Grade: A

Charlie Adhara’s paranormal/romantic suspense Big Bad Wolf series is one of my all-time favourites. With clever plotting, excellent worldbuilding, fantastic characterisation and a beautifully developed central relationship, those books had it all, and were always going to be a tough act to follow. I was delighted when I learned the author would be writing more books set in this world and that we’d get to spend more time with the snarky, enigmatic Elias Smith – a major secondary character in the earlier series. Eli was introduced in Thrown to the Wolves, where we learned he’d had a very troubled past, running with rebel packs who used and betrayed him until he was rescued and taken in by the Parks. He’s my book catnip – complex, flawed and damaged with a sharp tongue and an attitude for miles.

While this is the first in a new series, I really would recommend reading the previous books first so as to gain an understanding of how this world works; pack politics and how wolves interact (or don’t) with humans are key elements in these stories, and you’ll get a bit of background information on Eli. Plus – they’re marvellous reads and I assure you, you won’t regret backtracking!

Pack of Lies opens just a couple of weeks so after the end of Cry Wolf. Cooper and Park are on their honeymoon and Eli has recently moved to the retreat for runaways they’ve set up in remote Maudit Falls, which they’ve asked him to run. Late one night, Eli makes his way downstairs to the reception desk to find a very bedraggled man crawling around beneath it. Annoyed and suspiciouis, he suggests perhaps his interloper is a housebreaker, but before the man can do more than indignantly contradict him and explain that he’d had an accident a way back along the road, furious knocking at the door heralds the arrival of a woman dripping with blood and frantically insisting she’s seen the monster – she’s seen Sweet Pea, and this time, she’s got proof.

Once the chief of police shows up, Annabelle Dunlop, owner of the ski resort on the other side of the mountain, explains how she’d hurt herself running through the woods and then shows them some very grainy images taken from wildlife cameras that she insists show a figure that is not human. Chief Bucknell is sceptical and says he doesn’t really see much of anything, but Eli immediately recognises part of the image as a wolf in mid-shift. He has no idea who it is or what they might be doing there, but every wolf has a responsibility to maintain the secret of their existence – and clearly, there’s someone out there who isn’t being as careful as they should be. When everyone has left, Eli’s new medic tells him they’ve got their first guest, a young woman named Gwen who has left her rebel pack in search of sanctuary. When Gwen tells Eli that she, too, had felt an ominous presence in the woods and had run from it, Eli realises something is very wrong. Wolves are being hunted, their very existence threatened with exposure – and he decides to get to the bottom of it.

Mid-list Hollywood star Juilen Doran is grieving the loss of his younger brother Rocky, who drowned some fourteen months earlier. At the suggestion of his therapist, Julien goes into Rocky’s childhood bedroom – one they’d shared for a few years – which is where, tucked away in an old hidey-hole only the two of them had known about, Julien finds a flash drive, a notebook and a crudely drawn map of somewhere called Maudit Falls. His brother was forever off on some wild goose chase or other, convinced of the existence of all manner of cryptids and mythical beasts – Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman, Nessie – and Sweet Pea, a bipedal creature reported to inhabit Blue Tail Mountain, and Julien frequently had to bail him out of trouble. He tried, repeatedly to get Rocky to see sense, but those conversations always ended in an argument. Three days after their last one, Rocky was dead. He’d taken a boat out on a perfectly clear night and never returned; there was no storm that night, the boat wasn’t damaged, and there was no real way of determining exactly how he died. After finding the notebook and map, Julien isn’t so sure his brother’s death was an accident so, filled with guilt and self-recrimination, Julien turns his back on everything – his career, his family (such as it is) and even his common sense – to follow the trail Rocky has left for him.

Eli and Julien’s shared goal of finding out exactly what is going on in Maudit Falls isn’t the only thing that draws them together, but getting to the truth is more important than an inconvenient attraction to someone they can’t afford to trust. When murder comes to their doorstep along with rumours of hidden treasure and more late-night creature sightings, they form a wary alliance – but as the secrets they’re keeping threaten to destroy their fragile connection, Eli and Julien are going to have to find a way to work together if they’re going to stand a chance of survival.

Pack of Lies is a compelling combination of clever, intricate mystery and expertly crafted slow-burn romance, and I was glued to it from start to finish. Eli and Julien are fascinating, layered characters who circle around each other amid half-truths and lies-by-omission, who yet manage to be likeable and evoke sympathy and understanding. I’ve been intrigued by Eli since his appearances in the earlier series (I said in my reivew of Cry Wolf that he was “crying out” for his own story!); his snarky, prickly demeanour obviously hides a deep vulnerability, and despite his appearance of casual confidence, he worries about being the right person for the job at the retreat and about letting Cooper and Park down. Life has been far from easy for him, and although we learn more of his history here, there’s clearly more to be revealed.

Unlike the Big Bad Wolf series though, Pack of Lies is written in dual PoV, so we get to hear from Julien also, and while Charlie Adhara is one of those authors who can make a single PoV work spectacularly well, I really appreciated that. I liked Julien and enjoyed the way he so clearly cares for Eli and Eli’s feelings – and that he doesn’t hesitate when he decides to go for it with Eli. Julien has always known he’s bisexual, but has never had the opportunity to act on his attraction to men; what he’s really worried about is letting his inexperience show and not Doing It Right – but Eli soon assures him he doesn’t need to worry on that score! Their chemistry is fantastic, and the love scenes are intense and very steamy, with Julian letting out his inner dirty-talker and Eli prepared to let Julien take control.

