4.5 stars- Loved the forest atmosphere. Loved the fairytale vibes in the beginning. I liked where we were dropped into the story, I felt like the FMC already had these fully developed relationships with other characters. I found the plot to be pretty predictable but it made sense that the reader was able to put together things that the FMC wasn’t since she was pretty naive to the world she was living in. Also the book was super fast paced and I finished it in about a day.

Did the MMCs lines in the sex scene make me laugh out loud? Yes. Was the plot a bit predictable? Yes. But did I have a good time? Heck yeah!

Daughter of Wolves is one of those books that's easy to fall into, with a world that feels mysterious and magical.

Lua was such an interesting main character. As the cursed seventh daughter, she's abandoned to the Black Wood, where she's raised by wolves and becomes a wolf shifter. She's torn between the world she came from and the one that raised her. I loved watching her discover who she really is and where she belongs. Her journey is full of heartbreak, courage, and impossible choices, and I found myself rooting for her every step of the way.

The relationships were another highlight for me. Between Lua, Thorne, and Cristiano, there's so much tension and emotion. There are two romance arcs, but it never feels like a love triangle. Lua and Cristiano's relationship goes from friends to lovers to enemies, and it's far from healthy. Lua and Thorne's relationship evolves from friends to hurt and resentment, then to reluctant allies, and eventually into something more. Their connection feels genuine, heartfelt, and wonderfully slow burn. I'm very curious to see where their story goes in the next book.

What really makes this book stand out is how different it feels from most wolf shifter stories. Instead of leaning heavily into paranormal romance, it blends folklore, fantasy, and ancient magic into something that feels fresh and unique. It has the atmosphere of a dark fairy tale with just the right amount of romance woven throughout.

If you're looking for a fantasy filled with magic, wolf shifters, emotional character growth, and a romance that takes its time, I definitely recommend picking this one up.

Tropes & Vibes
🖤 Wolf shifters, wolves, and humans
🖤 Cursed heroine
🖤 Found family
🖤 Hidden truths
🖤 Atmospheric magical forest
🖤 High stakes

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Saturday Books, and NetGalley for the eARC. I'm so grateful this book introduced me to Nicki Pau Preto because this definitely won't be my last read from her.
4.5. stars!

Daughter of Wolves • Nicki Pau Preto

One phrase: feral forest girl meets dangerous woodsman 🌲🐺

Lua is a seventh born daughter, cursed and claimed by the dark forest after her family built on forbidden land.

Raised by the Wood, running with wolves, and watching the family who abandoned her, Lua wants nothing more than to belong. So when her childhood crush offers marriage and a place with her human family, she takes it.

But civilized life is not what she imagined.

By day, she tries to fit in. By night, she reports back to Thorne, the gruff servant of the Wood who keeps pushing her to stop pretending and embrace what she really is.

A shapeshifter.

I love the sound of this. Dark forest magic, wolf girl energy, shifting loyalties, lovers to enemies, forbidden duty, and a mysterious woodsman who is clearly more than he seems?

Say less.

✨ Tropes and vibes:
🐺 wolf shapeshifter FMC
🌲 dark forest magic
🖤 cursed daughter
💍 complicated betrothal
⚔️ lovers to enemies
🌑 mysterious woodsman
🔥 hidden identity vibes
🩸 duty vs desire
✨ feral FMC

📚 Read this if you like:
Dark romantic fantasy, enchanted forests, wolf shifters, feral heroines, dangerous bargains, complicated loyalties, and stories where the woods absolutely know more than they are saying.

This sounds wild, atmospheric, and deliciously dark.

#DaughterOfWolves #NickiPauPreto #RomantasyBooks #FantasyRomance #BookReview

I received and eARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley and this is my honest review.

- ☝️ single POV
- 🐺 wolves, woodsmen, humans
- ✔️curse
- 🤬friends to lovers to enemies
- ❤️ friends to anger to lovers
- ❤️‍🩹he takes care of her
- ☠️murder mystery

4.5 stars rounding up to 5

Reading the synopsis of this story and then actually reading it, especially with the connection to the land, I was heavily reminded of Where the Crawdads Sing. This book is very different, but had some of those dynamics that triggered me to think of Crawdads.

This book had a great blend of character development, romance, plot progression, and mystery. All of these pieces came together to create an intriguing story. The pacing was steady throughout, with things picking up toward the end.

The book started by dropping us directly into the MFC’s already established life. She was the seventh daughter, left to be raised in the woods by the wolves because the seventh son or daughter is cursed and given up to be raised in the woods. We were immediately shown how the MFC was struggling to find herself. She was raised outdoors as a wolf (literally shifted into a wolf), with the wolves, but was born human. She could shift between wolf and human form, but at some point, she could no longer shift back into a wolf. Therefore, she didn’t fully fit into her wolf pack, nor did she fit into her human family’s home. She just wanted to be accepted.

