears, y’all. The bears. If I could hang out with any group in these books, it would be the StoneWater bears. They would probably drive me out of my mind within twenty-four hours, but once my introvert batteries were recharged, I would be back in the thick of things.
  • Ocean Light – the story of human Bowen Knight and BlackSea water changeling, Kaia Luna. I find BlackSea intriguing. Unlike the other changeling packs, BlackSea is made up of a variety of water changelings and I look forward to more stories about them.
  • Wolf Rain – the story of Psy empath Memory Aven-Rose and wolf changeling Alexi Harte. Memory is strong-willed enough to be the perfect counterpoint to “growly” wolf Alexi, known to the other wolves as Sexy Lexi.
  • Alpha Night – the story of Psy Arrow Ethan Night and Selenka Durev, alpha of the BlackEdge wolves. What happens when two people who have literally just met find themselves mated? Alpha Night happens, that’s what.
  • Last Guard – the story of Psy Cardinal telepaths Payal Rao and Canto Mercant. Payal and Canto first crossed paths as children, and now as adults are thrown together once again when their shared subdesignation becomes critical to stabilizing the rapidly failing Psy-net.
  • Storm Echo – the story of Psy Ivan Mercant and changeling healer Soleil (Lei) Garcia. This story takes place back in San Francisco so many familiar faces fill its pages.
  • Resonance Surge – the story of Yakov Stepreyev of the StoneWater bears and low-Gradient Psy Theodora Marshall. What can I say? The bears make every story better.
  • Primal Mirror – the story of Remi Denier, changeling Alpha of the RainFire leopard pack and Psy Auden Scott. I’ve liked Remi since his first appearance in Shards of Hope so I was glad he got his own story. I didn’t think I would like Auden since she’s a member of the ruthless Scott family, but she grew on me. However, I’m not a fan of the name Auden since the series already has a recurring character named Aden.🤷‍♀️

Where are the Nalini Singh fans? Chime in and let me know you’re there. If you’re a Psy-Changeling fan, which book is your favorite? Which is your least favorite?

Anti-Hermit Mode Engaged

Kenn and I are both introverts, so it’s easy for us to spend time alone or with just each other. I have to admit that I occasionally worry about us becoming hermits. In an effort to combat my hermit-like tendencies, I decided to push myself outside of my comfort zone by joining some sort of group. Of course, joining a random group just to join the group is a recipe for disaster. As I was trying to decide where I might best find people with similar interests, a friend invited me to join a book club. Boom! A book club is a perfect fit for me.

I’m an avid reader and have been as long as I can remember. I also have to admit that I have actively avoided book clubs in the past. Why? Because I’m not very good at being told what to do, including what to read. However, I decided to give the group a try; if it’s not a good fit, I can always leave. Easy-peasy.

Image from depositphotos.com

So far, the book club and I seem to be a good fit. I’ve been a member for three months now, but only made it to my first in-person meeting in May. Even though there are seventy or so people in the Facebook group for the club, there were only seven of us at the meeting I attended. Based on comments by the other attendees, that seems to be the standard turnout. Walking into a roomful of people I don’t know is hard for me, but I’ve gotten better at it over the years. I enjoyed getting to know the other attendees and even enjoyed the discussion of the book. (Of the three books I’ve read since joining, the May book was my least favorite.) The books we have read since I have joined are:

  • The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston; I liked this one a lot.
  • The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon; Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed this one even though historical fiction isn’t usually my thing.
  • One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid; This one was just “okay” to me.

In addition to getting me out of the house and helping me meet new people, the club is introducing me to books I probably wouldn’t have otherwise read. It’s easy for me to get stuck in my sci-fi/paranormal/urban fantasy worlds and not venture out into others. So, I’m glad I’ve pushed myself to step outside of my admittedly very small comfort zone.

Are you a reader? If so, are you in a book club? Are you an introvert or an extrovert? If you’re an introvert how do you avoid the hermit tendencies?

Linda Lou’s Library: The Soulwood Series by Faith Hunter

Welcome to the first edition of Linda Lou’s Library! I’m an avid reader and I have a blog, so where better to talk about the books I enjoy? I primarily read fiction; science fiction, urban fantasy, and paranormal are my favorite genres. (The primary difference between urban fantasy and paranormal is that urban fantasy includes magic, paranormal does not.) My plan is not to review books as such, I’m just going to write about the books I enjoy and why I enjoy them. The books I don’t enjoy… well, you’ll never see them here.

