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Leza of the Alpha Line
Leza is a proud member of her pack even though she is just seventeen years old. She one day dreams of being Head Alpha, but for now she thinks her uncle does a pretty good job. That is until their sister pack is attacked and Uncle suddenly isn't taking action.
Leza decides to help her uncle by tracking down the group that attacked, The Appointed, and leading the pack back to them; enacting justice for her people and all those who have been bullied by The Appointed.
Though her intentions were good, inexperience is her enemy and she is quickly captured by a member of The Appointed.
She's taken to their base camp where she has her first encounter with their leader, a powerful witch, Majie. Quick thinking helps Leza escape and she frees a prisoner of Majie's in the process.
The prisoner is a boy from the shape shifter community and inexplicably he and Leza share a magical connection.
Through everything, Leza learns some devastating truths and must find the strength to do what she feels is right.
Leza decides to help her uncle by tracking down the group that attacked, The Appointed, and leading the pack back to them; enacting justice for her people and all those who have been bullied by The Appointed.
Though her intentions were good, inexperience is her enemy and she is quickly captured by a member of The Appointed.
She's taken to their base camp where she has her first encounter with their leader, a powerful witch, Majie. Quick thinking helps Leza escape and she frees a prisoner of Majie's in the process.
The prisoner is a boy from the shape shifter community and inexplicably he and Leza share a magical connection.
Through everything, Leza learns some devastating truths and must find the strength to do what she feels is right.
203 pages, Hardcover
Published July 23, 2023
13 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Rachael Balke
1 book10 followersRachael made her publishing debut in 2023.
She was born in the Dallas Fort Worth area, then shortly after, her parents moved her back to the middle Tennessee area to be closer to family. She was raised all over middle Tennessee with her formative years spent in Manchester, Tennessee, and her adolescent years spent in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Rachael has loved writing and reading ever since she was a little girl. She started writing short stories in the second grade, then, in high school, she took her first creative writing class. As she grew older, she continued to write in her free time, but it seems like free time can dry up when you're a grown-up.
Her love of writing was reignited when she joined a creative writing class put on by her local library.
Rachael was awarded an honorable mention in the 2022 NYC Midnight Microfiction Writing contest, and can't wait to see where her writing takes her next!
When she isn't writing, Rachael enjoys playing video games, doing arts and crafts, hanging out with her husband, and loving on her two kitty cats.
She was born in the Dallas Fort Worth area, then shortly after, her parents moved her back to the middle Tennessee area to be closer to family. She was raised all over middle Tennessee with her formative years spent in Manchester, Tennessee, and her adolescent years spent in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Rachael has loved writing and reading ever since she was a little girl. She started writing short stories in the second grade, then, in high school, she took her first creative writing class. As she grew older, she continued to write in her free time, but it seems like free time can dry up when you're a grown-up.
Her love of writing was reignited when she joined a creative writing class put on by her local library.
Rachael was awarded an honorable mention in the 2022 NYC Midnight Microfiction Writing contest, and can't wait to see where her writing takes her next!
When she isn't writing, Rachael enjoys playing video games, doing arts and crafts, hanging out with her husband, and loving on her two kitty cats.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 31, 2023
I enjoyed this book. I look forward to reading future books by this author!
March 31, 2023
3.5☆
First of all, thank you so much to the author for trusting me with this ARC! 🤍
This is my first time reading an ARC and my second time reading an indie book, and I have to say I don't want this to be the last!
The beginning of the book was a bit confusing and everything happened really fast. However, as the book goes on, you can see the author explaining the events in more detail and you get to connect more with the story and characters.
During the first pages I thought the story would take one direction, more of an enemies to lovers sort of situation (iykyk), but in the end I'm really happy it didn't and I was SCREAMING when we got interactions between the couple 🤭
I also loved reading about the potions because it was something I'd never encountered before.
I wish we had gotten more descriptions during the battles/confrontations, since everything felt really rushed and the epic final battle was barely 2 pages. I would've liked to see everything happening and not just a beginning and end.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story and I had a fun time with the characters, but I would've liked to see more development to both the story and characters. I know this is the author's first book, and that's probably the reason why I felt this way, so I hope she keeps writing and making her books even better!
PS: I don't know why but this book gave me teen wolf vibes. Also, I really like the cover.
First of all, thank you so much to the author for trusting me with this ARC! 🤍
This is my first time reading an ARC and my second time reading an indie book, and I have to say I don't want this to be the last!
