Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs is precious gift to long time fans, and a delicious taste to draw in newbies. Werewolves, witches, ghosts, vampires, fae.... and blind dates all wrapped up in the Mercyverse we already love.

While the Mercy Thompson books are my favorite, I enjoy all of the books in this series and this was no exception. I think I had read one of the stories before but it had been a minute and it all felt new and I devoured it. Asil is “gifted” with a series of blind dates that end up being far more than he or his concerned friend bargained for. The stories were all great, but I particularly enjoyed the last one with the reveal of the concerned friend epilogue. Asil wasn’t my favorite character before (he was fine, but this world has harsh competition with characters), but he’s moved up a few slots. The only downside to getting an early arc of this one is that now I have even longer to wait for the next book in this universe.

I will read all the things by the lovely Patricia Briggs, so I'm probably not the most impartial of reviewers, but I inhaled this story of Asil and his five blind dates. I love getting to know some of the more side characters in the world of Mercy Thompson...a world I love oh so much! It's like catching up with old friends who I've missed. Seriously, this book was too short and was over so fast.

This is the best book no one asked for, but needs to read. At least the fans of Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson/Alpha & Omega series need to. It's entertaining, carries the overarching story in an unexpected way, and gives an insight to a beloved character we don't know nearly enough about!

Patricia Briggs has a talent for creating characters that feel real. As a reader I always crave more of her writing because I feel like I personally know the people in her stories and Asil is no exception. I was fascinated with his character back in the first Alpha & Omega novel and every time he showed up in later books I always wanted more. I was absolutely delighted to get my wish with this book! Blind Date with a Werewolf is a fun series of short stories detailing a series of dates that our fan-favorite wolf gets sent on by his anonymous friend, but unfortunately nothing is ever as simple as it seems because Asil doesn’t have a single normal date in the entire book!

My one critique would be that each chapter jumped straight into the next date from the last one. I understand that this is an anthology but I felt like a little bit more story in between the dates to connect them would have made the whole book feel a bit more fleshed out and like a single story. Beyond that, everything else was perfect!

When it comes to tone, there are definitely many serious moments throughout, but this book has a bit of a lighter tone overall compared to other books Briggs has written. There’s flirting and banter, and a surprising twist at the end that had me squealing with joy. Without spoilers, I have to say I think Asil has some things to look forward to in the future. I’m excited to see how the events of this book impact the future of Asil’s character and the Alpha & Omega series as a whole.

Asil, with the major help of all his friends, has come a long long way from the trauma broken werewolf we met way back when. But look at him now, mostly sane, new girl, and NOT actively suicidal! Yay.

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC of this book available for my review.

This book is basically a collection of stories about Asil, one of the supporting characters from the Alpha & Omega / Mercy Thompson series. While none of the stories really stood out for me, it was a great pleasure to see Asil's story expanded upon. It was also amusing to think of "friends" of Asil's setting him up on a series of blind dates, during which (of course) nothing could possibly go wrong. Fun stuff.

This was a delightful diversion! I've read many of Patricia Brigg's novels and I love how she writes. She has fantastic character development and writes in a way that makes you want to keep reading. This novel made up of several short stories is another great book. I enjoyed learning more about Asil and his history. But I think even if you didn't know much about him before this book, you'd be fine reading this one. I'll continue to read everything Patricia Briggs writes.

It's been some time since I read Patricia Briggs's work, but luckily I made it just far enough that I'm familiar with all the established characters and plotlines referenced here. I think Asil is one of the most interesting people in the Mercy Thompson/Alpha & Omega universe, so it was a delight to spend time with him. I love how he's terrifying on the outside but inside is just tired and honorable and melancholy (and maybe kind of unhinged). This collection's strengths lie in the brevity of its stories, their cleverness and heart, and the well-drawn supporting cast of mostly new characters. Really charming.

I love the world of Mercy Thompson and company and will devour everything in it. This book fits perfectly in it and gives so much more depth and humor to one of the interesting side characters from the main series. The premise of multiple blind dates for each short story is brilliant. Each can stand alone, but together they build and create a whole. Patricia Briggs is also brilliant at creating stories that connect to broader narratives without requiring the reader to know everything. Someone brand new to the world can easily pick up this collection and enjoy it whole-heartedly.

Can we get a collection about the enterprising "friend" who arranged the blind dates next?

I love Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, so I was all in for this fun little spinoff. While it’s got the action and romance you’d expect, it’s definitely not a Mercy book—and that’s okay.

