18:100 Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs

 The residents of a mountain town in the wilds of California all disappear and then the FBI come to Charles and Anna for assistance as the land is owned by the Pack. What the FBI doesn't know, Bran tells them, is that the land was purchased because that is where Leah was found and they were certain that something powerful and evil lives around there, something that knows about werewolves.

So with that warning, Anna and Charles head out West to try and discover what happened to the people and possibly figure out how to cleanse the land. Unfortunately, the big bad is awake, hungry, and searching for a mate.

We get to find out a lot more about Leah's backstory and her relationship with the Marrock which is great but it's a very dark book with a lot of awful stuff going (CW: mind-control, rape, harm to children). It gets intense but Ms. Briggs does an admirable job of handling the hard stuff while not allowing it to slide full-on into the darkness and despair and having it serve the story rather than be just for gratuitous shock value. 

This book was a bit slow to start and there were some pieces that didn't quite work for me so well but it's a solid addition to the series.

Page count: 358p/4,891p ytd/352,281p lifetime

19:100 Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs

The 5th book in the Alpha & Omega series.  The Marrok is out of town when an SOS comes in from one of the wildlings on the outskirts of the Pack's lands.  The wildlings are mostly werewolves (with a Fae or two thrown in) that are not stable enough to be brought within the Pack nor are they stable enough to be let loose with the human population so the Marrock has them close by for their protection and the protection of everyone else.  Now though, Charles must go in and see what has them so spooked that they would call for help and Anna goes with him in the hopes that she may be able to keep things peaceful enough that Charles will not need to act as the Pack enforcer.  What they find though, is a group of highly skilled and well-armed military type people trying to kidnap one of the wildlings when no one should even know about them.  This points to a traitor in their midst so now Charles and Anna must work to warn the other wildlings and figure out who is betraying the Pack and make them stop by any means necessary.  What they find though is something out of the darkest magic of the witchborn and not easy to stop at all.

I so love Ms. Briggs books in general and this world in specific.  It's taken longer for the Alpha & Omega characters to really grow on me but they have and while I still eagerly await the next Mercy book, these are definitely a fun way to pass the time.


Page count: 308p/3,319p ytd/295,340p lifetime

New Releases I'm Looking Forward To: 1st Quarter 2018

My usual disclaimer:

Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

Considering how much my To Read pile has grown this year, I think I might be glad that the year starts off with just a couple of books so maybe, just maybe, I can start making a dent in said pile. Of course, with going back to work, I'm not actually sure that will happen but hey, a girl can dream.

So the first quarter starts off with the new Wayward Children book, Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire.   This is billed as another stand alone although I'm guessing it probably will help if you've read the other books.  Rini lands one day with a splash at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children determined to save the world only to find out that she was born years after her mother, Sumi, died.  Now Rini has to figure out how to save not only the world but herself as well before Reality catches up to her.

Release Date: January 9

Nothing that I'm super excited about in February but then two come out on the same day and I will have to flip a coin to figure out which I'm going to read first. Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs is the first Alpha & Omega book in a few years and while I prefer Mercy's stories, I do like Charles and Anna and look forward to popping in on them again.  This time, the damaged werewolves who live near the Marrok's pack are in trouble and it will take both Charles's fighting skills and Anna's gift as a peacemaker to try and save them.

Release Date: March 6

Also coming out that day is Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire, the latest in the Incryptid series.  When we last left Annie, she as on the run from the Covenant with no way to get back to her family without endangering them further. To fully escape, she can't even have her beloved Mice with her so if something happens to her, she has no way to get the word out. For a Price to be out there in the world without any backup at all, that is a truly scary thing and we can only hope Annie survives this.

Release Date: March 6

43:120 Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs

The 4th book in the Alpha & Omega series.  Charles is trying to find the perfect present for Anna's birthday coming up and comes up with the idea to buy her a new horse now that she has become a more proficient rider.  Holsteen is the pack leader in Arizona, happens to raise Arabians, and is the father of Joseph who is one of the few people Charles calls friend so naturally that is where he takes Anna.  On the day they arrive though, a spell is placed on Joseph's son's wife Chelsea to kill her children and then herself.  She manages to keep from harming the children but only by hurting herself close to the point of death.  Charles and Anna are with Kage when he gets the call and end up at the house and Charles makes Kage the offer to change his wife.  Kage agrees not only out of grief but also so that they may learn what happened and how to protect the family.  It turns out to be very old fae magic which means one of the fae is no longer on the reservations and has a taste for children.  Anna and Charles cannot let this pass and manage to get in on the investigation in the hopes of saving Joseph's grandchildren but the spirits have spoken to Charles and while Joseph is now an old man, he still has a task to complete in this life and it may be the most important one yet.

This book went from slow to fast to slow to fast a lot which is unusual for Ms. Briggs's books.  It was nice to learn more about Charles and his past but at times those things seemed to slow the rest of the story down which made it harder to stick with it.  In all, it was a good tale but not one of the best ones I've seen from her.

Page count: 324p/9,342p ytd/224,276p lifetime

New Releases I'm Looking Forward To: 1st Quarter 2015

My usual disclaimer:
Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

I am so far behind my reading from the last two quarters that I'm going quite crazy looking at all these beautiful books on my bookshelf but right now I'm frantically reading new authors as I managed to get behind on that and I'm soooo close to making my goal for the year in new authors that I want to get that done first.  Maybe with the kids being on break, I can manage to not only do that but start getting caught up on my other reading as well.  Hey, a girl can hope!


Tales from the Nightside by Simon Green kicks off the new releases for 2015.  It's been a while since we got to delve into the world of John Taylor and his "friends".  This is a collection of 10 short stories where we get to find out some of the backstories of the characters that he has worked with and with any luck, we'll get some John and Shotgun Suzy as well.

Release date: Jan 6


At the end of the month, we have the next installment in the Sisters of the Otherworld series told from Delilah's point of view, Panther Prowling by Yasmine Galenorn. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the main storyline with Shadow Wing is getting moved ahead in this story either and that kind of bums me out.  I love the sisters but it seems like the main story has taken a backseat for the most part and it's being stretched out.  I will, of course, be reading this one because I can't not read it but I hope that things will get back on track with the main plot soon.

Release date: Jan 27


With no releases in February that I'm tracking, I get two new books to choose from at the beginning of March.  Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs gets back to seeing how things are going with Anna & Charles.  They are taking a trip to Phoenix for personal reasons but nothing is ever so simple and while they are there, they find that the Fae are stealing human children and replacing them.  Looks like a war with the Fae may be starting up and they are in the line of fire.

Relesae date: Mar 3


Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire is the other one coming out at the beginning of March and we get to hear more from Alex Price and his girlfriend, Shelby.  Apparently things are not going well back in Australia according to Shelby's family so the two of them head to the Land Down Under to deal with some werewolves.  I have a feeling this will prove to be an 'interesting' trip.

Release date: Mar 3



To finish off the first quarter, we get the first in a new series with Prudence by Gail Carriger.   Alexia's daughter is leading off this series and I can't wait to be back in that world and in India to boot!  I'm sure that any daughter of Alexia and Sir Maccon will be a serious handful and delightful to adventure with.

Release date: Mar 17

So definitely a small number of books in the first quarter but there are enough books on my shelves that I won't be lacking for anything to read.

Happy Reading!