I need to scream about this book!!
Pack of Lies is the first book in a spin off of the Big Bad Wolf series following Eli! I absolutely loved and devoured the Big Bad Wolf series when I binged it last year. I had preordered physical copies of books 1 & 2 before even reading this eARC. I knew it was going to be great and I need them on my shelf! I wish there was physical copies of the Big Bad Wolf series so I could have them all together. Maybe one day!🤞🏻😭

I missed Adhara’s writing so much! She writes my favourite paranormal romantic suspense.
As I expected, this story was so easy to fall into. Eli’s banter made me feel like I was coming home. I was also so happy to see Cooper and Oliver again, and to have that soft pack moment between Oliver and Eli at the end of the book was lovely. It would have been nice to see the three of them going about as a pack, but this is Eli’s book, and I enjoyed every moment.

I loved Julien! He’s an actor, twice divorced, a bisexual man who hasn’t yet had the confidence to explore himself, full of secrets… so fun. I loved him and Eli together, especially seeing Eli open up a bit. I’m eager for more of that in book 2. I’m also dying to know more about the mystery surrounding Rocky, Julien’s brother.

5 stars! The mystery was intriguing, the romance was excellent… I’m so glad I had the chance to read an early copy! Big thank you to Harlequin & Netgalley for the eARC. PACK OF LIES is available August 30!

If i could only read one author for the rest of my life it would be charlie adhara. This book was everything i wanted it to be! it was amazing to get to know Eli better, he has always been a favorite of mine. I want more NOW

I haven't read Adhara's previous series, which this is a spinoff of, but I still was able to follow the story. I imagine if you have read the previous books in this universe (and I certainly am interested now) you'll get a little more out of the name dropping and the talk of different packs and even how the Trust (werewolf cops? I think?) works and also the general werewolf lore. I'd imagine having read this book first spoils me for the mystery in one of the other books, but luckily my memory isn't that good :)

I found this a pretty engrossing read! I'm not a big mystery reader generally, but I found myself swept up in whodunit snowed-in murded mystery of it all. And I also enjoyed our leads, Julien and Eli.

I did prefer the Julien POV to the Eli one, but I found Eli to be a frustrating character. Which isn't a bad thing! I know this is the start of a new series, which I imagine will feature Julien and Eli some more? So all of their plotlines and their relationship isn't going to get neatly wrapped up at the end. I look forward to the next books in the series!

Having recently read the Big Bad Wolf series, I had some expectations going in.
There's the signature small-town(ish), isolated setting and a strong sense of place. The very intense, intimate sex scenes: ceding control, explicit consent, making yourself vulnerable, checking-in with your partner and, later on, setting out expectations.
These are the things Charlie Adhara does consistently in her novels and the things, in my opinion, she does well, so I was more than happy she stayed on-brand.

I was positively surprised this is a dual POV and getting glimpses into Eli's thoughts, e.g. we see explicitly stated what it means to a wolf to have someone witness them shifting; it was all heavily implied in the Cooper&Park series, but we never saw it from the wolf's perspective.

With the dual POV, I didn't expect there to be any major surprises from Julien or Elias, so I was taken off-guard by the unreliable narrator. A POV character concealing major pieces of information from the reader is not something I particularly enjoy and I feel somehow cheated, that it seemed to come out of nowhere. Quite possibly, when I inevitably re-read this book, I will find hints that will seem obvious in hindsight that Julien had suspicions about Eli being a werewolf. It just doesn't seem plausible to me that we don't see any internal monologue of Julien questioning if Eli is a wolf or not. For now, I feel like I've been lied to, but maybe this is on me, I'm not the most attentive reader and I tend to glimpse over any clues. Also the book is called Pack of Lies, so maybe I should have expected another layer of lies.
At the same time, the question of how Eli is going to reveal his wolf nature to Julien was constantly in the back of my mind. It was obvious to me there will be some sort of reveal scene, either Eli trusting Julien enough to be vulnerable with this information or him needing to slip or shift in order to protect himself or Julien. The way it was resolved felt like a let-down, though in retrospect I do feel Elias was not yet in a place of sharing the wolf thing with Julien.

