Give me a good werewolf story any day.. Unfortunately, this wasn't it.

The main character was so passive it annoyed me to no end. I get that it was part of the story, but it made me not like her. The ancestry thing was confusing - I had no idea what was going on. And that ending that wasn't an ending? Really?

I found myself skimming it along the way, which just added to my confusion.

I wanted to like this one, but just did not. I barely finished it.

i do want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which obviously did not impact my review. I feel bad, but have to go with 2 stars - below average.

Let me start by saying that I read a lot of shifter romance novels, which is why I wanted to read Pack of Secrets. Typically, I can guess where the plot is going (since I read so many of them), but this book took me by surprise. I could not guess what was going to happen next, which kept me super intrigued throughout. At times, the plot became a little messy with so many different creatures and plot twists, but I think by the end of the book they made more sense. Overall, I really enjoyed Pack of Secrets and think it's a great start to the series.

Grace was born into a shifter family unfortunately for her she is unable to shift. Her father is alpha and a real bastard to boot. He never misses a chance to tell Grace what a disappointment she is. It is never revealed who her mother was but it is implied she was not a shifter so we don’t really know Grace’s origin story. Her father has had her trained to be a thief and she is very good at it. He ultimately sends her to steal a powerful object where she has a mix-up that pits her against a dragon. she embarks on a quest without knowing the full story behind the purpose of the quest. I liked this. The story was there but…a lot of details were missing. I get it, there should be some mystery in a story but there needed to be more clues so that the reader could be a part of figuring out the mystery. There was a lot of vague inundo alluding to Grace’s abilities and genetic makeup but the fact that I’ve read the first book and there are still so many unanswered questions made this book a little unsatisfactory. I also despise cliffhangers and this one literally ended in a cave on a cliff. I do want to know how the story ends but if the next book is as vague as this one, I won’t finish it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Born as a werewolf but unable to shift, Grace tries to support her pack as best she can, acting as a thief for her father and aunt in hopes of earning approval within the pack. When Grace steals a magic cup from a dragon's hoard, the guardian dragon begins his pursuit as the pack tries to use the magic of the cup to unlock Grace's wolf. All is not as it seems as the cup leads to more mysteries, more magic and Grace's wolf continues to be caged.

Although the concept of the unshifting wolf among the pack is a familiar one, this novel handled it in an interesting way. After reading, I have some very strong negative feelings towards Grace's father, who doesn't deserve her devotion and some questions about the dragon and where the story will go next. I look forward to the next book in the series.

In a post-apocalyptic Seattle, grace is a half werewolf half witch trying to unlock her full powers.
The mix of fantasy and post dystopian sci-fi did not blend well in my opinion. Good world building and I can see the series has a lot of potential, but It failed to deliver.

I'm a sucker for werewolf stories. Especially ones with underdog main character. Most times it's less a storyline and more floof.
Pack of secrets had the floof and a storyline. A storyline with an ending that I need to know the outcome because duh I'm invested.
I will say only two things severely pissed me off. One that the mysterious lineage is like unsolvable. Most times context clues I can figure it out, but in this one, nope. I am utterly clueless. The second thing is the passivity of the main character like I get it, it's part of the story. But throughout she stayed so passive and weak towards everyone, but the possible love interest. In her mind she was brave, but outwardly. Ugh.

Overall I found it an interesting supernatural-esque dystopia like book.

Grace is the daughter of the Seattle Alpha. Two problems, she can’t shift and she is an omega. She has no alternative but to learn how to fight and become a thief to help her pack in this post-war world. Perhaps she can find a way to free her wolf.

Her last mission didn’t go as planned.

She is almost stopped by the keeper of the artifact that might help her release her wolf. The same wolf who is pushing toward the guardian. She escapes to find that her trip is not over and other secrets are hidden. Releasing her wolf may not be the best idea for protecting her family.

This is a promising first book in the series Celestial Artifact. So far, I really love this fantasy/dystopia world made by Amara Mae. We get shifter, dragon, fire spirit and even more. Grace is a character you're going to love. She doesn't always follow her alpha's order and she follows what her heart says. The guardian is pretty funny how he is grumpy. I look forward to seeing chemistry develop between them.

