First Howling

The Lycan Academy #1

by Mazzy J. March

My first shift unleashes me. Mating one won’t be enough.

The Volkov Four are the hottest guys at the Lycan Academy. A school just for wolf shifters, all of whom are genetic shifters except one. Me. I’m a bitten wolf, one whose story does not have the history of any of the others.

Shifters have one rule.
Thou Shalt Not Bite a Human.
But someone did, as evidenced by the deep scar on my thigh. And my sudden interest in breakfast meats.

Every girl at the Lycan Academy would jump at the chance to date any of the Volkov brothers. They’ve never shown a female any romantic intentions. But, for some unfathomable reason, they have turned their attention—all of them—to me.

These shifter girls’ claws come out when they realize the brothers have a taste for me. They bark, but I don’t think they´ll bite—hopefully.

But they’re nothing compared to the shadow that hangs over the entire academy. A force nobody wants to talk about but whose evil can be felt in the corners of the ancient structure. The professors hint at it, the students speak of it in whispers…and I feel a chill in the marrow of my bones whenever I pass a certain hallway. It would be easier to protect myself if I knew more, but nobody will tell me.

The Volkovs insist they’ll make sure I’m safe, but it’s not enough. After all, I don’t even know which one is mine because I want them all.

With each passing day the shadow grows. Soon it will encompass the school and everyone in it. Maybe even more than that.

First Howling is a paranormal shifter academy romance with four of the sexiest guys ever and a brand new shifter finding her way in their world. It’s book 1 of the Lycan Academy, and the heat and suspense will climb with each volume. This slow-burn reverse harem romance will make readers crave more with every page.

Genres: Reverse Harem, Paranormal, Shapeshifters, Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Why Choose

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Mazzy J. March is a fan of all things paranormal--shifters, vampires, witches...dragons and all the many creatures that inhabit the world beyond the ordinary. She has been plotting her Academy stories for a long time and is thrilled to finally have them releasing and ever grateful to the readers who are offering such support and helping her dreams come true.

Reviews

[Georgie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m honestly not sure how I finished this book. It’s a walking trope and cliche that the author knew they wanted but never thought to consider how they fit together. It makes the story feel very disjointed.

Example: Nora (FMC) in the first few chapters goes on and on about how much she loves her aunt and how close they are. Halfway through the book it’s revealed she hasn’t talked to her aunt for more than a week ‘because she forgot’. Nora’s actual backstory is never delved into. I mean I know she has an aunt but is she orphaned - what happened to her parents?

The entire story reads like a plan for the story. Then this happened and after this happened. All tell no show. The bite is one of those moments. A wolf basically walks up to her, she falls onto her ass and the wolf starts licking her leg then it bites her. The bite is described in the same way one would imagine a pinch or a paper cut - unexpected but not a load of pain. The story continues with her running indoors, the author completely forgetting that moments ago Nora was terrified to move and also somehow forgot to say what happened to the wolf. One moment there, gone the next.

And now, onto the harem. There are so many problems that I’m not even sure where to start. Firstly, to give the impression that these brothers are Russian, basically every single thing they say lacks and articles or pronouns. Seriously I’m pretty sure these guys are fluent with what they talk about - just speak normally!

- They also have a cabin in the woods next to the school, no explanation why they’re allowed or why the house is there.
- The beginning of the school setting has one of the brothers hated and apparently ‘in a lot of trouble’, this is promptly forgotten/ignored.
- When Nora and her aunt found out that she was a Wolf, they just kinda shrugged it off - almost as if putting a realistic reaction was too much effort for the author.

Don’t forget we have the classic bitchy girls as well.

Overall this story was a mess. I couldn’t distinguish any of the brothers; Nora’s personality changes so much I thought she had multi-personality disorder at one point; every single fact was introduced as if we already knew it, but then shortly forgotten. The only saviour for this book is the fact I love wolf-shifters as a genre.

[Brianna Belbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an really good start to the Lycan Academy series. Nora has lost both of her parents and is living with her aunt; they don’t have much, but they do what they can to scrape by. On Nora’s eighteenth birthday, she is bitten by a wolf and starts to transition into a lycan. She gets offered a full ride to Lycan Academy which she accepts so she can learn more about her wolf, keep her aunt safe, and further her education. She’s an oddity at the academy because everyone else is a Lycan by blood and most girls hate and envy her because all of the Volkov brothers have their sight set on her. The Volkov brothers, Danger, Fury, Roth, and Syn try their best to guide and protect her and I really enjoyed Nora and AJ’s friendship. I liked that even though she felt chemistry with the four, she’s more set on academics. I did have a few issues with the book, which is why the rating is lower than I originally hoped for. I’m kind of confused how she wasn’t in tremendous pain after being bitten or why she didn’t tell anyone or go get it looked at. I wish that there was more character development and growth overall and that Nora would listen to what everyone and her wolf was telling her. Overall I liked the idea of the story and wanted to love it so much more, but it just felt like there were many holes and missing pieces. I’m hoping that the second book will fill in some gaps, have more character backstory, and pick up pace, action, and romance wise.
*I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Lynn Dubinsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Normally I would rate something like this 1 star, but this is what I'm in the mood for with everything that's going on right now. Something totally cliche, short, and easy to read. Instead of two guys fighting over the girl we got four brothers fighting over her. Oh my! So much drama and angst!