The book ends with a firm HFN for Eli and Julien, which feels exactly right; a full-blown HEA would have felt inappropriate and I’m happy with the way things are left – with with promise of more.

Pack of Lies is a wonderful blend of mystery, romance, action and intrigue and is a superb start to this new series. I can’t wait to find out what’s in store for Eli and Julien next!

This new Goodreads is a trip!

Obvs, someone hasn't been around the GR block much lately but since today is RELEASE DAY!!!! I thought I would actually review this book instead of the pitiful excuse for a "review" I dropped a couple of months ago. I even reread it for the occasion!

So let's do this. What I sometimes find in spin-offs is the original couple kind of steals the limelight. No one wants another book featuring Cooper and Oliver more than I, but I'm happy to say this wasn't it. I wanted Eli and his paramour to be the star of this dope show and really get to know Eli better. And I did.

In my opinion, no one does boneheaded characters better than this author and I don't mean that as a slight, I mean it as a compliment because it makes her characters relatable. Eli and Julien both fumble, say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing but despite all the awkward and beneath all the bumbling I believed in their connection. The tender, sweet and vulnerable moments we get to see via the story being told through both of their perspectives was what convinced me of it.

Julien had the absurd, delirious thought that they'd kissed all the way into spring, and the murders and the lies and all of Rocky's secrets that were Julien's secrets now had melted away with the snow and he could just be here with Eli like this.


The murder mystery was a whirlwind and I thoroughly enjoyed trying to sleuth out the killer. My sleuthing skills need some work, evidently but no matter I still enjoyed myself and the atmosphere this author created in this snowy and sleepy North Carolina town of Maudit Falls.

And lest I forget, somewhere amidst all the Hardy Boysing by Julien and Eli they very industriously found time for some fairly kinky seggs that I was not mad at. At all. I'm just going to say their bedroom dynamic *might* prove to be more entertaining than Cooper and Oliver's. We shall see.

At any rate, I am staying tuned to see where their next adventure takes them and plan on being along for the ride as their relationship takes its next evolution.

An ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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5/30/22

Well, this sucks. I have a book hangover AND idk what to say.

I'll come up with something before release day which I didn't realize was still a coon's age away which also means I'll have to wait a coon's age & a half for the sequel which makes me sad in my face.

Anyhoo, 4.5 (rounded up)

I deeply loved the Big Bad Wolf series, so while I was happy to see Cooper and Oliver finally get their HEA I was sad to say goodbye to the world. Well, luckily we have a new spinoff series starring Eli. While he was a character in past books (and there’s more cameos as well), I’d say you could pick this up as a standalone, though seriously, go read the other series!

“It seemed absurd, a monster going monster hunting. But why not? Just for a couple of days. What could possibly go wrong?”


With Oliver and Cooper away on their honeymoon, Eli’s been given the task of getting the retreat for wolves escaping from rebel packs up and running. It’s a big job and the last thing he wants to do is screw it up for them. But between someone making trouble at the ski resort over the hill and a snooping actor, proving that he can take on this responsibility may be harder than he thought. That actor, Julien, is in Maudit Falls chasing a cryptic clue from his dead brother, and while the other goings-on don’t seem connected, he’ll do anything that gives him more information about his brother’s last days. When pranks turn to murders, the unlikely team of Eli and Julien are drawn into the investigation. Will they catch the murderer before they catch them?

“Talk about a backfire. Last month the most abnormal thing grief had me doing was drinking an extra couple glasses of wine at night. Now I’m running around after cryptozoologists and digging up skeletons and—and—having vacation sex with strangers.”
“On the other hand, who are we to question the process,” Eli drawled, surprising a real laugh out of Julien.


It was strange in some ways to have both POVs after being used to only having Cooper’s POV in the last series. I think it does increase the dramatic tension: both men are fascinated and wary of the other, and both have plenty of secrets they’d prefer to keep hidden. Where Cooper had some (mostly erroneous) knowledge of werewolves, Julien’s only knowledge comes from his younger brother. He was obsessed with hunting down cryptids in various locations, something that had gotten him into mundane trouble (trespassing on a drug gang’s land, etc) that Julien had to bail him out of more times than he could count. A somewhat has-been actor, he’s still grieving his brother’s loss, though he’s skilled enough to put on a mask to most people – but not Eli.

“I have nothing to hide.”
“Neither do I,” Eli purred. “Look at us. Two open books.”
“Sure. Except yours is written in code. And invisible ink. And has one of those paper snakes that pop out and scare the shit out of anyone who picks you up.”
Eli made that odd huffing sound again. “I assure you, Mr. Doran, I’ve never received a single complaint from those blessed enough to pick me up.”


Eli’s completely over the top in the best way possible. He’s snarky and sly, a shameless flirt – but underneath that mask, he’s afraid that once anyone knows all of his secrets, they’ll abandon him. He’s not proud of his past and quite frankly calls himself a monster more than once. Both men have secrets, and both have scars from past trauma. Watching them open up bit by bit, trusting each other enough to be vulnerable, was amazing. They’re not fully truthful – this is, after all, only the first book in the series! – but there was enough of a crack in both of their facades to truly connect with each other. The sex scenes were amazing, mostly because of the dynamic between them – dominant Julien who’s new to this and very anxious about doing it well, and Eli, who, well, is Eli. While Julien’s bi, due to two marriages to cis women (and the subsequent divorces) he doesn’t have much experience with men – make that any experience. Of course, he doesn’t explain this to Eli beforehand, and that’s just one of the many misunderstandings between them. While either man may react strongly initially, they’re also both mature enough to talk things out.