You will find in this book:

Shifter
Dragon
Quest
Enemies-to-lovers
Bold FMC

Pack of Secrets
3 Stars

I was definitely intrigued by the description, though I was disappointed with the execution. I did finish; it was well written. Though this wasn't a fun, enjoyable book, it was much too dark & tense. I didn't like how abusive or cruel Grace's pack treated her. I found myself frustrated, wanting her to grow a backbone. Some transitions in POV were jarring, and even took me out of the story. This isn't your typical werewolf romance, but not in a good way. I was disappointed in the very lackluster ending(cliffhanger ending).

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with a digital ARC for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really wanted to like this one but it just fell kinda flat for me. The scenes are set up a bit wonky so you can easily lose track of what is going on from who’s POV. I didn’t really get the omega verse feel there I thought would be there. MC while tough just seems kinda passive about things that keep happening. The plot is interesting enough that I did finish it even if it ended on a cliff hanger. The ending did feel a bit rough. I think with some polishing this could be a great story!

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this for an honest review.

This is the first book in the series by this author. It’s very well written. I can’t wait to see how the story continues.

Grace is the daughter of the Seattle werewolf alpha. She is an omega, who supports her pack-but Grace cannot shift into her wolf form. Her father and aunt, who is a witch, have tried everything to get her wolf to come out. Now they have a new idea that could work. It involves an ancient artifact that is said to have great power. The problem is that it’s guardian is not thrilled that Grace wants it.
Grace will find herself in over her head. And she will discover that the people she loves are keeping secrets from her. Will she be able to uncage her wolf?

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book tells a story of a girl willing to do anything to gain her father and her packs approval. Unfortunately after reading the book, I don’t know that she was ever going to be able to. I’ll let you form your own opinions about her father and her pack, but I have formed mine and they’re not great. She seems like she’s gotten so caught up in begging for approval that she’s forgotten how to just be her. Even her best friend has sworn loyalty to her father and couldn’t disobey him even if he tried. I have a feeling she may find an ally in the person supposed to be ready to off her, but that’s not been made clear as of yet. This book really is completely different from the normal shifter books I read, and in a good way. There’s so much history the author used to build into the importance of what they’re doing, anguish, fear, heart ache, and more. I cant wait to see what comes next.

This book was pretty good actually. I wasn't expecting much, but what I got was a pretty gripping and tense story, with characters that I really started to care about. Keep up the good work.

Grace is a shifter who can’t shift and is always the odd one out. She is so full of compassion and empathy but not being able to shift has really taken a toll on her. So when she hears of an artifact that will aid and her being able to shift she needs to retrieve it. The artifact was guarded by silent alarms and as soon as she touched it they were triggered so she races home. Arioch, a dragon shifter, is the guardian of the artifact that Grace just stole. He needs to get it back at all costs. This book is full of mystery, challenges and adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. I can’t wait for book two!!!

Grace, a wolf shifter who cannot shift and deplores the fighting for status in the pack, feels that she is a burden to the pack and would do anything to be able to gain acceptance from her father, the alpha. So she participates in dangerous heists to help support the pack. Her latest acquisition has a powerful guardian she suspects is a dragon that she has an instant attraction to but the man states he must kill her to get rid of the curse that has ruled his life. A dangerous trip half way around the world to find a mystical tree with her father, her trainer and best friend (and a dragon trailing after them) is her only hope to release her wolf. But as secrets are unveiled and more questions pile up, she begins to wonder if releasing her wolf is worth her life and those she cares for?

This is a strong debut by Amara Mae with lots of potential. I like Grace who has become the whipping girl for the pack but still has compassion, her own moral compass and has developed lots of skills that are not related to her shape shifting status. Arioch, a powerful dragon shifter, on the other hand is a bit harder to like. He is whiny. He has also experienced a lot of abuse in the form of "training" but he is not nearly as well-adjusted as Grace. I wish there was a little more development of the Grace's best friend.

