I’m a little upset. I liked A LOT about this books, I liked the characters, the magic, the world building, the themes. A LOT. But the prose is an utter mess. I’ve found books written several hundred years ago easier to read than whatever this is. This is a perfect example when something is TOO stream of consciousness, I feel I never knew what was going on. The other often abruptly switch describing feelings to describing actions to describing setting back and forth several times within a paragraph.

I don’t know if this just wasn’t my particular flavor or ADHD, but I struggled way too much through reading this to be a lighthearted romcom about a witch and werewolf. Also, the author references Tik Tok, once. I need to go read Dramione fan fiction to reset.

Not what I was expecting.
This is the story of Cassandra “Cassie” Camberwell and Seth Brubaker, former best friends. Mostly this is Cassie’s story, and she is the only character in it. We lean about how she felt as a teen, how she was hurt, and how she hasn’t moved on. I lost interest at about the 40 percent point and struggled to finish the book. If you like reading about how the main character’s life has been horrible, with no hope, then this is your book. I didn’t like either main character, and how they interacted with each other and the few secondary characters. My giving this book 3 stars is Giving it 3 Stars, not that it deserves it, but the author did take the time to write the book.

I don't think this book was for me.
I tried likes it, but ended up just skimming through it.

The main characters annoyed the shit out of me.

<i>Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.<i>

3.5 ⭐
1🌶️
Tropes Childhood friends to enemies to lovers, small town, werewolf shifters, fated mates, slow burn.


Much like this story my thoughts are all over the place. I genuinely can’t decide if this book is brilliant and supposed to be satire/parody or if the author should switch to decaf. If anything, it’s funny!


How To Help A Hungry Werewolf is the story of Cassie and Seth. As children they were besties (who were secretly in love with each other) but when Seth played a cruel trick on her in high school, their friendship was destroyed. Fast forward 10 years later and Cassie has moved into her recently deceased grandmother’s house. Out of nowhere Seth shows up where you learn that he’s actually a werewolf and her grandmother was a slightly gifted witch who was trying to help him control his shifting. And, as it turns out Cassie is actually a super gifted witch.


Random statements about this story in no particular order:
-Overall I would call this book chaotic and it made it hard to read. I don’t like to DNF books so I did push through to the end, where it “calmed down” eventually. I often had to go back and reread huge sections to follow what was happening
-The snark and banter is off the charts. I LOVE snarky books but after a while it got to be too much. They were talking past each other and if there was like 30% less dialogue it would’ve been a better book. This is what contributed to the chaotic feel.
-The characters felt juvenile, more than I would expect from people who are 26/27 years old. But again, this is one of the big reasons why I wondered if this book is a brilliant parody of paranormal books because maybe it was supposed to be that way???
-As someone who was bullied for their weight in high school I really get how Cassie feels, but after a while her continued refusal to see what was right in front of her got old and frustrating. And then Seth did the same thing back to her. It was too much, and made it so the book dragged.
-I wish Seth had been a “stronger” character. Physically he’s strong but his personality was weak. I wanted him to be an alpha male without the assholeness.
-I laughed out loud A LOT. There were parts that were so ridiculous and over the top (in a good way)
-The actual storyline/plot was really good! Again, it was just hard to follow because of all the dialogue.
-The ending was what redeemed this book for me. Once they finally listened to each other but also STOPPED TALKING SO MUCH, I loved it.


My guess is if you have read this author before or you think my opinions are wrong you will enjoy this book.

Essentially the FMC experienced a bullying event in high school and made it her whole personality. She later moved back home after the passing of her grandmother, reconnected with her former best friend turned bully, discovered a magical world and her own abilities, spice spice spice, misunderstandings resolved, the end. I felt like there was almost TOO much magic in this book. Like it tried to pack in too many magical creatures and elements and it just didn't work for me. I would have rather it focused on a few pieces rather than try to have it all. Some elements I enjoyed like the way Cassandra cooked up spells and felt her way around the magic. There were some humorous bits, but overall I just didn't love the banter and sass. I just didn't feel the connection and their personalities and relationship didn't feel real to me. This book wasn't all bad but wasn't for me either.

Cassandra is returning home to her sleepy little hometown of Hollow Brook to clean out her grandmothers home. What she didn’t expect was to run into her former best friend Seth. He did something to her in high school that she can’t move past. That is until she starts to learn the truth of what Seth really is.; a werewolf. But even knowing this secret, she doesn’t know if she can trust him again and move on, to maybe something more and real.