“Solving murders isn’t in the job description, is it?”
“With Ollie and the whippet? It should be,” Eli muttered.


And that talking is one of the best parts of the book. As I’ve come to expect from Charlie Adhara’s books, the dialogue is crackling and hilarious. Eli in particular is outrageous, even in his own head – he repeatedly refers to Cooper as “Ollie’s whippet” and I lost it every time. It would also not be a Charlie Adhara book without a tense suspense plot as well. It’s got bits of a house party mystery (a small number of guests snowed in) and revelations of past friendships and greed and well, you get the picture. It was delightfully twisty and kept me guessing til the end. There’s also a good deal of new world building, from Sweet Pea the local cryptid to more revelations about how rebel packs work from Eli’s past. As for cons, It’s slowly paced and it took quite a while to really get the mystery going, though the chemistry between Julien and Eli was evident from their first meeting. But even with that, I didn’t identify as strongly with either man as I did with Cooper. Perhaps it was the dual POV or the fact that neither held a candle to Cooper’s anxious do-gooderness, but I still enjoyed the book.

Overall, an excellent start to a new series that leaves plenty of interesting leads to follow up on!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Big Bad Wolf is one of my favorite series ever and I feel like I've been waiting forever for this spin-off, which means I had high expectations. Charlie Adhara's ability to develop an intriguing mystery plot while keeping the focus on her flawed but loveable characters shines through in Pack of Lies, and I feel like most fans of the original series will also love this book.

Pack of Lies is the first book in this series that features Eli, Oliver's werewolf ex from the first series. I already loved Eli and felt very protective of him. He's someone who never fitted in anywhere because his special werewolf abilities make him a target. He hides his dark past and his loneliness behind a carefree attitude and lots of amusing one-liners. I was scared that Eli's love interest would be no match for him, and I was a little doubtful of Julien at first, as he seemed similar to every other "uptight guy on a mission" type. I'm glad Charlie Adhara went with a double POV (in opposition to the single POV in the previous series), so we could understand Julien better. I ended up liking him a lot. I loved how easily flustered he was when Eli was simply flirting, even though he was the one in control during the sex scenes (the praise alone...). Their chemistry was amazing, their flirting was so fun and the banter was top-notch. Both of them are honest with each other about how they shouldn't be trusted, but they still went ahead and trusted each other.

I really liked how this book balanced the mystery and the romance once the story hit its stride, but the first part of the book drags a little, as a lot of things are being set up and all the side characters are being introduced. Once that's out of the way though, the story captivated me until the end. Like Big Bad Wolf, at the end of this first book, the couple is not solid yet. What we are getting is really the beginning of their story, but we get a solid foundation and lots of romantic and sexy moments still.

After inhaling Adhara's Big Bad Wolf series earlier this year, I was thrilled to receive an eARC of the first in a new Eli-centric spinoff series. Pack of Lies follows werewolf Eli, who has begun managing the Maudit Falls Retreat for runaway werewolves, as he crosses paths with Julien, a fading Hollywood star following the last clues his deceased monster-hunting brother left behind. The two men become tangled in a local mystery that threatens the peaceful existence of the retreat and its denizens... and tangled in each other. Though sparks fly immediately, there's a lot that Eli and Julien are hiding from each other and despite how close they begin to grow to each other and the answers they seek, neither can afford to completely trust the other.

Like her previous books, Pack of Lies is a quick, easy, and fun read, with an entertaining mystery (this one involved a snowy ski chalet and a treasure hunt) and a sweet-and-spicy romance. The smut was A++ (**spoiler* Though the sex scene in the fire tower was very awkwardly placed for me, considering the gunman waiting outside and Julien's injuries. *end spoiler**), and while I'm not 100% on board Eli and Julien's romance yet (their lives aren't as immediately compatible as Cooper and Oliver's were), I definitely see the potential. Because I am a fan of the Big Bad Wolf series, I was very interested in Cooper and Oliver's cameos, especially seeing their characters from another's POV. Speaking of POV, Pack of Lies is dual-perspective (unlike Big Bad Wolf), which is a nice change of pace and made it a lot easier to connect to Julien than it would have been without his POV. **mild spoiler* Though he still managed to keep plenty of information close to the vest! *end spoiler** Eli remained the flirty smart-ass we met and loved in Big Bad Wolf, but it was very revealing to see more of his inner thoughts and feelings, which cast him in a more vulnerable light.

A satisfying way to kick off this new series, and I'm glad to be continuing on in this world! 3.5 stars, rounding down mostly because I don't think I can rate it higher than The Wolf at the Door (but I feel like I'll end up increasing my all of my ratings whenever I get around to re-reading the series).

TW: violence and murder, past death of a brother, injury depiction, body horror (werewolf shifting), gun violence, mentions of past abuse, PTSD, consensual D/s dynamics during sex

*Thank you to @netgalley for providing this book as an eArc.

Julien Doran’s brother used to search for monsters. Now he’s dead. With a heart full of hurt, Julien is after answers and the sleepy ski town of Maudit Falls, North Carolina may be the only place he can get them.

