My Rating : 5🌟

Okayy.. What is with me and werewolves recently 😂 This book revolves around our main character Ness who comes back to the pack after her mother's death. How she deals with the acceptance, her guilt and attractions cover the main plot of the story.

First of all, Ness is a badass, straight forward, strong and confident character. Bu she is emotional and in dire need of affection. The contrast between how she wants to project herself and who she is internally is very interesting to read about. One moment, she is giving sassy comebacks to the arrogant male species, and the next moment, she just wants to be accepted and just be involved. The vulnerability is what make me love her character so much.

The second was how the writing was amazing! Through the characters, we get absolutely remarkable sassy and quirky comebacks, funny conversations while dealing with a slightly serious topic as well. I loved how the characters and the writing worked well with each other! This is the first time I have loved both the love interests and am really curious to who she will end up with! Both the characters have their own personalities, and even though you get to see the typical jealous/over protective/possessive side , you fall in love with them both! Omg I couldn't handle the tension between the characters at all! To add to the fact that this had the best romance without having any explicit/sex scenes at all. I was really surprised with that as well!

The only thing I felt was a little disappointing was that we don't get to learn about all the characters and their personalities. Since it's a trilogy, I am expecting that would be done in the future books! Overall, I really loved the writing, the characters were really relatable ( Apart from shifting into a werewolf) and the story flow was amazing! I read this book in a single sitting and am writing the review immediately after! If you are a fan of paranormal romances or just anything fantasy related, definitely check this book out. It has become one of my favorites of all time..

A Pack of Blood and Lies by Olivia Wildenstein is the first book of the new The Boulder Wolves series. This is the beginning of a young adult romantic paranormal fantasy series of which is probably obvious by the title and series names features Werewolves.

Right before her eighteenth birthday Ness has to return to Colorado and her pack which she had run from years before. The Boulder Wolves were an all-male pack with the exception of Ness. Being the only female born to the pack in years Ness was not exactly welcomed and really still wants nothing to do with those she left.

However, now that The Boulder Wolves need a new Alpha Ness sees this as her chance for a bit of revenge by challenging Liam Kolane for the title. Liam’s father had been the pack’s alpha for years and was as mean as they come so to keep the pack out from under another Kolane would be all he incentive Ness needs to win the challenges.

I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with werewolf books but having read other series by Olivia Wildenstein and enjoying them I had to give this one a try. Thankfully I was right and this was a much better wolf story than the adult versions of “your my mate let’s hop into bed”. A Pack of Blood and Lies centers around pack politics and the mysteries of previous deaths in the pack along with the secrets and lies being uncovered within the pack. While I wouldn’t say it’s overly original in content it was a fun read and I’d be interested in seeing what the next book brings.

I have always been interested in werewolf books. This book is a little bit of a slow burn as you learn all of the back stories but in the end it was an enjoyable read. It left with a few questions and made me curious to pick up the next book when it comes out. I don't really have a lot to say about this book, it was an average werewolf book but it was a good start to a series that could potenially get better as each book comes out.

A Pack of Blood and Lies is an interesting book about werewolves, with surprising plot twists! It was full of adventures. I loved the characters and relationships between them. I especially liked Ness, she is strong and determined. Although, the romantic part of the story was a bit predictable, I still liked seeing Ness and Liam together.

I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

“A Pack of Blood and Lies” by Olivia Wildenstein is a YA story of a teen who never quiet fitted in anywhere. My one-line description certainly describes most coming of age Young Adult story… {continue reading!}

6 Years have gone by and Ness Clark, just shy of 18 years, is a lone wolf. Literally and figuratively. After her father was murdered the all-male Boulder Wolves pack (specifically the Alpha – Heath Kolane) outcast-ed both her mother and herself.

Middle school was no better.

…but kids found me odd and kept away. I remembered wondering if they could somehow sense what I was, smell what I was the same way I could smell their acne serums and tinted lip balms.

On discovery that her mother passed away and Ness still being considered a minor, her uncle and aunt insist on her coming back to Boulder, Colorado. Ness refuses, unless Evelyn – a upstairs neighbour that helped both of them since their arrival – come with.

