Angieville

It has been too long since I've had a new Alpha and Omega novel in my hands. Dead Heat was a solid entry on my Best of 2015 list , and I have missed Anna and Charles (and Bran) ever since. Burn Bright is, if you can believe it, the fifth installment in the series. So it's no wonder I began reading and instantly felt how good it was to be back in Aspen Creek again with all of Bran's crazy foundlings. By now, Patricia Briggs ' books are firmly comfort reads for me, whether they're brand new or not. They feel like home. Which is probably why the dedication in this one made me tear up. I'm so glad we go on. I'm so glad words go on. And that we are connected to one another through them. Anna and Charles are somewhat housebound in Aspen Creek since the Marrok up and took off for Africa to see a man about a horse how Sam is doing. And, in his absence, it is Charles the pack looks to for leadership, enforcement, and otherwise keeping things in line until Bran...

So a lot of times spin-off series fall somewhat flat for me. Either I'm so invested in those original characters that I have trouble shifting my loyalty as unswervingly to these previously side characters, or the story lines are just not as strong, or the genre shifts in a direction that just doesn't click for me as well, or what have you. But from the moment I picked up the introductory novella to Patricia Briggs ' Alpha & Omega series, Anna and Charles were just  in with me . And the three novels that followed only cemented that fact. It looked like we might not be getting another book for some time, which is why I was so thrilled to hear she'd gone ahead and written a fourth. Dead Heat is due out March 3rd of next year, and when I saw the cover all I could do was squee. Because Charles in human form. And because fourth book in a series I truly love.

So how many of you out there follow Patricia Briggs ' Alpha and Omega series as well as her Mercy Thompson one? I'm always curious about how many followers the offshoot series get as compared to the flagship ones. This has been on my mind, especially in light of Ilona Andrews ' Gunmetal Magic recently making its debut (more to come on that one soon). I was torn at first with the notion of this series, though. First of all, I love the tiny glimpses of Charles we get in Mercy's world. And I was insanely curious about the Marrok's  hit man  son and how he would fare in his own story. At the same time, no Mercy? No Adam? But potentially more Bran . . . THE EMOTIONS!  I have them. So back when the introductory novella first came out, I picked it up in a Barnes & Noble and stood there reading the first pages. Just to see. You understand. Well, I ended up finishing it right there. Standing in the bookstore. I immediately purchased it and began counting down the day...

I can't imagine how time-consuming it must be to write two different series simultaneously, but I am seriously so glad I'm able to go to the bookstore and get my Patricia Briggs fix twice a year. When I first heard she was starting a series featuring Sam's half-brother Charles, I could hardly wait to start. I love the world she's created with her Mercy Thompson books and I can't get enough of anything to do with the Marrok himself--the leader of the North American werewolves. As he is Charles' father I knew we'd be getting more Bran, which could only be a good thing. My fingers are still crossed she'll embark on a third series centered on the Marrok. His ancient awesomeness deserves his own series. I enjoyed Cry Wolf , the first in the Alpha and Omega series, and was looking forward to more development in this second installment. Things are slowly progressing between mated Charles and Anna Cornick. For a man whose life revolves around being his father...

With the release of Cry Wolf (the first in a new series), Patricia Briggs fans can now look forward to two Briggs books coming out per year. A Mercy Thompson in the winter and an Alpha and Omega in the summer. So. Very. Awesome. After inhaling the original "Alpha and Omega" short story in On the Prowl last year, I could hardly wait to follow Anna and Charles's story in full-length book form and now, having finished it, I can honestly say it was a treat. Picking up immediately after the events of "Alpha and Omega," Anna finds herself and her few belongings bundled up and on her way to Montana with a wounded Charles and his father, the enigmatic Bran, otherwise known as the Marrok, aka leader of the entire werewolf population of North America. Nervous and unsure of just what she's gotten herself into, Anna suddenly finds herself living at Charles's house, attending werewolf funerals, and embroiled in the same kind of wolf politics she was assiduously k...