I love a good werewolf story! This was different than most werewolf books I’ve read. There was romance, but it wasn’t the main/only focus. There was some mystery and suspense too. I like that it gave some romance but had the suspense/mystery element too. I did really enjoy getting to know the characters. Our MFC the kind of strength I like in a character. She’s brave that’s for sure. I’m not sure how I feel about the ending. I think I need to read book two before deciding. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read this ARC. Can’t wait for book two.

After reading the book, I am still not sure what I thought of it. There were parts I loved and parts that left me cold and even a part that felt a touch creepy. Let's start with the positive, Jericho is a strong female lead who understands that showing emotion and kindness is also a strength. To illustrate that the author gave us Mikey, a 10 year old boy who came to care for Jericho but was bullied by other kids. She treated him with respect and kindness and listened to his stories even if they sounded far fetched. Mikey was a terrific addition to the story. The kid had style and was not afraid to be himself. The stories of past cases sounded like they would have been a blast to read about. It might have been fun to hear a little more about the other cryptids she debunked as normal animals. Had the tone of the whole book followed that beginning, I would be giving the book 5 stars but things did not continue in that tone and things got a bit uncomfortable. Jericho woke up in a strange house with a strange large man who had removed the bullets from her gun and instead of feeling fear she was fantasizing about his body. Maybe find out the guy is not a killer before you picture him undressed. Then things get absolutely creepy when it turns out that Benjamin is one of 4 strange men living in the house. A normal woman would feel a healthy amount of fear after hearing the comment about you can't keep her for yourself. Yipes, I think that would be where I would try to climb out the window and take my chances in the woods. The book does recover some after that with the werewolf reveals but it never returns to 5 star territory. Parts of the book would get five stars like Jericho and her debunking past and Mikey, other parts would get two stars like the creeper comment. The premise was excellent and some of the story was enjoyable and perhaps this series will hit its stride with another book under its belt but for now for me, I give this book three stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books | Orbit for the opportunity to read this ARC.

"Beauty and the Beast meets Supernatural in the first book of this new urban fantasy detective series!

Jericho James is in over her head.

She's a Private Investigator famed for debunking mythical creature sightings, and she expects her latest case in Stillbridge, Maine to be just another instance of "town who cried wolf." But instead of finding a poorly judged animal in the Northeastern woods, Jericho discovers a family of reclusive scientists. Handsome scientists, no less, working on a cure for a mystery virus.

Intrigued by the virus and utterly captivated by Benjamin - a man with cheekbones that must have been chiseled by God himself - Jericho finds she's dying to learn more about the family and their work.

And when she accidentally discovers the family's secret, she might just get her wish.

Follow Jericho James as she solves cryptid crimes, stops mythical misdeeds, and blocks otherworldly outrages. And maybe, if she has time, find love along the way."

Oh, urban fantasy with cryptids!

As far as werewolf romances go, this one was definitely different than the many others I’ve read which kept me interested. I liked the story tale themes and the little bit of mystery involved. Jericho was a perfect leading lady and I liked her from the very beginning. She has a lot of heart and is just someone you can’t help but want to be happy. Benjamin has a complicated life but falls enamored with Jericho the second he sees her regardless of the secrets he keeps in order to keep his family safe. Loved all the aspects of this romantasy with some mystery elements- would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC.

I really enjoyed The Midnight Pack. I loved Jericho's voice: she's clever, confident, and self-assured. This is the perfect read for anyone who's looking for a cinnamon roll of a man and some fantastic fight scenes.

This was a fast-paced thriller with twists, turns, and high drama. I loved that it wasn't what I expected going in, and overall I had a great time with the read!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Orbit for the ARC of The Midnight Pack by Jasmine Kuliasha.

When I saw this was an Orbit published novel, I think it raised my expectations and may have left me more disappointed after completing The Midnight Pack than if it had been self-published or from a smaller indie print. I'm a huge lover of urban fantasy - and I read this book the same day I completed a separate book in the Charlaine Harris Southern Vampire mysteries, so I had a good, solid marker of a successful book from a top publisher in the genre paired directly against this.

Unfortunately, The Midnight Pack is all over the place. It has absolutely no depth in its characters or in the plot - just random actions and plot twists, most of which either directly contradict character motivations/story stakes or are just completely unbelievable even with the bounds of this urban fantasy world. The sentences seem to run on and on without actually saying anything -- it feels like it still needs a lot of editing. The romance is both insta-love and feels forced -- I think this was because we're meant to believe these men are all isolated in the woods and don't know how to talk to strangers/have never seen a woman, but then it turns out they're all close to 30 or older and only moved there ten years ago with advanced degrees from Johns Hopkins they all received before they turned 20? Like, none of the details about anyone or anything ever seemed to add up or make sense - it was all a jumble. There is a general storyline, but it's hard to follow, and the main character is so inept at thinking of her own safety or survival (and then her own big plot twist around 50%) that it's really hard to even want to root for her.

I don't think this series or this author is for me.

As I was reading this book I initially thought that maybe it just wasn't for me but the further I got the harder it was to ignore that it's just...not good. Even if the book had a little more of the depth I was looking for, there were just so many issues that I was never going to be okay with.
Jericho Jones is a private investigator focusing on potential cryptid sightings but thus far in her career everything has proven to just be strange or misunderstood animal encounters. While investigating a mysterious death in the woods of Maine, Jericho is chased by a mysterious growling animal and ends up falling into a ravine. She wakes up in a cabin in the woods that is occupied by an older man and his 3 adult sons. This is about where the book lost me - a girl wakes up in a cabin with 4 strange men and she is...fine with it? It was so hard for me to get past the fact that this girl should be terrified or at least skeptical of these men until they prove themselves not crazy, not violent etc. but instead she pretty much instantly falls in love with one of the men and is at best suspicious of the others. This was just the first in a series of completely unbelievable plot points that just kept dragging me out of the story. The characters lacked depth, the plot was all over the place, and the writing style felt very juvenile. I would probably be willing to give the book a little more grace if it was self-published but Orbit is an imprint of one of the big 5 publishing houses and generally puts out books I truly enjoy so this just felt like a huge miss on their part.

I loved the premise and the first 15% of this book - I don't know why cryptid hunting is big right now, but please I want so many more books with this premise. Unfortunately we don't get any of that in this book - we just get teasers about other cases she worked, which I knew from the blurb that this was going to be more than that, but that 15% was so appealing. I just had such high hopes. Then after that initial set up the book is very slow - it takes over 50% for Jericho to get the werewolf reveal - which for a book subtitled werewolf urban fantasy and the werewolves are revealed in the blurb felt like a waste. Then there is a whole second plot that honestly felt like a Twilight plot remake (which could have been fine, but felt like a weird tonal shift and like a whole new book was starting). I honestly question if this book was written by multiple people (or AI - please please I hope not) because the variance in tone and plot and even characters felt like different books smooshed together. I could literally section it out to be 3 different books - all of which I think would have been better than this one mash up. Again there are parts o this book that I really liked, and parts that I think readers of other genres would love, but I am just feeling a bit lost about what I actually read instead of what could have been. If this had been from an indie or self published author I don't know that I would even be this harsh, but this is a book from one of the Big 5 and I don't understand how the editors thought this book felt cohesive. Maybe it's just me. I don't know, but I'll be interested to see what other reviews see.