I really liked the concept of this story, but sadly what fell flat for me was the characters. They were a bit over obnoxious at times. A lot of the plot felt like “just get to the point” already. And a lot of it was rambles that were leading to more immaturity. I don’t think I’d consider this adult but definitely more high schoolish.

All in all, I’m glad I got to read it but I don’t think I’d recommend for someone who’s wanting more paranormal adult romance…. Which I was sadly thinking!

Slow and difficult to get into. I didn't care for the writing style and a lot of the dialogue is cringey.

Very cute book! This is a nice, easy book to read and the characters are likeable. Loved the slow burn between Seth and Cassie and loved when things kicked off! Very solid book, and I hope to read more from this author!

How To Help A Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein is the first book of her new series, called The Sanctuary for Supernatural Creatures.

⚠️ First of all, I want to share the trigger warning from the author:

"Dear Readers,
While this book is very much a cozy, heartwarming, and hilarious paranormal romance— with a full-on proper HEA— it does contain some sensitive, heavier topics. These include brief references to parental neglect, bullying, and an incident that includes fatphobia, plus brief mentions at a few points of the effects that fatphobia can have. Hopefully, this will help you make an informed choice before reading! I’ve done my best to handle all topics with sensitivity and love.
Take care of yourselves, Charlotte xx"
⚠️

So, I was really thankful for the warning and knew what to expect before reading this story. ❤️

Cassie once had a best friend, called Seth. They had the best time of their lives... until he decided he wanted to be part of the cool kids and really hurt her feelings.

Now Cassie is grown-up and just wants to take care of her Grandma's home after she died. She never ever expected to find HIM there.
Seth. Her formerly best-friend-turned-into-her-worst-enemy... but he seems kinda strange, and where's all that fur coming from?


Oh my god! This story is absolutely perfect for this spooky and mysterious season of the year!
This prologue broke my heart because I just felt with Cassie! But right from the start I hoped for her personal HEA - and Charlotte Stein didn't disappint me! 👏
I looooved Cassie's personal development! How she turned from some kind of shy, young woman to this self-confident and strong witch.
Yeah! Cassie has a secret that Seth reveals to her... and there happens a lot more, but I can't tell you...

Well... Oh my! These two!
Seth? Turned from a best friend to her enemy and a werewolf? LOL
I laughed so much while I read this book. So many things happened that were funny, but also weird... but the magical world isn't realistic or comprehensible, right?! 😉

I loved the witty banter between Cassie and Seth! Their conversations were hilarious, but sometimes frustrating too. 😅

Besides Cassie's development I also loved how Seth turned out to be. When he first appeared I was like "Booh! You hurt her! Go away!" Buuuut... how he treated her now? How... he showed her the magical world? How... awwwww!!!
For me personally? Dislike turned into a very BIG LIKE when it comes to Seth Brubaker!

Like I said before: How To Help A Hungry Werewolf is the perfect book for autumn.
There are:
• werewolves 🐺
• witches 🧙‍♀️
• fairies 🧚‍♀️
• lots of magic ✨️🪄
• lots of banter 🤣
• swoon-worthy moments 🥰
• sexy, sexy times 🥵
And I can't forget a talking raccoon! 🦝😉

So, if you like all of the above, this story is for you!

Thank you so much to Charlotte Stein and St. Martins Press for this ARC via NetGalley.
This is my honest review in my own words.

I really wanted to love this book, but the prologue starts with our main character listing all the reasons Seth (the love interest) is no longer her friend and ends with him calling her “fat ass”. Now this does get redeemed but not for a long time. I wanted to DNF a couple of times, a lot of what was probably meant to be funny, came off as cringe instead. I persevered solely for the fact that I wanted to see how exactly the author would write everything off.

The concept was there but the execution ended up giving me the ick more than I would care for.

In the prologue of this book we learn of the cruel prank pulled on Cassie in high school that was made worse by the involvement of someone she once trusted and considered her best friend, Seth Brubaker.

Cassie has returned to her hometown. She's spent two full days scrubbing and cleaning the home her grandmother left her. Then she sees Seth Brubaker approaching, her first thought is murder, but she decides that would be far too messy.

