*Review* A Pack of Vows and Tears by Olivia Wildenstein 🐾

• Theme: A sexy, modern New Adult werewolf romance full of secrets, betrayal, Alpha males and hilarious characters.
• Nature of Review: I ABSOLUTELY love Olivia’s novels, even though I haven’t gotten to read them all yet, I am obsessed with her writing and creative twists on themes I love. I pre-ordered this book and the next weeks ago!
• Release Date: A Pack of Vows and Tears released a full two weeks early, on May 28. The first book in this series, A Pack of Blood and Lies, was released in April (you can find my review here). All three books in the trilogy are available on Amazon in paperback or eBook format, with book 3, A Pack of Love and Hate, scheduled to release in August (here’s to hoping it comes early!🤞🏻).
• Warnings: APOVAT is fairly tame in terms of triggers for a it’s NA rating. If any, I’d say violence and gore, talk of abuse/assault and murder, language and sexual content. But it is not in any means a dark novel, nor is it all flowers and puppies either (get it… puppies?😉), it’s New Adult rating is self-explanatory.

“There were some lines that shouldn’t be crossed. I’d rearranged those lines… but after today, I would paint new ones around myself and wouldn’t let anyone undeserving past them.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*Spoilers is you haven’t read book 1, A Pack of Blood and Lies! *

Picking up right after the events of A Pack of Blood and Lies, Ness finds herself torn when the mating link clicks into place between her and August. Liam has just been sworn in as Alpha, and him and Ness have gone through hell to end up together. But August has been by Ness’s side since she was a child, and hasn’t been able to stop thinking of her since she came back to Boulder, even when stationed overseas. With the love triangle hard at work pulling at our heartstrings, the three wolves have to face the actions and feelings that have lead them to where they are today.

Even though her mating link is high up on her list of issues, Ness’s family has been torn apart after Everest’s betrayal. Left to pick up the pieces her cousin left behind, Ness can’t help but wonder what caused him to stray from the pack. The secrets we thought we had answers to continue to unravel, and Ness finds herself digging deeper into the investigation herself with unforgivable consequences.

A Pack of Vows and Tears is another heart-breaking novel of love, family, and loss, but with hilarious and tender moments in between. With another cliff-hanger ending, fans of the Boulder Wolves will be left wondering who will survive the finale, and who will finally get their happy ending.

“…Like mom used to say, best way to chase away a bad memory is to make a new one.”

Okay, disclaimer: there will probably be spoilers in my review/rant and I’m not responsible for my emotions right now (Olivia Wildenstein is.) And I’m totally biased. You will see as I continue to type.

So to start, this book was everything I wanted after APOBAL, plus more. All of my favorite elements were there, which Olivia writes in so perfectly it’s as if I could be there with the characters. The heart-warming friendships, the frustrating but sexy Alpha males (and not just the Alpha male), the hilarious attitudes (so much attitude), the perfectly timed reveals, the back and forth dialogue that makes you really understand the characters, the sad moments and the happy moments and the fun moments and the scary moments. Everything I love about a novel is in this series, and I’m always left needing more, but I’m never left confused or disappointed.

I did not expect there to be so many more layers to the secrets and backstories from book 1, and was pleasantly surprised at where it took us this time. Just when you thought there couldn’t be more that Ness didn’t know- APOVAT arrives and make us look like damn fools, showing us we don’t know shit after all. The betrayals just build and build and the answers we thought we had become more complicated in this book, and it was so damn mysterious. And Ness reacts to these reveals like a normal human (or werewolf, I guess), and I love being inside the head of a relatable, reasonable, hilarious character.

“You’re like a fairy godmother. Except instead of little wings and a gray bun, you have sharp claws that can shred a man’s throat, and a sharper attitude that can shred his ego.”

Here is where I’m probably going to give some spoilers, while discussing characters. So, I’m just going to say this here and now, loud and clear: August wins. He always wins in my head. He is just so… everything. He’s not perfect, but he is mature and ready to give himself fully to Ness. He doesn’t use power or influence or secrets against her, he treats her with tenderness and respect but also knows she can handle her own, and does not get in the way of that.

Meanwhile, Liam dug himself a goddamn grave during most of this book, and might as well have just built himself a casket so he could rest comfortably in his ever-growing hole of lies and insecurities and douchebaggery. There. I said it. Good for him if he redeems himself in the end of the series, but I don’t think he can ever change for Ness and be right for her, like her mate already is. Maybe he needs his own mate in order to truly understand his wrongs and to trust another person. But please, please for the love of God, don’t ruin their wonderful relationship for your selfish, possessive feelings. 😑

“If you kiss me, then you can’t leave,” he murmured. It took me a moment to make sense of his words… “Because you can’t feed a starving man, then take away his food.”

I think I’m spent from releasing all that emotion. I loved this book, I live for this series. I know book three is going to be full of more emotion but I just can’t wait. I can honestly say, this is my favorite series and one of the best I’ve read it a long time. I can’t get enough, I’m the one f*cking starving right now after this incredible novel. 😩

Let’s end off with Ness’s words of wisdom…

“If today had taught me anything, it was that life was too short to worry about what others thought.”

Preach 🙌🏼

Oh, and Olivia?

Ok I’m done 😂