In spite of her determination to not stay in Boulder any longer than necessary, Ness throws her name into the “Next Alpha” hat. One to prove that she was indeed part of the pack, and two the other candidate was the son of the late Alpha, Liam.

The three tasks set out for the candidates creates friendship to form, feelings between Liam and Ness, and a longing to be a part of the pack.

A well designed shifter story that kept me entertained and to thoroughly enjoyed the story. Ness is a spanky rough at the edges chick who shows her worth to be part of her pack.

** I received a copy of “A Pack of Blood and Lies” by Olivia Wildenstein via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#Apobal #NetGalley

First I would like to thank NetGally and Twig Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Pack of Blood and Lies gave me major Twilight vibes, just instead of vampires, it was all werewolves. And now, with the fact that I can sense a love triangle coming on, I'm definitely having flashbacks to Twilight!

This book was written very well. I was seamlessly introduced to this world by Olivia Wildensten, and I didn't have any issues with her writing style. Because of this I am definitely going to check out her other books and see if they appeal to me.

I prefer in-depth characters and it's hard for me to relate to a book if I'm not meshing well with them. While we did get a lot of depth into some of the characters, the only one I even remotely liked was the MC. I HATED her love interest and was disgusted at the way he behaved sometimes. This book had a lot of anti-sexism themes, which I definitely liked, but I felt like the love interest was sexist at times, and the MC either didn't care, or got over it very quickly. For that reason, I really didn't like him and I do not currently ship him with Ness.

I was surprised by the twists, so that was good! It took me a long time to read this book because it isn't my usual type of read. I also got into a mini slump halfway through, though I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the book itself or not. I think I will still read the sequel sometime, but it's not necessarily a priority for me. I do really like how the summary of the sequel sounds though, so we'll see!

A feministic take on a shifter romance.

Ness was an amazing character and a great fighter . Her fight for alpha and against the misogyny is inspiring.

Thanks for giving me an opportunity to read and review this ARC.

This story has lots of trigger warnings (mentioned or attempted) I will mention only biggest one:
Suicide attempt, rape, abuse, misogynist behavior
Sounds hard? That's how this pack worked under its Alpha for quite some time. Now that he died a whole pack must gather and there has to raise new alpha. Who will it be? Here our MC decided that she would join trials for the Alpha position. Smart? Well not really.
Ness is an almost eighteen-year-old girl that was brought back to her birth town by her aunt and uncle after being cast away from that place. She has strong will she uses everything she can in her trials and wants to stand her ground in an all-male environment! For sure not an easy task.
Liam is a son of previous alpha. Is he like his father or he's different? I couldn't tell for most of the book (such a gray shaded character)
The twists - I hadn't expected any of those! At first, it was like HOW! No, it can't be I had it sorted before. Yet after thinking nothing would work better there!

Shifter romance misogyny!

I haven't read any shifter romances for eons. I've become somewhat fatigued by the "same old same old." I went into reading A Pack of Blood and Lies hoping it would give a fresh take on a well loved, but sadly tired, theme.
And I have to say I really quite enjoyed this story with the determined wolf shifter Ness, who with her mother had fled the Boulder Pack and its messiness (cruelty) six years prior. Ness was a female shifter in an all male pack. That was a source of trouble, and still is. Times haven't changed that much. The Boulder Pack crew did not have female shifters. They were an anathema to the pack. Any "accidents" didn't survive.
The other problem is Liam Kolane, son of the dictatorial, brutal alpha leader, Heath.
When Heath dies it's time for a new leader to rise. No-one challenges Liam--except Ness. She throws her hat into the ring. That action acts as a burning brand thrown into the whole misogynist mess, setting it alight for good--or bad!
I must say I found the language a bit strong at times, but then I suppose that forms part of the genre, giving atmosphere for some writers.
The story left off with some questions for future times.
So all's good, and I didn't resent my foray back into the shifter romance world.