He was yelling Adeline, her grandmother's name, not hers and knocking on the door begging for her to open the door. She tries to ignore him but flings the door open. Now face to face with her mortal enemy, she takes in the sight of him comparing then to now. He's shocked to see her and even more so to find her grandmother died of a heart attack. Their conversation isn't really hostile, but it isn't pleasant and when Seth leaves Cassie is fighting the urge to ask if he's alright.

Cassie finds many weird and spooky things in the house in weird places. But the journals she finds brings back memories of her and her grandmother filled with crazy recipes is a happy one. She stopped her experimenting when her grandmother advised her to before someone gets food poisoning. Now she debates making any of them until she comes to one called Feel Good Soup. She really wants to try again and hopes she can make something good. First, she needs the ingredients.

Finding her old bicycle, she goes to town and isn't surprised things haven't changed in the seven years she's been gone. A sighting of Mira Parvati opening the old theater, the library, the Hollow Brook Gazette, thinking of the new mayor Kathy Yates, and Tabitha Kendall taking over as librarian, and of course the memory of the article Marley Maples had written about her incident at the school. Then there's the bookshop where her only other friend Nancy worked. Even now Nancy smiled and waved at her. She continued to the Shop and Save to try to get the ingredients she needs for the soup. Old man Hannigan is still as scary as before, and she flees when he answers her question about garlic calling it filth.

She finds what she needs at the market at the edge of town and a few more things as well. Only to return home to see Seth climbing either in or out a window of her home.

You see there is far more to Seth than Cassie knows, and far more to those recipes and Cassie too.

A big revelation happens the night after this confrontation, since Seth actually breaks into her house and goes to the basement.

This revelation becomes the basis of a new friendship and many more exciting things for Cassie to learn about Grandmother and herself. Although, she is very skeptical at first.

There's also the steady battle of attraction between them that is pretty funny to hear them navigate. We also meet the other bullies that were responsible for that long ago high school prank.

This is a fun read, with interesting twists and slow torturous (at least for Cassie and Seth) relationship that takes quite the while to hit the sizzling point.

I can't wait to see what's next in this series..

I wanted to love this book so much, but I hate to say it didn't click with me. I firmly believe every book has its readers, and I think Charlotte Stein's books aren't for me. I just cannot connect with her characters or stories. This felt like two different kinds of stories mushed together. The first is a more YA-ish love story between the two MCs. There was this teenage vibe to their characters and their relationship. I did like the heroine who was very funny at times, but her comic relief was not enough to save this story for me. The other story felt like this spicy romp. I good chunk of this book is centered around the characters banging in various situations, and don't get me wrong I love a good banger, but felt a little disjointed from the rest of the story.

Overall, I like the plot idea and how it was executed.

I have never met a more hornier pair of dumb dumbs ever! They were silly, funny, and honestly a great fun read. A bit more existential than Stein's earlier work, what with the supernatural revelation of fairies, werewolves, and demons (and the character's grips on the whole heaven/hell concept). But, the magical system was fascinating, the appliances were fun, and the raccoon was a lovely addition. There was a secondary storyline that I do not remember being completed but it did not matter to the central plot and does not take away from the book.

It's a feel good-laugh out loud cozy small town paranormal romance. Great for readers who like badass independent witches and the goldest of golden retriever werewolf boys who are so horny and such Sweet Summer Children dumb dumbs!

This was an interesting and unique story. It took me a little while to get into the story, but overall I enjoyed it. I thought I was cute, and the banter between Seth and Cassie was funny. They had fantastic chemistry and some steamy moments. I am looking forward to learning more about this world and am hoping for future books that will be about the storylines set up in this book.

This is a cute and fun paranormal romance story following Cassie and Seth. These former best friends are reunited in adulthood when Cassie figures out Seth is a werewolf in need of a potion that will keep his werewolf transformation at bay. I appreciated the humor and lightheartedness in this romance and I always appreciate a plus size heroine in stories. A great read for the autumnal season.

ARC received from the publisher via NetGalley.

I absolutely adored this book! The romance is a slow burn but oh boy when it takes off its sooo spicy. Cassie and Seth are pretty much the only characters through most of the story and I really enjoyed that. It really let's you see the depth of them and their relationship. Another great thing about this story is the humor. I snorted, laughed till I had tears, and woke my husband up laughing in the middle of the night. Yes it was so good I had to read it in one sitting. I'd love to see more books in this world. Specifically a certain bookstore lady.

