M R Merrick

I read Exiled, and absolutely loved it! After reading Shift, I'm a fan for life! Merrick has managed to bring fantasy and paranormal views together seamlessly.

If you loved the action in Exiled, you'll love the action scenes in Shift. Every time Chase and Rayna turn a corner someone is after them. It's that, or Rayna's beast is trying to come to the front. Shift is a little more emotional than Exiled. Chase is trying to deal with losing the person who matter most to him. He's always angry and can't control his elements. Chase also feels guilt about constantly putting those he cares about in danger.

I loved Rayna and Willy. Rayna shows a softer side that she tried to hide. She also learns more about herself. Willy finally shows some backbone. I have much respect for him. Tiki tries to fit into this new world, although he hates the clothes. I couldn't help but smirk when he'd be wearing his white pants and rope belt. By the end of the book I wanted to throw Vincent off a cliff. Too bad it wouldn't kill him. At least it'd bring some kind of pain.

There are a few new characters also. Chief is caring and willing to help Chase and Rayna as much as he possibly can. Karissa and Garrett are werecats. I think Karissa has a thing for Chase, which could be problematic. Just saying. :D I can't wait to see how all of these new relationships and alliances pan out.

Merrick does a fascinating job with the world building. I found myself on edge as Chase and his friends visited a new world. It was a dark and terrifying place. I hope we never have to visit again.

If you are a fan of fantasy and paranormal, definitely give this series a try. You won't be disappointed. I don't know why I waited so long to read these books. The story line is pretty EPIC!

… (altro)

Merrick likes to toy with my feelings and make me a wreck of emotions by the end of the book.

This is by far my favorite in the series. There is so much brutal honesty when it comes to Chase's thought process. He realizes some flaws about himself, and tries his hardest to fix them. He understands that he's hot headed, and acts on his emotions. My only complaint is he feels like he needs to blame himself for so much. Things probably wouldn't have changed had things gone differently, and he needs to understand this. We don't see a lot of Rayna. Chase does most of his traveling with Tiki & Vincent.

Vincent is a whole topic by himself. I've never been a big fan of his. He's selfish and honestly, he's kind of an ass. This book did have me questioning all my feelings toward him. I won't forget that he can be a complete monster. But some events bring to light a totally different Vincent. One that is compassionate, and knows what love is. So, now my feelings of him are kind of mixed.

Release is a very emotional book. It takes you from rage to tears, and everything in between. It's fast-paced. I read it in less than a day. I couldn't put it down, at all. It went everywhere with me. You will need tissue! Just saying, don't say I didn't warn you. I can't wait for the next installment. I need to know what happens!

If you haven't read this series, seriously pick it up NOW! You won't regret it. Not even a little bit. Unless of course you're a big ball of emotions by the end. :P… (altro)

Yep, I had so many emotions reading this book it’s unreal. Things seem so dire throughout the book. You don’t know if Chase has a fighting chance or not to overcome his father and Ithreal.

We get to visit some worlds that we haven’t seen yet, and let me tell you, some of them are depressing! I think my favorite is going back to Drakar. I loved visiting with the trolls, and Ishmar, again. They are such a lively bunch, and were some of the first creatures we met on Chase’s journey. Each person has to learn to deal with the choices they’ve made thus far. Chase also has to learn to accept the choice made in the last book in order to move on.

These characters have grown so much throughout the series. I even sort of like Vincent. He’s not quite as annoying to me as he used to be. Rayna is strong, and does what she thinks necessary to keep evil at bay. Chase has grown the most. He’s learned to control his anger, and listen to reason. Some of those moments he listened to reason, I wanted to smack him and tell him to let the anger take over. I’ve also come to respect the Dark Brother, Drake. I will never like him, but I can understand where his intentions are coming from.

There’s a lot of build up to the epic ending of this book/series. There are people that will be lost, and others, you kind of want to punch in the face. But I’m very happy with how this series ended. If you’ve gotten emotional in any of the other books, then you will need to grab tissues for this one. You’ve been warned. :P… (altro)