Enter Eli Smith. He’s a lot of things. A thief, a liar, a glamour-puss, a manager, and a secret werewolf.

With an old skeleton, a fresh corpse and a handful of people trapped on a snowy mountainside, can Julien and Eli solve the grisly murder and the mysteries within themselves? Because time is running out.

“𝙃𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙚.
𝙅𝙪𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙝𝙚’𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚.”

I adored this plot. The pacing was fantastic and the murder mystery vibes were right up my street. I mean come on, I read horror thrillers to relax sometimes 👀 so this gave me all my loves in one place. Crime fiction, LGBT representation, and paranormal romance.

I loved both Julien and Eli instantly and found them both to be super interesting characters on their own. With individual plots going on behind the scenes that tangled together effortlessly to give us a beautiful relationship full of subversive humour and sexy attraction.

Overall, I loved this who-dunnit style werewolf romance a whole lot and I’ve only just learned that this is a spin-off to Adhara’s Big Bad Wolf series so I’m going to go read that next 👀

This book is officially out tomorrow too so go buy it now!!!

I was a little bit nervous about reading this story as I wondered how the author could follow up the Big Bad Wolf series. It turns out that I didn't need to worry at all since I ended up loving this spinoff, featuring Eli, irascible bad boy (er, wolf) and lovable thorn in the side to Cooper Dayton and Oliver Park from the previous series. Cooper and Oliver have entrusted Eli with a new responsibility, the management of a safe house for werewolves on the run, and take off for their honeymoon. Of course, trouble finds Eli, as a murder investigation at a neighboring resort in Maudit Falls threatens to expose Eli and the secrets of the refuge.

But Eli finds an unexpected ally in Julien Doran, an actor who is investigating the suspicious death of his brother. Doran has come to Maudit Falls following up on some cryptic clues and finds himself drawn to Eli and his larger than life personality.

As with the previous books, there's a solid mystery at the core here, with some interesting twists and turns and some great action scenes. There are some good supporting characters to be had as well, such as Gwen and Annabelle. As for the romance, it's really well done. Both Eli and Julien have significant baggage from their past so they are reluctant to trust one another but find themselves drawn to one another nonetheless. No instalove to be found here, which I found refreshing. And it's a sweet courtship. So the ending, while solving the mystery at hand , ends up being a happy for now, or maybe even a promise of sorts, with a setup for the next book. And I for one, can't wait.

This was such a fun read to end my summer with. Light and easy with fun characters and an interesting mystery! The mystery was great, but left a little to be desired because it was impossible for me to guess what had happened, which is always a part of the fun when it comes to mysteries. You love to solve it alongside the characters and I didn't get to do that with this book.

I loved Eli and it was easy enough to catch the drift of what he'd been through in the previous books but I do wish I'd have read Adhara's first series to fully understand Eli and his motivations/hesitations.

All in all, a fun read! Nice and breezy.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I have received this book by NetGalley and Carina Press, and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review. The Pub date of the book is August 30, 2022. I will post this review on my Goodreads, Facebook page and Instagram.

I finally finished the book. I tried to take as long as I could not to end up so fast. And it's rare for me to do something like this, but I wasn't ready to leave the beginning of Julian and Elias ‘story anytime soon.

Who read the five books of the other series of the author (Big Bad Wolf), will certainly understand much better this story, but also the wonderful character that Eli, is. It's genuinely impossible not to like him. There's a lot of psychological baggage in him, that needs help, but he’s still wonderful for that. I loved him in the previous series and love him even more here. He’s definitely, one of my favorites.

As for Julian, I thought he was equally wonderful. I felt sorry for him almost the whole book, because in his place, for everything he's been through and through, I wouldn't know how to act or react. From his attraction to Eli to the moment he reaches the end of the book with more baggage than he already had at the beginning of the book. The open wounds in his heart, his loyalty, his past, his brother…

It seems to me that the author will give us more information and moments between the two, in the next book (which I already want, please), given that we are left with a good ending, but not very happy. There's still a lot that's about to come and explode and amaze us, that's for sure.

It's more the beginning of a story where two lives are going to change completely and where we're going to follow that change and learn from it. There are several subthemes in the story that are very important, and I enjoyed seeing how the author wrote and demonstrated it to us by the characters. I'm in love and anxious about the next books.

I knew it would be difficult to replicate the success this author had with Cooper's funny and intelligent voice in Big Bad Wolf series but I still expected at least a half-decent effort.
To feel invested in a story, you need characters who stand out, or have some personality to speak of. Sadly, the main characters in this had nothing that made me feel even a little bit attached to them. This is surprising considering I loved the Eli that showed up in the author's previous series. Who was this new Eli? He's barely 20% of his original version. He deserved a better love interest at the very least.
This book was a let-down and I didn't even have high expectations to begin with.

Charlie Adhara’s paranormal/romantic suspense Big Bad Wolf series is one of my all-time favourites. With clever plotting, excellent worldbuilding, fantastic characterisation and a beautifully developed central relationship, those books had it all, and were always going to be a tough act to follow. I was delighted when I learned the author would be writing more books set in this world and that we’d get to spend more time with the snarky, enigmatic Elias Smith – a major secondary character in the earlier series. Eli was introduced in Thrown to the Wolves, where we learned he’d had a very troubled past, running with rebel packs who used and betrayed him until he was rescued and taken in by the Parks. He’s my book catnip - complex, flawed and damaged with a sharp tongue and an attitude for miles.