A NetGalley ARC

A Pack of Blood & Lies is a surprisingly compelling young adult/teen fantasy novel about fierce, unrelenting she-wolf Ness who challenges the alpha males in a pack she was once part of, vying for the top spot despite this traditionally always being a male role. This makes it a timely and topical tale and one that, I must admit, had me taken back in that it was more profound than I had imagined books such as this to be in the sense that it challenged gender stereotypes and even toxic masculinity to a certain extent.

This is refreshing and inspiring to see in a novel marketed towards the younger sector of the market. Much more than merely a lighthearted yarn about the supernatural there is a maturity to it which was unexpected. Hence, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with wonderful Ness. I hope this as the series opener is a sign of things to come. Many thanks to Kelpies for an ARC.

This is a fast-paced YA fantasy. Very quick read.

Ness is a rare female werewolf. Because she is a female, she was never allowed into the pack. Ness and her mother were exiled from the pack years ago after her father was killed. They left Colorado and never looked back.
When her mother dies, her relatives come to take her back to Colorado. She has no choice because she is seventeen. She will only have to deal with them for a few months and she can leave on her birthday.
But, when she gets to Colorado, she finds out that Liam Kolane will be the next Alpha unless someone goes against him and wins. She has very good reasons to hate the Kolane's. She just might have to stay here and fight him.

I enjoyed this book. It has great characters. Ness is my favorite. Gotta love a female that will fight just because everyone says she'll fail. Lots of pack politics and drama going on as well. Very quick read. If you like YA fantasy, give this one a try.

Ness recognized a lot of the men in the inn but they didn’t recognize her. Than she heard Liam Kolane’s voice- one of the men who had opposed her plea to join the pack the day her father was shot. Liam asked if they had met and she said not in this lifetime. After that she went down the hall and than to her room. Ness thought she was safe Liam didn’t recognize her, her cousin Everest overheard Liam saying he ran into a hot blonde housekeeper. Than he added he thought she was going to stay in her room while the pack was at the inn. Than he also said Liam was cut from the same cloth as his father Heath who was a cruel man and raped women. Than August came up to her and when she recognized him she gave him a big smile. He had been her favorite person in Colorado after her parents.it had been six years. Ness and August went outside to talk than she heard LIam say” I believe we met in this lifetime Ness Clark” . Ness was a wolf shifter but hadn’t changed in six years. Ness decided she would try to be Alpha then she found out two of the guys had also challenged Liam but she figured they’d drop out and Liam would become Alpha anyway so she didn’t withdraw. She started to change into her wolf in her room she prayed to stop the change and she stopped but she passed out. Evelyn who had been there for her in LA had come with Ness to Colorado with Ness. When ness asked Everest to show what what they were Evelyn passed out and hadn’t spoken to Ness except to tell her what to do as they worked together in the kitchen to make breakfast for the pack. As time went on ness found Liam was different that she had originally thought.
I read this book in one setting. I gave up some sleep but it was very worth it and it was also a weekend. I loved Liam and ness together I did know Liam liked Ness before she did. That was easy to see. But She also didn’t have many interactions with people and he had stood against her when she asked to be trained and join the pack. I loved how much Evelyn loved Ness at least she had someone in her corner. I loved seeing how protective liam was of ness. I enjoyed the mystery, drama, and paranormal aspect of the book a lot. I loved the plot and pace of this book. I didn’t want to out this down, it caught my attention and held it from beginning to end I loved the characters and the ins and out if this book and I recommend it

THIS BOOK MADE ME REALIZE THAT I WILL NEVER TIRE OF WEREWOLVES TROPE.
 

Reading this book has been a wild fun journey in a night. Yes, I finished this book in one sitting so it’s safe for me to say that everything I’M HOOKED with everything in this book. If you thought that book with werewolves in it is old and out of time then you should try to read this book.
 

The writing gripped me so hard from the first page, it was magical and flowed flawlessly. I couldn’t stop flipping the page and always found surprises around the corner. Some things were so good and unexpected, I had to stop to marvel at how good this book was written. Everything was in great portion; from the cool action to the fluttery romance. The words turned into a vivid and amazing world inside my head with the perfect amount of tension.
 

