Ok. This book is wild.

It starts off as a best friends to enemies story. Then an enemies to friends to lovers plus werewolves and witches! It’s a story about self discovery and magic…

And then transforms into a book about how, exactly, to get it on with a giant werewolf until the fun plot is gone. This book went from magical fun and mayhem to friends who dirty talk and explain to each other how to bang. Where did the plot go? 😭

I love a spicy book, but it has to serve the story.

♥️ But there is a cute raccoon witch familiar and a dorky couple. Oh and a magical kitchen!

Great beginning and ending. Strange middle. Good if you like a side of plot with your spice.

Opening with a prologue flashback of best friends falling out in high school, this supernatural romance dives right in with adult werewolf and former bully Seth Brubaker seeking help from his former best friend and the girl who bullied (accidentally? unintentionally?) Cassandra Camberwell while she’s back in town to put her deceased grandmother’s house on the market. He’s on the verge of changing, struggling to hold it together, and she’s conveniently–and unknowingly–just brewed up the perfect potion to help him subdue his beast. It’s Seth who explains that her grandmother was a cobble, but Cassie is a powerful witch. They team up to help her come into her magical ability, help him to rein in his beast, and join forces against their childhood bullies.

Cassie’s blossoming into a full-powered witch is akin to going through a second puberty and coming out, with all the delight, confusion, fear and acceptance. The world-building is imaginative and thoroughly delightful, from sentient microwaves (a nod to Talkie Toaster in Red Dwarf?) to a spelled vacuum cleaner (possibly a reference to The Wednesday Witch?). Allusions to gaming (Super Mario Kart), movies, and books abound, including a suggestion to treat sex like tennis (Friends With Benefits) and Cassie’s bicycle (The Wizard of Oz), and Seth tearing the mattress when they finally consummate their relationship (Breaking Dawn). These Easter eggs are fan service for geeks and pop culture enthusiasts. There’s also more traditional superhuman werewolf healing, cobbling together of magical healing salves, Minotaurs affably wandering the streets, a raccoon that adopts them, and fairies riding caterpillars and indulging in orgies.

Told entirely from Cassie’s unfiltered view, the dialogue feels real because it’s often awkward, cringe-worthy, repetitive, and wholly believable for the character–but this doesn’t necessarily make for a well-written book. The novel does come full circle in a very satisfying way, and learning just how Seth turned was unexpected.

Where many romances have conflict based on miscommunication, grudges, secrets, and lies by omission, it’s very gratifying that Seth wants to apologize and make amends, and that Cassie decides to trust him again, but it doesn’t feel terribly modern to want to befriend, let alone sleep with, someone who was cruel to you in the past. The chemistry between them is smoking, but plus-sized Cassie can’t believe this Alpha specimen would ever think of her as more than a buddy. The two of them are so insecure, it’s a miracle they ever get together, and when they do, the spicy scenes with Cassie VERY much enjoying the benefits of a werewolf lover (spoiler — no knotting, just big werewolf dick and long orgasms).

I always wish for approval for both the print and audio versions–it’s difficult to bookmark an audiobook or go back and skim something one might have missed in a moment of distraction. I found the voice of talented narrator Yael Rizowy a bit grating and too old sounding for the level of immaturity Cassie / the narrator for my taste. Seth sounded like an eager puppy dog / dumb jock most of the time–unless he was growly–and I’m not sure I would have read it that way on my own, in print (although I’m also assuming that direction came from an editor or producer or even direct from the author). She did vary the voices for the ghost of Cassie’s grandmother (although, the voice was different for each of the two communications from beyond the grave) and the bullies from high school with subtlety and skill. Listening to the audio also brings into hyper-awareness the repetition of favorite words (slick as overly used, and describing Seth as sheepish made me chuckle the first time, but by the fourth time was no longer clever).

Overall, I did enjoy the plot and the slow burn enough to push through, and I might have otherwise rolled my eyes and put the book down if the reader had not made it compelling, and then I was really glad I stuck with it. The cover art is gorgeous, and that, plus the title, is what drew me in. I found When Grumpy Met Sunshine a bit more polished; other werewolfy read-alikes include Bride by Ali Hazelwood (which I loved and yet to review), and Fan Service by Rosie Danan (which I recently finished and loved, and have yet to review).

I received a free advance listener’s copy of #HowToFeedAHungryWerewolf via #NetGalley, courtesy of #MacMillanAudio.

How to Help a Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein is officially one of my favorite books of the year. Great character arcs, creative plot points, a swoonworthy relationship with funny characters and fantastical world building. It was sweet and spicy and adorable then spicy again.... it was just the right blend! Loved it so much! The audiobook was very well done with crisp, clean sound quality and the most perfect narrators. Instant auto-buy author for me, yup it was that good.

Not quite as charming as my last read from this author, and got off to a slow start, but ultimately told a fun story. It's spicy and fun.
The swearing was so profuse it actually became very distracting in the audiobook.

This was a fun and spicy paranormal read! The characters were very horny for each other for the whole book! Enjoyable banter, a himbo MC (with dubious beginnings), some dimwitted bad guys, and a hard won second chance romance brought to fruition. The plot was definitely scaffolding for the smut by the end of the book, but I was here for it.

This was so cute! It gave me similar vibes to the Yeeted a love potion at a demon book. It was cute and funny and just overall an enjoyable read!

Meh, this book was not for me. The FMC complained the ENITRE time and honestly it was exhausting to listen too. I DNF'd at 30%

📖 + 🎧: How to Help a Hungry Werewolf-The Sanctuary for Supernatural Creatures Book #1

✍️ By: Charlotte Stein- I read When Grumpy Met Sunshine & gave 3 ⭐

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin, Macmillan Audio, and Charlotte Stein for the ARC and ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

🗣️ Narrator: Yael Rizowy voices all the characters. The narrator's voice fit the characters with standouts from Cassie and Seth. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrator worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrator paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along with the eBook and audio.

🏃🏾‍♀️Run Time: 12:31

🗓️ Publication Date: 10-1-24 | Read: 10-16-24

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, Adult Fic

Tropes: plus size h, enemies to lovers, witches/werewolves/fairies/goblins, fated mates, small town

🌏Setting: Hollow Brook New England

⚠️ TW: parental neglect, bullying, fatphobia, virgin H, explicit sex and dirty talk

POV: 3rd person, single- Riley

💭 Summary 💭: Cassie has come home after ten years to clean out her grandmother's house. When she arrives all the bad memories from high school come back when she was harassed by her former best friend Seth and his friends. He appears looking for her grandmother who gave him "medicine" for his affliction-being a werewolf. He tells Cassie she is a witch and can brew potions to ease his pain. He will teach her about being a witch with magic in exchange for her help and she reluctantly agrees.

🚺Heroine: Cassandra "Cassie" Camberwell-27, scared to connect to people after being bullied in high school losing her BFF Seth to the "cool kids."

🚺 Hero: Seth Brubaker-27, turned werewolf who needs potion to ease his pain and turning

🎭 Side Cast

Adeline- Cassie's deceased grandmother, was a half witch who knew Seth and helped him.

Jason, Tyler, Jordan-"jerk squad" who bullied Cassie in high school. They became friends with Seth.
.
Nancy-girl from high school, kind to Cassie but she was too scared to make friends.

Marley Maples-the "cool girl" Cassie wanted to be friends in high school but didn't.

🤔 My Thoughts: It was super spicy banter between Cassie and Seth. They spent a lot of time getting each other hot and bothered but fought the urge to have sex. Seth had little sexual control, and it caused Cassie to yearn for more too. As a witch, Cassie grew more confident and managed to forgive Seth for the years of torment. I loved that she took lead when they do the deed, making everything special for Seth. I skipped some of sex talk because it was a little too much for me, but I liked the idea of fated mates between a witch and a werewolf.

🌶️Spice 5/5
🎧 Narration 4/5
😭: Emotion 4/5
❤️: Couple 3.5/5
⭐️: Rating 3.5/5

After her grandmother's death, Cassie Camberwell moves back to her hometown of Hollow Brook to clean out her house. She doesn't know what to expect but it's certainly not her former best friend Seth Brubaker trying to break into her grandmother's house.

Cassie and Seth haven't spoken since Seth was responsible for the worst moment in Cassie's life. Considering that Cassie still bears the emotional scars from that moment, it's especially distressing to see Seth again.

Then Cassie learns that Seth is an actual werewolf, and comes to the crashing realization that she is a witch. Convinced that Cassie is powerful enough to keep his wolf side at bay, Seth pleads for help. Given their history, Cassie doesn't know if she can trust Seth, but in order to learn more about her powers and what it means to be a witch (which is information Seth can provide), they agree to a truce.

I want to start off by saying that there are some really interesting elements to the story/world that Charlotte Stein created. Paranormal, fantasy, supernatural, etc. have been my mainstay go-to's in reading for a very long time now so it's truly difficult to find a new book that adds some spark to the werewolf or witch mythos. Charlotte Stein does that here. Most notably with Cassie's powers. I loved the inherent, organic way she puts together spells. The way it's part of her genetic makeup. I wanted to spend more time seeing how everything worked. The barrier between humans and paranormals was an interesting tidbit as well since we typically see those very paranormals hiding themselves from the human population. Here, humans almost have blinders on where paranormal elements are concerned.

Keeping all this in mind, this is possibly the horniest book I've ever read! Honestly, I lost track of the plot quite frequently due to all the horniness. The book is so insular between Seth and Cassie that it loses everything else about it that started off so unique such as the magic system and Cassie learning about her powers. The book is almost broken down into various scenes of Cassie and Seth simply talking back and forth that quickly divulges into innuendo and dirty talk. I'm not saying this is bad, I'm simply saying it was completely not what I was expecting when I started the book at all. If you are in the marked for a red-hot read, this is definitely the read for you.

I personally wish there had been a little more balance between the steaminess and everything else because the way the story started with Cassie and Seth reconnecting after their falling out, and the way that Charlotte Stein builds up her paranormal world was a very promising start. I simply wanted more of that and continually losing track of the narrative - as mentioned above - made everything seem very inconsistent and choppy.

Not only that, but the way the interactions between Cassie and Seth spiraled just didn't make sense to me. Clearly, they were each trying to deny their true feelings for one another, but the overcompensation with too much internal monologues and external dialogue going off on wild tangents didn't help the problem with me losing focus of the story.

Also, everything was so focused on Cassie and Seth that I felt there was just not enough time to deal with the conflict that pops up toward the end in any kind of satisfying way. That, too, was something introduced early on then kind of brushed aside only to be picked up again too late to make any real impact within the story.

Speaking on the audio, I thought the narrator did great with Cassie which is perfect because the whole story is told from Cassie's point of view. I was a little underwhelmed with Seth's narration because he came across as very juvenile. By the start of the book they're both supposed to be in their late twenties, but he sounded, and to be fair also came across in the pages, as like he was still a teenager. I think this did change as the story progressed - or maybe I got used to it.

This is a book that was very promising, unfortunately I'm not left excited to see where the series goes next. There's some potential setup, but at this moment I'm not feeling it. I hate leaving a review on such a note, I always try to be optimistic that things will get better, and I'm trying to hold onto that thought going into the next book. I guess we'll see.

DNF @ 20%

I picked this one up because the cover is gorgeous and I thought it would be a fun “spooky season” romcom. Unfortunately, I will not be finishing this one. While it started out strong, the pacing was too slow for a romcom for me. I read her debut book, and the writing felt skeletal, like things weren’t quite fleshed out enough. Her sophomore book had the opposite problem - now we get stuck in scenes for too long because there is too much depth into every detail. In true Goldilocks fashion, I feel like her third book may be just right!

I knew there was a problem in the past that lead to their friendship ending in high school, but I wasn’t prepared for *how* bad that moment was. I certainly wasn’t ready to forgive Seth - ever - but I’m sure there’s some sort of miscommunication that made that moment as bad as it was.

Charlotte Stein’s plots always sound so good to me, so I hope one day I will connect with her writing!

The audiobook performance was great, Yael Rizowy has an energetic style that is well suited to performing romcoms! Her performance matched the characters well, and was really enjoyable to listen to. For as far as I got into the book, this book works well as an audiobook, there isn't any confusing time jumps and I believe is single POV.

Someone with more patience than me, or people that really like borderline-bully romances may find this book really fun!

This audiobook was absolutely delightful, from the humor to the spice, everything went perfectly. It is the perfect cozy rom com to curled up too. Not only we get amazing fall vibes, we have witchy vibes and a whole lot of body positivity.

We are introduced to Cassandra Camberwell, and as the reader we experience one of her worst high school moments, and it immediately sets the premise of the story. Cassandra’s grandmother has passed away and she moves back to her cottage to straighten her last affairs. While there she feels uneasy and hearing things, that is until her former best friend, Seth Brubaker comes knocking on her grandmother’s door. The problem is that Seth was responsible for their friendship to fade and now he needs her help.

Obviously there’s a lot of tension between them and they’ll have to work together in order find a cure for both their curses. Cassandra is a witch but is in denial, and Seth is a gorgeous and protective werewolf. Let me tell you, the tension between these two was palpable. The romance is definitely a plus, but for me what won me over was how they were best friends and how much they had in common. She is a plus size protagonist and loved how she was confident and wasn’t afraid of protecting herself and Seth using her powers. It is the perfect fall read, with simmering cauldrons and an adorable raccoon companion, may I need to say more.

I love a good paranormal romance and this was a really cute slow burn between a witch and a werewolf who are ex-best friends.

I did a hybrid read, (audio and ebook)and the narrator of the audiobook was fantastic!

I read this authors other 2024 release earlier this year, When Grumpy Met Sunshine and it was one of my favorite books of the year. This book was completely different, but this Charlotte Stein is definitely one of my new favorite author.

Thank you to St. Martin’s for the eARC and
Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

**I RECEIVED A FREE ARC OF THE AUDIOBOOK FROM NETGALLEY. THANK YOU A TON. THIS HAS NOT IMPACTED MY REVIEW IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM. **

Well, this was an experience. I will start off by saying that I thought the premise was good, and the general story vibe was good, but the writing...it was not my cup of tea. I do not know exactly why, but just the way the author describes things and cassie's internal monologue is oof. No, I cannot give you concrete examples, it really was just a vibe. I guess maybe the narrative was too juvenile in a way? But it was meant to be an adult paranormal romance...so yeah. Speaking of adult...while the sex scenes were hot, they were also cringe, heavy cringe. I think again, it was a fault of the writing and particular word choices...just did not vibe with me.

I thought the story was alright though! I imagine it is kind of like how darcy and seth would of been from zodiac academy if they met in the human realm. This seth definitely had golden retriever energy and his bashfulness and mental clusmyness was a bit endearing. Cassie was not a bad person herself. I enjoyed her journey of self discovery. It was actually some of the things she was able to do and what she learned. But her and seth together? That took a while and alot of angst. At the same time, I was not sure how the entire book seemingly revolved around...just seth being a dork and cassie having to endure him?

I did like the element of magic and how magical elements were utilized in this story. I liked seeing the magical creatures and other items. That helped a bit to put me in a good state of mind for this book. But the writing just...**sighs**

Overall, this was a decent novel. Thanks netgalley for providing me an audio arc. Remember, this is all my opinion. if you want your own, read the book.

3.5 stars. This book is great for fall - bringing a witch who has just discovered her talents together with a werewolf who is managing his shifter tendencies.

Read this book if you enjoy:
> New witch discovering her talents
> Witch x Werewolf
> High School friends to enemies to lovers (as adults)
> Open door spice
> Fated mates

This was an interesting mix of left over high school bullies with adult interactions. The mix of flashbacks helped to provide context for the FMC and why she was having such a strong negative reaction to the MMC at times. The fated mates/tie bringing them together felt tenuous at times, but helped to emphasize why the two of them were spending so much time together. I think the overall story was fun and definitely an escapist read for fall with all of the elements that I'd expect in a paranormal romance.

I did struggle with the dynamic between the two MCs at times during the book - they were awkward with each other and while I appreciated the open communication, it made it almost cringey at times. Some of the open door spice scenes felt clinical for lack of a better word and I was left wanting something more to spark between the two of them. The audio book is well done - the narrator did a great job bringing the characters to life and injecting nuance and energy into the narration.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for the ALC of this book!