It's packed with cultural references, which were sometimes tedious for me, a non-US based reader, to look up. I was used to them in the Big Bad Wolf series; however, they seemed to work better there, with one MC having been an English professor. It also stripped away the illusion that speaking in allusions and cultural references are a Cooper and Park thing, and made it more an Adhara thing.

ohohoho i recieved my netgalley copy of this not knowing this was a spinoff (i am a mess, it's a thing) so everything i knew about eli (baby) was formed while reading this. I LOVE LOVE LOVED THIS i am going to read? the entire series as soon as i could. Amazing <33 J&E my beloved <3

4.5 stars rounded up for the banter alone.

Despite the stellar rating. there was a nonzero amount of false starts wherein I simply could not overcome a couple hundred words and wasn’t feeling the first two pages at all. Once I did, I was hooked.

Cozy mystery with extra murder and amateur sleuthing meet slow burn gay shifter romance featuring charming love interests in their 40s. I’m here for it.

My favorite things:

The prose meanders, but it’s purposeful. It’s written in third person, but the voice of narration takes on the tone of the character whose shoulder we’re over and it’s completely engaging.

Julien and Eli are fabulous characters. Distinct and detailed, the pair complement each other well. Both are flawed, awkward, confident, and shy in varying amounts this way or that. Their interactions are so damn good. I loved every conversation between them, and the payoff, while not positively explosive, was deeply satisfying and completely them.

Which brings me to the amazing dialog. Not just the epic banter between our leads, but also how freaking funny and sassy Eli is at all times to absolutely everyone. I kept expecting his jokes or humor to get old, but I found myself giggling from beginning to end.

My least favorite things:
The sequel isn’t out yet.
Something pervy and depraved.

If you can’t tell by now, I absolutely recommend this.

I came in to this book totally fresh not having read the Big Bad Wolf series its a spin off of. While that context might have been niche for some of the backstory of the characters I did not feel that lack at all, this book absolutely worked as a stand alone for me.

Now on to the book itself! I always say that I'm not really a mystery person but this is the second queer mystery romance I have read this year and really really liked. This book just worked for me, the mystery and the chemistry between our two leads Jeremy and Eli both really worked. It kept me engaged and pushing through to the end right off the bat. I think Adhara did a wonderful job making the stakes of the mystery high enough to matter while sharing the focus with the developing relationship between Eli and Jeremy. Its a tough balance that she handled so well I found myself not even thinking about it while I was engaged and reading the story.

I will say my favorite part of this book is both of our leads. They are both wonderful characters, and the dual POV lets us live inside them and really get to know them over the course of the story. I also particularly loved the way that this book handled its sexuality with care and consideration. It was super hot and fun to read but also clearly given a lot of thought and respect. Not to give away any spoilers but Jeremy's POV after their first time hit me right where I live.

My one disappointment with the book (if you can call it that even) is that as the first in a series that will follow the same two characters for a while it ends with a HFN and now I will have to wait such a long time to read what happens next! Other then that this was a truly enjoyable read and I can't wait to dive in tot this world even more!

Thank you to Carina Adores and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Pack of Lies is a book adjacent to Charlie Adhara's Big Bad Wolf series. It is not necessary to read the Big Bad Wolf series but it will increase your joy of Pack of Lies immeasurably. One of the man characters is featured in that series.

Eli Smith is a werewolf. He is a fashion plate. Sometimes a thief. Always snarky and on guard to protect himself in all ways. His friendship with one of the most powerful werewolves leads to him running a retreat. It is advertised as a place for those fleeing domestic abuse. It is really a safe house for werewolves without the protection of a pack.

Julien Doran is a Hollywood has been. He is still friends with his ex-wife. He is also in the closet. He travels to Maudit Falls, NC trying to understand the death of his brother a year ago. He found papers of his brother's that indicate he traveled to Maudit Falls prior to his death to find something he felt would change his life.

