Mercy is back and this time she is dealing with the fae. Briggs does a great job of reeling you in from the start and making sure you stay interested the entire way through. Mercy is extremely likable, flawed and sassy. (I think I like her sassiness the most.) The series has become a little darker with each book, but the humor keeps things from getting too depressing. ( )

After completely devouring the first two in the series, I was worried. Could P. Briggs, (my all new nickname Briggs.) But could she keep her streak of awesome-ness up?

The answer, Hell yeah! She did not disappoint!

This adventure leads Mercy, deep into the fae‘s, out in the open/or is it? world. When her former boss and mentor Zee, a goblin- which we learn is a made up term, is accused of a crime; Mercy takes it on herself to prove his innocence...even if it kills her. And it just might or even worse. The Fae aren’t some cute tinkerbells who live with Peter Pan in Neverland. They are scary, powerful, ruthless and straight up BAD-ASS. But we should always remember, humans can be just as bad. Iron Kiss shows that element too.

I am trying not to spoil anything because it unfolds, so perfectly. The characters continue to develop nicely and roundly. In this installment some of the minor players become major and some majors become HUGE.

I love the boys, Adam and Sam. And Mercy is forced to make a choice between the two, once and for all because her indecision was endangering the pack. I didn't 100% like that spin, but it worked, as well as pushed the storyline forward. I liked how it resolved itself and the guy she choice was good too. I have to admit I was pulling for them both so I would be happy and sad for whoever she picked. But the way it was done I was more happy than sad. But still someone needs a spin-off series to heal his heart in my opinion.

Adam’s pack, mainly Ben won my heart. He comes through for Mercy and helps her in his weird, rude way. But we come to understand him better. And frankly I love him now.

This book is also more heartbreaking and devastating as a woman. As I was forced to sit and watch, Mercy experience something meant to destroy. Not many books in this genre can touch me the way Iron Kissed did. I admit, I cried. Sounds silly now, but wait until you read it. Mercy is always so bad ass most of the time it is interesting to see her most vulnerable side.

It was wonderfully done. It wasn't done just to be dramatic and be forced drama and tension like a lot of writers mistakenly do. This book pushed Briggs above all those who are in her genre. ( )

"Iron Kissed" is the third book in the "Mercy Thompson" series. Mercy is a walker, one of the rare people who can change their form between human and, in her case, coyote. She also was raised by werewolves, is friends with members of the fae, occasionally helps out vampires, and can talk to ghosts. The world that Mercy lives in is different from the one that you and I live in. In most ways its the same, but the fae have come out into the open, as have (more recently) the werewolves.

There are many different stories out there about the fae, and many of them are false or hold only a small portion of truth, but one of the one's that is true is that most of the fae can not handle the touch of iron. One of Mercy's friends is different though, he is "iron kissed" and not only can handle the touch of iron, he has an affinity for it. In fact, Zee was the original owner of the shop that Mercy now runs.

Now there's trouble among the fae and Zee's the one that has been designated to take the fall. Mercy, of course, doesn't take too kindly to this idea and begins looking into solving the crime. This pits her against some powerful fae, but Mercy always has some tricks up her sleeve, and of course she has some powerful friends of her own.

Zee tries to stop Mercy from interfering. It's not so much that he likes the idea of being the fall guy, it's more that he knows that there are some incredibly powerful forces involved, and he doesn't think Mercy is going to be able to stand up to them. Mercy is stubborn though, and when it comes to her friends, very little can keep her from giving her 100% to help them! She does find herself in quite a bit of hot water before the book is over, but in true Mercy fashion, she also finds a way out of it. ( )

From the back cover:

Mechanic Mercy Thompson can shift her shape – but not her loyalty. When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it’s up to Mercy to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not.

Mercy’s loyalty is under pressure from other directions, too. Werewolves are not known for their patience, and if Mercy can’t decide between the two she cares for, Sam and Adam may make the choice for her …

With this book, this series became my favorite in urban fantasy. I really enjoyed the first two, but I loved this one. To some extent, I can pinpoint the difference, but largely, it’s because I have grown to love these characters. Over the past two books, they’ve begun to develop, but here things start moving in a solid direction between them. The strength of a series is in how the characters grow and change over the course of it, not necessarily how they stand up on their own (for me at least) and Patricia Briggs has done everything right.

As always, Mercy is a fantastic heroine and remains that way. She knows what’s right and what she has to do to save her friends. She takes unnecessary risks, but she calls for backup when she needs it. She is a strong woman and deals with some incredibly difficult stuff in this novel, which is handled extremely well and in what I thought a realistic way (having never experienced it myself, thankfully, I can’t say for certain). She chooses between Sam and Adam, finally, and her choice makes perfect sense in context of what is revealed in the book and how those characters begin to develop. Nor is the romance heavy-handed, but just perfect and organic.

The plot is an exciting one and, for me, completely unpredictable. I had no idea who the villain was until the reveal, even though it all made sense. Some new details about the world, especially with regard to the fae, are revealed which fit in nicely with what happened in the previous two books. Tensions between the human world and the supernatural world are increasingly clarified. Eerily, this is an echo of what happens in history; people band together in protest groups and seek to persecute the Other, regardless of how similar they are to that Other. This makes Mercy’s world feel even more real and fleshes out the dangers she and her friends encounter.

If you enjoy urban fantasy and aren’t reading this series, you should by all means start ASAP. As soon as I finished Iron Kissed, I bought the fourth one, Bone Crossed, and I’m going to recommend this series to all who are interested in speculative fiction. ( )

Book three of Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series, Iron Kissed brings another side to the ongoing saga that is Mercedes Thompson's life. Mercedes is taken deep into the mysterious world of the Fae to help investigate a murder of several Fae on the Fae Reservation and to help free Zee.

This book is a different speed of the previous two. There isn't as much action but is just as thrilling as the first two. I was glad to learn more about Zee and more about him as a "gremlin", more about the Gray Lords and also, more about Mercy's relationship with Adam and Samuel. This book is difficult to review without giving away too much. I just finished this last night and can't tell you whether it's my favorite of the series, but it definitely broke my heart. The first two books Mercy was tough and independent, in this book she hasn't lost either of those traits but she did get broken. Badly. I felt for her so much. Iron Kissed brought out a different side of Mercy, some people didn't like it but I liked it. She showed she can be broken down to the lowest form and rise above tragedy without completely losing herself. All of the main players in this series are crushed and show different sides in this book. This is definitely one to ponder after reading.

In my book, Mercy rocks and so does Patricia Briggs. ( )