[Christina Luberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nora lives with her Aunt and they don't have much. Nora was outside on her birthday and was bitten by a wolf. She is invited to the Lycan Academy. Where she is to learn about being a Lycan. She is the only one there that was bitten to become a Lycan. There are four Volkov brothers that are hot. They follow her everywhere. There are some girls that want them and have their claws out for me. Everyone else seems nice . What are these feelings she is having for the Volko brothers? Why are they trying to protect her? Can she shift when it is time or will she have problems. I would have given this book five stars, but it seemed kind of rushed, by not going back to the package she received when first moved into the Academy, did they find out who did a few things to Nora, who Andric is and few other minor details.

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

[Mona Livsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet Introduction

What a lovely introduction to The Lycan Academy. The storyline is wonderfully articulate and the characters are absolutely like able.
I definitely adore the Volkov brothers! Who wouldn’t love to have four Hot Russian Wolves interested in them.
Nora, the main Chana’s a bit of a quandary where everything is concerned. Being turned into a wolf, being the center of attention from our hot Russians, being the center of attention of Everyone.
The storyline is great, with the perfect amount of curiosity and suspense.
The only issue I have is the Hey way the Main Character Nora is portrayed. Yes I can see the confusion and misunderstanding. But she is said to have been a reader of Paranormal books. And even with it actually happening to her, she has had some knowledge in books to draw on. Just about everyone tells to listen to her wolf, yet even when she does recognize her wolf, she still doesn’t listen.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nora (the MFC) has had a hard life, just barely getting by living with her Aunt Sela. Things take a turn in a different direction when one night shes bitten by a wolf and she starts noticing changes. Which wouldn't be a problem until a strangen headmaster knocks on her door and offers her a full scholarship to the Lycan Academy. When she excepts she also finds out that she is the only bitten wolf there and the only one in years. So that doesnt make her particularly popular. Its a pretty good spin on the shifter RH books and i kinda likes it. Yes its a slow burn book but that was good too. A really enjoyable read

[GimmeAllTheWerdssss · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting concept but a TSTL heroine combined with cliche Heros who have no personality and completely disjointed writing/story telling makes for a book that shouldn’t have been published in its current form.

[BookGoblin_ Ici Pozo · Rating 1 out of 5]

There’s bad and then there is BAD BAD

[Simply Adventures · Rating 2 out of 5]

2nd review
2 stars DNFd at 60%

So I tried to reread this series because I want to read a couple other series that are somewhat connected to this one. Somame issues.


1st review 3 stars.

So this book is 130+ pages which I likes because I wanted to read something fairly short. The storyline is pretty good my biggest complaint is there are some errors in the book and as other people have commented the broken English Russian situation of the 4 MMC's is somewhat an issue in the book. It really brings you out of what is happening in the book and a lot of the time you have to figure out what it's actually saying. It's also hard to differentiate between what they're saying in Russian and what they're saying in English. I do kind of wish their Russian words were in bold or italic font because it would have made the flow of the book better.

There are some things that just didn't make sense to me with Nora being a new shifter you think she would have taken the time to read her school packet based on the way she was acting and talking it didn't make sense that she didn't read it. This book wasn't set up like she was rebelling against the situation so it just didn't make sense especially when they were talking about the supply list. There's multiple instance in the book where there's like " we'll talk about it later" moments and then they never really address it. For instance it's hinted at who bit her but multiple times they would say we'll talk about it later and then all of a sudden it's the next day instead of them actually talking about it. You think that would be like a super important thing. At a point it the inner dialogue started to get very repetitive. So I was going to the end of the book but I was like oh it's only like 40 more pages I can get through it And then I wrote a few more pages and I just couldn't do it anymore. I ended up the nk at page 94 then skimmed.

