Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs (Alpha & Omega Series, Book 2)

Cry Wolf unlocked the doors to a unique urban landscape in "a great... new werewolf series." Now Patricia Briggs invites readers to follow her even deeper into that seductive realm of the unknown...

Anna Latham didn't know how complicated life could be until she became a werewolf. And until she was mated to Charles Cornick, the son--and enforcer--of Bran, the leader of the North American werewolves, she didn't know how dangerous it could be, either...

Anna and Charles have just been enlisted to attend a summit to present Bran's controversial proposition: that the wolves should finally reveal themselves to humans. But the most feared Alpha in Europe is dead set against the plan--and it seems like someone else might be, too. When Anna is attacked by vampires using pack magic, the kind of power only werewolves should be able to draw on, Charles and Anna must combine their talents to hunt down whoever is behind it all--or risk losing everything...

Quote taken from the Back Cover.

For a year I have been waiting for the new Patricia Briggs' novel. At the beginning of the year, I read Bone Crossed, the fourth book in the Mercedes Thompson series. Normally that would be all from her for the year. Now, though, we have the Alpha & Omega series. The series starts with a novella in the On the Prowl anthology and then is followed up by the first novel, Cry Wolf. With this newest book I think I am pretty much as in love with this series as I am with the Mercedes Thompson series.

This series centers around Anna Latham and her husband, Charles Cornick. Charles has been mentioned off and on during the Mercedes Thompson series because his brother is Sam, who lives with Mercy, and his father is the Marrock. In this series, though, Briggs has the opportunity to develop his character. Anna is a new character that Charles has only known for about a month. While Charles, Sam, and Bran have been doing some crossing over, though, Briggs has said that she doubts Mercy and Anna will ever appear in each others books. I really don't care, though, because it means that we get two books a year instead of just one. Mind you, it is about 6 months until the new Mercedes Thompson book and another year before the next Alpha & Omega, but it could be worse!

In this book we see a lot of Charles and Anna. The story switches back and forth between their point of view, with a few other characters thrown in for variety. Charles has had a bad feeling about the summit and argues with his father until he sees reason and does not attend. This means that Charles and Anna are left with the task of convincing the other werewolf packs that the plan to reveal themselves is a good one. Things are a lot more complicated than that, though. One thing I really like about this series is that werewolves will always play a strong role, but Briggs also works in vampires and the fey. With Mercy, each of the books in the series has so far centred around one paranormal group. In this series, she seems to just concentrate on the werewolves and works the other groups in as she goes along. It adds some variety between the two series.

There is a lot going on in this book. It was nice to get to know Anna and Charles better. They are both very interesting characters. Charles has never been married before, even though he is in his two-hundreds, so he has a lot to learn. Anna is a very young werewolf and an Omega, so she has a lot of things to discover as well. I think they are doing very well learning them together. Their relationship is also really new, so they are still in the 'getting to know each other' stage. Charles is often worried that he has ruined things with Anna, but I think she is there for the long-term. She is still haunted by her past, though, which makes her vulnerable at times. Then, she does something amazing and reminds everyone just how strong she is. Briggs has done a wonderful job with her storyline.

In conclusion, I am very happy that I read this book, but now I have to wait six months for anything more! The good thing is that Briggs is my comfort read, so this new book came at a perfect time. I hope others will give her a chance because she is a wonderful author that everyone should read!

This book is my first read for the R.I.P. IV Challenge.