The first chapter sets up Eli and Julien for their first meeting. From Eli's first sentence, the snark is strong. The characters are all well developed. Both Julien and Eli have backstories that are given to the reader. In Eli's case, it is not the entire story. The secondary characters are also well written. The mystery is solved but leaves other questions and fears. There are references to events from The Big Bad Wolf series which a reader will get on a surface level. The reader who has read The Big Bad Wolf series will get much more from those references.

The writing is amazing, as always. For example, as Julien is driving on a narrow mountain round with worsening snow conditions, he ponders why he is even there, "A man who thought he could open a wound so recently closed, it still wept as the edges. A man who went looking for monsters." The emotions, which are very strong and complex, are written so the reader does see what the character feels. Really amazing writing.

I am looking forward to the audio release with Joel Leslie as the narrator. He is an excellent narrator and Pack of Lies will do well in his hands (and vocal cords). I have it preordered.

I received a copy of Pack of Lies from Netgalley and wrote an honest review.
#PackofLies #NetGalley #BigBadWolfSeries #MonsterHuntSeries
@Charlie_Adhara @NetGalley @joellesliefro

Pack of Lies was an intriguing mystery, Julien searching for clues about his brothers death, and Eli dealing with wolf pack dynamics. Through multiple awkward meetings they end up working together. The romance slowly develops but as this is a series, this novel was not focused on the romance.
I understand Eli is a character from this authors earlier series. I have not read that earlier series and I fully understanding this universe.

"Pack of Lies" est le premier tome de la saga "Monster Hunt", le spin-off de "Big Bad Wolf". Ce livre fait partie des sorties que j'attendais le plus cette année, comme à chacune des parutions dans cet univers. Pour être honnête, l'ebook dormait tranquillement dans ma liseuse depuis plusieurs semaines, mais j'attendais d'avoir le temps de me poser et de relire toute la série originale. Mon avis peut spoiler certains évènement de cette série d'ailleurs donc bon. Elle n'est d'ailleurs pas indispensable à la lecture de "Monster Hunt", mais il serait dommage de passer à côté de la première rencontre avec Eli et surtout, de tout l'univers de nos petits loups...

Dans ce spin-off, nous retrouvons comme prévu Elias Smith, l'ex d'Oliver Park rencontré dans le tome 3 de Big Bad Wolf mais qu'on retrouve aussi dans le tome 5, où il se retrouve mêlé à l'intrigue principale. Eli fait désormais partie de la meute de Cooper et Oliver, et il doit gérer un centre pour loups rebelles sous la direction de Cooper. Son chemin va croiser celui de Julien Doran, et rien ne va se passer comme prévu...

J'ai adoré découvrir un peu plus Eli. Eli, c'est un homme qui respire l'aisance en fait, j'ai retrouvé l'homme coquin et un peu sournois que j'ai rencontré. Connaissant un peu son histoire, on sait que tout ça n'est qu'une façade qu'il offre aux gens, car il a tellement peu confiance en lui. Diriger ce centre pour loups rebelles perdus qui veulent reprendre leurs vies en main est énorme pour lui, c'est quelque chose qui lui tient à coeur et surtout il ne veut pas décevoir Cooper et Oliver. C'est une grosse responsabilité... surtout que lorsque les ennuis commencent, il se dit qu'il a vraiment la poisse...
Julien Dorian est un personnage que j'ai bien aimé aussi. Il est là pour une raison précise, qu'il cache tout d'abord. Il est déterminé à trouvé des réponses sur ce qui s'est vraiment passé avec son frère Rocky.

