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Texas Pack #1

Wolf Creek Alpha

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Can a witch accept that she's the mate to an alpha werewolf? Rafe loves her deeply, now he has to convince her.

Visiting her friend in the small east Texas town of Wolf Creek, Lisa is shocked when she learns that shifters are real, and even more shocked when a light Fae warrior informs her she's a witch. But this is just the beginning of her journey...

Werewolves, shifters, light and dark Fae creatures. Who knew?

She'd always been a little intuitive, a little bit different. But wasn't everyone?

Rafe is the alpha of the east Texas pack and according to him, her mate. Keeping his new mate safe from an evil Fae will take the strength of his pack and the help of their magical friends.

The Queen of Faery gave all shifters the ability to change their mates in the enchanted water. Lisa will have to decide if she wants to enter the water with Rafe and make the change to be come a werewolf and be his mate forever.

284 pages, ebook

First published July 1, 2012

115 people are currently reading
753 people want to read

About the author

Jo Ellen

6 books77 followers

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5 stars
359 (32%)
4 stars
312 (28%)
3 stars
254 (23%)
2 stars
116 (10%)
1 star
56 (5%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
25 reviews2 followers
March 27, 2015
Well...this was honestly very hard to read.

I'm a huge fan of paranormal, fantasy, romance stories, so put it all together I was excited to pick up this book.

Pros:
-Strong male lead
-Flawed female lead: in a good way, she had some snarky moments I appreciated but she wasn't afraid to admit that she could be a chicken.
-Attractive supporting crew
-Interesting story concept

Cons:

Okay *stretches out fingers* here comes the landmine.

This story was written...how do I say this nicely...very simplistically. Once I finished reading it I was shocked to see this author has published as many stories as she has, I can only hope for her readers that her writing has improved.
The writing was so bad that at one point I figured I must already have been halfway through the story...I was only 27 pages in.
Now, what I mean by poor writing is that this author didn't understand embrace the concept of "Show, don't tell."

Let me give you an example:

Jo Ellen's writing: Lisa was worried about Rafe.

How it should have been written: Lisa fidgeted in her seat, her thoughts continuously flitting back to Rafe. Was he okay? Why wasn't he back yet? She wasn't sure how much longer she could handle the impatience of not knowing.

Jo Ellen constantly just stated how the characters felt, but I wanted to feel what they felt! Was their heart pounding in their chest? Did they have to fight the urge to get up and pace? Okay, so this person was annoyed but did it make them just wrinkle their nose or want to punch something?

Then there was the continuous switching of perspectives as well as the flip-flopping back and forth of third person to first person narrative.

I enjoy reading from different characters perspective, but when the perspective changes from paragraph to paragraph with no clear transition it can be very disorientating and extremely frustrating as I constantly had to go back and re-read a section just to figure out whose perspective the story was being told from.

Then there's the whole issue of switching between third and first person narration. True, the author only use first person when trying to show a character's thoughts but there was no use of quotation marks to signify the beginning and end of a thought so once again I was disorientated wondering what was the character's thought and the story narration. And this happened a lot.

I won't even go in depth about the dialogue, but I will say there were only a handful of moments where the words didn't seem forced.

I will cut some slack for the inconsistent characters, just because I feel the author was trying to show the character responding to the whirlwind of events.

Overall, this story concept would have been utterly amazing if it had just been written with a bit more finesse. So read at your own risk.
Profile Image for April.
2,641 reviews176 followers
April 27, 2015
I really wanted to love this book, but there was just too much going on to follow. I like a complex read, but this was all over the place at times. I had to have my full focus on reading to not get lost.

The characters were kind of one dimensional. I wasn't getting a ton from them. I did like Lisa and all her sass. I liked her banter with Rafe, most of the time. For some reason I just wasn't vibing with this one. It happens, not every book connects with every reader.

The fae elements are way too vague. I felt the world building was haphazard, at best. I cannot say I have any understanding of how this shifter and fae world works. There are also major holes in the plot.

Part of my problem may have been that I listened to the audiobook narrated by Jonathan Waters. His read was oddly paced and not happy ears. I listened at every speed setting available, really hoping one would be great, sadly none of them worked out. The women's voices were an issue, big pet peeve with going too high and making them whiny.

