Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I had the possibility to read it thanks to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books. And damn, I never thought I would love an alpha shapeshifter romance but here we go. The story is just great, and I really loved how the alpha theme is approached. The fact that the alpha is a woman and a lesbian who just got out of a toxic pack, allows the story to put into perspective the issues of alpha and omegas worlds. Also one of the main characters being a trans woman means a lot because I don’t see a lot of supernatural, cliché, cheesy, and sexy stories with trans lesbian main characters.

The characters are great, the themes too, and a lot of emotion. I want to read more about all of the characters. I will definitely read Heather’s story!

Wolf shapeshifter with transgender MC! I've read a few reviews and can not tell how giddy I was when I received this ARC. And I enjoy it a lot!!

This is a paranormal shifter romance set in a small town. I love the first half of the book, Elena Abbott built a fantasy world that really intrigued me. But there are a few miscommunications that frustrate me, and the visit from the toxic ex felt forced.
I enjoyed it overall, and I'm looking forward to learning more about Heather McKenna in the next book!

An exciting but unique paranormal shifter romance. The main characters were good, and I enjoyed the pace of the story. 4 stars, I recommend.

Thank you, Bold Strokes Books, and NetGalley for this ARC.

"Pack of Her Own" by Elena Abbott is a beautifully crafted queer, paranormal with wolf-shifting story that explores the complex themes of identity and self-discovery. The romance between Natalie and Wren is is sweet and tender, and their chemistry is palpable. The absolutely acceptance of a trans MC and found family theme makes this a truly heartwarming story, despite the drama and challenges faced by our two MCs. The only downside is that the pacing can feel a bit slow at times. Nevertheless, it's an excellent read for anyone who enjoys a thought-provoking and engaging tale.

ARC provided by NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books. Review written voluntarily.

3.75 stars. I’m a big fan of shifter books and this book is a very nice addition to the genre. I enjoyed it and if you like shifter books, there is a high chance that you’ll also enjoy this as it has many of the themes generally found in the genre. It’s a little bit different from other f/f shifter books out there though as one of the MCs is a trans woman, I would also like to put this in the NA genre, more about that later.

Natalie and Wren are both trying to find themselves, they are cast-outs for different reasons. Natalie has just been dumped by her girlfriend with who she was in a very toxic relationship, and she lost her spot in college. She sees her whole future going down the drain, and she struggles with being accepted as a trans woman, therefore never fully trusting that someone would want her.
Wren is an Alpha wolf and therefore doesn’t adhere to the standard of a submissive female wolf shifter and she is pushed out of her pack for it. She has built a new life for herself, but swears to never want to be dominant over anybody else. No matter how lonely she is, she won’t start a pack and dating humans is far too complicated.

We’re talking about a shifter book so there is instant attraction and the romance quickly moves into more, which is something of a given in this genre. It’s the only genre that gets away with this, where I actually like it, because of the whole fated mate thing. As mentioned earlier I would also put the label NA on this as the mains are both in their twenties, but perhaps more because of their behavior and that was the only thing I didn’t particularly enjoy about this book. I often struggle with NA books, as I tend to find the MCs very irresponsible and self-centered. That is what happened here too to some extent. The characters in this book felt immature at times by running away from their responsibilities and they seemed to wallow in self-pity, there was also some lack of communication. Obviously, there is a lot of angst which I generally like, but here it irked me at some points. While I did not like these things, it didn’t ruin the story for me.

I love a good action storyline and there is quite a bit of action which involves other shifters, I won’t say more because of spoilers. The story is set in a small town where also other paranormal beings live, like vampires and ghouls and I liked how magic is also interwoven in this world. I found some of the other characters very interesting and would like to read more about them in the future, it felt to me that this book is a perfect start for a series.

All in all, this was a good entertaining shifter book. It perhaps doesn’t stand out too much from other shifter books, but it’s entertaining and fans of the genre will likely enjoy it, and if this will become a series, I’ll read it.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Having a date with a human on the night of the full moon? Any other wolf would call me crazy."

Completed my first book for the #transrightsreadathon 🏳️‍⚧️

A Pack of Her Own by Elena Abbott is a paranormal shifter romance. After Natalie Donovan is dumped unceremoniously by her long term, and toxic, girlfriend her boss lets her borrow her cabin in the mountains to heal. Natalie's nowhere near ready for a new romance but when her neighbor Wren Carne shows up on her doorstep with a welcome dinner the attraction is instant, Soon the pair are fighting to understand the strength of their bond, and the outside forces trying to tear them apart.

This book is a mix action, paranormal, and romance. Natalie’s journey was very engaging to watch and I loved their relationship.

Technically, Pack of Her Own follows a lot of well-tread paths of your typical paranormal romance. But, especially with so much transphobic legislation being introduced as of the year of this review, a paranormal romance with a transgender protagonist feels refreshing and kinda punk rock.

There is a certain emotional weight that elevates Pack of Her Own from the average supernatural romp. Like when the inevitable third act break up occurs, human Natalie believes it occurs because she is trans (her werewolf lover actually is afraid their relationship will result in harming the very human Natalie) and instead of the breakup feeling like a melodrama it feels gut-wrenching and tragic.