While this is the first in a new series, I really would recommend reading the previous books first so as to gain an understanding of how this world works; pack politics and how wolves interact (or don’t) with humans are key elements in these stories, and you’ll get a bit of background information on Eli. Plus – they’re marvellous reads and I assure you, you won’t regret backtracking!

Pack of Lies opens just a couple of weeks so after the end of Cry Wolf. Cooper and Park are on their honeymoon and Eli has recently moved to the retreat for runaways they’ve set up in remote Maudit Falls, which they’ve asked him to run. Late one night, Eli makes his way downstairs to the reception desk to find a very bedraggled man crawling around beneath it. Annoyed and suspiciouis, he suggests perhaps his interloper is a housebreaker, but before the man can do more than indignantly contradict him and explain that he’d had an accident a way back along the road, furious knocking at the door heralds the arrival of a woman dripping with blood and frantically insisting she’s seen the monster – she’s seen Sweet Pea, and this time, she’s got proof.

Once the chief of police shows up, Annabelle Dunlop, owner of the ski resort on the other side of the mountain, explains how she’d hurt herself running through the woods and then shows them some very grainy images taken from wildlife cameras that she insists show a figure that is not human. Chief Bucknell is sceptical and says he doesn’t really see much of anything, but Eli immediately recognises part of the image as a wolf in mid-shift. He has no idea who it is or what they might be doing there, but every wolf has a responsibility to maintain the secret of their existence – and clearly, there’s someone out there who isn’t being as careful as they should be. When everyone has left, Eli’s new medic tells him they’ve got their first guest, a young woman named Gwen who has left her rebel pack in search of sanctuary. When Gwen tells Eli that she, too, had felt an ominous presence in the woods and had run from it, Eli realises something is very wrong. Wolves are being hunted, their very existence threatened with exposure – and he decides to get to the bottom of it.

Mid-list Hollywood star Juilen Doran is grieving the loss of his younger brother Rocky, who drowned some fourteen months earlier. At the suggestion of his therapist, Julien goes into Rocky’s childhood bedroom – one they’d shared for a few years – which is where, tucked away in an old hidey-hole only the two of them had known about, Julien finds a flash drive, a notebook and a crudely drawn map of somewhere called Maudit Falls. His brother was forever off on some wild goose chase or other, convinced of the existence of all manner of cryptids and mythical beasts – Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman, Nessie – and Sweet Pea, a bipedal creature reported to inhabit Blue Tail Mountain, and Julien frequently had to bail him out of trouble. He tried, repeatedly to get Rocky to see sense, but those conversations always ended in an argument. Three days after their last one, Rocky was dead. He’d taken a boat out on a perfectly clear night and never returned; there was no storm that night, the boat wasn’t damaged, and there was no real way of determining exactly how he died. After finding the notebook and map, Julien isn’t so sure his brother’s death was an accident so, filled with guilt and self-recrimination, Julien turns his back on everything – his career, his family (such as it is) and even his common sense – to follow the trail Rocky has left for him.

Eli and Julien’s shared goal of finding out exactly what is going on in Maudit Falls isn’t the only thing that draws them together, but getting to the truth is more important than an inconvenient attraction to someone they can’t afford to trust. When murder comes to their doorstep along with rumours of hidden treasure and more late-night creature sightings, they form a wary alliance – but as the secrets they’re keeping threaten to destroy their fragile connection, Eli and Julien are going to have to find a way to work together if they’re going to stand a chance of survival.

Pack of Lies is a compelling combination of clever, intricate mystery and expertly crafted slow-burn romance, and I was glued to it from start to finish. Eli and Julien are fascinating, layered characters who circle around each other amid half-truths and lies-by-omission, who yet manage to be likeable and evoke sympathy and understanding. I’ve been intrigued by Eli since his appearances in the earlier series (I said in my reivew of Cry Wolf that he was “crying out” for his own story!); his snarky, prickly demeanour obviously hides a deep vulnerability, and despite his appearance of casual confidence, he worries about being the right person for the job at the retreat and about letting Cooper and Park down. Life has been far from easy for him, and although we learn more of his history here, there’s clearly more to be revealed.

Unlike the Big Bad Wolf series though, Pack of Lies is written in dual PoV, so we get to hear from Julien also, and while Charlie Adhara is one of those authors who can make a single PoV work spectacularly well, I really appreciated that. I liked Julien and enjoyed the way he so clearly cares for Eli and Eli’s feelings – and that he doesn’t hesitate when he decides to go for it with Eli. Julien has always known he’s bisexual, but has never had the opportunity to act on his attraction to men; what he’s really worried about is letting his inexperience show and not Doing It Right – but Eli soon assures him he doesn’t need to worry on that score! Their chemistry is fantastic, and the love scenes are intense and very steamy, with Julian letting out his inner dirty-talker and Eli prepared to let Julien take control.

The book ends with a firm HFN for Eli and Julien, which feels exactly right; a full-blown HEA would have felt inappropriate and I’m happy with the way things are left – with with promise of more.

Pack of Lies is a wonderful blend of mystery, romance, action and intrigue and is a superb start to this new series. I can’t wait to find out what’s in store for Eli and Julien next!