Because of her desperate need to be accepted, she tried to change who she was to fit the wants and needs of other people so they would want her. For example, in comes Cristiano, a wealthy, attractive man who looks for excitement. He was childhood friends with the MFC because she was different and a fun risk for him. He got a thrill out of her. As he grew into a man, he became more refined and clean; therefore, she did her best to match him so he would want her. When he wanted soft, she would shove down her more aggressive wolf tendencies to be soft for him. She never really got to be herself because she was so desperate to be accepted, and she feared Cristiano wouldn’t accept her for who she truly was.

Then, in comes Thorne, the less refined, rougher, edgier man, the Woodsman. Because of the MFC’s relationship with Cristiano and Thorne watching her sacrifice herself for Cristiano, it created a huge rift in Thorne’s friendship with her. Thorne knew who the MFC really was, and she never had to hide herself with him.

All of that was shown in the first chapter… I was immediately drawn in. I loved that we didn’t start the story reading about her being abandoned in the woods by her parents and raised by wolves. Instead, we were dropped right into her life as an adult and shown her need to belong. Excellent start!

As the book progressed, we were either shown or told about her past and what it was like for her. I will say, the author did an excellent job showing us the things that needed more nuanced detail, while lightly touching on things that weren’t as critical and required the reader to become more immersed in the story.

For example, I had questions about why the MFC would be interested in Cristiano despite everything she had been taught about humans. I was also very interested in learning why Thorne wasn’t close with the MFC anymore. I wanted to know their history. Well, to give us that information, there was a flashback chapter showing what happened between the MFC and Thorne, leading to her meeting and becoming interested in Cristiano. I really loved that. It happened early in the book, so I didn’t have to wait long to get those answers.

During other moments when we were given information without an entire flashback chapter, we were still given enough detail to understand how the MFC was thinking, feeling, and behaving. We weren’t simply told, “it was lonely,” while also not getting an entire flashback chapter.

Really, the author did an excellent job moving the current plot and timeline forward while flashing back in more or less detail to make sense of the current events. The author didn’t have to do that, we could have just been told what happened, but that would have taken away from the emotional impact of the story and the MFC’s experiences. I needed to understand the reasons why the MFC was thinking, feeling, and behaving the way she was beyond simply being told she was lonely and desperate to fit in. Taking the time to provide the backstory and details was important, and the way it was done felt thoughtful and just right.

Although the MFC was fawning over male attention, she was no pushover. For example, the MFC’s father was someone I just wanted to slap. He was constantly playing the victim, but I appreciated that the MFC had enough insight not to blame herself for her parents disowning her. She pushed back with witty and sassy comments. The same went for the MFC’s sister, Eva. She was such a judgmental and discriminatory person, and the MFC bit back with her sassy words. It was great!

The MFC’s character growth was substantial, and I really enjoyed watching it unfold. I appreciated that she had to learn through natural consequences and find herself along the way. I don’t think she could have grown the way she did if she hadn’t taken the journey she did.

Thorne and Cristiano were great MMCs in this book. They both added grit to the story. We were given more depth to Thorne, which left me wanting more information about Cristiano and why he was the way he was. Thorne had amazing character growth throughout the book, while Cristiano did not. The author did a great job sneaking in Easter eggs about Cristiano and who he truly was, as well as who he was working with. She did it so well that I saw everything coming, which was fine with me!

More about Thorne: he was the dark and brooding MMC. He had so much mystery that was slowly revealed over the book. We really got to know him and understood his motives for his behavior. Now, they didn’t justify his behavior, but we got to understand how we was coping and the decisions he made based on his trauma. No matter, he was always the stable foundation, secretly there to support the MFC no matter what.

More about Cristiano: I always knew that he actually did care for the MFC, but not in an empathetic and loving way, more controlling and obsessive way. He was a true sociopath that only cared about his own motives and end goals. The MFC was something (not someone) exciting that he obsessed over, and once he manipulated and maneuvered everyone to get what he wanted (her), followed by actually getting a taste of her, he was ready to move on, not caring what happened to her. He was a great antagonist that was slowly built up overtime and then revealed at the end.

I also really enjoyed the uniqueness of not having fated mates, but instead having a bond connected between a Woodsman and the seventh daughter or son.

The murder mystery was a fun addition to the story, and I loved that the MFC retained her heightened hearing and sense of smell in her human form. Those abilities were intertwined well into the story and helped her find answers.

Overall, this was a predictable yet very intriguing book. I enjoyed every step of the way, and I’m looking forward to book two!

Critique: the ending where the MFC found out a big secret and was angry at Thorne for a “lie by omission” and she thought how she hasn’t lied to him since they were kids. First, I was a little frustrated with her. The entitlement and drama of this was astounding to me. Not everything has to be shared all the time. It’s not always a lie and doesn’t need to be a “betrayal.” For real, they haven’t been close in ten years, he was working through some things internally, and she was ENGAGED to someone else. He didn’t owe her all information about his life at every moment. I just don’t get why characters written in books see information not given to them as a betrayal… Instead, when information is shown to them, they could take a deep breath, realize not everything is about them, and ask for more information to learn why they were not told earlier.

Second, the MFC was lying to herself that she never lied. If we want to talk about “lie by omission” (her words), well then she lied the whole book. She knew she loved Thorne but never told him because he left her under the net and then became a jerk. She later learned why he did that and she still didn’t tell him her feelings. Let’s be clear, she did not have to tell him, my point is the hypocrisy. She judged him for having information about himself he didn’t share with her, yet, which made her mad, all while she did the same thing, but lied to herself saying she had not done the same thing.

Anyway, this last part of the book was annoying. Thankfully, this wasn’t stewed on long and the book/MCs moved on quickly! No matter though, I appreciated that these characters were messy, had realistic arguments, making them relatable., and challenged themselves and each other to grow.

“I was a human child under the glow of the sun, and a wolf pup under the light of the moon.”

A dark fairytale where a love triangle happens between a boy who abandoned her and one who is dangerous, but frees her.

It’s like we were seeing through Lua’s life in the magical forest with her wolf pack, understanding the two connections between the MMCs, and discovering situations through Lua’s eyes to be questionable and how naive she was and the dangers of the human world. The wolf pack are so much more to this story in Lua’s life that is both mysterious and a different kind of magic.

She is the Seventh daughter that comes from a curse. A shape shifter. Taken to the Black Wood and born under the full moon. She is pack. She is of the Wood. But she is also part of the human world. But also all so lonely that made me want to give her a big hug 🥹

You feel Lua fantasize a life where she can have both, but ends up dreaming of where it all went wrong, of why she cannot choose.

The murder mystery brings a nice touch to this story that kept the atmospheric setting more live and interesting where you can pretty much predict of what was going to happen.

Our MMCs, Thorne the Woodsmen who has a connection to the forest. More on edge and then you have Cristiano that never truly saw Lua for who she is. He was wealthy, dangerous, but thrives on excitement.

You will grow to love or be frustrated with them because one feels like home while the other makes your heartache!

It was also fun reading this story and enjoyed how fast paced it felt! You got a great blend between character development, plot focus, and romance.

Thank you so much again to both St. Martin’s Press and Saturday Books for the e-galley! This was a highly anticipated read and loved it right from the beginning that took me by surprise! 🐺🤍

Daughter of Wolves follows Lua, a seventh-born daughter cursed and claimed by the dark forest. Raised as a shifter, she grew up running with wolves and spending her nights watching the family that discarded her at birth. When Cristiano, her childhood crush, proposes to her and offers her a place within her birth family, Lua is quick to accept. But the offer means abandoning her duty to the wolves, the Wood, and Thorne, the woodsman who broke her heart. Lua must choose who really has her heart: the humans or the Woods.

I am SO pleased one of my most anticipated 2027 reads ended up being a 5!! Nicki Pau Preto has definitely cemented herself as one of my favourites authors with this book! I absolutely adore her YA series and am now obsessed with her adult debut! While this does seem to stand on its own, I would absolutely LOVE a sequel. The world she created was so fascinating. I loved the fact that it’s Portuguese folklore inspired. The whole concept of the Wood being toxic to humans was super cool and the writing was so lovely and atmospheric.

I loved Lua!! She was such a great main character. I loved the depth of her struggle between her human side and wolf side. She definitely goes through a lot throughout the novel and becomes so strong and fierce. Her growth was so good for the book being only about 300 pages. I loved seeing her jump back and forth between her two families and who she chooses in the end is so perfect. Thorne was amazing. Incredible love interest. I am obsessed. I could read a million books with the two of them. It was a slow burn and it was drawn out so well.

I would highly recommend this if you love dark romantasy and folklore inspired stories!

Thank you to St Martin’s and Netgalley for the arc.

I devoured this book in 4 hours, I loved it so much!

I think Lua was a fun main character and I loved that she was taught both human and wolves sides growing up so it didn't feel like she was completley clueless, she was smart and it was believable as her being a badass MFC.

I did think some things were predictable but I ate it up anyway in 4 hours and now I don't know how I'm going to survive until book 2! I need it ASAP.

The Seventh daughter born into a family must be given to the Wood to be raised. You would think that would deter people from taking a chance at having a seventh child but it does not. Lua is raised by Wolf Mother and a witch. She is a wolf shifter that loses the ability to shift. The story is an example of cruelty and evil. My heart was broken multiple times and I found myself wanting to warn Lua. It was a beautifully written book based on folklore that will keep readers mystified.