L'alchimie entre les deux personnages principaux est chouette. On sent qu'il y a un truc, une connexion. Les deux hommes vont se chercher un peu sans le vouloir et surtout ils vont se serrer les coudes pour élucider certains mystères. La dynamique est bien différente de celle entre Cooper et Ollie, forcément hein, mais aussi car là, la nature d'Eli n'est pas connue de Julien, on est donc dans une autre configuration. J'ai adoré suivre chacune de leurs interactions... J'ai aimé la façon dont l'auteur a développé leurs moments intimes aussi, sans trop en dire plus, c'est tellement rare...
Ce qui est chouette aussi, c'est d'avoir le point de vue des deux personnages à la fois. Charlie Adhara ne tombe pas dans la facilité, leur relation reste originale je trouve, tout comme l'intrigue générale du livre. Les mystères sont d'ailleurs assez complexes, j'en étais perdue presque à un moment donné, avec pas mal de personnages secondaires qui s'y insinuent.

La patte de Charlie Adhara est bien là, on la sent dès les premières lignes. Elle a d'ailleurs su se renouveler dans son propre univers, tout en gardant l'essence même de "Big Bad Wolf". La relation entre Eli et Julien est top, on a d'ailleurs un slow burn qui nous tient en haleine presque tout le long... Je n'ai pas vu venir certaines révélations d'ailleurs, révélations qui remettent en cause l'équilibre fragile du pseudo couple. L'auteur nous sert des personnages complexes, chacun ayant des traumatismes, en particulier Eli...et des intrigues captivantes ! Nul doute depuis longtemps que cet auteur fait partie de mes préférés depuis un moment déjà, cela se confirme d'autant plus dans cette nouvelle série. J'ai hâte de découvrir la suite, et je sais qu'elle en sera encore meilleure !

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel for an honest review. It is set to be published in August 2022.

"Pack of Lies" by Charlie Adhara is the start of an exciting new series, "Monster Hunt", set in the same universe as the brilliant "Big, Bad Wolf" series.
I must say, I was a bit saddened when I learnt this latest book wouldn't focus on Cooper and Park, but I was also curious to find out more about Eli's character and past, and let's face it, Charlie Adhara's writing is so compelling I would read basically anything if her name was on the cover.
"Pack of Lies" exceeded even my - quite high - expectations: it turned out to be a crazy, wild ride among new and old mysteries.
The action scenes are perfectly balanced with the steamy scenes, and it was very interesting to see the relationship between Julien and Eli evolve in such a different way than the one between Cooper and Park.
Kudos to the author for giving the bisexual community some much-needed visibility--it's so hard to come by honest, positive representation of bi characters that are not based on stereotypes!
I can't wait to put my hands on the next chapter in the series!

A fun start to a new spin-off series! The crime plot was twisty and I got pretty lost, but it tied together in the end. The callbacks to book 4 of the original series were fun as well!

I liked getting to see more of the elusive Eli finally - he was always so intriguing in the original series.

Julien was a nice …other main character. Honestly, he felt a little flat in comparison, but I think he’s got the groundwork set to get more depth.

The hopeful note this book ends on with their budding connection is very sweet. Both of them have baggage - especially Eli - and this ends feeling like they’ve got great potential for the next book.

My main criticisms:
This started pretty slowly, but once it got going it was great.
The beginning was pretty heavy on the infodumping. I assume it was to catch everyone up on the relevant things, but it was a pretty dense section.
Too many secondary characters introduced too fast. I’m pretty bad at characters, so when they all come in en masse it causes problems for me to sort them out.

Overall, I enjoyed this a lot. It’s another winner in the Big Bad Wolf world, and I’m interested to see where Eli and Julien go next.

5 stars

Pack of Lies hit every beat of mystery storytelling I expect from Charlie Adhara through the new character of Julien, an actor being thrown into the world of wolves, and Eli, a wolf from Adhara's previous series who has a dark past and special wolf shifting abilities. The use of dual point of view made the book even better as we finally got to see the wolf side. Don't get me wrong, I usually love a single point of view but since everyone was lying all the time having an understanding of both characters strengthened the narrative.