Overall, this was disappointing on so many levels. I did finish the book, so it wasn't all bad. I don't think I will be getting the other books in the series, not for me I guess.

Disclosure – I received this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts opinions and ratings are my own. I was under no obligation to post a review or give positive feedback.

*** I hope this review was useful to you and helped your decision to read or not read this book. I love reading and sharing my opinions with other readers. I listen at double speed; all my impressions of the narration are from that setting. Thanks for taking the time to read my review! You can see more audiobook reviews on my blog www.eargasmsaudiobookreviews.com ***
Profile Image for DebbieReadsBooks.
2,769 reviews50 followers
December 18, 2013
2.5 stars
disappointed in this one, as a paid for book off my wish list. the blur sounded good, its been sitting on the list for a while, so after my birthday I bought it.

Lisa, on a visit to her friend, finds out about shifters, and magic, and that SHE has magic. She is part Fae. Rafe is the Alpha of the pack that guards the magic pond. Someone wants the pond, or rather, they are after Lisa, in a round about way. Rafe and Lisa turn out to be mates, and Lisa is fighting it all the way, as well as whats happening with the magic.

The writing is jumpy, it doesn't flow so well and some dialogue is very stilted. There were points were I had to reread previous paragraphs, cos I thought I had missed something explained, but it. It was just chucked in! Often, in the same scene, things are repeated a couple of times, and it got a little boring. The ending jumps on you, right at the last minute, which is not always a BAD thing, but it just felt like this author ran out of steam and rushed to get it into XXX number of words/pages.

There are others in this serious, but I don't think I will get them, or add them to my list, unless they become free.

sorry, but not for me.
Profile Image for Deborah.
3,848 reviews499 followers
March 20, 2015

It's ok.


This book wasn't quite what I expected, the synopsis sounded interesting although I'm not generally a fan of the fae I still decided to give it a try and while the idea in itself was ok the writing let it down, I suspect that this is the author's first book and I don't want to be too critical but I would suggest that before she adds anymore dialects to her books she does some research first because it was appalling and there's really no excuse for that.
The characters and the humour between them was good and the main reason I continued reading although in the end it all felt very anticlimactic.
Profile Image for Gloriamarie.
723 reviews
March 29, 2015
For the sake of charity, I am going to assume this author published a first draft and dispensed with the cost of a professional editor. It's a great pity that people, evidently bored stiff when their teachers attempted to teach grammar, decide as adults to become writers without taking remedial grammar classes. Or at the very least, pay for a professional editor who would let the author know, in no uncertain terms, that no one should ever use the expression "as to why" and expect people to pay good money for a novel.

This book abounds with egregious grammar and syntax errors. Is it really too much to expect "too" instead of "to" or "you're" instead of "your?" Or how about this gem of a sentence? "His father felt that, by his not being in the castle, the pack would begin to look to Rafe as their leader." An editor would have suggested that the sentence be rewritten thus: "His father believed that his choice to live elsewhere would encourage the pack to accept Rafe as their leader." Although why this was necessary is never explained.

I'll give one more example. "Ian went on to explain that there were records showing that Stephen had bought a gun. The same caliber as the one Rafe had been shot with." Obviously, the second portion I quote is a sentence fragment, rather than a complete sentence. An editor would have pointed out that a much less awkward and a far more readable construction would have been "Ian explained he had found evidence that Stephen had purchased a gun of the same caliber used to shoot Rafe."

The basic premise of the story appealed to me. I love a good wolf-shifter finds his mate trope. Sadly, this was not it. The book is a tease. Will they? Won't they? Eventually, when they do have sex, it is bland and one does not feel the wonder of the mating because this writer doesn't know that a good writer shows it and doesn't tell it.

The Fae Seelie/Unseelie good vs evil is always a good story but please spare us the fake accents. Has the author met anyone from Scotland who actually speaks in this ridiculous manner? It is such a cliche. By the way, the author consistently spells Fae, Seelie, and Unseelie with a lower case "f," "s," and "u" which is another mistake an editor would have caught.

It would have been nice had there been some character development. None of the people had any distinguishing personality traits. They were all the same identical people staggering around with different hair or eye color, genders or ages.

