I’ll start off saying just how worried I was about this book. Ever since Wattpad has been a part of my life, and I learned of werewolf Alpha stories, I haven’t been able to look at any were-stories the same ever again. But I saw A Pack of Blood and Lies and I couldn’t help but ask myself if I wanted to take another chance. And I did. The first chapter had me worried, it sounded so similar to what I could read online. But then the rollercoaster took a turn.

I regret ever thinking that Olivia Wildenstein would write something like what I’ve found on Wattpad because this book has restored my faith in the werewolf plot line. I fell completely in love with Liam and Ness and Everest and Julian and Jeb and everyone else in this story. Even if I didn’t love what they did. I found myself glued to my Kindle, and before I realized it I was at 86% and it was 11:30 pm. Let me reiterate, I am in love with this book.

I am so impressed with this book that I don’t know where to start. I did think at the beginning that it was difficult to understand that the book was based around werewolves, especially if I hadn’t read the synopsis, but apart from that, I am absolutely in love. I’ve already started rereading it, I’m not kidding, I have.

Please, please read this book, it has given me faith in were-stories again and I will be waiting in anticipation for the next instalment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh, my goodness. I didn’t think I’d finish this as soon as I did. Yes, this is being posted on the day of publication, but I finished this book last night (4/11) as I write this today (4/12.) I had planned to finish it in like one more week, but good for me and good for Olivia Wildenstein for making me continue to turn the page.

I was honestly leary about reading this book mainly because I’m more of a vampire girl than a werewolf girl (yes, I’m Team Edward. Judge me.) But I requested this ARC on NetGalley because the cover is absolutely beautiful, the synopsis sounded amazing!

So, we start out with our main character (MC) who was shunned at a young ago and kicked out of her pack/hometown with her mother. Shit happens, and the pack brings her back home to our setting in Colorado.

Ness’s character was just awesome. She’s caring, kind but a badass when she needs to be.

Anyways, there was this horrible Alpha who is killed, and Ness decides to join the challenge in who will lead the pack now, a pack who is misogynist. She goes head to head with the late Alpha’s son, whom she thinks is a mirror to the evil man. Yeah, there are worse characters than she realized.

I think the reason why I love Ness so much is because she fights for what she believes in, adn doesn’t back down when it’s more than important.

There were a slew of characters who I liked, and some I didn’t like. And some who I loved to hate. Out of all them though, I think my favorites are Liam and Ness though.

Since we are talking about characters, lets continue. There are quite a lot, which is understandable because we’re in the midst of two wolf packs! But Wildenstein did a marvelous job making it easy to remember which character is who. And they all had a tangible personality that wasn’t dry. So star for the author.

As for the relationships, from page one I had ships already going. And one relationship was changing left and right until about halfway through when I decided who I wanted Ness to end up with. And I was granted that wish.

As for the plot, that’s another star for Wildenstein. I didn’t know how she would take it. I mean, our MC could be naive at times and impulsive as well. Because of that, the twists readers are taken on are a surprise. And I did not see that ending at all!

The pacing wasn’t too fast nor too slow, which made it hard for me to put the book down, especially last night.

I think Wildenstein did do a good job wrapping things up, leaving it open for a trilogy to take place (which is happening this year apparently. The sequel and the last book are set to be released this summer. Whaaat?) I was able to sign up to receive the sequel when ARCs are able, so I’m totally ready for that!

I will admit that Wildenstein pulled all the stops for this book so I’m very excited and scared for the sequel, but I think she’ll do a great job, and I doubt I’ll suffer from sequel blues.

The tension in this book was unreal. I felt like Wildenstein was pulling on a rubber band, and as we readers inch closer to the end, I kept waiting for the author to just snap it loose. And she delivered alright!

Anyways, I’m grateful NetGalley let me take a peek into this ARC before it’s released next week. And I will be buying this when I get a chance!

On that note, check this book out as soon as you can! I recommend it, and if you’re a lycanthrope lover, you will really love this this one.

The title A Pack of Blood and Lies fits this story well. It was the title and the cover that grabbed my attention.

The story is about a 17 year old girl named Ness who is forced to move back to Boulder and her old pack after her mother's death. There she meets up with childhood pack mates and is thrown back into pack drama.

Olivia Wildenstein spins a tale full of mystery and lies. I was captivated as the pages flew by. There were several surprises along the way.