The setting of Maudit Falls, North Carolina gave me deja vu while reading because it brought me right back to the setting in Wolf in Sheep's Clothing and into this world of wolves. The struggling ski lodge with the small group of side characters made for an excellent backdrop to the mystery (a classic whodunit Clue setting, really). The layering of lies from the characters, the bodies showing up everywhere, and the twists and turns and reveals! I saw absolutely nothing coming (not that I ever do - I am not a very good detective).

The romance was the cherry on top of the bloody mystery sundae of this book with both characters struggling with trust and intimacy in different ways. They both have so much hope but rock bottom expectations and seeing them finally come together at the end made me very excited for the future books in this series. I want to see Julien and Eli grow together as characters and open up to each other so much! And Julien being an older main character discovering the queer life without struggling with his sexuality? Perfect.

A solid romance, a twisty fun mystery, and a set up for future books in the series? Yes, please.

I loved this book until the 75% mark, and then a reveal at that point was so frustrating it took me entirely out of the story and I could never really get back into it. And it seems pretty clear that significant structural changes were made to the book late in the writing process and not adequately integrated into the narrative, leading to additional problems I overlooked until my annoyance with the 75% event made me think more critically about what I’d already read.

The short version of this review is that the book had a lot of promise, especially regarding the two main characters and their dynamic. I just wish it had been edited more carefully and that the author hadn’t used cheap tactics to create suspense. That said, most people who liked the Big Bad Wolf series will enjoy this despite its flaws, and there’s a lot to look forward to in future installments.

<u>First, what I liked:</u>

Both characters are excellent and fit together in some unexpected ways. Eli was intriguing in the Big Bad Wolf books, and his POV here is exactly what I was hoping for: there’s a lot going on under the snarky, irreverent surface, but he’s also not a caricature of a person who uses a flippant demeanor as protection due to previous trauma. He’s more than the sum of his character tropes and has a lot of promise that I hope future books in the series fulfill.

Julien also feels very real, especially his complex feelings on grief and his relationship with his brother, and his musings on his previous romantic relationships and how his needs have changed over time. It’s always nice getting a POV character in romance who’s over forty, and Julien feels like he really is that age, not a twenty-five year old with some gray hairs. His reasons for coming to Maudit Falls make sense for his character and the reader wants to see him resolve the mystery of his brother’s death because of what it will mean for him, not just for the narrative satisfaction of finding the answer.

As one of many readers who was frustrated they never got to know Oliver better through POV chapters in the Big Bad Wolf series, I’m glad Adhara chose to make this a dual-POV book. Julien’s POV adds a lot to the story and there are many aspects of his character we’d have missed out on if we weren’t seeing his thoughts, such as the ways he’s affected by his grief. I’m glad we’ll get to watch his character journey in real-time and won’t have to wait until he and Eli know each other well enough to share their most vulnerable thoughts.

I also liked returning to the location of one of the Big Bad Wolf books (more or less) and the way this book built on everything the reader learned in that series without making this book feel like a rehash or overly reliant on that series. This could be read as a standalone if someone were really inclined to do so. It’s difficult to balance old vs. new when writing a spin-off series and Adhara got it right.

<u>Now for the problems:</u>

It seems clear in retrospect that this book was originally written solely from Eli’s POV, similar to how the Big Bad Wolf books are all solely from Cooper’s POV. It also seems clear that by the time the decision to add Julien’s POV was made, the main narrative beats had been decided, and many of them relied on Eli not knowing what Julien knew.

Unfortunately, rather than simply keeping Eli in the dark, Adhara chose to keep the reader in the dark too, even when Julien’s POV should have revealed many of these facts.

An early example is Julien’s bisexuality. It’s clear from the outset that he’s attracted to Eli, but his POV chapters are written ambiguously, to create a mystery over whether Julien recognizes the attraction or even sees himself as not-straight. Thus, when Eli first comes onto Julien and Julien hesitates, we don’t know Julien’s reasoning and it’s uncertain how he’ll respond to Eli’s advances. It’s only after the scene concludes that we learn Julien is bisexual and simply nervous about his inexperience with men. In this context, it doesn’t make sense for Julien to be so (seemingly) oblivious to his desires except to create suspense for the reader.