I am very grateful that I spent no money in the purchase of this book although I resent the three hours or so I invested in reading it. I'll never get that time back.
Profile Image for Julianna.
1,975 reviews13 followers
May 29, 2013
Another great free book! While the writing style was a little rough (a couple of instances where the story telling of two different perspectives for the same time was a little weird) the story was really good and will be looking into more from this author.
Profile Image for Lisa.
163 reviews5 followers
May 25, 2013
This was a free kindle book and a pleasant surprise. The authors style was a bit rough and even though the story didn't flow it was a great read.
Profile Image for Anna Røsten.
392 reviews1 follower
December 28, 2025
fucking bullshit. what you mean "i tried but can't get her off me" when ur ex starts kissing you and your mate is waiting for you at home!? Men!!!
Profile Image for April   ♥"LOS" ♥.
3,099 reviews61 followers
September 16, 2020
This book s the first book I’ve read by this author and I enjoyed it overall. Sometimes it felt like the story moved a little too quickly between characters but it didn’t stop me from enjoying the book. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series and watching the rest of the pack find their mates.
Profile Image for Meiwilli.
1,645 reviews5 followers
September 5, 2014
Nice idea but...Worst written story I've read to date! I like the "script". I will even say I liked the characters...That being said, that is ALL I liked. The author's use of "had" in every other sentence, switching between first and third person and basically writing as if talking ruined this one for me. For a tale of an alpha and his pack, it lacks any real challenge building to a climax let alone any detailed fighting or shifting. The only thing I can say about the Texas Pack is how domestic they are (they cook, they clean, they eat). The best written character is Robert--a fae! Rafe lacks depth and identity; Lisa comes across confused and flighty and all the other characters are just too good to be true (polite, understanding, non-confrontational). Even the "villain" is spared! Too much sap to try to digest. On my Were Scale of Hotness...0 stars.
Profile Image for Emily.
5,878 reviews551 followers
January 28, 2016
When Lisa arrives to visit her best friend, never in her wildest dream would she imagine that she would find out she is the mate to sexy alpha shifter Rafe. Rafe knows Lisa is human and would ordinarily take a bit of time to romance her but with a prophecy announcing a dark fae attack coming, he has to speed things up. Lisa finds out she has magic in her blood and is a witch, coming to terms that she is a mate, witch, and someone is out to get her is a bit too much but she is a tough girl and can take it as long as Rafe is by her side.

Overall I liked this story but it had a lot of extra details that at times felt unnecessary, needed to be paired down just a bit. Rafe was a sweet patient Alpha and he works with Lisa. Lisa is a hoot but she is not ready to just say "hey mate me." I think I would check out more from this author.
Profile Image for Birgit.
1,338 reviews17 followers
May 22, 2015
Not only shifters, but fae/fairies and witches as well, add to that a good plot and narration style, and you cannot go wrong with this book.
Although the language is sometimes very simple, fairy-tale like, on the whole it is adequate and keeps the reader glued to the book. The plot surprised me a bit, as it was not the usual human-meets-shifter and falls in love leading to mainly sex scenes, but apart from the two protagonists falling for each other, they also have to save the shifters and good fae from danger by dark fae - a refreshing change from the what I call "shifter-routine-novels". The leading and secondary characters were well developped, the dialogues were witty, and the whole book was fun to read.
I would not mind reading further sequels and see how the other characters fare.
Profile Image for Sadie Forsythe.
Author 1 book287 followers
Read
April 14, 2016
DNF at 10%