Looking at future titles and covers of this series has me intrigued. Especially the blurb of the next book. I can't wait to carry on with this series.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book, so I could give an honest review.

Book 1 of The Boulder Wolves, ‘A Pack of Blood and Lies’ is an action-filled, intense YA paranormal story that had its own moments of glory and disappointment. I am not a huge ‘werewolves’ fan and I was putting my faith in the writing and the characters and well, I have to say that this proved to be a good read.
Ness was thrown out of her own community as a child, along with her mother. But when she is forced to come back to the town and face Liam for the whole Alpha thing, she realized that he might not be as evil as his late father.
Ness, as an individual is quite remarkable. She is strong, independent and fierce. Liam, on the other hand, is bossy and cold.
As Ness plays a game to get back into her dead father’s pack, it quickly turns dangerous and risky.
A greater part of the book talks about egoistic males, who think that they should be the one to lead, while the women must take a few steps back.
The sexual tension was negligible, and that was a relief as the story focussed more on the adventure and vengeance part.
The ending was quite satisfying and I would love to see what the next book in the series has in store for the readers.

It's a great feeling when you find a new author that writes good shifter PNR reminiscent of Bitten and Moon Called. The main character is very relatable with how she thinks and reacts, not being perfect, making mistakes, and I liked how she grew as a person throughout the story. I loved the dynamics of the characters and the world in which she's thrown back into. It's very small town in the wilderness and perfect setting for a werewolf society. Overall, this was a great read and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel soon!

I’m not really sure why I decided to pick this up, but I guess the blurb sounded interesting enough. I am generally not the biggest fan of werewolf books, though I don’t have anything against them really. I just haven’t read one that I really enjoyed. This one isn’t going to start the list. It wasn’t bad, just not for me. The book was good, the plot was interesting, and I was engaged reading it from start to finish. But in my opinion, the characters were not fleshed out enough, everything was ridiculously cheesy, and most of the details were just handed straight to the reader. It was a very quick and easy read, and if you’re in to this kind of book, I would definitely recommend it. I honestly would have rated it higher had we seen more of the relationship between Ness and Liam. It developed kind of later in the book, which I can appreciate, but I still wanted to see more from them. Definitely pick this book up if it sounds interesting and you are looking for an easy read.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I gave it 3.5 stars

A PACK OF BLOOD AND LIES was one of those books that I really enjoyed reading, but don't have a whole lot to say about it.

The characters: Ness was likable. I enjoyed her fight. I felt for her and what she was going through and rooted for her during her journey. I can't say I always agreed with her, but I understood where her actions were coming from. Liam was also likable. He was hot and cold for the most part, but the more you get to know him, the more he grows on you. The secondary characters were easy to like or dislike. Most of the characters that I started out disliking changed for the better throughout the story.

The romance: There are a few different possibilities. I would find myself rooting for one then switching to the other. Hopefully we will get a bit more romance in future books, but A PACK OF BLOOD AND LIES didn't really focus strongly on romance and that was OK.

The story: The story resolves around how Ness is trying to join an all-male wolf pack as a female and I enjoyed it. The navigation of pack politics was well done and watching her challenge the men in the pack for a spot was entertaining. There were parts of the story that I didn't totally get behind (her signing on to be an escort and the events that took place around that), but again, in the end I enjoyed it.

As I said in the opening of this review. I really enjoyed A PACK OF BLOOD AND LIES and look forward to seeing where Wildenstein takes the story next.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

After her Mother's death Ness returns to Colorado to the family and pack who, from her perspective, abandanoed her and her Mother. Ness runs into Liam, the son of the former Alpha whom Ness detested. Ness lets her opinion of the Alpha color her opinion of Liam.

I really enjoyed this book. A bit uncommon with some shifter novels, Ness and Liam did not have an insta-love kind of connection. Attraction, yes, insta-love, no. Ness agrees to join the challenge to become Alpha, largely to annoy Liam. You see Ness struggle with her past and how to fit in with the pack. Her relationship with Liam and the other males was interesting to see how the characters developed. Throw in some intrigue around past events and you've got a great nove.

Robust characters and a great story line. I will definitely continue reading the series.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I don’t think this book is for me. I need more from the MC than “I’m doing it cause I’m a girl and you say I can’t.” I need more than an attitude. I need a backbone and a drive.

I first read Olivia Wildenstein's series about fae and while I loved that wholeheartedly, A Pack of Blood and Lies was something else entirely. This book was absolutely fantastic and nothing like I would expect from a werewolf genre.

