The Desert Island Keeper Hero round-robin game is over. It was fun. No one got any work done. But we got a fabulous list of our favorite heroes. My To Be Read (TBR) list is HUGE. Based on the final composition of the island, I have compiled a list of the 13 authors who had the most heroes make the DIK hero list. J.R. Ward tops the list with 8. (9 if you count Carolyn Jean’s pick of the Omega.) (edited- sorry Christine!!!) Authors 8 through 12 each had three heroes make it to the island, so they are listed in alphabetical order. Josh Lanyon had 3 heroes, but they were fought over so I listed him at the top of the 3-hero authors. Patricia Briggs has 2 heroes, but made the list over the runners-up because Adam was fought over. Viciously. You know it’s gotta be love.

Authors who Rock and their Heroes:

1. J.R. Ward: Zsadist, John Matthew aka Tehrror, Rhage, Qhuinn, Vishous, Wrath, Rehvenge, Butch O’Neill, the Omega *coughCarolynJeancough* (edited – sorry Christine!).
2. Meljean Brook: Hugh Castleford, Colin Ames-Beaumont, Savitri Murray, Michael, Ethan McCabe *coughMineHahahacough*, Belial.
3. Nalini Singh: Lucas Hunter, Hawke, Vaughn D’Angelo, Judd Laurens, Clay Bennett, Dorian
4. Suzanne Brockmann: Tom Paoletti, Sam Starrett, Max Baghat, Stan Wolchonok, Mr. Jules Cassidy
5. Laurell K. Hamilton: Doyle/The Queen’s Darkness, Rhys, Nathaniel, Barinthus
6. Lisa Kleypas: Cam Rohan, Sebastian St. Vincent, Derek Craven, Gage Travis
7. Josh Lanyon: Adrian English, Taylor MacAllister, Jake Riordan
8. Linda Howard: Gray Rouillard, James Diaz, Sam Donovan
9. Kresley Cole: Cadeon Woede, Bowen MacRieve, Conrad Wroth
10. Sherrilyn Kenyon: Zarek of Moesia, Acheron, Vane Kattalakis
11. Stephanie Meyers: Edward Cullen, Jacob Black, Ian
12. C.L. Wilson: Gaelen vel Serranis, Rain Tairen Soul, Kieran Vel Solande (I forgot mine!)
13. Patricia Briggs: Adam Hauptman, Dr. Samuel Cornick.

Runners up:

• Kelly Armstrong: Jeremy Danvers, Clay
• Anne Bishop: Lucivar Yaslana, Daemon Sadi  (edited to add)
• Jennifer Crusie: Calvin Morissey, Phineas Tucker
• Janet Evanovich: Joe Morelli, Ranger
• Patricia Gaffney: Michael McNeil, Sebastian Verlaine
• Judith Ivory: Mick Tremore, Graham Wessi
• Samantha Kane: Derek Knightly, Ian Witherspoon
• J.L. Langley: Nate, Jake Romer
• Linnea Sinclair: Branden Kel-Paten, Gabriel “Sully” Sullivan

Title: Iron Kissed
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson, Book 3
Publication Info: Ace Books, January 2008
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3

The third book in the Mercy Thompson series is Dark. Though I knew the terrible price Mercy has to pay ahead of time (I looked it up), I was still on pins and needles from page one. Iron Kissed has delicious world building and great story telling, although it lacks the humor and light-hearted moments of the previous books. I especially like the world building about the fae that Ms. Briggs brings to life. Forget Tinkerbelle – Ms. Briggs has resurrected the original fairy tales in all their gruesome glory.

All is not right in fairyland. Mercy Thompson is called in to use her superhuman nose to find a killer as grisly murders rock the fae reservation in Eastern Washington. The lords of the fae will do anything and sacrifice anyone to keep the humans from finding out. Humans are already wary of the fae, and no one wants to give fodder to the fae hate groups. But when Mercy’s old mentor Zee, who taught her everything she knows about cars and sold her the garage, is arrested for the murders, Mercy refuses to let an innocent man die. She hunts for the real killer even as the fae issue warrants for her death and fae-hate groups plot nefarious schemes around her. Will her loyalty cost her her life? By the skin of her teeth, Mercy tackles her most dangerous mystery yet. But the price is high.