The world-building has a strong foundation but could use some more fill-ins. Grace is described as an omega in the story blurb but that isn't really mentioned at all in the story, much less how it would effect Grace's role in the pack. Also, I wish there was more detail about the trip to find the magic tree. That part seems a bit rushed.

The story ends in a cliff-hanger but I would be interested in seeing where this series goes.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I can say that it has been a while since I read an amazing shifter/fantasy story as this one.

Grace is a shifter that unfortunately can not shift. But she has other skills.

They help her look for artifacts for her pack Alpha (her father) in the hope that her wolf can be released.

I think we all know that stealing from a dragon is not a smart plan.

That is how Arioch follows her to retrieve his property and to break his curse.

Grace travels all over to find the artifacts at the command of the Alpha.

But will she ever find her wolf?

This story is an amazing introduction to a whole new world.

With amazing background how the world got to that stage.

And the new way of how magical beings exist.

I am so here for book 2.

I received this ARC from Netgalley at no cost and am providing an unbiased review.

Well, I am a bit surprised at myself, when it comes to writing down what I think about this book. It was pretty dang good! I like a good shifter/romancey read every now and then, and the plot desription lured me in as this girl COULDN'T shift, and she wasn't allegedly a 'high and powerful' in the pack hierarchy, but the LOWEST order... the Omega. Yeah, this is going to be interesting! Then there is a dragon, too? And secrets? Yeah, I had to read this one.

Needless to say, the pacing goes a little wonky at times. A little slow at the beginning, as the author is building the world and characters, and as it gets into the story, has to let up off the gas to fill in some background for events or other characters, but is cruising along well to the end. Though, I felt the end was a bit rushed, and felt like the author had to be at a certain spot within so much of a word count, that things just felt cut-off. Obviously can tell that there will be at least one more to this series, if not more. Would be considered a cliffhanger, but I feel I have a pretty good idea how this is all going to end out. I defintely would recommend, and I am actually looking forward to the next book(s) in this series.

The Pack of Secrest is a beautiful fantasy tale, I really enjoyed the world-building and magic in the book. Grace's character is the perfect mix of feistiness and kind-heartedness. To be honest the only thing that the book did wrong was that I wanted more. It was 600 pages, and I can't wait for the second book. I want to see more of Grace's and Arioch's relationship, especially since he wants to kill her. Mackiel really needs to stay in his own lane, meaning he needs to stay in the friend zone, that is all I ask.

I stayed fully entertained throughout the book, the premonition of Grace who can't shift into a wolf, leaving her an outcast, and Arioch's mysterious curse that is placed on him, I found myself excited to find out what will happen next.

I love a good urban fantasy series, so when I read the description for ‘Pack of Secrets’ by Amara Mae, I was intrigued by the premise and was eager to explore a new shifter world. However, whilst the concept was interesting, the main characters are underdeveloped, and I found myself unconcerned with their well-being as I couldn’t relate to them. The world needed further fleshing out and seemed unplanned in its execution, with too many ad-hoc explanations being thrown in at odd places. It wasn’t unreadable but wasn’t a page-turner for me, either.

‘Pack of Secrets’ primarily follows Grace – a wolf shifter who has never been able to shift into her wolf form. Unlike the rest of the pack, she is also an Omega, someone who doesn’t feel the need to fight for her place within the pack hierarchy and can soothe and repair the emotional health of others. Grace is also the daughter of the Seattle Alpha, Chaz, and has no memory of her mother. Eager to make her father happy, Grace has been training all her life to be a master thief by the former pack Beta and her father’s best friend Rust, being sent on missions to acquire, aka steal, anything her father desires. Whilst she was isolated for most of her childhood due to her being an Omega, she had one friend in the pack, Mackiel. Grace’s Aunt Sereana, her mother’s half-sister, whilst not a shifter herself, lives on pack lands and has attempted to release Grace’s wolf since birth.