I love an alpha female proving her worth and standing in an all mans world, it makes me feel like I can empower myself.

A Pack of Blood and Lies by Olivia Wildenstein is a spectacular werewolf story! I enjoyed it tremendously and could not put it down. Ness is spirited, reckless, and bold. The Boulder pack is complex and has a bit of a dark history under their previous alpha. I loved watching Ness and Liam try to avoid the attraction between them. The story is full of twists and unexpected reveals. This is my first time reading a book by Olivia Wildenstein and I am now a fan! I can not wait to see where the story goes in A Pack of Vows and Tears!

Check out an extended review on my blog: https://readbyrheagan.wordpress.com

Thank you Netgalley and Twig Publishing for allowing me the chance to review this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW TO BE LIVE AT ATTACHED LINK ON 4/9/19 AT 12PM EST

This novel is a werewolf novel, where a previously outcasted female, the ONLY female of her pack, comes back to town and she decides to challenge the others in her pack to become the Alpha. Along the way she has to constantly try and prove to the pack, her friends, and family that she is capable of being in the pack, all while unraveling the mystery of her father and the previous Alpha's deaths. 

I'm going to include that this book definitely should have trigger/content warnings for rape/sexual assault, self harm, and attempted suicide. Each of these are mentioned in passing, not described in detail, however there was a part where the characters are swearing blood oaths that may be triggering.

I'm going to start off with the things I did not like about this book, so that I can end the review on a slightly lighter note. I was not pleased with the romance in this novel. The main love interest, Liam, shows very aggressive behavior towards Ness. He's overprotective, always showing up wherever she goes out (stalking!) and interrupting her conversations, trying to be all male dominant. He constantly slut shames her, and one point sniffs her vagina to see if she had been with another male. He assaults her physically, once even while NAKED, against her will. Him saving her life and apologizing is not enough for me to be okay with this, especially when he continues to slut shame/be aggressive after apologizing. It's not at all a healthy romance and I really really would love romances like this in novels NOT to be romanticized because it's NOT OKAY. In the synopsis of the sequel it also seems like she "mates" with another character who happens to be ten years older than her. The MC is 17 (No. Thank. You)

I also won't lie I don't like narratives anymore where a woman constantly has to PROVE to men, to males, that she is equal to them but only if she shows strength, etc. Like. I really am tired of this trope in novels, in television, etc. Women should not have to constantly prove ourselves to men just because of our gender, we should be equally respected.

All of the above was what made me knock down the rating to three stars. The only reason I didn't give it one or two, was because despite all the issues above, I actually was intrigued enough to finish the book. The mysteries behind her father's death, the Alpha's death, the political intrigue within and between other packs - all of it was relatively interesting. And I WANTED to see if Ness would beat the odds and become Alpha. It was also enough to make me actually WANT to read the sequel. I don't know why, honestly, but I'm curious. I would love to see if any of the dynamics changes (i.e. less male aggression and more RESPECT). And because there are certain characters fates that are left open ended that I still want answers to. 

Overall I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book just because I'm sure us women are sick and tired of seeing abusive characters and relationships. 

But I hate to admit I'm still curious to see where this story goes.

This was a fast paced read that pulls you right it, no struggling to get hooked here! You are left wondering what will happen to Ness next from the get go as her Werewolf family comes to force her back to Colorado after the passing of her mother. Ness has all the makings of the fierce female lead set out to avenge her family and teach the backwards pack a lesson, but her reckless streak lands her in more trouble than she started out with…. Thankfully the steamy Liam always seems to be there to save the day. Yes, it’s a little cliché but has all the juicy tidbits that keep you coming back for more along with a few twists and turns you don’t see coming. I do wish more detailed physical descriptions of characters was provided up front. Its left to the imagination in the beginning so my mind formed its own descriptions to find out later in the story that person appeared differently. This story wraps up just enough to leave you satisfied but ready to dive into the next installment. I would have started reading to sequel right away!

Thank you to NetGalley and Twig Publishing for the opportunity to review this ARC for my honest opinion.

3.5 stars. This was my first werewolf book. I loved the cover and synopsis. I think it is a really great start for the series. It was fast paced book and i really enjoyed reading it. I had a minor issues some of the characters but i liked Ness. She has strong character but some parts she acted too shy. I wanted to read more action. Overall i liked it and i can't read the second book.