Hunting Ground

Re-Read Review

First Read: 1 Sept 2009

Rating: ✮✮✮✮☆

Re-Read: 13 July 2012

Rating: ✮✮✮✮☆

(

Re-read ~ SOS Buddy Read)

Hunting Ground picks up shortly after [b:Cry Wolf|2355575|Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega, #1)|Patricia Briggs|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1310494063s/2355575.jpg|2362332]. Briggs' takes her time with these two and their

'so, our wolves are mated'

human mating process. They are both slowly, but steadily learning how to read each other and get closer to one another. One thing that is evident throughout the story - they will do whatever, whenever, to whomever that is necessary to protect the other. Seeing Anna become stronger and Charles open up is a joy for A & O fans. I love that Anna is able to surprise Charles with her strength.

"Seattle is a city with a certain ...

panache. Never know what you are going to find when you come visit. Good food, friendly people ... Always something different."

Bran, in his determination to out the wolves to the general public, has been frustrated with Charles. Bran is set to meet with other Alphas in Seattle and Charles feels it's too risky. So, Charles goes in his stead along with Anna by his side. While there, they meet some interesting and some twisted weres, one intriguing fae and some wickedly talented witches.

Re-read, April 2017

Still powering through my re-read of the whole Mercy-verse.

I liked this one a fair bit, though Anna is still a kind of ...

milquetoast heroine to me. I like her, and I liked seeing her get some confidence and get better at defending herself. But ... I don't know, it's hard to pinpoint why I like her, but don't love her. Maybe it's because everything comes very easily to her. We've not seeing her struggle with much for more than 5 minutes, and she can fight, see through magic, put pieces of a situation together to see the master plan as if she is Sherlock Holmes (faster than literally anyone else in the room, Anna ALWAYS knows exactly what is going on), ... I don't know. She's slid easily into this world and everyone adores her, and she can do everything she needs to with relative ease, every time.

I adore Charles though. He's walking such a careful dance, not just with Anna, but with his role for Bran. He can't be close to people because he may have to kill them. It's best if everyone is afraid of him, so they'll keep in line. He has this hard exterior, but he's desperately lonely. It is impossible to not love Charles, as we see him struggle so hard with being who everyone needs him to be, and also with not drowning in all these unfamiliar emotions. He's fantastic.

Re-read March 2020

Yeah, echoing what I said above: Charles is a fantastic, complicated character. Anna is perfectly perfect in every way, and is the opposite of compelling. This series is entirely carried by Charles.

This is the book that fulfills the promise of the short story that began this series. Briggs finds the perfect balance of action and character development. As she says, this romance is closer to the sweet end of the spectrum than the steamy, and the tone feels right for these characters. I like the way Anna develops as a survivor of abuse - although she becomes more confident, her path isn't linear, and her relationship with Charles doesn't "fix" her. She has to learn to live with her past on her terms, and Charles, instead of falling into that alpha male trap that many paranormal romances have, supports her need to be independent.

In a way, Anna's powers (basically, the ability to dissolve aggression and violence) remind me of peace activism. She's a reminder that the scariest way to confront a predator is unarmed, believing in peace to keep you safe.

I didn't like Patricia Briggs Mercedes series, so I was really surprised how much I actually liked her Alpha & Omega series. No more than month after reading the first book, I grabbed the second one and I was really pleased with what I got.

Charles and Anna make an outstanding couple. I liked watching them dealing with their brand new relationship and how they are trying to work it all out, how they deeply care about each other and how they understand each other even though they didn't spend much time together.

I also enjoyed the suspense part. Maybe it was a bit predictable from time to time but still kept me reading. And the action is fast, so the whole book is a quick read, maybe even a bit too quick. I wish it was a bit longer, to elongate the pleasure.

I will definitely continue with the series.

This book is even better on a second read. I love the werewolf politics. I love the relationship between Anna and Charles, which is loving enough to be sweet, but new enough for there to be drama between them as they both adjust to each other.