This book is an exercise on how willing you are to push through momentary distractions and banter that pause the narrative entirely for moments both inessential and not quite funny enough to justify their presence.

The barriers between the stages of romance between the main pairing feel frustrating from a reader's perspective. There are moments where I was certain they had resolved a problem and moved on but it would fall back into an earlier stage of the enemy/friendship/romance.

But with that negativity out of the way I really liked how the main couple's silliness bled into the ridiculous nature of the world of the supernatural. The banter can sometimes be enjoyable but I think it's too restricted to the main couple. There is little supporting cast here and it shows.

Thank you to NetGalley and SMP for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f parnanormal romance
-witch and werewolf
-former childhoodbestfriends turned enemies
-childhoodcrush
-one hates the other pines
-horny magic
-slow burn
-plus size rep

This was absolutely fun and bonkers. I loved the twists as these two fought their attraction. A great spooky season read.

This was not my favorite paranormal romance. I didn’t like the author’s writing style in this book. It felt very choppy and disjointed. I’ve read another one of her books that I loved, so I gave this one a try. I had to push myself to finish reading it. I don’t recommend it at all.

This book should be called The Care And Feeding Of Your Horny Werewolf. I say this with love 🙂 I didn’t realize how much of this book would be so sexy. I mean, it’s a really horny book. It just doesn’t seem like it from the back cover copy or the cover. This book is PNR light, or Cozy Rom Com PNR. it feels and reads like a Cozy Rom Com, but it’s horny. Like so so horny. Like it should be in the title.

Quick background: Cassie and Seth are best friends and in high school he does something borderline unforgivable. She thinks he’s ditched her for the cool crowd and then she lives in a world of self-doubt for years. Then her grandmother dies and she goes back to the hometown to take care of grandmother’s house, stuff, etc and one day Seth knocks on the door asking about her grandmother.

She’s a witch, but has no idea. Her grandmother must have known, and tried her best to discourage Cassie from cooking, while at the same time, cobbling together Cassie’s spells/recipes. Cassie’s powers lie in cooking. It’s so intuitive to her, that as a child, she would cook and just know what to add to the recipes. Where does Seth fit in? Her grandmother has been using her recipes/spells to take care of Seth and keep him from turning all wolfy. So when she dies, Seth is truly saddened because Cassie’s grandmother and he had become friends.

I wish we’d seen more interaction between Cassie and her grandmother. This feels like it was worth more than a few quick paragraphs. For example, did her grandmother envy Cassie for her magic? Why didn’t she teach her? Why was it a secret? I need to know!

I loved how Seth, while he didn’t grovel, he also spent the whole book earning her trust and forgiveness. That’s huge. I wouldn’t say he was a bully, and I wouldn’t call this a bully romance, but there were elements of it there. But the author did an amazing job of redeeming him. He earned that forgiveness, it wasn’t just given to him with a tidy bow. This author has skill to be able to do that so well.

This book is like a happy, warm hug, and it’s perfect for your next Autumn read. Grab a blanket, a hot drink, and this book. Boom, your weekend is made.

***ARC courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley

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.

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 for my review copy .

Another reviewer described this as typical "quirky Stein erotica"--and, based on my reading of her previous novel, I wholeheartedly agree. If you're not comfortable with awkward (but hilarious) dialogue, a giant himbo love interest, and werewolf erotica (not until the 70% mark, though), you can skip this one. I, however, had a great time with Cassie, Simon, and their racoon son. (If you know, you know.)

This book was not for me and in general I don’t think second chance romances are. What Seth did to Cassie in high school is not okay and I am not rooting for them to get together. This also feels unnecessarily long and slow moving so I decided to DNF at 20%. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook and audiobook for review.

While I was excited for a book with plus size representation, this book just missed the mark. I did not enjoy the fat shaming and information dump at the start and it was just truly hard to connect with the characters after the prologue. Additionally, a lot of the writing and perspective felt almost immature or adolescent in tone and nature. The story was not bad, I just felt as though this was not the book for me.

The cover and title are so cute that they immediately caught my attention. I think the author did a fantastic job with the world building and with the character development of Cassie and Seth. The tension and chemistry were well done. There was also a decent magical system that added to the story. This is definitely a cozy dead that's perfect for Autumn.