The beginning of the book was a bit confusing and everything happened really fast. However, as the book goes on, you can see the author explaining the events in more detail and you get to connect more with the story and characters.
During the first pages I thought the story would take one direction, more of an enemies to lovers sort of situation (iykyk), but in the end I'm really happy it didn't and I was SCREAMING when we got interactions between the couple 🤭
I also loved reading about the potions because it was something I'd never encountered before.
I wish we had gotten more descriptions during the battles/confrontations, since everything felt really rushed and the epic final battle was barely 2 pages. I would've liked to see everything happening and not just a beginning and end.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story and I had a fun time with the characters, but I would've liked to see more development to both the story and characters. I know this is the author's first book, and that's probably the reason why I felt this way, so I hope she keeps writing and making her books even better!
PS: I don't know why but this book gave me teen wolf vibes. Also, I really like the cover.
May 4, 2023
Leza of the Alpha Line is a great book that I enjoyed even more than I expected to! It's a well-put-together story that does a great job of paying attention to the small details and adding flair in that really helps immerse you into the world.
These little things are honestly one of the big highlights to me. The diversity of the island is very well represented through characters with different quirks, dialects, and accents, and the different communities with distinct cultures. There are also a ton of moments that hit hard with a range of emotions, and Balke does a great job of making the magic unique, interesting, and not totally overpowered but impactful all the same. Finally, the romance between the two main characters is great and they have certain moments between them that make your heart melt.
That said, there were a couple of times when I wished that certain scenes were longer. In my opinion, a couple of moments critical to the plot deserved a bit more page time, so to speak. These are still powerfully delivered, but maybe cut a bit shorter than necessary. Plus, I think there could have been more werewolf transformations and action, but even without a ton of it, the action was still there and exciting.
Overall, I enjoyed it a lot and I'd definitely recommend picking up Leza of the Alpha Line!
These little things are honestly one of the big highlights to me. The diversity of the island is very well represented through characters with different quirks, dialects, and accents, and the different communities with distinct cultures. There are also a ton of moments that hit hard with a range of emotions, and Balke does a great job of making the magic unique, interesting, and not totally overpowered but impactful all the same. Finally, the romance between the two main characters is great and they have certain moments between them that make your heart melt.
That said, there were a couple of times when I wished that certain scenes were longer. In my opinion, a couple of moments critical to the plot deserved a bit more page time, so to speak. These are still powerfully delivered, but maybe cut a bit shorter than necessary. Plus, I think there could have been more werewolf transformations and action, but even without a ton of it, the action was still there and exciting.
Overall, I enjoyed it a lot and I'd definitely recommend picking up Leza of the Alpha Line!
March 29, 2023
Great first story by a new author. The plot was interesting and the magical community where you have vampires, wolves, shifters and witches.
Leza is a wolf who is determined to find out who attacked her pack but gets captured. Along the way she meets new friends one being a shifter who she has some magical connection to. Could they be mates? The way this was written to explain this connection was beautiful.
My favourite character was Evander who I think is a sorcerer/witch he dabbles in potions, he showed a bit of sass and was quite funny! A very likeable character.
Ok so to the negatives, the reason for my 3 stars is I’ve read a lot of werewolf/shifter books and to me their was no connection around this. No shifting, no werewolf traits, no connection to her wolf which I found odd and a little disappointing. Nikolai did shift a couple of times into his animal but no description with these shift which I think is missing. Chapters were a little bit short.
Overall it was a quick easy read, nice style of writing, but I feel there is so much more potential with this story and with some tweaking on the details it could be great!
Thank you Rachael for the ARC 😊
Leza is a wolf who is determined to find out who attacked her pack but gets captured. Along the way she meets new friends one being a shifter who she has some magical connection to. Could they be mates? The way this was written to explain this connection was beautiful.
My favourite character was Evander who I think is a sorcerer/witch he dabbles in potions, he showed a bit of sass and was quite funny! A very likeable character.
Ok so to the negatives, the reason for my 3 stars is I’ve read a lot of werewolf/shifter books and to me their was no connection around this. No shifting, no werewolf traits, no connection to her wolf which I found odd and a little disappointing. Nikolai did shift a couple of times into his animal but no description with these shift which I think is missing. Chapters were a little bit short.
Overall it was a quick easy read, nice style of writing, but I feel there is so much more potential with this story and with some tweaking on the details it could be great!
