Blind Date with a Werewolf is a short story collection featuring Asil the Moor from the world of Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega (5/5 stars)

Blind Date with a Werewolf is a short story collection featuring Asil the Moor from the world of Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega.

Pretty much as soon as I saw this was available to request on NetGalley I slammed the button, and they approved me same-day! What luck! I immediately started reading because Asil is one of my absolute favorite characters in the Mercy Thompson and Alpha & Omega series from this author.

Asil is being set up on five blind dates because a “Concerned Friend” thinks he needs to get out more. But unfortunately for him (and fortunately for us), these dates are more than they appear and none of them go according to plan.

Three of the short stories in this collection have been published in various anthologies, and I had read them previously and enjoyed them. There are also two new stories and an epilogue (the latter of which made me gasp out loud in a good way). I really enjoyed reading Asil’s blind dates in chronological order, and the action scenes were pretty great.

Throughout the Mercy Thompson and A&O series, Asil continually mentions how he’s practically a ticking time bomb, and will someday soon need to be put down so he doesn’t harm innocents. Though he’s afraid of hurting people, he is always quick to sniff out an innocent in danger, and immediately starts attempting to help them out of their precarious situation. This is partly why I love him as a character so much.

I’m so glad we got more Ruby in this collection. She is such a great foil to Asil in various ways, and I’m so excited to see her play off of other characters back home at Aspen Creek in future books in this universe. I’m also excited to see more of Asil’s wolf as well.

There isn’t a great deal of lore to be found in this collection, so people new to the book’s universe can probably pick this up without knowing anything previously. But there’s a lot of good, meaty content here for long-time fans of the series.

If you like urban fantasy and watching good people try to stop evil people from harming innocents, you should absolutely pick this up. There’s also nothing steamier than some kisses, if you prefer minimal romance elements in your urban fantasy.

I received a complimentary review copy from Ace Books and NetGalley. All opinions contained herein are my own.