I appreciated being able to get to know a lot of the side characters better in this book. Samuel's past with Mercy was especially interesting. I would have never guessed that Samuel wanted children that badly. It must suck to live that long wanting something that unattainable. The exploration of his depression and feelings of impotence because of it were really great and I think contributed a lot to helping to understand his attachment to Mercy. They also see each other as friends at this point. I do think I could have lived without Stefan also having a romantic interest in Mercy, though. I just think that's too many men all sharing the same love interest. However, at least Mercy is a character with a very likeable personality and sense of humor, so I can understand why she would have multiple suitors. 

We also got to learn more about the vampires and their culture, which is reasonably traditional with a few twists and turns when it comes to the magic. It made for a very well layered world that shows the diversity there is even among the supernatural. It was a nice contrast to the pack dynamics of werewolves. Adam was showcased even further as an excellent leader too. He cares about everyone in his pack, and as annoyed as Mercy gets with his protectiveness sometimes, he is a good person that understands how to respect boundaries. I personally think they should end up together because I think they would make the best couple. I'll have to see how the rest of the story develops to see where this relationship ends up. I'm looking forward to getting physical copies of the books to add to my book shelves because these covers are gorgeous!