On the Prowl

Overall, pretty good.

Overall a great combination of short stories.
Patricia Briggs really wet my appetite for more with Anna and Charles story. I can't wait to find out more about their story. Especially since I just finished the Mercy Thompson Series which ties in with their story. Karen Chance did a fabulous job, her characters were totally likeable and you were rooting for them all the way. She wrapped up their story nicely, but I hope to hear more about them later. Just finished up her last 3 books. Check on the Cassandra Palmer Series. Eileen Wilks had my heart pounding. Nathan and Kai deserve a longer story. I already have her other books in my wish list. I'm still not completely decided about Sunny and her Mona Lisa, there seemed to be more sex than story, and that doesn't do anything for me. To be fair I will read the first book.

8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

Recommended

Briggs: I read this after reading the Alpha & Omega series, so it was fun to go back and read the prequel. Although I knew what was going to happen based on the other books, I enjoyed being able to watch the Anna/Charles relationship develop. It could have been longer, but that just shows I was enjoying it. Although the ending was cute I would have liked her and Charles to talk more, but that happens in the first Alpha & Omega book that picks up right where this one left off. 4 stars

Wilks: I liked this story, although it took me a little while to get into it and a little convincing that all of a sudden Nathan was interested in Kai. (Although I was eventually convinced). The main thing that annoys me about this is that I went to try to find the so-called continued series, and apparently it's an entirely different series with entirely different main characters. Kai and Nathan intertwine with these other characters in the 4th book of the series. I wanted to follow these two characters, but I didn't love Wilks' writing enough that I want to start a whole new series of hers just to find out what happened to them. 3 stars

Chance: I really liked the first half of this story, it was set in interesting world and the main character was appealing. The whole dragon plot-twist caught me off guard, and took a little while for me to warm up to, although I eventually liked where it went (although it wasn't super surprising). The main thing that bothered me was that after getting involved in these characters lives, the action ends and the story abruptly cuts off in a couple paragraphs that leave you wondering... that's it? are they getting married? is she pregnant (hot sauce reference)? they've only known each other a week! 3 stars

Sunny: I had to investigate to find out that this is the third part to a series. For a short novella it was a LOT of plot to get caught up on, and I wasn't entirely sure how long the main character had been in this world. They reference that they are in Louisianian, but they seem to have their own society apart from the humans, yet it's not explained how the 2 co-exist. I don't mind sexy parts in books, I don't even mind REALLY sexy parts in books, but this felt like the plot (overly-developed and unclear for a short novella) was simply there to support these sex scenes, and then the book just ends with a few sentences to wrap up all the plot. Very weird. 2 stars

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

GREAT STORIES, MISLEADING TITLE

I really liked the stories. They all were interesting and a good introduction to the writers. "On the Prowl" implies the women are predatory, but they are all really prey and require rescuing from their HEAs. After reading Briggs, I ordered the first of the Alpha and Omega and Mercy Thompsons series so I can read more of her. I really liked Eileen Wilks, it was a cool fantasy, interesting characters. I wanted to follow them more. Karen Chance was enjoyable and well done. Sunny's story was a little much. It is centered on a matriarchal society, where the female's lead and take many lovers to procreate. The female leaders control mating and the men are used as studs. It's hard to swallow female empowerment through sexual freedom when they follow patriarchal models. They all are great little romances.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Briggs is worth EVERY penny and second spent!

Because I'm such a big fan of Briggs' Mercy Thompson Series, I bought this anthology just so I could read the first in her Alpha and Omega series. I was not disappointed. I only bothered to read Briggs's story and even without reading the other three this book is definitely worth the time and money! Briggs has created the most fascinating world! I would recommend reading the Mercy Thompson Series first though.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

a reviewer

'Alpha and Omega' by Patricia Briggs. In Chicago waitress Anna was going home after a long shift when she was attacked and converted into a werewolf. Meanwhile the King of the werewolves sends his alpha son Charles to the Windy City to investigate potential trouble. Although Anna is the omega of the species as a ¿newborn, when she and Charles meet, sparks fly.----------- 'Inhuman' by Eileen Wilks. The Turning has had less impact on Midland than most cities, but telepath Kai Michalski senses trouble. Her skill leads her to danger and her neighbor, Nathan.----------- 'Buying Trouble' by Karen Chance. In New York, Claire the mage has the power to Null the magic of others. That is until the Lord of the Fey needs her help to overcome adversaries who want to use her special skill so he bids on her services at an auction house.-------------- 'Mona Lisa Betwining' by Sunny. Mixed blood Monere Queen Mona Lisa still grieves her loss of a loyal loved one, her first servant Gryphon. However, her new master of arms Dontaine may prove her deliverance or her death.-------------- These are four fascinating romantic fantasies that sub-genre readers will fully appreciate and seek similar novels in the respective authors¿ ¿universe¿ ---------------- Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Five Stars Only For Alpha Omega Story

I was amazed to see this book of short stories had the first ¿novel¿ for the Alpha and Omega series. I bought it to read that story and then read the next few. I found that only the Alpha and Omega series were worth reading (the rest were just crap). If you have read any of the Mercy Thompson books you will love Alpha and Omega. The characters cross over and you spend a lot more time in Montana.

Good book for passing the time

I specifically read this book for the short story "Alpha & Omega" by Patricia Briggs. I have read and enjoyed Briggs' Mercy Thompson series, so I was very pleasantly surprised that instead of this being a whole new series is was a spin of the Mercy Thompson books. I really do not get into short stories very much, but this one I enjoyed because I already knew all about the wolf pack dynamics and got to see a little about what was behind Charles. I had always wondered about him in the MT books. I cannot wait to get to the rest of the Alpha & Omega series!

