Even though the parts of the books I liked best weren't the battle scenes, overall I liked what Jim did with these two books. He finally swept the wreckage created by Changes off the board and set the series on a new course at full speed. I'm expecting Mirror Mirror and the book that follows it to be smaller and more focused stories that have much more character development in them.
I didn't like Ghost Story very much, particularly the B story about the second rate sorcerer. Some might say it was necessary to sort out some of Harry's issues; and there were parts of that book I really liked, but overall it felt like the series had gone from being in a high speed racing boat to dead in the water, at least until the ending promised to restart the motor. Cold Days turned the series in a new direction, but to me; one, I thought that novel dragged a bit, but it also felt like a ship that was slowly regaining speed. To put it another way, Harry was still dealing with the fallout of his attempted suicide and Chichen Itza and it just dragged the story down a notch for me. Even though I really liked Skin Game, Harry was still dealing with Susan's death. In a way that was realistic. Grief doesn't get wrapped up in nice neat package that you put away forever, but it was still an indication that Harry was weighed down by the past. I wanted to see the main story start to move at full speed again.
I think that is what Peace Talks and Battle Ground have done. They've set the ship back to full speed and opened up new possibilities for Harry. We can see the beginning outline of Harry taking an open stand against the White Council. The Black Council is in ascendance. Even though I wish we had seen more of Drakul and even Mavra, we have a sense of the threat the Creature; as Ebenezer once called him, possesses. I really liked the way Mab manipulated Harry in both books and I like the forced marriage to Lara Raith. I'm certainly not seeing it as a Love Connection, but I think it should be fun to watch. Despite the flaws I think the series as a whole is now in a good place.