Two urban fantasies: a hit and a miss.
River Marked (Mercy Thompson, Book 6) Briggs, Patricia
This is a very entertaining entry in the Mercy Thompson series.
Mercy has just married Adam, the Alpha of the local werewolf pack. They set out for a campground honeymoon on the Columbia River, where they quickly find that the fae have set them up. Something evil is in the river, and it wants Mercy. She's always known she's unique, but this isn't a distinction - or job - she wants.
In a series of fast-paced (sometimes, mis-)adventures, Mercy discovers much about her own heritage. But she's also tested - this is, on the whole, darker than most of the other novels.
The romance between Adam and Mercy is a strong element, intense and sexual without any leering and nary a hint of treacle.
I loved this, four stars worth. (This is part of a series; you could start here, but why? Go get Moon Called, and join this tough VW mechanic as she explores what it means to be a shapeshifter in a world of gremlins, werewolves, vampires and other fae.)
Death's Daughter (A Calliope Reaper-Jones Novel) Benson, Amber
I may try this again later, because I'm not sure how fair this review can be, based as it is on about 40 pages.
The concept was certainly engaging. The main character is the daughter of the devil, and the blurbs assured me she had a great task coming up. But I found her absolutely charmless. I struggled on for a bit, but had a great deal of trouble with the character's attitude towards other women. Mean, mean, mean. Weight was the go-to insult, with age coming in at a close second.
So as a fat, older feminist, this author just hit all my "wrong" buttons. It's back on my to-be-read shelf, but I suspect it'll just gather dust until I get around to selling the books I don't want.