Tag: author Patricia Briggs

Review:  Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs

Rating: 5⭐️

Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs has been described as a terrific novel written in as several short stories. I absolutely agree and I loved it. 

The premise of the stories centers around an ancient werewolf, Asil, one who lost his beloved mate in a long past traumatic event that has continued to haunt him.  His current pack mates in Montana have decided to take him on a series of 5 blind dates, via various dating apps, at Christmas time, to pull him out of his increasingly violent behavior and depression. 

He’s even a Muslim who doesn’t celebrate Christmas as Asil will often remind his friends. So each short story is one of Asil’s dates. It begins with a open email, or text, that starts with 

Dear Asil. It then outlines the date, the app they choose from, the parameters of the date and sign it Merry Christmas, Your Concerned Friends .

The dates have a huge range from floral arrangements to kitties to ghostbusters and more. But that doesn’t even touch the surface of what the author has in store for Asil and the reader. 

It’s actually startling complex, often horrifying, well written and beautifully played out, with each story constantly evolving and reflecting back into Asil’s life. 

By the time we reach the end tale, the pieces are falling into place, the drama is charged full of suspense and chaos, and that epilogue is so satisfying and heartwarming that I read it twice. 

This is why Patricia Briggs is a highly recommended author. Grab up this new book and enjoy!

Contents:

Asil’s first date:

“Unappreciated Gifts”

Asil’s Second Date:

 “Must Love Cats: Aftermath”

Asil’s Third Date:

“Asil and the Not-Date”

Asil’s Fourth Date:

“Dating Terrors”

Asil’s Fifth Date:

“Scheherazade”

“Epilogue”

Except from 

“Alpha and Omega” by Patricia Briggs

Cover illustration Daniel dos Santos Cover and endpapers designed by Judith Lagerman

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › shop › dealsBlind Date With A Werewolf

Blurb 

When the deadly werewolf Asil is gifted five blind dates by some anonymous “friends,” his reclusive life will never be the same, in this enthralling novel in stories from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson series.

Includes two all-new stories as well as three previously published stories.

Dear Asil:

We are worried about you. A werewolf alone is a sad thing, especially at Christmastime. So we have a challenge for you: five dates in three weeks. We have taken the work out of it and connected you with five people from online dating sites. You should also know that we have informed the whole pack and instigated a betting pool. Have fun!

Sincerely,

Your Concerned Friends

  • Publisher: Ace
  • Publication date: October 21, 2025
  • Language: English

Review:  Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1) by Patricia Briggs

Rating: 4.25⭐️

While exploring other series with strong FMC’s, a reviewer suggested author Patricia Briggs. Specifically her Mercy Thompson series about a Native American skin shifter, auto mechanic Mercy Thompson.

Mercy Thompson series has so many well developed elements and characters. Set in the tri-Cities area of Washington state, Briggs gives the reader the real feel for the geography as well as the various types of societal levels found within the region. From trailers to gated mansions, it’s written about realistically and descriptively well executed. 

Narratively, Briggs gives this same focus to her characters and backgrounds, starting with Mercy Thompson. A auto mechanic who deal primarily with certain types of cars and engines, she’s got a one-woman shop, and as a skin-walker who can change into a coyote, her status, without a pack, within the local paranormal community is a shaky one. 

I was quick to invest in the story and the depths of character and hidden community dynamics . Mercy and her skin walker powers, which I believe more will be revealed in the coming stories, is extremely well written and exciting. 

So is her changing relationships with the local werewolf pack and its Alpha, Adam Hauptman.

There’s a mystery, several murders to solve, and while this book seems to end as everything is resolved, there’s another mystery coming.

So after reading an excellent book, with a fascinating strong female protagonist, with a highly unusual story, why do I not feel the need to scramble for the next novel in the series? Especially in one where there’s 14 available?

It has to do with how one character, a hugely sympathetic young man, was treated within the story. Basically he’s a throwaway element. And yes, that’s absolutely the author’s right. 

But his role here, the reactions to him , the characters and yes, the readers, seem to be at two different levels. How he ended, the characters reacted to his storyline differs greatly from how he impacted on how I felt about him. 

Or perhaps how I perceived his character’s role in the story would be, going forward. That’s on me. 

But this entire aspect of Moon Called felt so cold emotionally that even with a well written book, I felt disconnected from the rest of the universe and characters at the end. 

It’s doubtful that I will go into it further. Might change my mind. But for now. I’m leaving it here. 

if this sounds as intriguing as it’s actually written, check it out.  It’s a very popular series. 

Cover art by Daniel Dos Santos 

Cover design by Judith Lagerman 

Map by Michael Enzweiler

Mercy Thompson (14 book series)

Moon Called #1

Blood Bound #2

Iron Kissed #3

Bone Crossed #4

Silver Bourne #5

River Marked #6

Frost Burned #7

Night Broken #8

Fire Touched #9

Silence Fallen #10

Storm Cursed #11

Smoke Bitten #12

Soul Taken #13

Winter Lost #14

Buy link 

        Moon Called (Mercy Thompson, Book 1)

    

blurb 

Moon Called is the novel that introduced Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson to the world and launched a #1 bestselling phenomenon… 

Mercy Thompson is a shapeshifter, and while she was raised by werewolves, she can never be one of them, especially after the pack ran her off for having a forbidden love affair. So she’s turned her talent for fixing cars into a business and now runs a one-woman mechanic shop in the Tri-Cities area of Washington State.

But Mercy’s two worlds are colliding. A half-starved teenage boy arrives at her shop looking for work, only to reveal that he’s a newly changed werewolf—on the run and desperately trying to control his animal instincts. Mercy asks her neighbor Adam Hauptman, the Alpha of the local werewolf pack, for assistance. 

But Mercy’s act of kindness has unexpected consequences that leave her no choice but to seek help from those she once considered family—the werewolves who abandoned her…

“In the increasingly crowded field of kick-ass supernatural heroines, Mercy stands out as one of the best.”—Locus

  • Publisher: Ace
  • Accessibility: Learn more
  • Publication date: January 31, 2006
  • Edition: 1st
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 295 pages
  • ISBN-13: 978-1101208434
  • Book 1 of 14: Mercy Thompson