Thank you Rachael for the ARC 😊
March 27, 2023
Wonderful book by a brand new, up and coming author. Powerful story line with an imaginative array of exciting characters! Look out JK Rowling, Rachael is coming in hot!
May 20, 2023
A fantastic supernatural story, the pacing and tone were just perfect, and the hint of romance added to the plot was tasteful. Leza's journey is captivating and drags you along willingly until the end of the book. The characters are well-written, and the dialogue flows well, so you don't get thrown out of reading a paragraph because something feels wrong. A 5/5 recommendation. If you love shifter stories, this one is for you.
April 10, 2024
🐺Alexa of the Alpha Line🐺
Anything that can give me a rush of my youth when I first got into wolfs, vampires, and witches is ALWAYS a good book in my heart. And that’s exactly what this book did for me!
It was quick paced at the beginning which is fine for me because for me real life moves quickly and it grabs my attention faster! But Rachael does go on to go more in depth and explain as you continue to read on!
This book will definitely having you thinking one thing but then it’s like no no no it’s actually thissssss yaknow?
I feel like reading a book about Evander and his potions and his sorcery would be really nice yaknow? Because I feel like it’ll bring me back to my Harry Potter or even Bonnie from Vampire Diaries era lol and there’s not many books out there about them.
And then explaining the shifts would make the book pop per se? Because when you watch a movie you’re seeing the shift happening in front of you and I kinda wanted that visual in my head while reading which is why I didn’t give it 5 stars just because for me being able to create the visual in my head while reading really makes a difference.
It’s always a pleasure reading an indie author’s work and again thank you SOOOO MUCH Rachael for letting me read this it was such a refresher and great palette cleanser!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
0/5 🌶️
Anything that can give me a rush of my youth when I first got into wolfs, vampires, and witches is ALWAYS a good book in my heart. And that’s exactly what this book did for me!
It was quick paced at the beginning which is fine for me because for me real life moves quickly and it grabs my attention faster! But Rachael does go on to go more in depth and explain as you continue to read on!
This book will definitely having you thinking one thing but then it’s like no no no it’s actually thissssss yaknow?
I feel like reading a book about Evander and his potions and his sorcery would be really nice yaknow? Because I feel like it’ll bring me back to my Harry Potter or even Bonnie from Vampire Diaries era lol and there’s not many books out there about them.
And then explaining the shifts would make the book pop per se? Because when you watch a movie you’re seeing the shift happening in front of you and I kinda wanted that visual in my head while reading which is why I didn’t give it 5 stars just because for me being able to create the visual in my head while reading really makes a difference.
It’s always a pleasure reading an indie author’s work and again thank you SOOOO MUCH Rachael for letting me read this it was such a refresher and great palette cleanser!!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
0/5 🌶️
April 15, 2024
2.5 stars-
This book is in need of an editor. Overall, there is a storyline, and it could be a great one but there were some major areas that need work. I understand this is a YA book, but even this YA book felt clunky and rushed. The descriptions were sometimes too vague ("I finished my point and sat down" ....um what whas the point though?) and sometimes it becomes over choreographed. I don't need to know every piece of clothing that someone puts on, or how they get from one point to the other.
Some areas that could use some major editing:
The beginning feels like an info dump. This should have been spread out over time, and delivered more creatively. Yes, there's a lot going on. We have vampires, werewolves, witches, etc. Find ways to introduce this information slowly so it's not overwhelming. I also noticed that Leza states it's easy to track vampires, and then maybe three paragraphs later she says it's hard to track vampires.
For the most part this book is in multiple first person POVs, which can be a challenge, but there are a couple of chapters that are in third person - one chapter in particular acts as if it is third person, but there's a random "my" thrown in there. I'm wondering if it changed at one point?
This could be a fun, adventure filled YA book, but it needs edits.
This book is in need of an editor. Overall, there is a storyline, and it could be a great one but there were some major areas that need work. I understand this is a YA book, but even this YA book felt clunky and rushed. The descriptions were sometimes too vague ("I finished my point and sat down" ....um what whas the point though?) and sometimes it becomes over choreographed. I don't need to know every piece of clothing that someone puts on, or how they get from one point to the other.