So this book follows Nora who on her 18th birthday while she was outsude in her yard she came across a wolf which ended up biting her in the thigh. Then she gets brought to the Lycan Academy which I'm not sure if it's supposed to be like a college or just a place where the wolves learn to be wolves. They do wear uniforms even though everyone is over the age of 18. She meets 4 Russian brothers you find out one of them is the 1 that bit her. You also find out that she was heading things telepathically but she doesn't really address that until further into the book. There are group of girls that are trying to get with the brothers that of course are your typical mean girl cliche. They try to injure her. There's also other Alpha's who you doing a little bit in the book. You also meet her roommate AJ.

There's multiple points in the book where the FMC talks about wondering if she is the 1st person that's ever been bitten which really didn't make much considering the headmaster talks about that particular subject when he talks to her at her home. He tells her that no one's been bitten in a long time because it's against the law. So clearly other people have been bitten to become lycan. Then there is a part after she shifted for the 1st time accidentally because she was hurt during one of the mean girl attax she says she heard something at the window while they were on the 7th floor and the person had red eyes And she never thought to ask alynn who that could be or if vampires were real especially after she found out that the math picture she had was not a wolf but something else so clearly she knows that there's other things out there.

[Allison Ripley-Duggan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! It was so enticing that I couldn’t put it down, this book grabbed my interest from the very first page. I had to know what happened next. The story is well written with a very good storyline. This is a paranormal shifter academy romance with four of the sexiest guys ever and a brand new shifter finding her way in their world. The heat and suspense will climb with each volume. This slow-burn reverse harem romance will make readers crave more with every page. Welcome to Lycan Academy. Nora’s first shift unleashes her, but mating one won’t be enough. The Volkov Four are the hottest guys at the Lycan Academy. A school just for wolf shifters, all of whom are genetic shifters except one, her, for she’s a bitten wolf, one whose story does not have the history of any of the others. Shifters have one rule, and that is thou shalt not bite a human, but someone did, as evidenced by the deep scar on her thigh and her sudden interest in breakfast meats. Every girl at the Lycan Academy would jump at the chance to date any of the Volkov brothers, but they’ve never shown a female any romantic intentions, yet for some unfathomable reason, all of them have turned their attention to her. These shifter girls’ claws come out when they realize the brothers have a taste for her, they bark, but she doesn’t think they´ll bite, let’s hope. They’re nothing compared to the shadow that hangs over the entire academy, a force nobody wants to talk about, but whose evil can be felt in all the corners of the ancient structure. The professors hint at it, the students speak of it in whispers, and she feels a chill in the marrow of her bones whenever she passes a certain hallway; it would be easier for her to protect herself if she knew more, but nobody will tell her anything. The Volkovs insist they’ll make sure she’s safe, but it’s not enough, after all, she doesn’t even know which one is hers because she wants them all. With each passing day the shadow grows, soon it will encompass the school, everyone in it, and maybe even more than that. So with all that and more this story pulls you in and holds you tight. I can’t wait to find out what happens next. I highly recommend to everyone.

[Hanna Rosenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid three stars--I wanted to like this a lot.
Randomly, I was OBSESSED with the first page--there was just a beautiful description with random details that I was like "yes. this will be lit."

:/

I can suspend my disbelief to a certain point--a random wolf bite, glossing over the existence of supernaturals, even a headmaster who seems deeply unconcerned with the demon on campus--but that disbelief can only be suspended if I am super invested in the characters, which was not the case. Her roommate AJ was fun and oh-so-typical, there was a random friend named Jade every now and then (we did not ever meet her, I am sure of it), cliche mean girls, and four brothers I REALLY wanted to love but I only remember the name of two.

It also made me so freaking angry that Nora could suddenly be a wolf and be super duper cool about it, but she couldn't fathom how these boys could be into her. Like Nora--you already went to a normal high school and had a bad time. You didn't care about school then--why the hell do you care now? Just have fun!

Anyways, three stars because I truly hope the author improves as the series goes on, and I think I'm willing to find out. Not today, but... eventually. Maybe when I have a very kind & genteel wolf give me a bite (even though it is the #1 Bad Thing To Do)

[˚•—S—•˚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

What I like about this book:
-good characters
-believable relationships, where it isn’t a total instalove and they are questioning their feelings and the other persons interest/motives.
-the plot itself is interesting and introduces things for the next books.

What I didn’t like:
-how the russian dialect was shown. It was written in «bad english» to show how they talked and it made the conversation flow weirdly, and it could have been done better.
-little to no world building or explaining how their shifter society works. And she is basically left to figure everything out on her own, no teachers are even trying to help her or tell her about what being a wolf entails.

