Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson Series #7)

Frost Burned - Patricia Briggs

Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs is the seventh novel in the Mercy Thompson series. Hence there will be minor spoilers for the first six books because I can’t really remember what big twists there were previously. Each book stands on its own fairly well though, so unless you don’t want the romance aspect to be spoiled, you’re mostly safe. In any case, I love the world that Patricia Briggs has built with this series and its spin-off Alpha and Omega. My favorite part about Frost Burned, however, is that it breaks free of the formula that so many urban fantasy series fall into, and Mercy is thrown straight into the thick of a mystery all on her own.
 Goodreads Amazon | LibraryThing

Title: Frost Burned
Author: Patricia Briggs
Length: 352 pages (hardcover)
Genre-ish: Urban Fantasy
Rating★★★rocking plot, characters and world

Mercy Thompson’s life has undergone a seismic change. Becoming the mate of Adam Hauptman—the charismatic Alpha of the local werewolf pack—has made her a stepmother to his daughter Jesse, a relationship that brings moments of blissful normalcy to Mercy’s life. But on the edges of humanity, what passes for a minor mishap on an ordinary day can turn into so much more…

After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can’t reach Adam—or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They’ve all been abducted.

Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam’s disappearance may be related—and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely. – Goodreads

Strengths:

  • Frost Burned pulls you (and Mercy!) into the action immediately. Things go from a little after turkey shopping to oh gawd what happened??? And you just never want to stop reading from there :D.
  • Between the most recent Alpha and Omega book and Frost Burned, there is so much epic brewing in the world that I just can’t take the wait. Frost Burned does an excellent job of telling a compelling story while dropping little hints about what is building for the series. I’m so excited!!!
  • Mercy has always been an odd duck in terms of her magical gifts, and we get to find out a bit more about what she can do now that she’s connected to Adam through their mate bond. It’s pretty awesome ;-).
  • I love cross-series appearances of characters that we know pretty well (if you’ve been reading Alpha and Omega), but these characters don’t! Mwahahaha.
  • I totally didn’t see the plot direction of Frost Burned coming. Yes, Adam needs to be rescued, but everything after that is just craziness (in a good way, haha).

Weaknesses:

  • Some phrasing was repeated multiple times; it was a bit odd and annoying. I remember you saying that one page ago!
  • There are switches between first person and third when we need Adam’s perspective. It takes a moment to get your bearing when that happens.
  • The magic developments were a bit too convenient even if they were cool….

Summary:

If you haven’t read the Mercy Thompson series (and you made it this far in the review….) but like urban fantasy, go read Moon Called now!!! I’ve gotten tired of a lot of UF’s repeated plot lines and familiar heroines, but Frost Burned shows that I will probably never get tired of this series. Patricia Briggs writes amazingly with characters you can’t help but adore (or hate, depending on what’s called for, haha) and a world that keeps getting richer. I half expect fae and werewolves to “come out of the closet” any day now after reading this series >.>.

Source: http://www.onstarshipsanddragonwings.com/2013/04/11/frost-burned