Bliss is my favorite character in Melissa de la Cruz’s Blue Bloods series, so a novel starring Bliss and werewolves? Yes please!
While the Blue Bloods books are about teens facing a series of really big issues (serial killers, redemption, true evil) Wolf Pact covers different territory. The wolves are hell creatures, raised to be slaves. They’re the ultimate army of slaves since once they’re 16 they’re collared and their very minds are transformed from whatever they are into bloodthirsty beast who cannot deny their master’s orders. In a fun little twist (which can expected if you’ve read the other books because de la Cruz is a fan of injecting history into her stories) the lead wolf is Romulus, founder of Rome (which was also a big deal to the Blue Bloods, as it was the last place where Lucifer rose to power) who first sold his brethren out to Lucifer.
For continued power (and the promise of more) he continues enslaving the souls of his own brethren. In some ways this is a worse evil since Lucifer was built for pride, but Romulus willingly serves himself and his family up into slavery.
The wolves are not unaware of the situation. One teen is determined to break free of his destiny and take as many of his family with him as he can. Certainly he never wants to be collared or stripped of himself. But to do so he’ll have to fight his way past battle-mad packs of wolves that include people he grew up with. And he’ll have to face down Romulus, no matter what the cost.
The characters in Wolf Pact are a bit lower-strung (funny since wolves are supposed to be the beasty types and vampires are supposed to be calm manipulators, according to fiction standards at least) and they combine a lot better with Bliss and her insecurity yet drive. Since that’s what I found most charming about Bliss, I love the story with less jet setting and blistering romance and more survival and action. I definitely recommend this Blue Bloods add on.