Queen’s Birds of Prey Series1.Mercy2.Blaze3.Judith4.Piper5.Remington6.EsmereldaMercy and her warrior sisters had been around for several millennia, their time of fighting in wars and conquering kingdoms now a distant memory. Before Queen Dante passed, she’d graced her prized warriors—the falcon, hawk, eagle, phoenix, vulture, and owl—with humanity as well as immortality. A gift that Mercy, to … immortality. A gift that Mercy, to this day, was having difficulty coming to terms with. Living as a human was not what she was born to do, nor what she wanted to do. Being an immortal in a life she didn’t want left Mercy feeling angry at the world and turned her into a workaholic.
As an intervention, Blaze arranged an extended vacation and guilted her into taking it. She made all the arrangements and wouldn’t tell Mercy where she was going, just to be at the airport and do as she was told.
Joel Oliver needed this job. Finances were tight, and Blaze said all he had to do was chauffer a rich woman around town. What he would receive would catch him up on the mound of bills piling up and keep the roof over his—and his thirteen-year-old daughter, Miley’s—head for a few months longer. Miley was in a wheelchair—and as a result, had a lot of medical bills—but he loved her more than his own life. However, Joel was about to bite off more than he could chew.
The woman was gorgeous, and he found her snarky, hateful, attitude amusing until she interfered with how he was raising his daughter. Now, all bets were off.
Mercy would normally laugh in the man’s face for his hurtful remarks, but for some reason, her heart shattered instead. After a night of the most mind-blowing sex she could’ve imagined, he was treating her like it all meant nothing…. She had just realized he was her mate, and he hated her….
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I completely started this series out of order, so I had to come back and read “Mercy” as my first book …. Ugh! I love the prologue. It gives enough of a backdrop concerning Queen Dante and what led up to this book. Filling in the major gaps in order to let the reader know what’s going on. In my case, it was enough for me to read book three as a standalone and not be lost. I have to say, this is an addictive series. The entire premise of a magical queen loving her people and family enough to provide and protect them millenniums into the future is awe-inspiring. Especially when you have Kathi S. Barton telling the tale and then as a reader just fall into the words and let the entire experience take you away. That’s what I felt like when Mercy and Joel first met. And I have to say, I HATED JOEL at first. He was a real horse’s patoot!! He did eventually redeem himself very well but I wanted to throttle him. The worldbuilding is magical. The characters are so relatable and easy to love, or in some cases easy to love to hate. I can’t wait to get my hands on “Blaze” next
Great start to a new sereis
Mercy and her sisters were created by a powerful widowed queen to protect her self and her kingdom. All birds of prey, given the ability to change their size. They were the only army she needed. A powerful king demanded her hand in marriage and the queen knew she would not survive, she she sacrificed her self to save her kingdom. Mercy and her sister were give immortality and the ability to shift from bird to human. The treasures hidden and her people as well.
Mercy is a falcon and her queens first and was devastated by her queens loss. She is a surly workaholic and her sisters fear for her. They arrange for a weeks vacation, unplugged.
Joel is a single father to a 13 year old daughter who is a paraplegic. An engineer, but has worked outside his field at odd jobs due to her daughters needs. They live hand to mouth, but have all the basics. This chauffeur job he has been hired for will put the in the black for a while.
Joel takes Mercy’s bad temper in stride. Her sister prepared him for it. A fainting spell, and trip to the hospital has Joel taking Mercy to his home.
Mercy has an instant connection to Miley, Joels daughter. She over steps by showering her with gifts. Despite his anger and her animosity they can’t keep their hand off each other. Angry words pull them apart, before Mercy realizes Joel is her mate, and carrying his child.
Mercy through her sisters get Joel and Miley to her town. Joel has realized that Mercy must be he mate. He fixes their relationship. A baby on the way, and Mercy is sure she has some magic that will help Miley they are settling in to their life as a family. Then Joels dead beat older brother show up and threatens they family.
A fast paced, and steamy story. Really liked Joel and Mercy. Looking forward to the next book.
This series is off to a great start. I’m waiting for the next 5.
Mercy is a falcon shifter, but not your typical shifter. She’s been around for several millennia and served her queen with her warrior sisters as her prized warriors. Before dying, the queen gave her warriors the ability to shift and live as humans as well as the gift of immortality.
As the queen’s “favorite” and closest warrior Mercy feels the loss of her queen more than her sisters and is angry that her queen gave her life and these abilities to Mercy when she didn’t want these. So for as long as she can remember she worked hard and lived very little. When Blaze intervenes and convinces Mercy to take a vacation, away from work and the electronics and to relax and maybe even get laid 😉
Joel Oliver has done whatever it takes to survive. He’s donated blood, plasma, sperm, and at times worked more than 3 jobs at a time. When he’s offered a job that could help him and his daughter get ahead (even for a few months) he eats up the opportunity to drive a rich woman around. However, when he meets Mercy he realizes he’s in for a bigger surprise when they both discover that they are mates and Joel must find a way to get Mercy to forgive him when he lets his pride get the best of his mouth and spouts off hateful words.
This book is something new we haven’t seen from Barton before, but it’s still got her touches and yes, I’ll admit a formula we’ve come to see quite a bit from her. There were some questions I still was asking even after reading the story. Why did Blaze choose New Mexico for Mercy’s vacation? Why not send her to an island if you want her relaxed and away from technology? How was Joel’s brother able to find him after he left New Mexico if nobody knew where he went?