There’s also at least one scene where Eli catches Julien saying something he thinks Julien isn’t supposed to know and Julien acts like he’s been caught in a lie, even though we’ve seen in a previous chapter that Julien learned the information in a totally innocuous way he could easily have explained to Eli. By the end of the book it’s clear we’re supposed to feel Julien lied and hid things from Eli a lot, even though the Julien POV chapters don’t show this at all. We actually see Julien coming clean about a lot of things relatively early in their relationship (much more so than Eli, ironically).

These are relatively minor issues I gladly would have overlooked if not for the deployment at 75% of one of the most egregious uses of the “concealing key information from the reader that they should have already had” trope I’ve seen in a long time. We learn at this point that Julien had key information the entire time that he never shared with Eli. Yet despite spending half the book in Julien’s head, the reader is blindsided too. It’s like when movies show a character whispering something unintelligible into another character’s ear at a critical moment, except here the reader doesn’t even get a warning they don’t know everything. A baseline expectation in romance is that you know everything the POV characters know, unless the author hints a POV character is an unreliable narrator. This book did not have those hints and I don’t even think Julien is meant to be an unreliable narrator.

Just as with the bisexuality reveal, the Julien POV immediately after the 75% reveal offers an explanation for why it didn’t come in his POV before, but the explanation here is just as unconvincing. We’re told he didn’t really understand what the information meant and was trying not to think about it due to his grief. But the concealed information is relevant to a number of earlier developments and it’s simply not plausible that a character who’s marshaling every resource to solve the mystery of his brother’s death would never once have thought of this information, even if just in confusion about how it all fit together. We even see him thinking about the information’s source more than once!

The biggest problem with how this reveal is handled is that it undermines the emotional heart of the climax and the aftermath. The reveal leads Eli to feel their entire relationship to that point has been built on a lie and that he’s been used and betrayed. At the end of the book he thinks of Julien as someone who “lies like he breathes.”

But the reader has been given a completely different sense of Julien and was never shown this particular lie, only ever the honest intentions he had towards Eli. From Julien’s POV, it appeared that a few minor facts were hidden but all the important facts were revealed relatively early on. The reader knows Julien has some additional information he hasn’t figured out, but all of this is shown as being so uncertain and confusing he has no idea what to do with it, and certainly never acts on it.

Additionally, Julien’s reaction to Eli makes no sense in light of the explanation we’ve been given for the omission. If Julien truly never thought the information was relevant, to the point he never even thought about it once during the events of the book, then Eli’s conception of him as a liar, user, and betrayer is based on a misunderstanding. Yet Julien makes only a token effort to clear up the misunderstanding and otherwise just accepts Eli’s deep mistrust and hurt. Julien acts mostly like someone who agrees he’s a liar and user, even though the reader knows he isn’t. Despite his kindness and compassion, he makes no attempt to mitigate Eli’s pain by providing his side of things once Eli has rejected his token explanation that doesn’t address the real issue (that he could not have been using Eli because he never acted on the information).

It’s very difficult to feel the true depth of Eli’s hurt when it’s based entirely on events the reader never saw and that are contrary to everything the reader was told about Julien’s feelings and intentions. It’s obvious this thread of distrust is going to be a major theme for at least the start of the next book, if not longer. If you want to separate your characters due to a betrayal the reader needs to really feel it, and not only feel the hurt of the betrayed character but also – crucially – the guilt of the betrayer. The guilt Julien is meant to feel is premised not only on knowing the withheld information but acting on it (i.e., using Eli), yet there’s no evidence he ever acted on it at all. So when the reader is supposed to feel righteous anger on Eli’s behalf, all I could muster was frustration over what feels like a miscommunication the characters could clear up pretty easily.

This didn’t ruin the book for me, but it came close. Unnecessarily hiding information from the audience to create suspense is one of my biggest pet peeves, especially when the author is talented enough to come up with a different solution, as Adhara surely is.

