Fire Touched started out really strong and just kept the momentum going. I loved the balance between driving action and more contemplation as Mercy, Adam, and the Pack figure out the next move in the growing tensions with the Fae. 
 When the Tri-Cities are attached by a Troll, which is then subsequently put down by the pack, Mercy makes a declaration of the Pack's territory and offers aid to anyone who may need it within said territory. When a child, who's no longer really a child, escapes from Underhill and comes to the pack for sanctuary, they cannot turn him away. Yet they risk the Fae's ire by not returning the boy who's powers mysteriously exceed their own. 
 The pacing with Fire Touched was spot on. We get some really wonderfully, clearly written action scenes, but I think what I loved the most were the more slowed down scenes as Mercy, Adam, and those they trust contemplate what action to take next, and what repercussions their actions could bring about. I loved that we finally make some headway into the rising problems with the Fae. It's been building up in both the Mercy books as well as the Alpha & Omega books. While you can't say definitively that everything is figured out by the end (it is the Fae we're talking about) I was really pleased with out events shaped up in this book. 
 The idea of objects or places being sentient is nothing that necessarily new in the Mercy universe, but it's really brought to the foreground in Fire Touched as we deal with Underhill and, as usual, Mercy's trusty Walking Stick makes its appearance known. Patricia Briggs does such a great job in breathing such life into these characters (especially Walking Stick) that I can't think of them as just plain objects or places anymore. 
 Mercy and Adam's relationship continues to be one of my favorites out of the series I read. On book nine, I love that they're still learning things about one another and (along with readers) still working through the more difficult aspects of a relationship between a werewolf alpha and coyote shifter. Fire Touched not only moves forward a lot on dealings with the Fae, we also get some much needed action taken on the way the Pack treats Mercy. Mercy and the Pack (as a whole) have had a shaky relationship at best so it was high time something was done about it. 
 While I think I inherently like all the Mercy books, I know there are some that are stronger than others. I would put Fire Touched towards the top of the list. All aspects just worked so well and came together so seamlessly. 
 *ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.