Now let’s get to know the characters. The characters were so fun to read. I didn’t really like the main character but I think Ness was pretty good. She could be a little annoying but she also a strong and brave girl. Liam was all you can expect from a son of an Alpha. I'm not really interested in him but he seemed like a great and domineering guy. Lucas; blunt and a pain in the back of my head. Was he really that horrible? Yes. But I don’t know why I’m drawn to him. I think that there is more about him than he let on. I wish to get more of him in the next book. August was a sweet and kind guy. Too bad I only had a glimpse of him in this book. But I’m sure he will make a lot of appearances in the sequels.
 

Though this book was a fun and great read, the conflict was too predictable. I guessed it right away and even though I still liked this book, it reduced some of the tension. And even though I’m happy with how this book ended, some things in this book didn’t sit well with me. I just think that everything was too easy. But hey, I think those things helped make this book more enjoyable.


Overall, I loved A Pack of Blood and Lies. It was so good, the romance made me all smiley and the characters were interesting. Once I’m on the last page, I know I’m super excited and can’t wait for A Pack of Vows and Tears. I signed up to be on the list to get an e-ARC, I hope I’m lucky! If you love werewolves, sweet romance, easy and awesome read, I suggest to check out this book.

Ness is a girl who has been hardened by difficult life experiences which cause a few trust issues. She is fiercely loyal with conviction and is a bit of an emotional hot head. She is forced to return to the Pack that kicked her out as a young girl. A girl who is now 6 years older and looking for retribution for having been denied an opportunity at revenge. In a dangerous competition for Alpha, she will see if her traitorous heart will be her undoing or her salvation. Ness isn’t the only one in this story who has some baggage. Each character was brought to life on those pages, full of rich details and strong emotions. I cheered, I cried, I cringed, and I smiled. It was amazing to read on as the story twisted and turned. Definitely more of an older Young Adult novel due to language and subject matter. I cannot wait for the next installment as I am sure it will be another great roller coaster of a read!

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

A Pack of Blood and Lies is an exciting tale of a young woman coming to terms with her past and a pack of mostly misogynistic males. Ness has questions and it seems like nobody wants to give her answers. But she is strong, tenacious and will not be denied. I loved this story and look forward to the next installment.

Right before I started the book, I thought to myself - hey, I haven't read a werewolf book in a long time, and while this does mention alpha males, let's see how it goes. And reader, barely a quarter into the book and I remembered WHY I haven't picked up werewolf books recently. It has every thing I hate about the genre - the misogyny, the asshats who disguise their intrusion as protectiveness, unnecessary sexual tension, and more. I'll just come out and say it - I don't like reading books with alpha males because that is just a synonym for assholes. A decade ago, I ~may~ have found Liam hot, but seeing this in a book marketed to teens and young adults just makes me sick. Buckle up, because they aren't going to be spoiler warnings - I am not recommending this book anyway so you might as well satisfy your curiosity!

So, where do I start? The writing is haphazard and the scenes are choppy. Information is dropped randomly as if we were expected to know it. Out of nowhere it is mentioned that Heath, the previous alpha was a serial rapist. Out of nowhere it is mentioned that Ness was working as an escort. The story was supposed to be about her fight to be recognized as a member and devolves into a BS pseudo-romance plot with hate-to-love vibes. If anything could save this trashfire of a plot, it could have been Ness but nope! She is dragged back to her family's pack after her mother's death, and while she doesn't intend to stick around, she challenges Liam, the son of the previous Alpha, for the position. Then midway through, she is like nah, I won't do this and instead just concede and lick my wounds (both literally and metaphorically). She goes half-baked with only courage and then gives up because he forking smells so good. *eyeroll* Then there's all the women-hating in the start which was attempted by giving her a girl friend in the second half, and mentioning like ONE sapphic couple she goes clubbing with; it doesn't help that her being a she-wolf is constantly used against her by other women (even though she is not exactly a special snowflake, with another rival pack having plenty of them) or all of them making remarks over her side hustle.