A more minor nitpick, but I really wish authors would stop doing the thing where male characters always think of other men they meet (even side characters) by last name until they’re familiar enough with the person to “earn” the right to use their first name. Female characters, on the other hand, are not given the same courtesy and are referred to by first name from the outset (or sometimes first name last name, but never just last name). This is especially annoying in contemporaries and in contexts where people in the real world wouldn’t be thinking of each other by last name. And in the US (where this is set) even when last names are used, in most situations you’d use the person’s title or salutation also (such as “Agent Park” or “Mr. Doran”) instead of just the last name. So in books like this one, it’s a distracting affectation, with bonus (likely unintentional) sexism.

To give a specific example, at the end of the book, Eli is talking to Oliver – his close friend and family member – about Julien – his erstwhile friend and lover. Oliver refers to Julien in this conversation as “Doran.” Who in real life would refer to their close friend’s love interest solely by last name in a heartfelt conversation about feelings? It’s bizarre, and makes even less sense between two wolves, when last names in wolf culture are most often used to refer to a collective and not an individual. In a culture that uses last names that way, you wouldn’t default to referring to individuals by last name because it would be confusing. (Similarly, after Cooper and Oliver introduce themselves to him at the end, using both first and last names, Julien thinks of them as Dayton and Park. His friend’s friends. Who does this? I hate it.)

Finally, the most minor nitpick of all: This book is set during winter and at one point a huge snowstorm occurs. Yet snow seems not to exist half the time and is rarely an impediment or even a consideration (who goes hiking in the snow without gloves?). People stand outside in the snow for hours and never think once about being cold. It makes me wonder if this was originally set during a different season and rewritten to be winter because snow was needed for a few of the plot points.

Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf series) returns with a NEW series, Monster Hunt, featuring Elias Smith (who is Park's ex from that series) and Julien Doran, an 40-something Hollywood (fading) star who join forces with Elias when a murder mystery stumble upon them. Each has their own agenda without the other knowing at first - Elias wants to keep the wolf's retreat secret, Julien wants to uncover the answers behind his brother's death (after visiting Maudit Falls, North Carolina).

First of all, I am SO HAPPY that this time Adhara decides to make the series a two-person perspective. As much as I LOVED Cooper (the prickly porcupine) but I did miss knowing what Park's thought of him. This time, as a reader, I am treated with both thoughts, and I am LOVING it.

Elias feels rather toned down in this book - while he still in a way, flirt with Julien, but what is most important for Eli this time is TO DO GOOD and right for the retreat. I loved understanding Elias more, about his past, about his concerns, his fears. Elias is a complex character, even more so than Park (or maybe because I saw Park from Cooper's eyes), and it was wonderful to discover these layers of Eli.

Julien has this grief (and guilt) hanging over him when he come to Maudit Falls, but I admit, Julien is more observant than everyone think he is (including me!). He sees Eli past the persona that Eli puts to the world. And Julian's a great secret keeper, isn't he? I approve Julien for Eli, honestly... I think he will be good for Eli and it'll be a great relationship between them.

The setting of Maudit Falls is great -- amidst the snow and the forest it adds a touch of cloistered sinister to it. I thought the mystery was good too; Adhara sure delivers the red herrings and the surprising twist.

This book has a HFN ending, but not to worry, book #2 is already listed for publication release in April 2023. I can't wait to see how this relationship goes.

I was so excited about this. It sadly didn't meet my expectations. This is the first book I've read by Charlie Adhara so I had no idea what to expect regarding writing styles and tone. It was a completely different story than what I was expecting and it took me a long time to adapt my perspective.

I never fully connected to the characters or the plot and the first half of it was incredibly slow and plodding, and there was nothing really keeping me interested in the book as a whole. There are some interesting aspects- the shapeshifting perspective in this is fascinating for one- but not enough to even it out for me.