I really enjoyed it. It gave me a chance to get to know a side character a bit better, and the story was entertaining from start to finish. I’m glad I picked it up and can’t wait to recommend it to our library patrons!

Thank you Ace for the drc via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have only ever read the first book in the Mercy Thompson series and none of the Alpha and Omega books by Patricia Briggs so I can't say I know/remember any of the characters but I don't think that detracted from my overall enjoyment of this book. If anything, reading the series might have added to it so if you have read and liked those books you'll want to add this one to your tbr for October and if you haven't read any of them yet, I assure you you can read this alone and not feel like you're missing something.

Blind Date with a Werewolf is a fun, somewhat silly, quick read in the urban fantasy genre. The writing is fantastic and we're able to see Asil's character development through these 5 blind dates, how he sees himself and how others see him versus how he actually acts -- which is more cinnamon roll (protective of innocents, willing to put himself in danger to protect them) than crazed wolf one step away from going mad. He definitely has a hard outer shell but a very soft inside and I love characters like that. The short story format gave us different settings, characters and interesting scenarios but with the connection of each being one of Asil's blind dates. I only wish we had more of Asil and the right date but I plan to dive into the Mercy Universe now so hopefully I'll see more of them in future books!

While I maintain it's a fun read there is a lot of violence and plenty of deeper connections to be found with certain characters, so definitely serious elements to it as well.

Asil wasn't particularly one of my favorite characters in the Mercy-verse, but after this book he definitely moved up several spots! I had not read any of the three stories that were previously published, so this whole book (five stories total) was new to me. Some of the stories were stronger than others, but overall this was a fun read. The "concerned friend" reveal was an especially fun surprise.

I received a free ARC of this book through Netgalley but this did not impact my rating or review. This book is expected to be published on October 24, 2025.

Now I'm back to anxiously awaiting the next Charles/Anna book (I've been waiting since 2021!)

Patricia Briggs never fails to entertain. I enjoy reading about Mercy and her family/friends. The surprise of who was writing the dating ads was great!

Sometimes getting to read an advanced reader copy (like this one) is one of the greatest gifts I can receive as a reader. Thank you, NetGalley (and the author) for letting me read this. I feel warm and fuzzy and happy. And just slightly dissatisfied that the book is over and I don't get more time with Asil.

I can't tell you how much I loved this book. It's a book of five short stories and an epilogue. I've read books made up of short stories before and this blew any competition out of the water.

Asil is an old and broken werewolf. We've seen him in a lot of the Mercy Universe books but definitely he's been on the periphery. This time, we get to see him so close and personal. One of his friends has decided to set him up on five blind dates. Did they really believe that they could help Asil find love and meaning in his life? It's unclear.

What is clear is that Asil finds trouble wherever he goes and he will right injustice if it's the last thing he does.

He does get a little bit of romance along the way, and I REALLY wanted to spend more time with him and his person. The epilogue was beautiful, but I have a THIRST to see these two out there and thriving.

This book has a LOT of violence; however, I don't know how Patricia Briggs does it, but I had so much fun and enjoyed myself the whole time. I was giggling and kicking my heels.

I loved this. I adored Asil's stories. And I want to know so much more. It gave me hope that Patricia Briggs has more stories to tell. The last Mercy book I read (not the very last one, but the one before) was lackluster at best and I was feeling bummed. Now, I'm gonna need to go get that latest book and I'm back in!

Read this! It's so good.

love Asil! If you haven't read the Alpha and Omega series, that's where to start to get a proper introduction to who Asil is and where he comes from. This is a short story collection about 5 different dates that a "Concerned Friend" arranges for him. This is one of very few short story collections I've ever read that isn't terribly uneven in quality. The second story was the weakest, but still an excellent story. I was entertained throughout and felt like they stayed true to the character of Asil established in the A&O series.

Highly recommended! 5 enthusiastic stars

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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.

I really like the Mercy-verse, although I like her books much more than I've liked the Charles ones. This was a fun expansion.

This was an excellent read. I enjoy both the Mercy Thompson and the Alpha & Omega series by Briggs. It is about time that Asil got a story of his own. I liked the format--a series of short story chapters that make up the novel. I hope we get more of Asil and his adventures soon.

WOW! Asil is one of my favorites and it was great to see him in a new light. Some very interesting blind dates. As always Patricia Briggs kept me on the edge of my seat. I hope we get to see more of Asil and everyone from the series in the future.