I was drawn in by the premise of “Victorian werewolves” and ended up with a pleasant if imperfect read.

✔ Cordelia is very interesting - she remains very true to her characterization as someone who waits and watches throughout the whole story, which isn’t always true in paranormal shifter romances. She’s very smart - the situations she was in were sometimes a bit much but she reacted to all of them in a way I very much enjoyed reading.
✔ The tension between the love interests was top-notch. Their banter was a huge factor in my interest in the story.

✖ The fast pace of the action was great but the action itself felt jarring rather than flowing, especially in the latter part of the story when things begin to pick up. Things just seem to come out of nowhere.
✖ There was an unfortunate amount of insta-love. The leads didn’t necessarily fall too early in the plot for each other, however, I felt like they didn’t spend too much of the earlier parts of the novel with each other at all, which made it feel sudden when they developed serious feelings.

2.5/5 stars!

The story was easy to get through and enjoyable in some aspects but I think there’s a lot of lost potential in the execution, which is a shame considering how interested I was in the premise.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cordelia is a lycan- a witch/werewolf hybrid. She is kidnapped by her real father's second-in-command, Bishop, in order to keep her from being sold off. Her father also wants to mate her to Bishop but Bishop plans to challenge her father...

Love this romantasy. It's fun and sexy. Love Cordelia and Bishop together. Bishop is terrifc and Cordelia is kick-assed. Love their chemistry. The ending is terrific.

Thanks to the publihser for the arc.

Witch of the Wolves has all the ingredients for a bingeable romantasy: a powerful witch with a mysterious past, a broody werewolf second-in-command, a pack full of secrets, and one very Victorian forced proximity situation. Cordelia gets yanked from her life working in an apothecary and dropped straight into werewolf politics when she finds out she’s the long lost daughter of an Alpha. Naturally, she’s not thrilled about being promised to Bishop, the man who literally abducted her—but what’s a romantasy without a little morally questionable courtship?

This is a fast-paced, drama-filled setup with lots of potential for romance, magic, and pack intrigue. It doesn’t reinvent the genre, and at times the premise feels more exciting than the execution, but if you’re into witches, wolves, and reluctant mating plotlines, this might be your thing.

I didn’t fall head over heels, but I’m curious enough to see where the series goes next—especially if Cordelia gets to do more than react to everything around her. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Okay okay. I’m going to hold your hand when I say this…why did we fit what could have been an INCREDIBLE duology into one book? I feel like there were so many loose ends that were cut by the way the bookended and SO many either under developed or straight up fully undeveloped. Like why was there not more investment in the pack members? I thought the chaos at the end was lackluster but only because I wasn’t invested in anyone outside of Julian, Bishop, and Cordelia. Like, sorry, but I could care less about the other side wolves because I barely could discern them from each other. Also I feel like so many moments were too abrupt and had so much potential to be more drawn out (like we never saw her human friend again, her aunts death?! Like what?, the friction within the pack, the other wolves who were supposed to be dangerous when it was really only one who was an actual ass to her, etc.) there was just SO much potential and it left me wanting.

I will, of course, not post on my socials until after pub date, but I’m disappointed because I saw the depth of potential here.

Thank you St Martin's Press and netgalley

I loved the mashup between like a historical fiction and paranormal romance. The female main character is a very strong female that comes from a line of witches and also a wolf pack.This story was so good, I couldn't put it down and I wanted more, I wanted so much more. the dynamic of the characters was put together really well and overall.I give this four stars, I would definitely recommend this to a friend

I really enjoyed this one! Witches. Werewolves. Demons. What else do you need? I liked the storyline and thought MC Cordelia and Bishop were really well developed. There was quite a bit of action and I never got bored while reading. I do hope there’s a book 2 based on the ending!

4.5 ⭐️ such a good blend of romance in a fantasy world with witches and werewolves. it is both hopeful and humorous. the storyline was captivating and well thought out & theres a happy ending!! (i considered dnf-ing this one when the FMC was being tortured bc i was so upset about it lol)

Okay this book had no business being this good! I read a lot of fantasy and this one was right up with the best of them! I loved the premise and then when we started to find out the real side of her dad and everything that followed that, it was just so many emotions. i cried. Multiple times. Also legitimately gasped when her dad.. to her aunt.. UGH. I didn’t see any of the twists coming and yet they all worked so well and tbh gave me some actual anxiety while reading! I’m going to need this book to have 10 more following it and I’m going to need them directly injected into my veins.

This one started off with a bang! I loved the setting and our FMC Cordelia. I loved how she was both trusting and not, resourceful and in need of Bishop's help. Sadly this one wasn't for me but mainly because I did not like the Dad!!! That man hurt my feelings lmao. But otherwise this is very easy to get into and a fun romantasy to read.

Being a witch with werewolf traits and not knowing your father is a werewolf was quite interesting, it was the snowball to so much more events. I love Cordelia, she is such a strong character, having witches wanting you for your power and wolves wanting you for breeding is not an easy journey but in the middle of it all,i like when she went with her instinct and she was calculating not docile and accepting of her fate.

Don't even get me started on Bishop Daniel, mister stone face wolfman. I was kicking my feet when he lost control with Cordelia. The chemistry was there hidden from eachother but as soon as it came out to the surface. Oh dear, they were a mix of hot & cute.

Silas fooled me for a bit with his father act, for half of the story i wanted to throw my sandal at him.

I enjoyed this story, it was entertaining.

2.5 stars that I rounded up to 3. I’m so disappointed that I didn’t enjoy this book more. I love paranormal romance and I have a particular affinity for shifter romances, but Witch of the Wolves just didn’t work for me. It was part PNR and part historical romance, but the problem with being “part” so many things means that it kind of fell short on all accounts. There was no world building, and a lot of the paranormal elements were a bit clunky. With respect to the historical romance component- it’s not. The only thing that says historical romance is that the virginal heroine wears a corset and some of the men in this book have misogynistic viewpoints. With that said, I could have overcome those flaws if I liked the plot or characters, but unfortunately, I didn’t. Both main characters were so dumb. We kept hearing how smart and powerful they were. But they literally made terrible decision after terrible decision, and it seemed like the author did a lot of professing without providing anything in the text to actually back it up. And finally, their romance/ attraction to one another was not believable and kind of stilted. We literally went from the heroine professing to kill the hero and then dry humping him in like 2 pages. As I said, I’m truly bummed this didn’t work for me. I’ve easily read over 100 shifter romances, and I just couldn’t connect with this one. There was a ton of drama and action though, so I can see this working for others. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me. Thanks so much to the author, SMP, and netgalley for the ARC!

I loved the blend of the Victorian England setting mixed with paranormal romance.

Phew the action, ya’ll. Things get bonkers in a good way. I physically NEED the second book.

I couldn’t stop reading this one!!

Ate this up real quick! I will always love a book with witches and werewolves. Cordelia is a witch and werewolf she is kidnapped by her father’s right hand man Bishop and be taken back for protection against others who want her because of her strong magical blood line. Not only does Cordelia come from a powerful wolf pack but also a powerful line of witches. Cordelia is nos trying to navigate the werewolf world and realizes she doesn’t know the whole truth about her family and her attraction to Bishop is growing.

This book is a wild ride, fast paced with lots of action. This is such an interesting supernatural world, it definitely kept my interest. I hope there is a book 2 because the ending was so good. I just love the perfect blend of both the witch and werewolf world colliding. If there was this much action in the first book I just know more will come in the following books!

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

Interesting storyline, characters and character development. However, there was an incredible amount of time spent dedicated to telling the history and backstory of when/what/where/who in a linear timeline.