Some areas that could use some major editing:
The beginning feels like an info dump. This should have been spread out over time, and delivered more creatively. Yes, there's a lot going on. We have vampires, werewolves, witches, etc. Find ways to introduce this information slowly so it's not overwhelming. I also noticed that Leza states it's easy to track vampires, and then maybe three paragraphs later she says it's hard to track vampires.
For the most part this book is in multiple first person POVs, which can be a challenge, but there are a couple of chapters that are in third person - one chapter in particular acts as if it is third person, but there's a random "my" thrown in there. I'm wondering if it changed at one point?
This could be a fun, adventure filled YA book, but it needs edits.
April 25, 2023
Highly Recommend!!Loved the characters and entrancing world building💞
Leza of the Alpha Lane is about a young werewolf girl fighting against the divide between magic races and the appointed. She has to lead with confidence despite her inexperience.
A wonderful short read if you're looking for one. Can't wait to see what Rachael's writing talent becomes😌❤️ amazing start to a great novelist's journey!
Leza of the Alpha Lane is about a young werewolf girl fighting against the divide between magic races and the appointed. She has to lead with confidence despite her inexperience.
A wonderful short read if you're looking for one. Can't wait to see what Rachael's writing talent becomes😌❤️ amazing start to a great novelist's journey!
May 18, 2025
This novel was short enough to be enjoyable but could have been so much better had it been a bit longer. It felt very rushed and I didn't get any depth to the storyline and or characters. Leza and Nickoli could have been adorable but their relationship lacked something too. I wish there was just more details to build the characters and world.
Overall I enjoyed some aspects to the book and it being a quick read kept me going.
Overall I enjoyed some aspects to the book and it being a quick read kept me going.
April 9, 2024
For a YA book it was great not my cup of tea but I did like the fact that Rachael didn’t put a lot of PDA. I love how the MCs didnt know what the lights were and how she didn’t focus on a mate bond.. I did have a little trouble keeping interested in the book with my ADD but I pushed through and loved the ending. The chapters are little and it is a fast read if you get into it quickly.
November 13, 2024
I purchased this book at comic con event direct from the author. It was a cool experience to be able to buy from her directly.
The book was a quick easy read. I think my kids will also like it when they are older.
The world in the book was interesting and if there are anymore in the series would love to see some more world building. I liked the aspect of potions.
The book was a quick easy read. I think my kids will also like it when they are older.
The world in the book was interesting and if there are anymore in the series would love to see some more world building. I liked the aspect of potions.
March 28, 2023
What a great story. If you like fantasy and supernatural with a sprinkle of romance this is the book for you. I differently recommend it to all my friends!!
October 23, 2023
Awesome read
Very talented new author. Great fantasy story. I can't wait for more books to come. Very highly recommended for all ages.
Very talented new author. Great fantasy story. I can't wait for more books to come. Very highly recommended for all ages.
May 25, 2025
Such an interesting world and plot.
However it was so short that there was little time to fully explore the characters and the build up of the relationships.
However it was so short that there was little time to fully explore the characters and the build up of the relationships.
July 23, 2023
This was an awesome story it was a quick read for me I was confused at the beginning but as you read the story it all comes together I loved the potions and descriptions that was awesome the wolfs the vampires witches it really came together
January 1, 2025
In 3 Words: Enjoyable, Quick, Potential
Fave Quote: The sun foretold death, as did the summons of war
I liked the inclusion of different languages, particularly from the French vampire André. It was nice to see different cultures coming together within this magical community, especially how the werewolves were so traditional while the shifters had more modern lifestyles. This story was a quick, enjoyable read, and it could've been fantastic with a better editor. There were 3 POVs involved. 2 of them were in 1st person while the other was in 3rd, and I found the inclusion of the 3rd person POV confusing. The ending was anti-climatic and didn't fully wrap up the character arcs. However, there were fun pieces of worldbuilding that added to the story, like the witches using fire to creating pictures
Fave Quote: The sun foretold death, as did the summons of war
I liked the inclusion of different languages, particularly from the French vampire André. It was nice to see different cultures coming together within this magical community, especially how the werewolves were so traditional while the shifters had more modern lifestyles. This story was a quick, enjoyable read, and it could've been fantastic with a better editor. There were 3 POVs involved. 2 of them were in 1st person while the other was in 3rd, and I found the inclusion of the 3rd person POV confusing. The ending was anti-climatic and didn't fully wrap up the character arcs. However, there were fun pieces of worldbuilding that added to the story, like the witches using fire to creating pictures
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews