2.5 stars - SpoilersI really didn't like this installment, mainly because I pretty much hated every character (especially Adam and Christy)… The only ones I didn't mind were Jesse, Tad, and Warren… Even Mercy irritated me with her overly understanding Mary Sue attitude towards Adam and his ex.-What's what: Adam's ex wife (Christy) has a crazy psycho stalker after her, Mercy and co have to protect her. Also, Mercy has to look for her sort of dad (Coyote) so he can give her back a magical walking stick that the fae are demanding. On top of that, Mercy has to deal with the fact that Christy wants Adam back.-I couldn't stand all the bitchy female characters, literally every secondary female character hated Mercy, the only ones that didn't were Adam's daughter and Honey (to a certain extent). It just wasn't believable to me that Mercy was constantly surrounded by mean, jealous, petty women, I found it rather unrealistic. Sure, there are a lot of awful women but there are just as much men who are awful… But like most YA/UF/PNR books heroines tend to spend most of their time with complete fucking cows. Which is bullshit, in real life women usually spend more time with supportive, nice women rather than all the not so nice women. All these books make out like women are all bitches apart from a few speshul snowflakes. It's absurd. Yes, Mercy gets on with her mum and half-sisters… But she rarely mentions them and doesn't seem particularly close to them, all of them are more or less non-characters. Whereas, Mercy can't stop banging on about Bran, Coyote and all the other wonderful male influences in her life. Apparently, relationships only matter and are only worth taking about if it involves a male. If I'm meant to believe that Mercy has strong, meaningful relationships with other female characters (bar Adam's daughter) then it needs to be shown and time needs to spent on them.I'm not impressed with the portrayal of women in the series in general, 90% of the ones that have significant roles are nasty and unpleasant. Maybe, they're just written that way to make Mercy stand out and seem more heroine-like. Whatever the reason, it's irritating and disheartening to read a heroine who only really comes in contact with vile women. Would it really be that unrealistic to let her have a few decent female friends that she regularly interacts with?-A quick summary of Mercy's relationship with male/female characters:The prominent secondary male characters in the series Mercy gets along with/has meaningful relationships with: Adam, Samuel, Bran, Ben, Warren, Kyle, Tad, Zee, Coyote, Gary, Tony, and Darryl.The prominent secondary female characters in the series Mercy gets along with/has meaningful relationships with: Jesse, her mum (who's hardly ever mentioned), and Honey (sort of).So yea, Mercy has four times as many good male friends/relationships than she has female. That's just not right.Now for the Adam Hate:The many reasons why I now hate Adam:1. Adam let his ex-wife stay in his and Mercy's house. What sort of husband does that to their new wife? Adam could have insisted that Christy stay somewhere else, especially when he saw how it was affecting Mercy. 2. Adam pays for ALL of Christy's expenses. What a joke, what wife would be cool with her husband paying for their ex-wife's rent/car/phone bill/insurance?!3. Adam happily let Christy play wife and take over Mercy's house.4. Adam said NOTHING whenever Christy was trying to humiliate and push Mercy around. Why didn't he say something? Why didn't he stand by Mercy? Instead he let her struggle and squirm. He didn't need to fight her battles but he could have at least shown some support. 5. Adam giving Christy his mobile phone when she'd already stopped Mercy from talking to him once before. Why did he let her have it?! To play games? He couldn't have told her to borrow someone else's or use a computer? Really?!6. Adam exchanging tender looks and memories with Christy in front of Mercy and the pack. How HUMILIATING for Mercy to listen to Adam banging on about the good old times with his ex wife. Ugh, he had all these special memories with Christy that he'll never forget, she'll always be a part of him. Of course, Mercy will only ever be about Adam.7. Adam telling his ex-wife that she can keep her make up in his/Mercy's shared bathroom. Really?! Why didn't he tell her to make some room in the other two bathrooms in the house? She's not that much of a master manipulator that he couldn't simply tell her to use another bathroom instead of traipsing through his/Mercy's bedroom to get to their shared bathroom. It's not like it would have been unreasonable for him to tell his ex-wife that. And then when Mercy rightly lets Adam know she's not happy, he leaves it to her to sort out the make up/bathroom situation that he created!8. The fact he kept his house the exact way Christy decorated and arranged it. His house was more Christy's than Mercy's, it was full of Christy's memories and things… There was NOTHING of Mercy there. What wife would want to live in a house that was completely decorated by their husband's ex??9. Not helping Mercy with trying to find Coyote/the walking stick whilst she was running around helping him and his ex wife. Seriously, he could have done more to help her, she was stressed out about it and he was more interested in his ex-wife's problem. Why is it that Mercy goes above and beyond to help Adam and his pack but in comparison he/they rarely do the same for her? 10. When Adam found out Christy had risked Mercy's life by not telling everyone that her stalker was more than human he didn't shout at her for putting Mercy in danger… No, he was just hurt that Christy hadn't confided in him. Ugh.11. Adam letting the majority of his pack treat Mercy like shit. She lives her life surrounded by those bastards and he does nothing when they treat her with disgust, hatred, and disdain. It's one thing letting Mercy stand up for herself but it's another sitting back and doing nothing whilst the pack treat Mercy like crap day in and day out. Does he like to see Mercy treated like shit?! He's their alpha, he has their respect and loyalty, he could easily tell them to back off. 12. Adam ever loving a horrid person like Christy. It doesn't say much about his love for Mercy when he could fall madly in love with a vile cow like Christy.