Lure of Oblivion (The Mercury Pack, #3) by Suzanne Wright

Series: The Mercury Pack*

Release Date: November 21st, 2017

Rating: 5/5 stars

*Each novel in the series is Standalone

This series is a companion to Wright’s Phoenix Pack series. For any reader who loves shifter romances, both of these series hit the spot! I do have to say that for me, the best books in each series are the first book and fourth book in the Phoenix Pack and the first book and third book (this book) in the Mercury Pack. I thought for some reason that because the heroine in this book is human, there would be OW drama (and also because that seems to be a big theme in her other books). Luckily though, there wasn’t! The romance was also way better–and sweeter–than I was expecting. Wright tends to create heroes that can be overly alpha and almost oppressing, to such an extent that their actions are almost inconsiderate to their significant others (just read Carnal Secrets, Phoenix Pack #2, to get what I mean). But, besides his bizarre behaviour, in the beginning, the hero was actually charming.

What I loved about her more recent books (including her fifth Phoenix Pack book) is the quirkiness of the heroines, like their appreciation and belief in the supernatural, like fate, luck, and ghosts. It’s amusing to me when their beliefs are brushed aside when they are all shifters and are, therefore, paranormal themselves. Talk about irony!

A reviewer also brought up how Lure of Oblivion was a lot more insular in the sense that for the first time, a book in this series actually felt like it was “separate” from the Phoenix Pack one. None of the Phoenix Pack characters showed up in the book. What Wright did that was really interesting about Lure of Oblivion was the fact that the bulk of the story (and its conflict) was separate from the pack. The Mercury Pack is based in California, and yet the heroine and her story are based in Oregon. So for a good portion of the book, the only wolves that are interacting with the heroine, Gwen, and her family are the hero, Zander and his packmate and best friend, Bracken. Usually, the heroine has to assimilate into the pack while finding their footing in their relationship. But, in Lure of Oblivion, Wright seemed to focus much more on the development of Gwen and Zander’s relationship, which I really liked.

As I’m sure other fans of shifter books know (and primarily werewolf ones at that), dominance and submission play a substantial role–but not really in the BDSM kind of way. This part of the story tended to really annoy me in each of her books. It felt dishonest to all the really powerful and dominant heroines as if by acknowledging the prowess of their alpha partners, they had to make themselves smaller. But, in Lure of Oblivion, Wright accomplishes with Gwen’s character a sort of understanding of her significant other’s need to dominate (he is a wolf) but in a way that doesn’t compromise her character. I’m not saying that in previous books, this was the case for the heroines, but the fact that there wasn’t such an emphasis on how she would never “bow down” made their relationship seem much more tender; there appeared to be more trust I guess.

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