Dominant werewolves Samuel and Adam have been courting Mercy, and she finally makes a choice. While her relationship with Samuel is complex and well-communicated to the reader, I have to wonder after three books just what her relationship with Adam consists of. Mercy and Adam have known each other for 7 years before we meet them, but during the course of the three books we rarely see them together unless Adam is in a dangerous rage and Mercy is trying to calm him down. The romance reader in me wants more. I want to know about the good times between them, not just that Mercy thinks Adam in a rage is hawt. The ending of the book left me with a “WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?????” feeling. BUT, I recognize that this isn’t a romance novel – It’s Urban Fantasy

Iron Kissed is great and I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT ONE. What – 2009??? Are you kidding me? I am not a patient person. At least Cry Wolf comes out in August. It is the sequel to the novella in On the Prowl and is about Charles, Samuel’s brother and the Marrok’s second son.

If you have yet to read any of the Mercy Thompson series, don’t start in the middle. I highly recommend them in order:

Book 1: Moon Called
Book 2: Blood Bound
Book 3: Iron Kissed

Title: Blood Bound
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson, Book 2
Publication Info: Ace Books, February 2007
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 (5 Hearts!)

Blood Bound, the second book about mechanic Mercy Thompson, is more suspenseful and bloody than the first, but has the same fabulous world building, dash of humor and heart that made Moon Called a Desert Island Keeper.

Blood Bound, which I read first (do not repeat – read them in order!), delves into the world of the vampires. And a scary, violent world it is too. Mercy’s friend Sebastian, the Scooby-Doo loving VW bus owner who shows briefly in the first book, asks Mercy for help with a vampire matter. As a Walker, Mercy can not only shift into a coyote at will, but is also immune to some magic. Sebastian and Mercy visit a rogue vampire and discover he is a psychopathic killer. They escape, but the werewolves are drawn into the hunt as the body count piles up. Everyone tells Mercy to stay out of it, but she isn’t the sort of person to sit idly by while her friends are in danger. Meanwhile, tension grows in the pack as Samuel and Adam compete for Mercy as mate.

Mercy is one of the all-time greatest heroines in fiction. She is brave, loyal, and flawed. If it sometimes seems like every straight male immediately falls in love with her, I understand the appeal. The secondary characters are full and vibrant too. I really enjoy the way Ms. Briggs weaves in the psychology of werewolf behavior throughout the book, with Mercy using body language to communicate, calm tempers, and get what she wants.

Patricia Briggs is a fabulous author. Her dialogue is witty, her ideas are fresh, and her characters are well-developed. I plan to read every book she puts out.

Title: Moon Called
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson, Book 1 of 7
Publication Info: Ace Books, January 2006
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 (5 Hearts!)

My measure of a great book, one deserving of the coveted and rarely bestowed 5 heart rating, is if I feel bereft when I arrive at the last page. I’ve fallen so enthralled with the world and so in love with the characters that returning to the real world is physically painful and I must run out and grab the rest of the books in the series IMMEDIATELY. Mr. Wonderful is grudgingly tolerant of these 11 pm dashes across town to the Barnes & Noble, but he knows I need the next book like I need air to breathe.

Patricia Briggs has written one of these books. I want to chat with Mercy as she fixes my biodiesel Jetta and eat popcorn with Warren and Kyle. I want to date Adam and talk about babies with Samuel. I want to move to the Tri-cities, and I’ve been to the Tri-cities.

I read her novella in On the Prowl and was hooked, so I picked up Blood Bound (erroneously thinking it was the 1st book in the series and that it was a paranormal romance, since On the Prowl is a paranormal romance). The books are not romance (def: a story about a growing love relationship between a couple that has an HEA ending), but I hear Mercy finally picks one of her suitors in the third book Iron Kissed (which I will be buying as soon as Barnes and Noble opens in the morning!).

Mercedes is a Volkswagon mechanic who was raised by werewolves in Montana. She is not a werewolf, but a Walker: she can shift into a coyote at will, is independent of the moon cycle, and is resistant to many forms of magic. When a young werewolf, hungry, homeless, and lost, shows up at her shop looking for a job, she gives him one and introduces him to Adam, the local alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack who is also her overbearing and handsome neighbor. Men bearing guns show up in pursuit and suddenly all hell breaks loose. Adam’s daughter is captured, Adam is wounded, and it falls to Mercy to save the day. What else can a girl do? She wipes the axle grease off her hands and gets to work hunting down the killers, braving crazed vampires, crafty fae, and Samuel, the man who broke her heart.

Mercy is a great heroine: tough as nails but still sympathetic. She’s loyal, smart, brave, and not afraid to get her hands dirty. The other characters are just as well crafted. I often have trouble relating to the heroines and heroes in Urban Fantasy, because they have too hard an edge and are too cynical. Ms. Briggs succeeds in creating dark urban fantasy with heart. The world-building is fabulous too, particularly the interactions of the werewolf pack.

I highly recommend this original and action-packed book, and eagerly anticipate following the rest of Mercy’s adventures.