Cozy? Check. Supernatural? Check. Romance? Check check check! This was the absolute perfect October/fall read, and if you like alphas, fated mates, and witches, this is absolutely the book for you.

I wanted to love this, I feel like the synopsis brought so much potential, buy, unfortunately for me, I feel like the from the middle of the book to about the last 15% it was just flat with not much of a story going on.

Cassie seemed both clueless & curious at the same time and I just was not a fan. Things finished off nicely, but it felt like a rushed ending. I hoped for more, and this just didn't hit for me.

This romcom was about a girl who finds out she is a witch and helps a werewolf with struggles he is having being a werewolf. Not to mention the werewolf is her childhood best friend who turned into her enemy in high school. But now they're adults, and despite everything she's been through, she is kind and wants to help him. It was basically a friends to enemies to lovers story. This was a fun, entertaining, and a perfect read for spooky season! 🧡📚

Thank you to the author and to the publisher for this ARC of How to Help a Hungry Werewolf , in exchange for an honest review.

I picked up How to Help a Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein because I thought the cover was cute and the description sold me on this being a cutesy enemies to lovers romance. Honestly, I was pretty disappointed, which really made me sad because I wanted to love this. A lot didn’t make sense and didn’t care to make sense. Female main character Cassie was practically a doormat and dense as heck. Male main character, surprisingly, also a doormat. All the troubles were of their own making. It simply didn’t flow and didn’t do it for me.

Before I get into what didn’t work, let’s talk about what did. I thought the bits of worldbuilding we received were really interesting. Cassie and Seth visiting those tiny faeries in the woods was so interesting. I loved seeing this tiny little world and their reaction to bigger folks. I loved the relationships between the different types of supernaturals. Hearing Seth talk about how he’s almost a jack of all trades for their little community, collecting and selling things, was fun. I wanted to delve deeper into this. And I bet future books in this series will. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be there to read about it.

Now, I want to start with one of the main gripes I had that hit very early on and colored everything afterward. Cassie is plus-sized and always has been. She was friends growing up with Seth and they seemed to have a bit of a will they won’t they until he left her high and dry for the people that bullied her. Then, after he convinced her to join their high school talent show, he called her a name over the loudspeaker as the talent she prepared (cake decorating – how very 4H) was sabotaged so she ended up with cake and frosting all over herself. The bullying and embarrassment after this became so bad that Cassie finished her senior year being homeschooled. I’ve read bullymances before and I’m pretty on the fence with them, but I can generally get behind them because we get the male POV. Through that male POV, we learn about how the bully is obsessively in love with the heroine and doesn’t know how to express it any other way and how no one else can bully her other than him. We don’t get that here. We get a group of boys being mean to this girl, no real explanation given at the time of incident, and no hint at his true feelings at that time.

We then cut to present day and eventually he does explain, except the explanation makes zero sense. It felt like a cop out. No one is so dumb to not realize befriending bullies will put a damper on your friendship/crush. No one is so dumb that they’ll simply say something their friends ask them to without wondering why at the timing. Where the attempts to explain afterward? No letters explaining or begging forgiveness? No calling or showing up until he can explain? It was like we get hit with this horrible experience that has haunted Cassie her entire life and there’s not a single stitch of groveling. There’s him present day being self-deprecating and pitying himself for having lost her. That is not groveling. Heck, that’s not even acknowledgment of what was done. That’s self-absorbed and narcissistic behavior. If Seth had done anything with Cassie in mind, without himself as an alternative motive or those pointed comments he makes under his breath, I could’ve really liked him. He seemed like he had big, dumb, golden retriever energy.

Then, we have Cassie. Girlfriend can literally not stand up for herself if her life depended on it. She started off semi-strong, wanting to push Seth out. But literally, in the same breath, she thinks about how much she misses him and loves him and wow he’s still so hot. There’s no self-respect, which makes sense because he and her bullies beat her down so low how could she? When Seth tells Cassie the background story for the most traumatizing event of her life, she accepts it and forgives him and moves on. What? Excuse me? The explanation itself never makes sense, but then to just brush it off like it didn’t cost her her senior year of high school and all that encompasses? I’m outraged on her behalf. Having to miss prom, graduation? Leaving her hometown because of what happened, and suddenly it’s all okay? It didn’t make sense to me.