The other three stories in this book (Inhuman by Eileen Wilks, Buying Trouble by Karen Chance, and Mona Lisa Betwinning by Sunny) were okay, but if it weren't for the Briggs story in the book, I would have never even bothered with them. This book was my first experience reading Wilks and Chance, and they might be something I would read again. I've read another short story by Sunny before, and I was not very impressed with either of them.

Great Book!

If you like Mercy Thompson then you will like this one by Patricia Briggs which starts the Alpha and Omega series.

Fantastic Story - A must read

Patricia Briggs is my new favorite author. I am hooked on this story line as well as her others. I read her short story in this and got the full version and follow up the next day.

Charactors are engaging and I look forward to following their story as it comes.

Eh

Anthologies like On the Prowl are becoming more common these days, particularly in urban fantasy and paranormal romance. On the Prowl is a shape shifter-themed collection of 4 novellas by authors writing in pre-established worlds. It features; a prequel to Brigg's Alpha and Omega series, set in the same world as her Mercy Thompson books, a side story from Wilks' Lupi series set between the third and fourth books but starring a secondary character, a story set in Karen Chance's Dorina Basarab world but lead by side characters, and short story from Sunny that's like a summary of the first four of her Monere books.

The stories vary between very good (Briggs and Chance) to you probably need to be a fan of the series (Wilks) to terrible (Sunny). While these types of books are more for series completists than public collections they can help fans of the genre or a particular theme learn about new authors whose works they might love. On the Prowl is recommended for collections that have a lot of paranormal readers, and of course to librarians (and booksellers) themselves who like to have an understanding of the variety of books on the shelves. It's a decent "sampler" of paranormal works that requires little investment and can certainly spark the urge to go out and add more books to your shelves.

Contains: sex, mentions of abuse, some violence

loved it

cant wait for the next book

3 out 4 are good

This is a collection of short stories. I have only read Patricia Briggs before so was neat to discover a couple new authors.
I really enjoyed the first one Alpha & Omega by, Patricia Briggs it is set in Mercy Thomson's world .It is the prequel to her Cry Wolf Series I really enjoyed getting to know Sam's brother Charles and his "mate" Anna infact so much that I had to go and get the rest of this series!But if you are looking at reading Cry Wolf read this story first or you will be confused.
The second story is Inhuman by, Eileen Wilks this was an interesting story and did make me want to check out more books by this author.
The third story is Buying Trouble by, Karen Chance she did a good job at building the world once the story got going although at first it was a bit confusing,but turned out to be a pretty good story.
The fourth story is Mona Lisa Betwining by, Sunny I couldn't get into this story it didn't hold my atttention at all.
So for a short story collection 3 out 4 stories enjoyed was pretty good and I discovered some new authors to read.

On the Prowl

After reading reviews by other people I decided to read this book mainly for the Patricia Briggs story. It is a great start up to a great series. I loved the plot the characters & how the story developed. I'm a big werewolf reading fan an absolutely enjoyed this read.

Fluff

I like Patricia Briggs, which is why I was interested in this book and I also like to read short stories by authors with whom I'm not familiar to see if I like their writing style. I love action and adventure, and strong female characters. I'm okay with a little romance if it adds something to the story as in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. The first story in On the Prowl is by Patricia Briggs and is the prelude to her Alpha & Omega novels. Since I've already read those novels, this short story tied in nicely to them and was as well written as are most of her stories.

The next story, Inhuman by Eileen Wilks, was interesting at first, but towards the end became unbelievable even for a Fantasy fan. There was too much fantasy happening out of the blue with no explanation. I'm not much of a fan of explicit sex scenes....I think so much of that could be more affective if hinted to and the rest left to the imagination. But okay...let's try the next story since all writers are different.

The third story, Buying Trouble by Karen Chance started out well. The idea was good with a talented female and a strong male character from fairie. But soon it seemed like the story deteriorated into a means to hold the romance/sex scenes together. I'm not much of a romance reader.....so I allowed that perhaps I had bought a book in the wrong genre for me. I continued to the last story in hopes it would get better.

Boy, was I was wrong! The last story, Mona Lisa Betwining by Sunny is pure romance and sex with only enough story to tie the romance and sex episodes together. I've never been accused of being a prude, but I felt as if I was witnessing a cheap porn movie! I have to say I was very disappointed to have to wade through all of that in an attempt to find a storyline.

The only redeeming quality to this book is Patricia Briggs. Unless you are really into romance and sex that is written without even a brief nod to finesse, I would not recommend it.

awesome book!

I love all the characters and the plots, I plan on reading more of these authors.

Shape-shifters anonymous

This book is a collection of short stories dealing with shape-shifters. I have to say, while I actually bought it because it had one of my favorite authors, Patricia Briggs, I was not disappointed with the others. Good overall book with good stories. It's a good book to escape from the world for a little bit.

gets you to read others storys

the first and third story are my faverites

Good Book

I actually only got this book for one story: Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs. I wanted to read Cry Wolf by the same author but everyone recommended reading her story in this book first - so I did and I loved it. Alpha and Omega is about Anna and Charles, the two main characters of Cry Wolf, and how they meet and how their story develops. It's a great story and I definitely recommend reading Cry Wolf if you decide you like their story. As for the other stories in the book I'm going back to read them now but I'm sure they will be good.

FANTASTIC!

Loved it!! Patricia Briggs has always been a favorite and has introduced me to some new great authors. There was only one story I didn't really care for, but over all FANTASTIC! I will definitely re-read!

Alpha and Omega

I read this book for the Alpha and Omega short story by Patricia Briggs, and was hooked the minute I started the story. It is a prelude to her novel, Cry Wolf. I did not read any of the other stories, but if you like Patricia Briggs you have to read Alpha and Omega, it's a MUST, especially if you are interested in reading Cry Wolf. It's an incredibly touching love story.