And even if Ness didn't want to be an Alpha and it was all about her wanting to get their respect and acceptance, the plot doesn't do that either. The 'feminist' vibes are an illusion - she offers token complaint whenever the men are shitty towards her (and I could accumulate a short story sized book just from the quotes where they are shitty towards her, because there were THAT many occurences). I'll concentrate on Liam to keep this review at a reasonable length. Liam is somehow a good choice for alpha because WHAT? He saves her life once or twice (which I felt was totally engineered just to excuse his other shitty behaviour)? He's not like his serial rapist father? (Very low bar, btw) He constantly lurks behind her, and inexplicably is always behind her or somewhere in the periphery. . He acts like a jealous master when she is (supposedly) a free agent, even going so far as to accuse her of being a whore because she is an escort. She, in turn, is also ashamed because she did it for money (way to throw sex workers under the bus, o ye paragon of feminism), not because she is minor. At one occasion, he offers her sex so she would accept his money, and (when she refuses and says she never does that) proceeds to sniff her to confirm she hasn't just had sex. Like ew! Am I supposed to find their romance hot when he pounds on her balcony door to accuse her of spying, and then they somehow end up making out? Every time his name appeared in the text, I may have gagged a little.

He is a misogynistic controlling stalker ashhole from start to finish, and him getting the position completely flies in the face of what she was fighting for, especially because until the end, the members of the pack refuse to accept the possibility that she can be their Alpha - just because she is female, not because she wouldn't be a good fit. And then she proceeds to join the pack because she thinks they were concerned about her all this time, not because they just saw her as another object of their pack and something to be territorial about. And the attempts to humanize him when he tells about his father, or the attempts to humanize the human-shaped duckwad that is Lucas by telling how he is a sad orphan? Give me a break!

I have only got through this book because I love my Kindle too much to chuck it across the room, and because I was constantly watching the timer on it telling myself 'only ~x~ more hours of this forking nonsense, you can do it!' The only saving grace? None of that mate business (but there was that weird thing with August so who knows?) but that a very small amount of grace to do anything about this whole mess that is basically a terrible adult paranormal fantasy stuffed into a YA label.

This book has an Wattpad flavour to it and it was only able to grab my attention until halfway over.
It starts well enough with a strong main character that is interesting and driven and the world in which she lives makes its limitations known soon enough, allowing the main character to set herself a goal which she tries to achieve from the get go. But upon reaching a certain number of chapters the accidental meetings with her love interest who she hates start to get tiring and today's society simply has no more space for controlling, abusive guys painted as prince charming. The worst the hero of the story behaves the more interest the heroine is in him until she completely foregoes everything she believes just to be with him.
It was a pity that that was the end of the story because the book is beautifully written with interesting enough characters and a heroine that could have been so much more.
Thank you to NetGalley and Twig Publishing for this ARC.

REVIEW
I felt ready to revisit the “shifter”/ “were-wolves” genre and came across this book. The cover certainly caught my eye with its green and orange colours with the female silhouette that represents the rather kick butt female character of Ness. I think if this book was on a book store shelf It would catch my eye and interest enough to make me pick it up to read the blurb. The genre’s listed for this book are Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Teens & YA, and it fits well into all of them, though I should admit I am definitely not in the teens & YA age group and I read and thoroughly enjoyed this book!

The book’s main character is Ness and at the beginning of the book she is at work with her friend and neighbour Evelyn. Ness’s mother has died but through working more than one job Ness is managing to pay her rent and continue living next to Evelyn who proved to be a good friend to both Ness & her mum. Evelyn has unofficially taken the role of guardian for Ness. Ness & her mum had been forced to leave their first home by Ness’s Uncle Jeb. So, it is a complete surprise to Ness when her Aunt, Uncle & cousin Everest. There’s some arguing but eventually a compromise is made that Ness will return to the Boulder pack home and live with her Aunt & Uncle in their pub so long as Evelyn can come with her.
There’s lots of prejudice and unpleasant history as Ness is the only female in the Boulder Wolves Pack. The reason for this is shrouded in secrecy and Ness is treat and thought to be inferior to the male wolves in the pack. There’s been some major changes within the pack and at the present there is no Alpha in position to lead the pack yet. The previous disliked Alpha is dead and his son Liam Kolane has offered his name forward as the next Alpha. This infuriates Ness who treats Liam with the same hatred as she has for his father. Ness tries to talk first her cousin Everest and then her friend August Watt to stand against Liam Kolane.


