Dead Heat (Alpha and Omega, #4)

by Patricia Briggs

[Berls]

Dead Heat was the My TBR List winner for September and golly gee wiz am I glad! As I was nearing the end of the book I started looking up on Goodreads where the series and I was struck dumb by the realization that Dead Heat has been out – and in my possession, because Auto Order! – for 2.5 years! Y’all this series and Mercy Thompson used to be series that NEVER fell behind. And the amazingness that is Dead Heat is why.

Even though Mercy was a first love, Anna and Charles are my favorites. I love their relationship – they balance each other in a way that is heart-warming to read. Even though this is urban fantasy and not mushy at all – the little details of their relationship are what all romance books need to find. There’s no denying true love when you read it in the little things, especially the disagreements.

I don’t just love them as a couple, though. They are amazing characters in their own right. I feel like Dead Heat really let us see how true that is because we get to see so much of them solo. For me, it was what we got to see of Charles that made this book so great. He’s the Marrok’s assassin – hard and doesn’t let anyone close to him. And now, suddenly, we’re with these people that he’s allowed himself to care for as much as his family. And one of them is dying and does not want to undergo the change. He wants to die. It’s a kind of emotion that we’re not used to seeing with Charles and it was great – especially in the way it helps him grow (yes! at 200 years old he’s still growing as a character!). And Anna just keep showing us in different great ways that Omega does not mean weak. Love her!! A pretty great laughable moment when her Omega powers go to work on a particularly bitter old wolf