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<blockquote><b><i>"I have nothing to hide."

"Neither do I," Eli purred. "Look at us. Two open books."

"Sure. Except yours is written in code. And invisible ink. And has one of those paper snakes that pop out and scare the shit out of anyone who picks you up."

Eli made that odd huffing sound again. "I assure you, Mr. Doran, I've never received a single complaint from those blessed enough to pick me up."</i></b></blockquote>

<i>ELIIIIII</i> <img src="https://cdn3.emoji.gg/emojis/3855-yellow-dude.gif" width="25" height="25" alt="description"/> <i>what a smooth criminal</i>

>>> <u>technically standalone but i highly recommend everyone first read the Big Bad Wolf series for the ~Total Experience~</u> <<<

[3.9] welcome back to Maudit Falls, our infamous hush-hush shelter for rebel pack runaways! and what a return this was, with some long-awaited dual pov goodness <i>*dances in the ocean of grief and trauma that comes with having twice the number of perspectives*</i>

we finally get to see the world from the eyes and mind of a wolf character, and it is the one-and-only snarky flirt of a fashionista <b>Eli</b>, manager of the new haven and MY KING. i've adored him since he appeared in the original series, and i still laugh at the irony of him falling in love with a human when he said he would never. the human in question? <b>Julien Doran</b>, fading Hollywood actor following his brother's bread crumbs to discover the truth behind his mysterious passing.

Eli and Julien resemble two animals of prey in a dance, gauging each other amongst a crowd of other suspicious characters with witty banter and sneak peeks at vulnerability cushioning the space in between. things take a rapid turn when dead bodies start piling up, and they have no choice but to join forces while keeping their own secrets close to their chests.

i was genuinely surprised to discover Julien exuded such bumbling, shy school boy energy. Eli's flirtations immediately set off a physiological reaction that makes Julien's blushing face indistinguishable from a tomato, but despite any surface doubts given a general lack of experience with men, trust me when i say <u>he's a whole new breed of man in bed</u> 😳 it's no easy feat scaling the walls Eli has built up to protect himself, but Julien proves to be a worthy challenger.

i do wish more time had been dedicated to letting the simmering chemistry heat up to a bubbling boil - and i mean to the point of spilling over the sides of the shipping pot, since we're meant to follow them over multiple books. that said, you could also make the argument that things <i>didn't progress quickly enough,</i> so it's all really a matter of personal preference/perception. those who've been with me for a while know that the slower the burn, the better (as a bonafide book masochist always encourages 😆). while i'm not 100% sold on their connection just yet, there's no denying how they fit into each other's lives in some beautifully unexpected ways, and i am stoked for more tender moments to counteract the oodles of closed off behavior and lying, as the title implies, displayed here.

now, i would be remiss if i didn't mention my biggest niggle, which is a certain revelation in the last third of the story that left me questioning in the moment whether a) i'd accidentally skipped a chapter or b) switched over to another book. it came *that* out of left field. <b><i>just in case, i'll put the rest in a spoiler tag, but it's just as vague as my previous sentences:</i></b> <spoiler>after trying to wrap my head around how this character had come to that conclusion and then realizing it was *deliberately* kept hidden from even the reader, confusion turned to mourning over the delicious internal strife we'd missed out on because of this purposeful concealment.</spoiler> i know i was raving about the dual pov, but the levels to which its execution could've been elevated... 😭

however, when all is said and done, Charlie Adhara's writing continues to be as strikingly compelling as ever, and i am already strapped in for the remainder of this thrilling Eli/Julien ride. the unresolved, overarching plot points and promises of more beyond their tentative HFN are calling my name!

<i>thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy of the book! this is my honest review :)</i>

Gahhhh I was so excited when it was announced we were getting Eli's story and I'm happy to report the start of his series did not disappoint. It's no secret I'm a fan of this authors Big Bad Wolf series. Oliver and Cooper are an amazing couple, but after meeting Eli in their series I definitely wanted to know more about the slippery wolf ex of Oliver's. How funny that it would also be a human Eli finds himself falling for.

Julian is most definitely human and he's most definitely not aware. Thats what humans who are privy to existence of the supernatural are known as. Julians brother spent his life "hunting monsters" such as the elusive big foot. And Julian spent his bailing his brother out of many a bad situation on his hunting trips. That is, until his brother mysteriously dies. Now Julian is chasing the last lead his brother had, hoping for a clue as to what could have happened to his brother. He sure doesn't expect to find out his brother may not have been as crazy as he seemed.

It's during his solo investigation that Julian meets Eli. Some car trouble leads him right to the front door of the retreat for wolves which Eli is charged with managing. Of course Eli can't get rid of the human fast enough, but for some reason their paths just keep crossing again and again. It doesn't help that there's a murder or two uncovered and that both men are harboring some pretty deep secrets. Oh and their tastes in bed also happen to match up perfectly. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer it seems. The ending leaves us with just a glimmer of the potential romance which has me chomping at the bit already for book 2. I'll be not so patiently waiting.

Despite the fact that Charlie Adhara’s Big Bad Wolf series is wildly popular, Pack of Lies is the first time I’ve had the immense pleasure of reading her work. This new series is connected to but not dependent upon having read the former; in fact, Oliver Park and Cooper Dayton make a cameo appearance, but no need to worry about being lost or unacquainted with the world in which these characters exist. This book fully belongs to Julien Doran and Eli Smith, and I’m about to heap praises on it and its author.

