Guild of Assassins Books in Order

Guild of Assassins takes fairy-tale material and gives it a much meaner edge. Mercy is the daughter of Beauty and Beast, but that does not mean she grew up inside anything warm or magical in the sweet sense. For her, happily ever after was never the ending. It was the start of a lonely life that pushed her toward violence.

Mercy wants to kill, and she is good at it.

The short prequel Mercy's End gives a useful glimpse of how she got there. By the time Mercy's Revenge begins, she has already tried to assassinate a vampire prince, already been betrayed, and already spent time paying for it. Joining the Guild of Assassins is supposed to be a path toward freedom. Instead it throws her right back in front of the people who hurt her most.

That setup gives the series its tension. Mercy is angry, wounded, and determined to prove herself in a world full of men and monsters who think they know what she is. Old friends, dangerous princes, and hidden truths about her own nature all pile on at once. The romance is there, but it never comes separated from power games, guild rules, and the threat of being used again.

The tone is darker fairy-tale paranormal with a rougher edge than some of Dawson's academy stories. There is training, revenge, family damage, and the kind of heroine who is easier to admire than to call easy.

If you want fairy tales after the shine wears off, with knives left on the table, Guild of Assassins is the right kind of page to browse.