Release Day Review: Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs

Burn Bright
(Alpha & Omega #5)
Patricia Briggs
Release: March 6, 2018
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In her bestselling Alpha and Omega series, Patricia Briggs “spins tales of werewolves, coyote shifters, and magic and, my, does she do it well” (USATODAY.com). Now mated werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham face a threat like no other–one that lurks too close to home…

They are the wild and the broken. The werewolves too damaged to live safely among their own kind. For their own good, they have been exiled to the outskirts of Aspen Creek, Montana. Close enough to the Marrok’s pack to have its support; far enough away to not cause any harm.

With their Alpha out of the country, Charles and Anna are on call when an SOS comes in from the fae mate of one such wildling. Heading into the mountainous wilderness, they interrupt the abduction of the wolf–but can’t stop blood from being shed. Now Charles and Anna must use their skills–his as enforcer, hers as peacemaker–to track down the attackers, reopening a painful chapter in the past that springs from the darkest magic of the witchborn…

Review:
Disclaimer: This review will be spoiler free, but does reference events in the latest Mercy Thompson book, Silence Fallen. If you're not caught up on either series, I recommend this reading order provided by the author herself.

Burn Bright takes place just after the events in Silence Fallen. With the Marrok out of the country on a vacation after dealing with the ordeal with Mercy, Charles has taken up the temporary role as Alpha of the Aspen Creek pack and a phone call from one of his father's Wildlings leads him and Anna on an investigation that just escalates from there. I know I say this every time I read a book in these series, but I loved everything about this one! I read it pretty much in one sitting and I was hooked from the start.

One of the things I've loved about the Alpha & Omega books is that we get to see a lot of the world because Charles and Anna are always traveling. This book felt like a throwback to the early Mercy books but with the A&O crew. We're finally back in Aspen Creek and this book delivers on feeding my curiosity about the members of the Marrok's pack.

We know that the Aspen Creek Pack is full of wolves that are wounded and broken and who wouldn't survive in any other pack. But what I didn't realize it that Bran's pack held even more broken wolves called the Wildlings who are too damaged to even interact with the pack. They are such intriguing characters! I loved learning more about them as much as I did learning more about Tag, Asil, Sage, and Leah.

Yeah. I just said Leah. If you would have told me that I would come to like and respect Leah after pretty much despising her character for the last fourteen or so books, I would have said you were crazy. But Briggs did the impossible. She may not have made me love Leah in this book, but I certainly respect her and even kind of like her now. We even got to learn more about Mercy's time in the pack which was interesting, as is everything with Mercy.

One thing I noticed a lot in this book was the emphasis placed on the bonds between mates. Many of you may not know but Patricia Briggs lost her husband unexpectedly in 2017. This is the first book published since she lost him and it was clearly influenced by his loss. I loved that it focused heavily on the different matings and bonds of the characters, even the ones who have lost their mates. Burn Bright was dedicated to her husband and it really was a fitting tribute to the man who was her own mate and such a delightful man in real life. RIP Mike.

This book was a real roller coaster of feelings for me. It made me laugh. It made me kind of tear up. And it had me on the edge of my seat a majority of the time reading it. The mystery was so good! I thought I had everything figured out and then I got hit out of left field with the reveal. I never saw it coming and all I can say is: Bravo, Patricia Briggs! Bravo!

The events in this book have consequences for both series and I'm intrigued to see what it does to this world. I think it's really going to shake things up.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

    

  5 / 5 Stars!

My reviews of other books in this series:
Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs   
Fair Game by Patricia Briggs
Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs