Charlotte Stein’s latest paranormal romance, How to Help a Hungry Werewolf, is the first book in a new series, The Sanctuary for Supernatural Creatures. It features Cassandra (Cassie) Camberwell who returns to her hometown to clear out her grandmother’s house. What she doesn’t expect is for her ex-best friend Seth Brubaker to show up. He’s the reason she was homeschooled during the last part of high school. When she finds out why he’s hanging around her, they make a pact to help each other. But things don’t go smoothly.

Cassie was rejected, hurt, and embarrassed when she was seventeen, but it still affects her today. She’s afraid to make friends with anyone and she only takes temporary jobs. Seth is terrible at keeping a story straight when forced to lie. Despite his strength, there’s an under lying vulnerability.

The book starts out strong with Cassie learning more about herself, her grandmother, and about Seth. It’s sprinkled with humor throughout and the world-building is done well. However, at about the 60 per cent point and going until 90 per cent or so, there isn’t much happening other than steamy, spicy scenes. The last 10 per cent is back on track, but the ending felt rushed. Themes include bullying, friendship, trust, abandonment, protectiveness, and possessiveness, as well as learning about one’s abilities and forgiveness.

Overall, this novel has a great premise, but nearly a third of the book interrupted the story line that I expected. There are several humorous moments, especially with the microwave and the raccoon. I would like to see where the author takes the series in book two.

St. Martin’s Press – St. Martin’s Griffin and Charlotte Stein provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for October 01, 2024.

Sooooo much happened in this book and sometimes it was just too much 😅 overall I enjoyed the story and the dynamic love story between Seth and Cassie. Sometimes the narration was just off so it would take me out of the moment and the spice wasn’t always the good kind but overall a decent supernatural romance com!

Instant thought when finishing the book: This spicy delight was a fun time.

Themes:
🐺 Second chance friendship to romance
🦝 Sunshine/Sunshine
🐺 Self discovery
🦝 Forgiveness
🐺 Spice - she’s got some sizzle

Childhood bffs have a falling out (rightfully so) and find their way back to each other as the cozy version of mortal enemies. Some forced proximity brought on by her being the only one that has what he needs 👀, has her working through some old wounds to see him in a new light. The narration of the audiobook was good - no complaints. There was some good banter, but I did miss tension. I mean, that’s not completely fair. There was tension, but the MCs are both so sunshiny sweet, it didn’t have the same hold on me as I’m used to. Cassie is a gem, and I adored her throughout the story. This would be a great witchy season read.

There are some content guidelines to consider. Please check those out. I wanted to specifically touch on the fatphobic one briefly. I felt this book did a good job with it. Events happened, the FMC internalized details of the events as one might, and the MMC told her/showed her how wrong those events were by showing up for her exactly as she is over and over again. I thought it was good and wanted to say as much. That is all. 🙃

Thank you to NetGalley, Charlotte Stein, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin’s press for arc copies of this fun story!

I really, really wanted to like this title. Unfortunately, I struggled with Stein's writing style. The concept of the story is cute and I know a lot of people are going to really enjoy this title. It is perfect for the beginning of the fall season and does feel very cozy.

This is a second chance, friends-to-lovers romance. After humiliating Cassandra in high school, Seth comes barreling back into her life trying to find a potion that it turns out only Cassie can make. They tentatively navigate their way back to friendship as Seth introduces Cassie to the paranormal world that has been around her all along.

There are some cute moments in this book and it is fun to be introduced to Stein’s versions of werewolves, witches, fairies, etc. My favourite character was a microwave followed closely by a raccoon.

There was a lack of interaction between Cassandra and characters other than Seth. There could have been more moments with her grandmother or the girls from town, so that we could know Cassandra’s personality separate from her relationship with Seth.

There is 20% of the book that just feels like the plot stops and all they do is fight their physical attraction by edging each other on. I like slow burn but this was just not the book for me.

Lots of different tropes in this one friends/enemies to lovers, second chance romance and the supernatural. Cute fun read perfect to start the Halloween season. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I know others have been pretty vocal about the fat phobia and how they felt about it. As someone that’s been varying degrees of fat her whole life, who was bullied much worse than this, I feel it’s my job here to issue a counter argument to their criticism. Granted, I am a different person and others have their own journeys, so please take everything I say in the spirit it’s intended.

Yes, the MMC says something that’s fat phobic. He was however a kid when he said it. He was being pressured by other kids. He spends the entire book paying attempting to make up for it. Was it right for him to do that? No, but there have been other MMC’s do much worse to the FMC’s. I think I’m looking at the totality of my life and given my perspective- I’ve had friends who have said and done worse and I’ve forgiven them. Real love doesn’t have conditions. He made a mistake and she forgave him.

Plot In a nutshell- Cassie’s grandmother passes away. She returns home to settle her grandmother’s affairs. She becomes reacquainted with a childhood friend who is now her greatest nemesis because he humiliated her during a talent show when they were kids. He was at one time her very best friend and now, he needs her help for a very hairy situation.

All in all, the book is cute. It’s cozy. It’s a quick read. I devoured it in a few hours. There’s other creatures. There’s new ways to view and explore magic. (I really loved the magic system in this book.) I will definitely read any sequels. (I already have it noted in my book journal!)

TW- death of a family member (past- grandmother), fatphobia, childhood bullying, violence
Tropes: enemies to lovers, fated mates, forced proximity, she’s mine

I really enjoyed this. It brought me back to high school with all the confused hormonal feelings I had for my crush. I liked the world of supernatural beings and how normal people could not perceive it. The miscommunication trope could have not lasted as long, that is my only criticism. I hope to read how Cassie continues to help the magical community in the rest of the series.

I really wanted to like this book, but I struggled to get into it because I didn’t connect with the writing style or the main character. I love the premise, but the MC was so busy being hung up on her high school experience ten years prior that I just wanted her to stop talking. I was also very frustrated that the MC ends up helping the boy who humiliated and fat shamed her. Why!? This is such a toxic trope. The writing style is very first person chatty, and the character’s inner monologue was a constant barrage of complaints and negativity. I’m really sorry that this wasn’t my jam. Thank you for the arc, and opportunity to review.

I know there are people out there who will enjoy this book, but I have found that Stein's writing just isn't it for me. The premise itself is fun but I could not get myself to read this one. I did ultimately end up DNFing it, because I didn't see it getting better for me and didn't want to get stuck in a slump.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a fun read. It was whimsical and funny and enjoyable, but I thought it was a little underdeveloped. There were plot points that were kind of glossed over. Like the mating bond, they were gonna die? I feel like that was mentioned once and then just glossed over. And why didn't she freak out that they were mates, like it had been established that they were mates and then she's confused why she still likes him... it just didn't make any sense. Also, I felt like there was more to be wanted from Pod. I wish he was incorporated more cause he was a funny little guy. I also don't really understand why they included Nancy or the reporter girl. I'm not sure what they added to the story other than Nancy owning the bookstore. The part about her in the epilogue also confused me... I still don't really understand what that was. But i will say the story was an easy read, and the spice was delightful. Overall, I did enjoy this, but it did leave some things to be desired.

I really wanted to like this book. I could see what it was going for: cozy, quirky paranormal romance. But what I got was a stew of fat shaming (both externally and internally) that just left a bad taste in my mouth. It was a lot, like woven throughout the book, not just one instance.

The paranormal world building felt very much like My Roommate is a Vampire in that it doesn't take itself not the mythology too seriously. I liked this quirky and unique take on it all. That the paranormal world was messy. There were vampires who were afraid of tvs and lived in dingy apartments with roommates. There were people cobbling together magical potions that may or may not work exactly right. There was that one raccoon. It was all very fun in that respect.

The miscommunication was at an all time high with this book. All the miscommunication, all the time.

The descriptions weren't always descriptive and I was left with a puzzle to untangle to understand what exactly was going on at times. That improved by the end of the story though I feel like.

Tropes:
Second chance romance
Friends to enemies to friends again to lovers
Mating bonds
Unique animal companion 👀
Less of a third act break-up, more of a third act boinking
Ali Hazelwood style obsession with *big*

Content: medical descriptions (graphic and a bit gross), string language, fat shaming, fat phobias, childhood bullies turned adult still-bullies (but now they want to unalive those they used to bully)

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review is voluntarily written and the thoughts and opinions contained in this review are my own.