Nope, nope, nope
The writing is...not good. It's all tell and there is zero tension in anything as everything is just bluntly stated, before moving chunkily on to something else. I was willing to overlook the info-drop beginning, but it does not look to be improving.
Profile Image for Shay.
515 reviews4 followers
March 24, 2015
The story idea was interesting but I couldn't get past the awkward writing. The writer took two paragraphs to say what could be done in one sentence. Then the dialogue would almost repeat what had been said in the narrative.
Profile Image for Zoe.
339 reviews32 followers
June 4, 2013
The story was great, the characters were enjoyable. The only thing I that I could say negative was the dialogue felt a little robotic. Very good though.
Profile Image for Samantha.
20 reviews
January 2, 2017
I couldn't even finish the book. It had the potential to be good but it felt like it just rambles on with no point.
Profile Image for Emma.
461 reviews54 followers
November 24, 2016
I'm being genorous & giving it a four - it's even on my favourites shelf because apparently this book defies my sanity. This is the exception to the rule... of high quality loves on my favourites shelf. The ideas were good but the execution was less than great. It read more like a rough draft. You know when you start watching a movie on tv but you missed the first five minutes & it feels like you missed something imperative to the story and the whole way through you feel sort of lost? that's how this felt but worse. I feel like i've started on the second book in a trilogy or something without realising? anyway if there is a prequel or something please tell me. Other than what i've said to me it was an enjoyable read - also was worth far more than the dollar or so i paid for it on playbooks. so that comes into it as well. I enjoyed the diversity of characters... some things felt a but forced... the timeline/passing of time felt a but clunky & weird. there were quite a few laugh out loud moments which is always great. my particular favourite line i won't forget in a hurry was "i hope you choke on a furball you litter box whore" it still makes me chuckle. so the humor was redeeming. strangely the one thing that actually pissed me off and had me like wtf because there was really no reason for it was the stray kitten i mean ???? where is it? what's the point? there were breif mentions for no real rhyme or reason? i'm a car lover so any cat additions are great but i'm still confused? it should have been omitted completely or weaved through the story not forgotten about and locked in a strange room all day - its not a stuffed toy its a stray kitten more than your average or elderly cat its a baby so need even more affection than usual ugh whatever i'm getting mad thinking about it so i'll stop. the last issue was her beloved friend like ? how beloved of a friend is she if her whole family up and disappeer for the whole climax/danger of the book ? i get they have kids but ? i'm not sure if i glazed over the reason they up and left but i dont recall reasons or goodbyes about it? and another thing not only do they instantly disappeer they magically reappeer for the after party LITERALLY as soon as the danger is over... it felt like whiplash. if you take away those 2 things even with the strange execution of the novel this could've been an amazing book. as it stands its pretty average. but like i said at first for some reason despite All its faults i did like the world/idea/humor enough to remember/enjoy and add it to faves. i like it but i hate that i like it. it's like a dumb reality show a guilty pleasure and i cant believe i'm saying this but i want more.
Profile Image for Tammy Bulcao.
918 reviews11 followers
November 5, 2021
Great Paranormal Series!

I’m enjoying this series so much. It’s not just a shifter romance but so much more. Yes, the overall storyline is about the wolf shifters but there’s also, witches, seers, dragons, magic and more.
The male characters are big, bad and sexy as hell, but also charming and funny. The women are strong characters but willing to be protected as needed in a dangerous situation. This story is well written and easy to follow with a lot of mystery, magic, suspense and plenty of humor.
The narration performed by Jonathan Waters is absolutely stellar. When I’m listening to his narration, I’m in the story.
This is book 1 with an HEA and can be read as a standalone.
(There is a prequel to this series but not needed to enjoy this book.)
I highly recommend this book.

Sisters Spotlight 💜
Profile Image for Wide Eyes, Big Ears!.
2,631 reviews
November 12, 2021
When Rafe, alpha of the Wolf Creek pack, sees Lisa for the first time, he knows she is his fated mate. Since Lisa doesn’t even know werewolves exist, she’s going to take some convincing. She’ll take even more convincing when the pack realise she’s more than human herself. I love supernatural romances but this one isn’t going to win any prizes for feminist literature. I get that Rafe is pack leader but he was overbearing and condescending and the pack’s “protect the women” attitude grated. The info dump at the start was difficult to absorb. I also felt any setbacks resolved too neatly and timeline was too fast, the relationship heated up in mere days as did Lisa’s magical skills and abilities. This is an early work and the ideas were fine, I’ve just seen better execution - I suspect the books will improve over the series. Audio narrator Jonathan Waters performed well.
283 reviews2 followers
July 12, 2017
Different kind of shifter sory...cool

Lisa decided to go visit her friend in Texas. Her friend, Stephanie is married and both her and Colin are wolf shifters but Lisa doesn't know. Their alpha meets Lisa and immediately Rage knows she is his mate.
Rage and his pack are guarding a pond for the fairy queen.
Dunstan is a dark fae who needs Lisa and stalks her. His father is the ruler of the dark far and an evil man who also wants lisa. Lisa also learns a secret about herself but I won't ruin the surprise. Many twists and turns. Very different from the normal shifter books. Fun between the three brothers had me laughing. Can't wait to read book number two.
Profile Image for Pat.
37 reviews
August 11, 2024
An Alpha wolfshifter and witch walk into a ????