The other main character is Arioch, a dragon shifter responsible for guarding a chalice that Grace steals at the start of the book. Arioch’s parents died when he was young. He never met his father after being conceived during a one-night stand. However, upon his father’s death, Arioch inherited his father’s curse, one that ties him to the chalice and promises that everyone he loves will betray him. Before his death, Arioch’s father sent various tutors to him, although it’s never clear what they were supposed to teach him apart from the ability to survive a horrific childhood. Arioch’s only tie to his mother is her best friend, the dryad Catori, who helped raise him and now acts as a mentor. He also has his bodyguard Tyrin, sent by his father, whom he loathes after the man stood by and did nothing during the brutal lessons he endured as a child.

The most significant character problem that I have with both Grace and Arioch is that there is no depth to either of them. Grace passively accepts her place at the bottom of the pack and refuses to fight or hurt one of the other wolves. Ok, sure, I have no problem with a character who wants to help, not hurt. However, Grace is too passive. She allows the other wolves to attack her and refuses to protect herself, accepting the beatings and abuse as if they are her due. There is no spark in her, no feistiness, no spunk. She is a punching bag for the pack and never demonstrates anything other than meekly accepting this hideous behaviour. I wish that there had been something sly and tricksy to her character. As it was, there was no equality in the pack dynamics.

As for Arioch, the reader gets snippets of his memories of the cruelty he experienced from his childhood tutors. It just lacks the substance to give any weight to those recollections and therefore doesn’t give the emotional punch I think was intended by them. There is too much time with him brooding about the theft (and Grace) and not enough action. I struggled to sympathise with Arioch and found that his actions made him seem whiny and bratty. Maybe if he had been a little more worldly and sophisticated in his mannerisms, I could have connected with his character more, but unfortunately, his churlish arrogance was off-putting.

Apart from our two main characters, the rest of the cast is very flat. There aren’t enough side characters or relationship development to get the reader fully invested in the story. I would have liked to see a chapter from Grace’s perspective when she was a little girl, maybe showing her entering training with Rust and some small kindness from her father. Even a snippet of mischief she got into with Mackiel and how they protected each other. The same with Arioch’s childhood. If we could have seen the contrast between the idyllic time with his mother and then the ruthless training of his father’s tutors, it would have helped us have sympathy for him. Instead, the two main characters fail to connect with the reader.

The world-building is somewhat lacking and would have been significantly improved with a simple introduction at the start to summarise the events of the war and the resultant fallout. Around 25 years before the beginning of the book, there had been a war between regular humans and the magical creatures that, until that time, had lived hidden alongside them. They called this ‘The Eradication’, although I am not exactly sure what was eradicated. It had fractured the world into the magical, Terra Fera, and the nonmagical, Terra Victa. The nonmagical humans are referred to as Mondeine, and the supernatural community is referred to as Tricari. Given that these events aren’t set in the distant future, I felt the new terminology added a level of complexity that just wasn’t required. I wish the author had spent more time exploring the fractured world and the different creatures and cultures found within to enrich the story.

Overall, there is a lot of potential with both the author and the series, and I can understand why other readers would enjoy ‘Pack of Secrets’. I am hoping that further entries will have more significant development of the characters and world and less of passively waiting around. You may enjoy this book if you like urban fantasy or novels about shifters.

2.5 out of 5 stars! Rounded up to 3 stars.

DISCLAIMER: Thank you to Amara Mae, Xpresso Book Tours, and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for this review. Whilst I received a copy for free, this review is my honest and unbiased opinion.

‘Pack of Secrets’ is the first book in the Celestial Artifacts series by Amara Mae. As of September 2022, the series consists of:

Book 1: Pack of Secrets
Book 2: Pack of Betrayal (releasing November 2022)

I got this book through NetGalley.
It’s easy to read and it sucks you right into the story.

Though I thought there would be more romance, as the description said she made out with her best friend, I expected to get a bit more there.

I enjoyed reading this and it left me with a lot of questions and I’m curious what the 2nd book will bring.

Unfortunately I DNF’d this book. The writing style, pacing, and topic couldn’t keep me engrossed in the story. I think I was expecting a fantasy novel and instead got a modern dystopian paranormal novel. The cadence of the book felt a bit repetitive and rushed; not a lot of flair in the sentence structure so it was hard to keep my interest. I wouldn’t say it was a bad book, but just not for me at this time.