Cassie Camberwell hasn’t returned to her hometown since high school, but after the death of her grandmother, she finds herself the owner of a house full of unusual and somewhat creepy objects. What was supposed to be a quick trip is thrown for a loop when her high school bully/former best friend shows up on her doorstep, clearly in need of help.

This book is marketed as a paranormal romance, which it is, but it feels more like a story about an adult woman figuring out her personal identity and life calling which happens to include falling in love. Heads up for a slow burn and lots of pining.

The audiobook is narrated by Yael Rizowy. I thought she did a great job bringing Cassie and her wild adventures to life.

Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5)
Narration: 🎧🎧🎧🎧 (0-5)
Overall: 4/5
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥☄️ (0-5) Slow burn to hello horny paranormal babes!

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 Single POV with one narrator—she’s a fabulous storyteller and uses lots of emotion in her voice for great audiobook entertainment. She changes her voice for other characters and moods.
🤩 Don’t we all need a witchy werewolf pairing this time of year? It’s even a witchy awakening.
🤩 Childhood friends-to-enemies-to-lovers and that need to know what happened and why.
🤩 In other words: second chance at friends-to-lovers.
🤩 I love the fast and captivating start to the plot!
🤩 Quirky characters with cute conversations so full of kinky and crazy fun!
🤩 Did I mention slow burn to hello horny paranormal babes?
🤩 With such scrumptious steamy details.
🤩 And holy hotness do I love the most clever dirty talk situation ever!!
🤩 I loooooved the magic lube and Cassie hearing Seth pleasure himself. Hot hot hot
🤩 Lots of LOL funny!

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 It might be 3rd person POV that makes it harder for me to feel captivated.
💫 I would have liked more from the raccoon child.
💫 I like/need some steam after the drama.

I didn’t really vibe with this book. I didn’t connect to the characters and so I couldn’t really get into listening to this one.

received this books as an eARC NetGalley

This just honestly wasn’t the book for me. I struggled with the mis communication and what felt like insta love.

I think if you love very cheesy romance books this might be for you!

Cassandra Camberwell has returned to her hometown to clean out her beloved late grandma‘s home, Sorting through her grandmother‘s effects on earth, more than just memories! She discovers that witches magic are real… And she finds out that her high school best friend/ crush turned enemy/bully is now a werewolf!

Seth Brubaker I’ve made some mistakes in high school when it came to Cassandra, but he needs her help now as she comes into her magic to control his wolfy urges - Cassandra‘s not willing to more on and let bygones be bygones, but she will strike a deal eventually they strike a deal to work together against a common enemy… resulting in plenty of time and close confines and some edits to their past history!

I really like the idea of Cassandra‘s magical ability and her discovering this special talent. I did have a hard time dealing with her immature outlook at the past and not moving forward to except Seth and his actions in the present to be his true self. Cassandra was too focussed on her high school experience and not willing to move on and give a new chance. This element of the character felt very YA to me and hung a cloud over this romance.

I listen to the audiobook narrated by Yael Rizowy and really liked her contemporary voice to go along with this story. Her voice variation is subtle, but does the job nicely. I think her youthful style fit the feel of this book.

Overall, I really liked the idea of the small town and discovery of magic and real life, paranormal beings, but I would’ve liked to see a more mature heroine. I’d be interested to see if this is the beginning of a small town series, I think we would have a lot of potential!

Thanks to St Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for my review copies.

How to Help a Hungry Werewolf was a Macmillan Audio pick and something that is usually outside of my usual read, but it just looked so funny I had to choose it!

I immediately knew I was right that it was funny! The banter between Cassie and Seth was reminiscent of Buffy and Gilmore Girls—the small town, autumn vibes were especially Gilmore-esque! This baby witch and werewolf’s chemistry is perfect, and yet I wasn’t a huge fan of their spicy scenes as they felt obligatory and transactional instead of romantic and steamy—at least until the end when their feelings are fully revealed.

I was disappointed the raccoon on the cover didn’t enter until 69% through, in chapter 21! He was my favorite character!

I enjoyed the narration by Yael Rizowy! In the end, this book is either 3 or 4 stars, I can’t quite choose.