Book one of the Wolf Creek series. When Rafe, the handsome, strong and very protective alpha wolf shifter, who is leader of the pack, meets Lisa a beautiful, funny, defiant witch who uses her sarcastic, snarky humor to navigate their paranormal romance, you get a funny, combustible contemporary paranormal Romance.

The storyline was very good. I enjoyed the interplay between the various paranormal shifter characters and the interweaving of the various plot lines. I, especially enjoyed the humorous overtones and undertones of the storyline which incorporates werewolves and alphas, witches, Fae, Druids and wizards and shapeshifters. As you "travel" through the story, Rafe and Lisa mature and develop. They learn to respect and love each other finding the compromise between their two different personality types while never losing the spark her snarky, defiance and his over protective, tolerant/ intolerant personality creates.

I particularly enjoy the narration of Jonathan Waters. he does an excellent job in using very distinctive vocal performances for each character. I enjoy the subtle nuances of his presentation and narration. if you enjoy will shifter paranormal books, I believe you will enjoy book one of this series.

I received an audible free copy and voluntarily give my honest review.
Profile Image for Sharon Starr.
113 reviews
September 24, 2017
Obviously, I don't buy books unless I hope I will like them. I thought Jo Ellen had some good story building elements, but I'm guessing she is a young writer and still developing her craft.
I found the writing to be abrupt and choppy, which distracted me from the storytelling.
I think with experience and time, she has some good potential.
I had purchased a "pack" (heh) of the first 3 books. If I had not purchased the pack, I wouldn't have continued. I skimmed the first one due to the writing, and thought I would do the same w/book 2 & 3 since I had them. Pleasantly surprised that in the next two books she was beginning to find her voice, as they were starting to flow. Still has a way to go with typos and such, but I have no doubt if she went back and wrote book one again, it would be much improved.
I won't continue with this series, but glad to see the growth in storytelling.
Profile Image for Crystal Smith.
637 reviews16 followers
February 17, 2020
3.5 stars
Not a bad listen at all. Probably would have read better though. Narrator was pretty good...until he did the female characters. They weren’t bad but I felt like he switched to Mrs. Doubtfire mode for all the female voices. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I may continue the series because it’s pretty god actually. But I may just take a break first.
I received a code to listen for reviewing.
100 reviews
November 10, 2021
This little series is amazing. It is not what I expected. I was pleasantly caught off guard. The bothers are great. Lisa is funny and I love all their friends. Not a log story but still good. Lisa finding out about her past was done well. She reacted the way I thought a human would to most new things.
833 reviews6 followers
December 2, 2021
Stephanie's Best friend comes to visit and spend a couple of weeks with Her, Colin and the girls. Upon arriving and going to the local dinner they run into the Sheriff and he is smitten by this beautiful Redheaded Woman. The Narrator does (as usual) a Great job of bringing this story to life. I just love the Irish Lilt of the Fae characters done by Mr. Waters!!
Profile Image for Kathy Brickert.
3,479 reviews17 followers
April 8, 2018
Great story!

Wow, what an amazing new look for shifters and face! Loved the characters and the plotline. I just think someone as evil as Ciar would be harder to overcome. Hmmm . . . Will he be back? Good read!!
Profile Image for Jennifer Stokes.
179 reviews
December 30, 2019
Great read

I enjoyed this book. The flow was nice. A lot of characters but it was easy to keep track of who's who.

Girl meets alpha. Girl finds out her hidden talents. Bad guys and handsome hunks.
Profile Image for Shirley Bennett.
1,082 reviews8 followers
December 30, 2025
Fast, Fun read

shifter Wolves and shifter cougars, good & bad fae ! Rafe meets his fated mate and she's a surprise. Lisa is drawn into a whole new world! Everyone's here including a new witch! Secrets are uncovered Dark fae I brought over, & action packed all the way through!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews

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