It soon becomes apparent no one wants to stand against Liam, so Ness takes drastic action and puts her own name forward to become Alpha. As she puts her name forward there are two surprises thrown into contending in the form of Matthew and Lucas, both friends of Liam! It isn’t that Ness wants to run the pack herself, it’s more that she doesn’t want another Kolane to be running the pack. Matthew & Lucas putting their names into the mix just means Ness has to defeat three males instead of one! Ness is so serious she is willing to put her own life on the line. As there is now more than one contender for Alpha it means all contenders have to go through the trials. The last trial is also usually a fight to the death, which means is Ness doesn’t win she could die.

I loved Ness as a character, she has her own morals and idea’s and isn’t afraid to stand her ground. I felt immediately on side with Ness which meant auto disliking Liam, thinking like Ness that is as bad as his father, Heath. Though the more you learn about Liam and witness how he is around Ness you can’t help but begin to like and believe in him.
There’s lots of differences and misunderstandings throughout the book between Liam and Ness. However, Liam and the rest of the Boulder Pack soon grow to love Ness and want her to stay with the pack. There’s also a great secret surrounding one of the characters that I didn’t see coming from the beginning of the book. A character I did take an instant dislike for was Aunt Lucy, and I think you may agree with me by the end of the book. The old saying “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” fits one of the characters in the book too.

The book had a good pace, there’s the introduction to Ness and her friend/unofficial guardian Evelyn, then her pack family arrive on the scene and the pace picks up from there and it is an action packed for the rest of the book. There are plenty of different clues and plotlines to follow that make the book a brilliant read that you won’t want to put down. The only thing that kind of threw me, or surprised me was how the book seemed to jump a little. One minute, Uncle Jeb, Aunt Lucy & Everest are sampling Evelyn’s taco’s and the next minute everyone is at the pub owned by Jeb and Lucy and Ness is facing off with Liam Kolane.

I adored some of the quotes such as when Ness speaks to Liam Kolane and says “Sometimes the filth is not visible to the naked eye, but it doesn’t mean its not there.” The way Liam tries to talk Ness out of the Alpha trials was quite endearing even though Ness finds it infuriating! I don’t want to reveal much more but Ness does end up changing her opinion of those around her. Those she thought she could trust and sadly can’t and those she once loathed that are revealed as only wanting what is best for her or to help her.

To sum up after finishing this book my reaction was Wow, I have possibly found another great shifter series to read! I love the Boulder wolves and look forward to perhaps more interaction between them and the Pines Wolves. As well as storylines that may see more females being born into the Boulder Pack. There are so many possibilities for this series, it is most definitely a series I want to read more of. I hope I don’t have to wait too long for the next book!!

Title: A Pack of Blood and Lies
Author: Olivia Wildenstein
Genre: YA/New Adult, paranormal
Rating: 4 out of 5

Ness is almost 18 when she’s forced to return to Boulder. She intended to forget about what happened there, forget about what happened to her mom, and forget all the domineering men in the werewolf pack that had no room for a female. She was happy to think she’d escaped with only her memories.

But now she’s back in boulder and those memories are standing before her. One of them is a friend, but one of them is Liam Kolane, son of Heath, the cruelest man she’d ever imagined. Now Heath is dead, and no one dares challenge Liam for the right to rule the pack.

Except Ness, who isn’t going to let him win without a fight. A fight to the death—if she can convince her heart that’s an acceptable cost.

I found this pretty predictable in most ways, but I enjoyed the read. Lots of chauvinistic alpha males swaggering around, but there are some glimmers of redeeming qualities among them. Coming from a patriarchal society, it’s understandable, even if mildly infuriating.
Bestselling author Olivia Wildenstein lives in Switzerland. A Pack of Blood and Lies is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Twig Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)