Abbott is able to take the tropes we all know and work them in a way that makes sense. Like insta-love, the human running blindly ahead into paranormal danger, the supernatural love interest wrecking their relationship instead of talking about the danger to their human love interest, etc. Occasionally we go into paranormal romance pseudo-logic that makes you go “huh???” but if you forgive it and go along for the ride, this book is fun and enjoyable. Like how the plot places the romance at the center of everything, the reality antagonists’ actions are mostly to thwart the relationship. But why not romp and play in this ridiculous genre? Abbott and character Natalie are both transgender lesbians, and it has to be making her own mark on paranormal romance.

Every transgender person’s life and views are different, obviously, but some of the descriptions with Natalie opened up a way of owning her body that I haven’t thought of before. Funnily enough it’s during a sex scene, but the way Natalie owns her own descriptions of her body is so liberating.

[Side rant. This is the second book I’ve read recently where one character makes dangerous decisions while the other main character is driving. It annoys me to my core. But that’s a really personal reaction.]

Thankfully, all of the harmful actions and opinions are challenged actively in the book.

Both love interests have good character arcs in the book, and we see bits of other supernatural creatures in this welcoming forest town. I would love to see this become a series. I definitely enjoyed this more than the Sookie Stackhouse series, both of Richelle Meade’s adult paranormal romance books, the Black Dagger brotherhood series, and most other adult paranormal romances that I’ve read so far. However, I’m not as drawn into this genre so my docking of points comes more from personal preferences not the objective quality of the work within its genre.

7/10 I’d like to see where this road goes.

4.5/5 stars! Ok; so first of all, I hate the cover of this book. Now that that's out of the way, I loved almost everything else. This story felt so fresh and unique. I loved that there was queer representation in a normally "alpha male" category of writing. The author created something truly special with Natalie and Wren. Will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books by Elena Abbott.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

Really good paranormal story. Natalie who's transgender is really sweet and self conscious about people not excepting her for who she is and struggles when anyone shows her any kindness. Wren is a wolf shifter that doesn't have a pack and she likes it that way. When these two meet its sparks at first sight with quite a bit of angst, drama and violence thrown in. This story was action packed from beginning to end and had me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole story. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and family and I look forward to what's next from this author.

A very bad breakup and emotional turmoil has Natalie Donovan with her back to the wall. Then she is offered one month's free use of a cabin by a friend. The nearby small town of Terabend has a lovely diner and Wren Carne is the owner. She is an alpha wolf shifter who keeps an eye on things and wants her town to remain nice and quiet. When they meet, Natalie and Wren are perfect together. Both have had toxic relationships but the attraction is evident from the start.
The MC's of a trans woman and a wolf shifter, vampires and other side characters are well written. The sex is hot and established norms in shifterdom bucked in this up and down romance. There are fights with trespassing wolves and some drawn out angst but all in all I think we have a good start to a possible paranormal series.

An entertaining, enjoyable read! The book was very fast paced and kept me turning on pages for hours. And I was very happy to see the trans representation here, which is not something I often find. I also quite liked the main characters (even though they could've been better developed, in my opinion).

There were a few issues with the book, which is why this is not a five star rating. Namely, the were a few plot points that felt quite forced, such as the visit from Misty, the miscommunication and the panther-shifter thing. I had a bit of trouble connecting with the romance, too, and sometimes the writing felt somewhat fanfic-ish.

Still, overall it was a fun, fast, engaging read and I'd recommend it for anyone looking for a light, diverse read.

rounded up to four stars.

this has all the staples you would expect from a paranormal romance. The town Natalie runs away to is full of interesting, quirky characters. The romance that develops between her and Wren is sweet and later on gets angsty as well. The shifter lore is very cool; I loved how nothing was treated as completely known or solved and how Wren was rebelling against the established rules.
I feel the weakest part was act 3 and how that all unraveled in the end.

Natalie needs to get away from her life in the city, because she needs to get away from her toxic ex-girlfriend and because she wants to find herself. When she arrives in Terabend, she meets Wren. Wren is an Alpha without a pack. She tries to protect her territory without causing any drama. What happens when Wren discovers that Natalie is her One True Mate and on top of that, that her mate is a human?

I really enjoy the fated mates trope and I really love werewolf stories. In addition this book has lesbian and transgender rep! So I was really excited to start reading this book!

Unfortunately I was a bit disappointed after I finished the book. The book wasn’t necessarily awful, but I didn’t enjoy it. It felt like the author had a few scenes really well thought out and the rest of the book felt like filler scenes.

Besides that, the conversations between the characters didn’t feel natural (I know it is a supernatural book hahaha) to me. I can’t put my finger on the reason why, but it just didn’t flow right sometimes.

And I had one little ick throughout the book. In most books that I read with werewolves, the mate of the Alpha is a Luna(/Luno), but in this book they were called Lupa/Lupo. That is just a personal ick.