-There's no way Mercy would treat Adam the way he treated her in this. She would never make him feel that small and rubbish by letting an ex stay in their home and then letting them act like the man of the house. She wouldn't have let anyone undermine Adam, let alone a jealous ex, she also wouldn't have gotten all cosy with an ex in front of him either, and she wouldn't still act like someone else's wife when she was married to Adam. It's a shame Adam doesn't respect Mercy as much as she does him.More ranty, repetitive thoughts:-WTF Adam pays for Christy's car, flat, bills, and other expenses?! Ugh, I don't care that Adam's an alpha and feels like he has to look after her… He shouldn't be paying for everything as if they were still married!! She's forty fucking years old, she can look after herself, Adam doesn't need to bankroll her! FFS Adam acted like Christy was still his bloody wife. -My opinion of Adam went way down in this installment. The way he was with Christy pissed me off: he let her get away with all sorts, got all cosy and nostalgic with her, made Mercy feel insecure, and in many ways still acted like a husband to Christy. Also, the fact that he once deeply loved a fucker of a woman like Christy makes me think much less of him. There was nothing good about the manipulative, immature, lying, selfish cow — so either Adam was too dumb to see Christy for what she really was or he loved her despite her being an awful person… Either way, Adam didn't come out looking good. Also, it was made perfectly clear in this that if Christy had never left Adam he would never have looked twice at Mercy, he would have stayed happily married to Christy and wouldn't have wanted Mercy even a little bit. So yea, that doesn't say much about his feelings for Mercy.-I LOATHED how Adam let Christy take over his and Mercy house, how he let Christy manipulate everyone, how loving and caring he was around Christy, and how he sat back and did nothing whilst Christy was trying to get one over on Mercy. He should have supported Mercy and put Christy in her place whenever she tried to make Mercy feel like crap — but he didn't, he just went along with Christy's games and then later when he was alone with Mercy he'd thank her for being a doormat. He rarely stuck up for her when the pack was present, he just left Mercy to be judged and bitched at. All Adam did in this was prove how unworthy he was of Mercy.-Did Christy really have to stay in Adam's house? It was appalling that he expected Mercy to be cool about his ex-wife staying in her house and taking over her home. He could have easily asked her to stay with Warren or another wolf… Yea, Christy would be pissed but so what? At least it'd show that he respected and cared about Mercy's feelings more than Christy's. Also, why would he want Christy to stay with them when she had a psycho chasing her and her living in his house could put his daughter and mate in danger? Ugh, it was all about Christy, her feelings, and her safety… Mercy came last. Adam could have protected Christy without her living in his home, but the wanker wanted her happy and comfortable and couldn't have cared less how Mercy was feeling. The dick. -It was so irritating that Adam left Mercy to deal with Christy's mind games, he never once put his foot down with Christy. He could have told her to back off, he's a bloody alpha and Christy was no longer his wife… But no, he let Christy do whatever she wanted and then casually watched as Mercy was bombarded with bitchiness from those around her. What sort of husband does that to their wife?!-Why did Christy keep answering Adam's mobile?! Why did he let her? It was fucked up. Especially when Mercy had already tried to reach him and Christy basically told her to piss off - Adam knew that Mercy couldn't get a hold of him when Christy had his phone, after that he should have made sure he kept his phone with him instead of letting his petty, jealous ex have it. Honestly, it just made me think that Adam liked Christy playing wifey with him and that he didn't mind Mercy feeling like crap or Mercy not being able to get a hold of him when she was in danger. Who was this pathetic excuse for a man?!-Fans of the series probably think Adam was positively swoony or perfect or even perfectly flawed but to me he turned into a lame-wanker-bastard-douche-loser. I no longer like his relationship with Mercy. He's lost a LOT of points for even loving Christy to begin with, what did he ever see in her? She had no redeemable qualities. It's clear that that he'll always love Christy and have something with her that he'll never have with Mercy… Christy will always be the woman he shared his first marriage, first pregnancy, and first baby with — anything with Mercy can't compare to those joyful and powerful moments. Even if Mercy has his kids one day, it wouldn't feel special because he's already experienced it all before with Christy/Jesse… Anything with Mercy would just be a repeat of that.-The pack were a bunch of utter dicks, they treated Mercy like rubbish even though she'd done more than enough to warrant their loyalty and respect. In the past she did plenty to prove her worth yet she still had to practically beg and plead for their approval. What have they ever done to prove their worth to her? Nothing. -I hated that Adam's ex-wife was portrayed as such a bitch. It felt like the only reason she was like that was so that Mercy could look good in comparison. Why must so many ex wives/girlfriends of heroes be vile cows that hate the heroine and want the hero back?! It's so cliched and unimaginative. Why couldn't Christy be a decent woman who was civil and respectful towards Mercy and her marriage to Adam? Also, if she hadn't been written as such a bitch then at least it would have made some sense why Adam fell for her and married her… Writing her as a weak, manipulative slag just made Adam look like less of a man for ever loving her. -So Mercy is long lived but not immortal like Adam… That means that once she dies Adam will eventually move on and find love elsewhere. I mean, if he could love a woman like Christy then I'm sure he'll have no trouble falling for another woman after Mercy's death. -It's weird that the series is called Mercy Thompson when she's now known as Mercy Haumpton. She really should have kept her own name.-I liked the addition of Gary, his banter was Coyote was great. -The ending was enjoyable and quite action packed. All in all, I wasn't impressed. The lack of good secondary female characters annoyed me, Mercy spending most of her time around men annoyed me, Christy being an irritating cliche annoyed me, most of the characters being insufferable annoyed me, but worst of all Adam annoyed me, he's now ruined for me. He was a rubbish mate who was still all about his ex, he didn't deserve Mercy. This book just left me thinking that Adam's love for Mercy was nothing special at all, how could it be when he'd also once been deeply in love with a horrible, horrible woman like Christy.