A review by thenia
A Fantastic Holiday Season: The Gift of Stories by Jonathan Maberry, Mercedes Lackey, Mike Resnick, Patricia Briggs, Brad R. Torgerson, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Ken Scholes, Heather Graham, Keith J. Olexa, Kevin J. Anderson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch

4.0

Unappreciated Gifts - Patricia Briggs:
Asil gets dared to go on five dates that some concerned packmates of his have arranged, and he is determined to win.

This story focuses on the first date of his that is a lot more fun than Asil thought it would be, for very unexpected reasons -
Spoilerhis date is not with a woman but a gay man who was also set up on the date by a bully.

Asil, who proves that nothing fazes him and he can roll with anything coming his way, goes through with the date as if nothing is wrong, from the initial dinner to the vampire costume ball.

He doesn't expect an actual vampire to show up to the ball, knowing that there are none so close to the Marrok's territory, when one appears, and he has also been snacking on Asil's date without his knowledge.

Asil deals with the vampire, helping his date get rid or his bully at the same time, and showing him a pretty great time overall, winning the first bet, before he receives an email about the next one that is bound to be as ridiculous, since it was set up through a dating site called mustlovemycat
.

A light and fun story that shows a whole different side of the dangerous Asil that made me like him even more.

The series continues with an Alpha and Omega story next, [b:Dead Heat|22571699|Dead Heat (Alpha & Omega #4)|Patricia Briggs|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406232150l/22571699._SY75_.jpg|26949988].

Previous book reviews:
Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson, #7) ~ ★★★★★ (22/03/2013, 22/09/2019)
Fair Game (Alpha & Omega, #3) ~ ★★★★ (17/08/2013, 22/09/2019)
River Marked (Mercy Thompson, #6) ~ ★★★★★ (22/03/2013, 22/09/2019)
Silver Borne (Mercy Thompson, #5) ~ ★★★★★ (12/04/2012, 10/03/2014, 22/09/2019)
SpoilerBone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, #4) ~ ★★★★★ (11/01/2011, 09/03/2014, 21/09/2019)
Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson, #3) ~ ★★★★★ (04/11/2010, 09/03/2014, 21/09/2019)
Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, #2) ~ ★★★★★ (04/09/2010, 08/03/2014, 21/09/2019)
Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega, #2) ~ ★★★★ (12/05/2011, 20/09/2019)
Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega, #1) ~ ★★★★ (08/09/2010, 20/09/2019)
Alpha and Omega (Alpha & Omega, #0.5) ~ ★★★★ (16/09/2010, 19/09/2019)
Moon Called (Mercy Thompson #1) ~ ★★★★★ (01/08/2010, 11/03/2014, 20/09/2019)
Mercy Thompson: Homecoming (Mercedes Thompson Graphic Novels 0) ~ ★★★ (13/03/2014)