Pack of Her Own is written by Elena Abbott and will be published on March 14 2023.

Thank you to the publisher Bold Strokes Books for providing this book through @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story about Natalie, a transgender woman, who has had a very difficult life as a teenager and young adult. She recently broke up with her girlfriend of 8 years. She feels alone and rejected by everyone she knows. Wren is a werewolf who owns a diner in a small town.

The town is populated by a bunch of paranormal people who all work together when they are threatened by outsiders. Lots of fun and interesting characters.

Wren and Natalie have instant attraction even though they both keep their true selves a secret for the first half of the book. I liked the action scenes and Wren’s wolf was very powerful and she learns to be leader as the story progresses.

The sex scenes were unique for me and definitely hot. Abbott did a great job on developing the emotions and intimacy between Wren and Natalie.

The town doctor is a vampire and friend to Wren. She enhanced the story and was a steady and calm person who healed the MCs when they were injured and gave good advice when needed.

Throughout the book Wren constantly is worried about endangering Natalie and resists her growing love for her true mate because of it.

ARC received from Net Galley for an honest and voluntary review.

This was an excellent sapphic shifter romance with a trans main character.

Natalie is struggling with the end of a long-term relationship that was very toxic and controlling and where she was made to feel bad about herself and her identity. Hearing her backstory made you really sympathize with her and want her to find happiness. I was so angered about her treatment by her ex! So I was very invested!

Enter Wren, a wolf shifter who escaped a pack and has her own history of toxic control she is trying to distance herself from. The two are immediately attracted to one another, and have a lot of similarities which makes them a perfect match, and maybe even fated mates.

I liked the lore of the town of supernaturals to discover, and hope to learn more about the host of side-characters, perhaps in future installments!? I like the world building that has started here, and can easily see many intertwined stories for this location and other characters.

I did struggle a tiny bit with the push and pull effect that went on, that whole "I'm pushing you away to protect you" black moment thing. It did spiral into a slight bit of melodrama by the end, evil vindictive ex showing up and all - which I did find a bit cliche and cringe - all straight from the lesfic playbook - but overall it's a really solid story, with likable characters you really root for, and a world with other characters we can discover more from, later.

I would recommend it if you're into shifter stories, supernatural stories and stories about a trans-woman and her alpha finding their happiness together, and moving on from past traumas.

Natalie Donovan needs a break from her life, all of her life. Couch surfing after her ex threw her out of their shared home, Natalie could not turn down the offer to stay at a cottage for a month. For free.

Lone werewolf Wren Carne knew Natalie was struggling with personal issues the first time they met at Wren’s diner. Yet her wolf was attracted to Natalie from the very beginning and this Wren could not allow to get out of control. Wren did not want a pack or a mate.

Pack of Her Own is a well written paranormal romance. Abbott creates a world where vampires, werewolves, witches and ghouls walk unknowingly amongst humans. She has built an engaging and diverse cadre of characters surrounding Natalie and Wren and a story you want to stay up late into the night to finish.

I received a free advance review copy from Bold Strokes Books through NetGalley. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

While I absolutely love queer shifter stories, and really wanted to like this because of the transgender rep, I had trouble getting into. Some parts like the dreams felt clunky and it felt kind of rushed overall so I couldn't really become invested in the relationship. I've seen others have glowing praises for the story, so it just might be that this isn't my cup of tea.

A pack of her own tells the story  of  Natalie Donovan a woman who needs a break to get over the break up of  long term relationship and takes up her boss on her offer to take a break at their cabin in a small town.  The last thing she wants is a new romance but she is instantly captivated when she runs into Wren the local diner owner.  The only problem is that now she is up to her ears in shape shifter conflict, and she is not sure what effect coming out to her new girl friend will have on their budding relationship.

Elena  abbot’s latest work seems to have been designed for me,  strong female lead (check),  supernatural drama and action (check) and a honest depiction of issues that transgender people deal with (check).    She tells the story from alternating points of view in each chapter letting us see the plot develop from both Natalie and Wren’s  side. It is a nice touch and lets the reader connect with the characters.   There are points in the story especially the beginning where there are moments that feel like just a big exposition drop without much context that threw me off a little bit. But at the end of the I was there for love story between Wren and Natalie and that part I loved.   The pair had both experienced trauma and it was dealt with in a honest but still hopeful manner. 

If you like your paranormal with a big helping of romance and action this is one you need to check out.

The book will be released on March 16, 2023  and you can get a copy at https://www.bellabooks.com/product/9781636793702/

Thank you NetGalley for providing this e-ARC, all opinions are my own.

I liked this book a lot!
We have a sapphic love story involving fated mates and werewolves, what more could you want ?
This book was well written and sucks you in right away. I liked Natalie from the start, her story, her pain, all of it was well done and understandable. It is shown really well how strong she is and how much she had to go through in her life. The relationship between the FMCs felt real and the fated mates trope makes it even better. In addition everything about the small town and the people in it was very intriguing and I would love to read more about them.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes werewolf love stories, the fated mates trope and cute mystical small towns.