Faith Hunter’s Soulwood series is one of my favorites. The series is a spin-off of her Jane Yellowrock series. (Jane is a Cherokee skinwalker working as a vampire hunter in New Orleans.) Nell Nicholson Ingram is the main character in the Soulwood books and makes her first appearance in Off the Grid in the Black Water anthology of Jane Yellowrock stories.

Image from Amazon.com

Nell Nicholson Ingram was raised in a polygamous religious cult (God’s Cloud of Glory Church) and became a sister wife at age twelve. At the beginning of Blood of the Earth, the first Soulwood novel, “widder woman” Nell is dealing with the consequences of having assisted Jane Yellowrock during the events of Off the Grid. Those consequences include being hunted (literally) by the leaders of God’s Cloud of Glory Church; they want Nell’s land and to take her back to the church where she can be punished (aka raped) for her “sins.” (Her so-called sins include such things as being a woman owning land and daring to live on her own with no husband to keep her properly in line.) Nell has also realized that she is non-human, although she doesn’t know what exactly she is. She knows if the churchmen discover the truth, they will want to burn her at the stake. She finds herself working with the Psychometry Law Enforcement Division of Homeland Security or PsyLED for short. PsyLED is the arm of law enforcement responsible for investigating incidents involving witchcraft and/or paranormal beings. Working with other paranormals helps Nell to see that, whatever she is, she isn’t evil, she just is.

In addition to Nell, the primary recurring characters are the members of Unit Eighteen of PsyLED. The members of the team include:

  • Paka, an African black wereleopard shifter. Paka first appears in the Jane Yellowrock series.
  • Rick LaFleur, also an African black wereleopard shifter. Rick makes his first appearance in the Jane Yellowrock books. I do not like Rick due to his actions in the Yellowrock books. We’ll see if he can redeem himself in my eyes. So far, six Soulwood books in, he has not.
  • Occam, wereleopard shifter.
  • Tammie Laine Kent (T. Laine), moon witch.
  • Josephine Anna Jones (JoJo), human hacker.
  • Thom Andrew Dyson (Tandy), empath.
  • Soul, arcenial. Soul first appears in the Jane Yellowrock books.
  • Ayatas Firewind, Cherokee skinwalker. Ayatas first appears in the Jane Yellowrock series and is Jane’s brother. Ayatas definitely suffers from a superiority complex, but there is hope for him. By the events of book five, he is starting to work the stick out of his butt and may actually be in danger of developing a sense of humor. The changes are in large part due to Nell who has no problems telling others the things they need to hear – even, or maybe especially, when they don’t want to hear them.

Soulwood is an ongoing series. At the time of this writing there are six books available.

  • Blood of the Earth, published August 2, 2016
  • Curse on the Land, published November 1, 2016
  • Flame in the Dark, published December 5, 2017
  • Circle of the Moon, published February 26, 2019
  • Spells for the Dead, published July 28, 2020
  • Rift in the Soul, published March 5, 2024

Nell is one of my favorite characters ever. I have loved watching Nell grow from a woman living alone, traumatized by her upbringing, afraid of what she is, into an increasingly confident woman with a career and friends; a woman rebuilding her faith and her relationship with her family on her own terms. I also appreciate the fact that it is set in the Southern US. As a native Southerner, I always love a story in a familiar setting. Though, it isn’t just the setting that draws me in; the dialects and turns of phrase speak to me as well. Having someone referred to as “looking a mite peaked” brought a smile to my face; I haven’t heard that phrase in a while. (If you aren’t familiar with the meaning, it can be translated as “You’re looking a little rough… bless your heart.”) More importantly, I guess one of the biggest draws for me is that I see a lot of myself in Nell. Even though the Soulwood books are a spinoff, you do NOT need to read the Jane Yellowrock series first; the author does a wonderful job of providing the salient information without it being an information overload.

If you decide to read the Soulwood books, please stop by and let me know what you think. If you have already read the Jane Yellowrock series, the Soulwood books, or both, let me know what you think of Rick LeFleur – maybe a different perspective can change my mind about him. Maybe.

Until next installment, happy reading!