This book had a cute premise and likeable characters. I found the action a bit slow, and it took me a long time to get through the book.
Thank you to St. Martins Press for give me the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This cozy, low-stakes paranormal romance was a delightful little journey to experience! The banter between Cassie and Seth was perfect but also realistic enough that the cringe moments almost made me hide my face in my hands. I also audibly laughed loud enough that my roommate had to come check in to see what was so funny multiple times. If you love a himbo golden retriever mmc, then this is the perfect read for you. (The spice was also hands down so so much fun!) The addition of a sentient microwave and a raccoon familiar who communicates with our fmc made the book worth it almost automatically! 
The writing is not a style I fully enjoyed, however, I found that it did not seriously impede the storyline. The concepts were fun and overall most of them were successful. I have high hopes for anything else Charlotte Stein adds to this world/series in the future!

How to Help Hungry Werewolf was advertised as Gilmore Girls meets What We Do in the Shadows, two things I absolutely love. Unfortunately, this book was marketed poorly since I did not get those vibes at all. This book was not what I was expecting.

I found the idea of the book very interesting, what happens when you need to help your childhood bully who is now a werewolf? Looking at the plot, nothing really happened for a long time, it felt very stagnant until the other wolves showed up. While I felt sorry for our main characters and their trials, in the end I just did not care about them. They were very one dimensional and I felt that they had little growth.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a romance with supernatural creatures throughout it. We follow a single pov of our FMC, Cassie throughout this book. She ends up having to go back to her grandmothers house to clean up after her death. There she runs into her ex best friend from high school now her enemy. Apparently he was friends with her grandmother while she was gone. Also turns out he’s a werewolf, and the only person who can help him is Cassie. Oh and maybe Cassie might be a witch too. From the beginning of the book I was feeling super connected to the characters, I feel like we needed to see more of the lives before we jump in to them reconnecting. You do get background info through flashbacks, but like I said just didn’t have a connection to them. This is a
Friends to enemies to friends to lovers situation. I did enjoy how much cooking has to do with Cassie’s witch powers and how she had insight on what to do from feeling she had. We also get a talking raccoon so that’s a plus ✨ I would say the spice level is 3/5. Overall I did enjoy this one and it’d be a fun fall read.

thank you to netgalley and SMP for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. all opinions are my own.

rating: 2.25/5

if you read this title and go oh, sounds ridiculous—you’re right. this book is exactly as ridiculous as it sets out to be. it’s a fun, silly, and deeply unserious little paranormal romance and i truly think it succeeded at being exactly what it set out to be. if you’re in the mood for something entertaining and brain off, this is certainly not a bad option. on a basic level, this should be an easy three star read because, well, it’s not great but it’s exactly what you’d expect.

unfortunately though, i’m docking a point for my own personal enjoyment. primarily, this book tries so hard to invoke a gilmore girls vibe, in a way that’s just grating. it might translate better via audiobook, but the gilmore girls quick wit is hard to make work in a book. instead, there’s just a ton of dialogue to ultimately say nothing. additionally, i didn’t love that it kept getting all religious? suddenly tossing creationism into a paranormal romance (and then referencing it constantly?) was a weird choice to me.

although ill admit, the spice gives this a tiny little .25 bump.

also, this book is chock full of idioms i had never heard in my life. after some googling, as the author is british, i assume these are british idioms—but this book is set in either the PNW or new england (it seems to imply both at various points) so it’s actually a really funny juxtaposition. not really a critique (and frankly the very vague setting works well with how ridiculous the book is) but i felt the need to comment on it.

I did not have a great time reading this book. I thought I was going to really enjoy it, but I found the main characters to be so uninteresting just didn’t like them. The writing felt like reading badly written fanfiction. It wasn’t a good time

I loved this spicy story about besties finding their way back to each other after something terrible and learning all sorts of things about each other and themselves. I look forward to following this author in the future.

2.5 stars
Ugh, this was so disappointing! I liked the first half of the book. The writing left things to be desired, but I still had a good time reading it. But the second half was a mess. The weirdness of Cassie and Seth's relationship was unsettling and uncomfortable. There were a lot of moments where I didn't understand what was going on because the writing was so confusing. I did like the little raccoon friend, but I wish he was in more of the book. I will definitely check out the next book, but I'm hoping that the sentence structure will be better.