Will probalby continue this series.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great first book

I’ve read this one before. I’m shocked I didn’t leave a review. I enjoyed this book. It always had a hint of something to keep me interested. I found the plot between the Volkov’s to be… um… tame and very innocent. I found the fmc doesn’t listen to her wolf hardly at all, and it’s frustrating. She’s been told she needs to merge and listen to her other half and she ignores her thoughts and feelings because they aren’t her own. The fmc feels she needs to follow the human norm and even with the shock of the dean with the news she stayed over with them, she didn’t get the clue. I hope she starts asking questions and listens to her wolf’s thoughts/feelings or she’s gonna be in for a bumpy ride!

[Taya · Rating 2 out of 5]

74% and I am DONE with this book. The main character had me cringing and the romance felt rushed. The start of the book had me wanting to put it down from the get go, I should have listened. It was pretty uneventful in the first 74% of the book... so all of what I read. I liked the concept of the book, very unoriginal but I liked it, it’s simple, can’t go wrong. But this one did. Uhhhh I hate not finishing books but I just could not stand anymore of this crap story!

[Beth C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing and fun start to the series

Interesting look into an School for lycans. Just like any other schools, there are cliques and mean girls. And it’s even harder for Nora, as she wasn’t born a lycan, she was bitten. But there’s something special about her...at least as far as the Volkov brothers are concerned. But she’s at school on scholarship and doesn’t have time for relationships. Or does she?

[Coral · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Start

This was a pretty good start to a series however it seemed too short. The end felt like it should have only been the half way point for the first book. There wasn’t a lot of world building for the Lucan school but almost too much for the small town she left. Also have the four speak broken English was a bit off putting when. There was definitely a lot of questions left unanswered. Hopefully the next book be even better.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't start this unless you have time to read the entire thing in one sitting. Otherwise, you will be like me and be up most of the night. Yes, I got that caught up in the story and if I hadn't needed to get some sleep, I would have started reading book 2 already. I'm hoping to binge read the entire series on KU today.

[EVELYN ANN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely 😆🐾🐺❤👏

Out in the backyard on her 18th birthday and a wolf shows up and takes a bite out of her leg. Next thing you know she gets a visit from the headmaster of Lycan Academy (felt like a Harry Potter scene) and has been invited to the school by an anonymous alum. Great story so far! On to the next! #HappyReading ❤

[Sarah Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nora is living life as a regular human, when she’s bitten by a wolf on her 18th birthday(dang thing made her drop her cake too!). This leads to an invite to Lycan Academy. She meets 4 over protective males, who seem to be more to her, faces mean girls, a new curriculum, making friends... oh, and a demon is after her....

[reva · Rating 2 out of 5]

wish I could love it

I wanted to love this book but i felt like it was missing a lot more plot and depth to it . I felt like I was reading a Wattpad book I know the MC is younger but it felt more like a girl going into 9th grade . All aside im going to try to read book two to see if it gets better.

[Barbara Marie Warner · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Howling (The Lycan Academy Book 1 )

Absolutely love 💕💓💖💞😍 this author !! This is the 2nd series 📚 I have read in the past week, she has written that is spectacular.... Love this book, love Nora, AJ is the bomb and the boys, OMG 😲💞 HOT 🔥🔥🔥. Definitely recommend this book 📖 and its worth reading

[Jacquelyn G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheesy but cute

I liked the start of this story and I look forward to the next book in the series. I was not a fan of the random Fury POV..it threw me off and was kind of awkward. I will still continue the series and recommend this book to others.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nope

Dnf about 18% in. The taking every thing that happened in so fast then seeing 4 guys and began throbbing between her thighs was to much of a "oh please" followed with a eye roll.

[M A SCAMMELL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liking Lycians?

It’s lovely when you pick up a book and it reads so well you can’t put it down. Add in a well structured plot, interesting characters and there you have it. Then you cannot wait to read book 2!

[Vivi · Rating 5 out of 5]

In one word... Incredible!

Such a captivating and breathtaking story!! I loved every moment of reading this amazing book about Werewolves!! Highly recommended. Thank you to the amazing author 🤗

[Kristen Dalrymple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay I feel like Syn is the one who bit her…maybe? Who are they really? And who is she to them? They seem like they know more about her than she does. Also what’s up with the demon saying she is the one? The one what? I have so many questions.

[Shelly Vaughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great start, but not a full story

This feels like part 1 of a book, not a whole book. There is no real conclusion but I’m ready to read the next. The evolving layers of becoming a wolf/student are compelling and I want to see where it goes next!

[Shyanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good storyline

It has a good storyline basis sometimes it feels like we are in one place and then it jumps to a different time and place I don't think I would consider this a book with how short it is its more like a short story or one book separated into parts.

[Wild · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

Why Amazon insist on 20 words for a review via kindle, I don't know. Especially when I just want to say that I really enjoyed this book.

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read shifter academy romance.