When Julien sets out on a search for clues to his brother’s final days that leads him to the mountain resort town of Maudit Falls, North Carolina, he’s mired in grief and guilt. Grief over his brother’s untimely death, and guilt over how he treated Rocky the last time they spoke. Figuratively speaking, Rocky spent his days chasing rainbows. At least that’s what Julien thought until, it turns out, Rocky’s pursuit of the improbable turned out not to be so fanciful after all. Not all the monsters he chased could be proven to exist. Only the deadliest one did. Who, or what, his killer is as well as the full circumstances surrounding his death remain elusive.

Julien meeting the gorgeous, enigmatic, cheeky, Eli was, perhaps, both a blessing and a curse. Eli holds at least as many secrets close to the vest as Julien, but their attraction to each other isn’t one of them, and Adhara expertly parses it all out for maximum suspense, heat, and impact. Of course, Eli being a wolf eclipses them all, and his budding relationship with Julien also happens to still be a work-in-progress which will fuel some romantic suspense in future books, guaranteed. The way they gravitate to each other, the way they are drawn to each other, and the ways they respond to each other are like two live wires sparking when they connect, leaving me more compelled by and invested in them with every turn of a page.

Pack of Lies is, simply stated, a fast paced and action packed mystery elegantly intertwined with the relationship between a brash and prickly Eli and a secretive and thoroughly captivated Julien. Adhara’s prose is lush and her characters interesting, no one merely taking up space but rather adding to the scenery of this dangerous collaboration between a wolf and a human and them fighting the unknown enemies without. I devoured this book, and it will easily end up on my Best Of list this year.

This is the start of a spin-off series from the Big bad Wolf series which I absolutely love. I have to say this is pretty strong start and I am intrigued by the MCs and looking forward to reading more about them. I get the feelings we will be following the same couple in multiple books again (Cooper and Park have the loveliest cameo btw).

The tone and whole setting is very similar to the previous series, a sort of seamless continuation though it stands well on its own.

The story has a bit of a bit of country house intrigue but with werewolves and monsters. We have already met Eli in the previous book but we get to discover completely new sides of him. The other MC, Julien was rather intriguing as well - an older bi man with two divorces behind and a flagging movie career mourning the loss of his brother. Strong focus on complicated family relations and grief. He is anxious and lost and full of doubts and questions. I liked that he was confident in his bisexuality yet shy and flustered, with no real experience being with men. I think the dynamics in their intimacy - the exploration, the abundant communication, the power play - it was all exquisitely done.

We learned a bit about Eli's past though not much and we see the scars both he and Lucien carry. Eli doesn't show much of himself, he is outwardly confident, provocative but always wearing a mask, never opening himself to the world (and not just because he is werewolf in a world where humans are not aware of werewolves existing).

A particular aspect of the story and the relationship that I enjoyed a lot was this dance of trust and betrayal, of keeping secrets and sharing things you haven't shared with anyone else. We see two grown men being vulnerable, open, caring but also a little sacred, somewhat apprehensive, secretive because life has taught them to rely on themselves, Eli specifically.

As for the suspense plot, it was fast-paced, engaging, kept e guessing till the very end. Interesting, full-fledged side characters both good and bad ones.

The monster hunting which was at the heart of the story with some people genuinely believing in it, others using it for their own agenda, it was an on-point commentary of human/wolves in the world of the books but also on who is the monster and who is the hunter in real life. It was well done and I liked it a lot.

Overall, this is a promising start of new m/m PNR suspense series and I am excited for the upcoming books.

CW: loss of a family member, grief, violence, murders, serious injuries, anxiety

sliding this review in juuuuuuuust in time for publication

✔️ werewolf with trust issues meets a walking trust issue
✔️ distinct povs
✔️ the banter is just *chef's kiss*
✔️very strong start for this spin-off series!!
✔️ DANG, Charlie, the SPICE 🌶️🌶️🌶️

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — Charlie Adhara is a grossly under-appreciated author. I had never heard of Adhara before The Wolf at the Door was recommended on a TL promo I just happened to not scroll past. I'm rereading the first book in conjunction with this one being released, and then I'll binge my way through the rest of the original series. So, when I say stop sleeping on Charlie Adhara, I mean: Stop 👏 Sleeping 👏 On 👏 Charlie 👏 Adhara.

Synopsis, as shown above:
Julien Doran arrived in sleepy Maudit Falls, North Carolina, with a heart full of hurt and a head full of questions. The key to his brother's mysterious last days might be found in this tiny town, and now Julien's amateur investigation is starting to unearth things the locals would rather keep buried. Eli Smith is a lot of things: thief, werewolf, glamour-puss, liar. And now the manager of a haven for rebel pack runaways. He’s spent years cultivating a persona to disguise his origins, but for the first time ever he’s been entrusted with a real responsibility—and he plans to take that seriously. When an old skeleton and a fresh corpse turn a grief errand into a murder investigation, the unlikely Eli is the only person Julien can turn to. Trust is hard to come by in a town known for its monsters, but so is time.

