Book Review: Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Dead Heat
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Alpha & Omega #4
Heroine/Hero: Anna & Charles
Genre: M/F Urban Fantasy
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: March 3, 2015
Available at: Penguin & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: For once, mated werewolves Charles and Anna are not traveling because of Charles’s role as his father’s enforcer. This time, their trip to Arizona is purely personal, as Charles plans to buy Anna a horse for her birthday. Or at least it starts out that way…

Charles and Anna soon discover that a dangerous Fae being is on the loose, replacing human children with simulacrums. The Fae’s cold war with humanity is about to heat up—and Charles and Anna are in the cross fire. 

Review:

Set a few months after the events of Fair Game, Charles decides to take Anna on a trip to Arizona for her birthday to buy her a new horse and see his old friend, Joseph. But when a fae be-spells Joseph’s daughter-in-law, almost killing her and her kids, Anna and Charles step in to find the fae who did it. Unfortunately, their hunt takes them into dangerous territories when the fae they’re after turns out to be much more monstrous than they ever thought.

I’m not going to lie. I’m totally biased when it comes to this series. I can’t help it but this is one of my favorite M/F series. I not only own it in ebook, I also have the prints and now the audiobooks of the series. I just love how much of a connection Anna and Charles have and I adore the contrasts between them. Charles, the hardened, deadly enforcer and Anna, the soft and gentle omega. They’re complete opposites but where one of them lacks something, the other has it in spades. They make an awesome team and I love that this series has a nice mix between romance and mystery/suspense.

Dead Heat is no different except for the fact that it starts off as being a personal trip instead of a pack business. Charles wants to give Anna something she’ll like for her birthday and a horse is the perfect present. But while there, he realizes how fast time goes by and that his best friend is slowly dying. This one deals with horses, so if you don’t like horse jargon then you might want to tread carefully. Add to that, this one also deals with children being stolen and people dying suddenly. It’s a great mystery with a bunch of suspense and a whole new look at Cantrip agents. We also get to see Leslie Fisher! The lovely FBI agent who we met in Fair Game.

My only issue with this one was Maggie. She grew on my nerves acting like Charles was hers when she’s the one who rejected him. Plus, I know Charles is centuries old but for someone who doesn’t like people, he always seems to have an ‘ex-lover’ of some kind in every story (except Fair Game), which really nags me lol.

In the end, though, this was still a phenomenal addition to the series. I absolutely love Charles and Anna and I love that with each book, we learn more and more about them. This one finally delves into Charles’ past and shows a bit of why he’s so distant from not just others but humans in general. It was interesting to see him around other people that he adored (that weren’t just family) and in a setting that he enjoyed being in. I can’t wait to see what Anna and Charles get into next!

Overall Impression: I loved it!

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*