But then again, I wonder if maybe the reason we don’t get Cassie or Seth to develop to a satisfactory level is because the last 25% to 40% of the book is just sex. The spice was nothing amazing and nothing terrible. It was simply all encompassing, which makes sense when you understand the title of the book. But it didn’t feel like we built up the characters, or the bridge between them, enough to get that payoff. It’s the undercurrent of Seth feeling unworthy and hating himself, and Cassie feeling unworthy that makes it just a bit uncomfortable. Cassie acts like she’s taking advantage of him. That he doesn’t actually want her. It gives ick to read because, again, girl, a pittance of self esteem for yourself please.

There’s more I can talk about – the consequences of Cassie’s power, the combat scenes – but honestly? It wouldn’t make a difference. I went into How to Help a Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein expecting a fun, steamy, and exciting paranormal, ex-friends to lovers romance. Instead, I ended up with self-hating characters that never fully develop and sex scenes that feel uncomfortable based off that lack of development. The worldbuilding that showed promise wasn’t enough to excuse the lackluster characters. Not sure if I can recommend this.

The perfect Sunday during fall read.

It just gives off a warmth similar to the irregular Society of witches. It’s cozy and adorable and makes you laugh and aww in all the right places.

Recommending this book is me giving y’all a virtual hug because that is this book sitting in front of a fire jumping into a magical small town that gives Halloween town vibes.

The best kind of punches to the gut because nothing does it quite like mutual pining and get rid of everyone in their way. They really ride together and they moments of trying to fight the connection are the funniest moments I’ve ever read.

With:

magic like Hoover vacuums 🤭

Their raccoon son 😍😍

Seth steal from the rich?! My kind of guy! 🤩

The Cabinet scene 🔥🔥🔥

I CANNOT RECOMMEND A BOOK MORE, especially in this season 🍂

When Cassie returns to her hometown after her grandmother's death, the last thing she's prepared to find is her former best friend/current mortal enemy breaking into the house...and is now a werewolf of all things. When Seth tells her she's a powerful witch, Cassie trades him information on the supernatural world for potions, but can she ever learn to trust him again? Hilariously cute friends-to-enemies-to-lovers book with a supernatural twist. #MF #slowburn #urbanfantasy #witches #werewolves

DNF

I guess if I had paid more attention to the author of this book, I wouldn't have requested it on NG. Alas, I did not.

And no, I do not have anything against the author, I just don't enjoy her writing style. I had similar issues with this book as I had with her other one that I read.

2.5 rounded up to 3

I don’t think Charlotte Stein books are for me. The pacing was off in the second half of the book, and I really didn’t feel the chemistry between the couple.

Scars from high school carry through to adulthood. At least that is the truth that Cassandra Camberwell lives with daily. It comes to head when she has to head home to clean up her grandmother’s house after her death. Cassie is ready for many things as she heads back to Hollow Brook, but is completely knocked over by her ex-best friend Seth at her grandmother’s house. He has been hiding something for years and is the cause of her worst moment in her whole entire life. But there is something between them that is unresolved.

The world that Stein creates is very surprising and filled with the supernatural. Both of her main characters are rich and fully developed. I did really like her original title How to Help a Horny Werewolf. I would come back for more.

Cassandra returns to her small town and is greeted by her childhood best friend turned high school bully who needs her help. He's a werewolf and has to convince her that 1) she's a witch, 2) he never meant to hurt her, and 3) they have something special.

CW/TW: Parental neglect, bullying, abandonment, fatphobia, low self-esteem

You like this if you like:
- Single POV
- Paranormal Romance
- Childhood Friends
- Enemies to Lover
- Second Chance Romance
- Small Town Romance
- Golden Retriever MMC
- Plus Size FMC
- Cozy read
- Witches
- Werewolves
- Groveling
- Spicy
- Fated Mates

What I didn't like:
- Miscommunication!!!! So much miscommunication.

Overall - Lots of tongue in cheek humor, great spicy scenes, and a pretty good read. Solid 4 stars.

4.5⭐️
Charlotte Stein is in the running for favorite recent author 😍
As someone who married her high school sweetheart, I adore stories that include high school love. It always feels so cute and nostalgic, and I can’t get enough!
Obsessed with the syrupy sweetness.
The spice gets spicy but holy moly, it’s good! (If it matters to you, there’s no 🪢)
Just read it 💁🏻‍♀️