Book #119 - Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega #1)

Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega #1), Patricia Briggs
paranormal romance, urban fantasy
294 pages
Started 10/31/12
Finished 11/1/12
4 STARS

I think it was a foregone conclusion that, after completing all six Mercy Thompson books, I would move on to the spin-off series, Alpha & Omega. I am so predicable.

Anna is newly mated to Charles Cornick, son of the most alpha werewolf in North America (and brother to Samuel from the Mercy series). But, the facts that she barely knows him, knows next to nothing about being a werewolf and an Omega werewolf at that, and is still traumatized from how she was treated in her old pack make getting comfortable with each other difficult. A mystery in the snowy woods seems like the perfect opportunity to tackle all those issues. And it would be, if it wasn't for that darn murderous witch.

Because Cry Wolf was written by Briggs after she had a few Mercy books under her belt (and it takes place chronologically after the events in the first Mercy book), this read just like a Mercy book. The world is the same, many characters are the same, the rules are the same. It's very seamless, and as a result, has almost the feel of a Mercy novella.

I absolutely love Anna. She's the perfect blend of timid and brave, snarky and sweet. I'm not sure what is up with Briggs' female characters succumbing to some sort of rape and battery, but it seems to be a common denominator. Although I'm not keen on these characters I like so much having to go through such a trauma, I do like the fact that Briggs doesn't gloss over the psychological aspects of it. Anna has to deal with some serious baggage, and I loved watching her do so with Charles' careful help. It made for a very sweet, romantic story, murderous witch notwithstanding.

Thanks to my Goodreads peeps, I learned that a prerequisite to this book is the anthology, On the Prowl, which includes Alpha & Omega (Alpha & Omega #0.5). So, I got it from the library and read it first, and then understood why they had all given me such good advice. If you're interested in trying out this series, I'm not passing on this tidbit to you. Seriously. Read the prequel novella first. Otherwise, many things in Cry Wolf will be hard to understand. Alpha & Omega laid the groundwork perfectly so that there wasn't a big learning curve when I started Cry Wolf.

It was a good book. A good mystery. Everything I've come to expect from Patricia Briggs.