Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

"'Like most people who own their own business, I work long hours that start early in the morning. So when someone calls me in the middle of the night, they'd better be dying...'

Mechanic Mercy Thompson is woken at 3am by a vampire calling in a favour. He has to deliver a message to a fellow undead and needs a witness that won't be noticed - and Mercy's shapeshifting abilities make her the perfect candidate. But the assignment turns into a bloodbath and Mercy attracts the attention of not just a powerful vampire, but the even more powerful demon possessing him. She can count on the supernatural community for protection - and alpha werewolf Adam would like her to rely on him in other ways too - but when it comes to being proactive, she's on her own."

Blood Bound is the fantastic follow up to Moon Called. I liked this a lot more than Moon Called. The plot felt tighter and there were fewer secondary characters to keep straight, and those there were, felt much more solid to me. Several of the characters had been met in Moon Called, but we're given a lot more on them here. Wolves and Vampires alike.

And we're not the only ones learning more. Mercy is learning a lot too. She knows a lot about werewolves having been raised by them, but she's discovering that she has never been told the whole deal. And other than knowing vampires = evil, she doesn't really know anything about them when she's called in to help her friend Stefan, that quickly changes and she learns more about what she is as a walker in the process.

Mercy is very good at finding herself in bad situations, and her curiosity and determination to do the right thing brings her close to being killed on many occasions. But she does have back up in the form of dominant wolf room mate Samuel, and local Alpha (and neighbour) Adam. Both of whom are equally interested in having a different relationship with Mercy to what they have. And Mercy is determined she's not going to lose her independence to a dominant wolf by becoming the mate of either of them. Doesn't stop the romance from growing though.

The bad guy in this book is seriously scary. And had me squirming as I read certain sections, something that almost never happens. Ms. Briggs doesn't shy away from the rough stuff. There were several twists that caught me completely by surprise. There are a few lighter moments that stop the book from being to dark and nasty. And the romance is nicely handled. There isn't a whole lot of it, and what there is, fits in very nicely to the story. It's a good ongoing subplot that doesn't take any time away from the main story. Left me wanting a whole lot more of Mercy's story.!

Rating: 9/10