This was fine, but it plodded along and I'm ambivalent about it. I wanted this to be something it wasn't and to be fair, that's on me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Books about shape shifting is one of my guilty pleasures, but if they were all written like “pack of lies. “ it would be far from something to be embarrassed about. This was the best plot a narrative about Shapeshifting that I have ever read. Take away the shape shifting and you have a very interesting intriguing novel I have now found my favorite writer of this genre. I cannot recommend it enough I loved Julian I thought the plot was smart and as I read on it seems I have missed a lot of books in this Siri‘s and if I did well then I will definitely be reading those books in the future asked for this one I highly recommend it it has plots, subplots wonderful characters and the writing style keeps returning to pages. Anyone would be hard-pressed to find something negative about this book it was truly awesome! I received this book from NetGalleyShelf and I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review. All opinions are definitely my own though.

Who is sweat pea?

Julien is on a hunt for all things paranormal working out what his brother was doing on his final days in this small town.
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.

There are two povs In this which gives you insight on what's going on in their heads. Which is always a blessing when it comes to books like this.

Julien- a movie star with issues. I also found his chapters boring at the start.I have no idea why but every time I just wanted to get back to Eli's.

Eli- a werewolf that runs a sanctuary for rebel wolves. He is a flirt and joker. He is fun to read from. He also has the power to shift any part of him he wishes which other wolves cannot do.

Their relationship - I adored their relationship. The banter was perfect.

The story- to be honest I didn't care that much for the story. I did want to know who sweet pea was and I just loved Eli enough to not put this book down.
By the end of this book I wanted more.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

Looking back at my reviews of the Adhara's Big Bad Wolf series (The Wolf at the Door et al), I wasn't immediately impressed. It took me several books to appreciate the MCs, and the annoyance I felt about their inability to just freakin' talk to each other dissipated as the series evolved and Cooper, the POV character, experienced some much needed character growth.

So the fact that I'm already on board with Adhara's new Monster Hunt series is a good sign. The dual POV that was missing from Big Bad Wolf helped me feel invested with both MCs at an earlier point in the series. I don't remember much about Eli from the Wolf series, other than that he was Oliver Park's former lover. He's quite compelling here, with a cynical, wisecracking attitude that covers up a lot of insecurity and his sincere commitment to successfully launching a new sanctuary for runaway wolves.

I'm not quite sure about Julien, the other MC, a handsome former movie star carrying a boatload of guilt over his failure to prevent his volatile brother's death. His attraction to Eli is the first time he has acted on the same sex aspect of his bisexuality, so despite his good looks he is very unsure. He never quite came alive for me as a three-dimensional character, but I'm hoping he will as the series progresses.

Unlike Wolf at the Door, Eli's identity is hidden for most of the book. In fact, both characters are holding back significant pieces of information from each other. Their attraction is real, and they instinctively protect each other, but neither is willing to trust the other with the full truth yet. It makes the HFN end of this book much more tentative than where Oliver and Cooper were at this stage of their series, but that opens the door for a lot more relationship development moving forward.

I don't read this series for the whodunnit part. I'm here for Adhara's world-building and character development. Unlike traditional folklore, Eli and Oliver aren't men who turn into werewolves under a full moon; they're always wolves, sometimes "in skin" and others "in fur." Allegiance to a pack alpha is virtually mandatory, as is secrecy because most people are unaware that they even exist. By the end of Pack of Lies, Julian is one more human that knows Eli's true nature, and it will be interesting to see how much more the two men have to learn about each other as the series continues.

Note: For those readers hoping to catch a glimpse of Cooper and Oliver, they are absent for most of the novel on their well-deserved honeymoon, but they do make a welcome cameo appearance.

ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for honest review.

This was such an anticipated read for me and I think I put my standards a bit too high for this one after loving the Big Bag Wolf series so much. The writing and plot were great, I liked the pacing and it was never boring, but I'm a very character driven reader and I feel like the mcs took away a bit my enjoyment from the story. I think I compared them to Cooper and Oliver too much and that is why it didn't reach what I thought it would. I would definitely recommend readeing the BBW series before this but not to expect something similar to that.