Cry count: 2
Spice: at first it was fairly tame intimacy, but it escalated quickly. Open-door with roughly six to eight scenes total in the last 40-ish percent of the book.

I liked this one. I liked this one a lot. While parts of the dialogue did come across as a little stilted, Stein really found her feet by the end and it was just a lot of the things I love about fall books in a cozy, low-stakes adventure that facilitates the romance while still addressing some of the heavier themes of bullying, fat phobia, and self worth.

This is a second chance, slow burn, bully-ish romance with friends to enemies to friends to lovers focused initially on the female main character’s weight. This is a topic that comes up fairly regularly in a way that’s relevant to the story while also being realistic and tactfully handled in relation to the story. I really like the way Stein incorporates these themes into her novels because too often you see a character described as curvy and then treated like they’re thin the whole time. So, having real representation that digs even when it’s uncomfortable is great!

The story itself: when I say slow burn, I mean SLOW BURN. I made it to 57% and was questioning if this was actually a romance. This was almost immediately shot down two percent later, though. Not all the character motivations are super fleshed out as well, which means I do wish the villains were a smidge more villainous and had a better reason for it. However, I loved the shenanigans, the descriptions of the magical, and the sheer wonder and awe Cassie approached all of it with. Her familiar was the best, the fall vibes are there, and it’s deliciously quirky in all the best ways.

Stein stayed true to herself as an author and, really, all of my notes for the book can be chalked up to exploring a new subgenre.

Some of it was so beyond that it just felt fun and didn’t take itself too seriously, so my “complaints” really are things that didn’t take much away from the rest of the story. Other bits were so gorgeous and human and raw yet fit so well with the overall plot that I’m just impressed and cried a little.

I will say, this book felt a little more “What We Do in the Shadows” than “Gilmore Girls,” but the comps aren’t too far off from what you get. Which is in line with Stein’s work and trying to fit into a new subgenre of romance. If you liked “When Grumpy Met Sunshine” or “Bride,” this one is definitely worth reading.

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC of this one! These are my honest thoughts.

OKAYYYY CHARLOTTE STEIN. I SEE YOU.

This was just... so much spicy paranormal fun, I barely have any words. This is an almost second chance, ex-best friends to paranormal creature friends to lovers tale. Cassie is shocked to find out, after her grandma dies, that her best friend Seth became a werewolf after they stopped being friends in high school. But also, SURPRISE, she's actually a very talented witch. Her grandma made fun of her "cooking abilities" in order to protect her from anything bad happening via her accidentally cooking up some witchy medicine, but that particular skill comes alive around her ex-best friend and current werewolf, who is suffering from some pretty serious ailments related to his werewolf-ness.

Please read this immediately if you love witchy/werewolfy stories, paranormal among humans, SKILL LESSONS, HELPFUL *POTIONS* and witchcraft that... ahem... works... horny BFFs, curvy fmc's who really step into their own, mmc who help fmc gain confidence, dirty talk, and quite a few LOL moments.

This was such a lighthearted read that's perfect for this season! Definitely give it a read or listen when it publishes October 1st! 4.25 stars rounded down here!

DNF - Unfortunately, this was not the book for me. I read about a third of it when I decided to put it down. It's well-written, and I liked the overall premise, but I didn't like the main characters or the dialogue. The story begins when the main characters are in high school, and Cassie has her very own "Carrie" moment. I just never got past that. It felt like a bully romance, which is my least favorite trope. Though it's not actually a bully romance, that misunderstanding set the tone for the story. I couldn't get over what Seth did and that he never really tried to fix things until years later.

I also thought Cassie was way too forgiving and understanding, and she thirsted after Seth even after all he did to hurt her? No, thank you. I just didn't get that. The dialogue threw me off, too. It felt very immature for two people in their 30s, and it was a bit cringe. I did like some of Cassie's inner dialogue. She's pretty comical, but I think I just wanted more.

This book will probably appeal to a lot of romance readers, but, for me, some of the tropes and miscommunications, as well as the immaturity of the MCs fell flat. Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

Werewolves are among my favorite in the fantasy world and combine them with witches, I’m in. I could get past the fat phobic parts of this book, assuming there would be a redemption part, but I wasn’t prepared for how drawn out the awkward sexual tension was. I’m no stranger to a slow burn but aspects of their relationship became so strained and forced it distracted from the plot. It has potential but fell off for me and I felt the supernatural world could have been explored and detailed even more

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

Publication date set for 10/1/2024