The Good:
There is so, so, so much good. In the Big Bad Wolf series -- the original that this Monster Hunt series is spun off from, for those unfamiliar with Adhara's work -- at least the first book is locked solely into Cooper Dayton's POV. I tend to prefer single POV books myself, if only because the author's style is not always distinct enough to feel like two separate characters when they're supposed to, but Adhara does not suffer from that ailment. Though Eli and Julien each have their own baggage, I never felt like I was mixing their narratives, or that they were indistinguishable from one another. Eli was such a whip-crack of a character, and while Julien was more tempered, his late-in-life exploration of his queerness was particularly validating to see on the page. And, not that I want to throw shade on Adhara's previous work, but I found Eli and Julien to be more exciting than Cooper was in Adhara's first novel. I was even intrigued by the side characters, though perhaps that was because I was determined to solve the mystery before Adhara revealed the culprits. Spoiler alert: I did not. But I found the other residents of the lodge -- the ones we focus on, anyway -- compelling in their own ways. Mostly, I think Pack of Lies shines in atmosphere: I was reading this through one of the hottest weeks in the Midwest, and yet I felt like I was trapped with them in the blizzard. And, I don't know, I just like queer monster-of-the-week adventures that have good banter, alright? So sue me.

The Bad:
I think it would be hard to jump into Eli's POV without having the context of the first series in terms of the werewolf world and how the hierarchies there work. MAJOR SPOILER ALERT: I was also a little bummed out that one of our culprits was on the police force -- not because I don't believe abuse of power is a common situation, but because that was one of the big reveals in Wolf at the Door. I wanted a completely fresh culprit, but Adhara has given us this profile before.

**STAR BREAKDOWN**
📕 Cover: ★★★☆☆
📖 Story: ★★★☆☆
👥 Characters: ★★★★★
👄 Banter: ★★★★★
🌶️ Spice: ★★★★☆ - I was not expecting to see kink make an appearance in this murder mystery, but I was NOT disappointed by it
🕵️ Who-Dunn-It?: ★★★☆☆ - see "The Bad"
🌟 Overall Rating: ★★★★☆

I never really let go of my twilight phase so was excited to pick up this book. Sadly, it did not deliver. While one of the main characters had some nuance, the other was very one-note. The mystery element kept me involved more than any romantic element did.

Pack of Lies was an entertaining paranormal M/M romantic suspense novel. I haven't read the previous series that this is a spin off from (Big Bad Wolf), so I will admit that I was a bit lost at the beginning as I got used to the world. I also likely missed a lot of the easter eggs/cameos that Charlie Adhara placed in the novel.

Things to look forward to:
- Tropes like: forced proximity, enemies to friends-ish to lovers, caretaker, and opposites attract.
- Eli and Julien. I really liked how their relationship unfolded. Their attraction is instant, but I liked the playful slower burn as they opened up to each other. They both are hiding painful secrets and pasts and my heart broke for them throughout the novel as more was revealed.
- The spice. Those scenes between Eli and Julien were soooooooooo hot. I loved Julien's vulnerability as he explored, but also how he took control. I really was not expecting him to be so dominating and vocal. *fans self*
- I thought the pacing of the novel was well done, although a little fast at first since I wasn't familiar with the characters/world. The action is pretty consistent and the humor and heat were mixed in nicely. The ending did feel a bit rushed, but it's clear that the tentative HFN is only because this is the first book in the series and there is plenty more to come for Eli and Julien.

I both read and listened to this book and unfortunately, the narration was not my favorite. I have loved Joel Leslie's previous performances (especially in the Kit Webb series by Cat Sebastian), but it felt too over the top for this story. I just don't think his narration (which initially made me think the book was more of a romcom) matched the tone of the novel. Joel Leslie is extremely talented and it pains me that I didn't enjoy this audiobook.

Audiobook Review
Overall 4 stars
Performance 3 stars
Story 3.5-4 stars

*I voluntarily read and listened to a review copy of this book*

Included as a top pick in bimonthly August New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached)

Another compelling paranormal romance from Charlie Adhara. If you enjoyed her Big Bad Wolf series, this new one has the same balance of mystery-solving and romance. This time our heroes are amateur sleuths without training or badges, so there’s more lying and more breaking and entering, which is fun. The plot kicks off with Julien visiting the Maudit Falls retreat, where Eli is the new manager. Julien is trying to retrace the steps his monster-hunting brother Rocky took in the month before his untimely and suspicious death.

I’ll be honest, I actually didn’t find Eli especially interesting in previous books, but at the time I was focused on Cooper and Oliver and not paying that much attention. I also thought I didn’t like werewolf/shapeshifter stories prior to last year, so I was perfectly open to having my opinion changed. I now have more appreciation for how multifaceted he is, and how his personal history leaves so much to unpack.

Wasn’t sure how to feel about Julien at first, but what a sweetheart. He and Eli have an interesting dynamic and he’s so nonjudgmental about Eli’s… everything. Some of their banter was a bit weak but I still appreciated the levity and overall tone of their interactions.

One of the things I enjoy most about Adhara’s books is the complexity of her main characters and the thoughtful, authentic way their relationships develop. However, as with previous books, the sex scenes are too explicit for my taste, plus there’s an element of dominance/submission here that I tend to avoid. These scenes don’t really do anything for me in terms of being “hot” or not. Good news is they never feel gratuitous and always emphasize care and trust between the characters; bad news is that means I can’t just skim past them or risk missing out on some relationship-development type stuff.

Overall this was a good time, and I already have the next book on my Want To Read list.

Thanks to NetGalley and Carina Press for the digital review copy; it hasn’t affected the content of my review.