Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for giving me an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this book, but it wasn’t for me. I couldn’t connect with the MC at all. I found her sort of annoying actually. I also thought the writing was a bit immature.

The plot of the story was decent though, I just wish the writing would have been a bit more adult. If you don’t mind a little immaturity and you like a werewolf romance with fall feels then this might be for you!

Oh man that was a fun story! I don't even know how to describe it without almost spoiling it. Haha! The banter was fun. It was fun to see Cassie grow.
My only issue was some of it felt obvious. Like I was getting annoyed with how slow the characters were "getting it". And there was also a fee instances where it felt like details were missing from one part to the next. Hopefully those were corrected since this wasn't a corrected proof.

Thank you to NetGalley and SMP/Macmillan for the eARC.
Unfortunately this book was not for me. I found the story to be much more YA with some spicy scenes tacked on near the end. The characters did not act like they were nearly 30.
I think this could have been better for me if the behaviors and dialogue from the characters were more mature or this was a true YA novel.

I’m giving this book 3 stars because I feel like it has potential, especially if the series continues.

A couple of the things I enjoyed:
- The banter between Cassie and Seth was fun to watch. Their dialogue was by far my favorite part of the book
- I liked the small town, however, I wish we had seen more of it.
- I liked the spicy times, they weren’t over the top descriptive, but they weren’t closed door.
- I liked the childhood best friends to rivals to begrudging allies to friends to lovers dynamic they had going on
- I loved Cassie's powers manifesting via cooking and how everything about her background was revealed

What could have been better:
- As noted above, seeing more of the town would have been nice
- Cassie came off as very wishy-washy to me, while Seth came off as very submissive to whatever Cassie wanted but in a way that he would say something and immediately change course because he thought she wasn’t ok with what he said. Neither one of these types of MCs is my favorite to read, personally.
- It took too long to get to the spice. There were a lot of little adventures which were fine, but with the characters not being my favorite, the town not being explored, and the little adventures not amounting to much, I would have preferred the spice quicker.
- And perhaps my biggest criticism is these characters did not feel mature enough for their ages. I have no problem with their background or why she still feels hurt over their past (that makes sense to me), what didn't make sense was their actions and discussions about even trivial things. These people were in their late 20s but they felt as though they were right out of high school. I believe I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if the ages of the characters had been changed to 19/20, as it would have made a lot more sense to their personalities.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Charlotte Stein for the opportunity to read a copy of this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.

Seth and Cassie meet up again after years of her hating him because of a prank he and his friends pulled on her in high school. But once Cassie's grandmother passes away and leaves her a house, she comes back to town to clean out the house and probably sell it. But Seth shows up and sets a whole slew of things in motion. For one, Seth is now a werewolf and needs the potion or recipe that Cassie's grandmother used to make him so he can control his shifts. But instead Cassie just thinks he's in the basement trying to steal something until he starts to shift and he has to tell her to run, block the basement door and wait. Which she does and is not prepared to face her new reality that paranormals exist, the next day.

Seth and Cassie start to spend more time together because Cassie has a lot of questions and she doesn't have anyone else to talk to about this stuff. So Seth fills her in but she's not sure she can trust him yet even though the prank was years ago. He really hurt her since they had been best friends before the whole thing happened. But the more time they spend together, the more she sees her friend in Seth again and they start to act like friends again. All the while Cassie is trying to help Seth with a couple of potions to help him out and they need some ingredients that they have to go looking for.

In the meantime, those old jerks that Seth used to hang out with and set Cassie up for the prank in high school are still holding a grudge against her and Seth knows she's in danger from them. But then halfway through the book the plot takes a backseat to the mating urges that first Seth starts to feel and then Cassie feels. They are so strong that they have a hard time focusing on anything else and the book focuses on sex between them for quite a while. After they get that out of their system, it gets better and we get back to the plot of this story. I really liked the characters, and Pod the racoon familiar for Cassie after she realizes she's a witch.

It was a little slow at times and a little wordy but the storyline was a lot of fun. You can bet this won't be the last book I read by this author.

Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I ending up DNFing the book at 51%.

The premise was fun, but it didn't end up working for me. The dialogue felt very YA (although some if it was fun), but the whole book ended up feeling YA. It was almost like that's how it was written and then the characters were just aged up. I didn't get far enough in to read any potential sexy times, so I don't know how that was handled. A lot of simple things, like what the 27 year old FMC did for work, were just ignored. But we're told the MMC sold gremlin poop to make money. Ok. I'm bummed, I liked the authors last book and was excited for a paranormal.


Trigger/content warnings as listed by author: parental neglect, bullying, fatphobia

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.

Oh this book was so fun. An easy read with some added spice and a bit of magic. Well done.

This was such a surprisingly sweet book. I thought this would just be a cute spooky season, second chance witch/werewolf romance. The relationship between Seth and Cassie was so much more than I expected. Seeing them become friends again, working thorough their past hurt feelings and eventually admitting that they'd fallen in love was an emotional journey. And there was still the fun magical, new witch learning her powers aspect too.

Second chance romance between two ex high school best friends as they try and break the werewolf curse on one of them. Cassandra Camberwell has returned to her hometown of Hollow Brook after her grandmother's passing, all she meant to do was inspect the house and go through her grandmother's things and leave... but then Seth Brubaker shows up at her door demanding to see her grandmother. Cassandra and Seth used to be best friends, she even had a crush on him...until the incident in highschool where he became hot, abandoned her, publicly fat shamed and humiliated her and befriended all her bullies. Cassandra left highschool and was homeschooled until she could finally leave the town... Seth broke her heart. Yet here he is now all those years later and revealng to her that he is a werewolf and that she is a witch who could help him (she never even knew she was a witch). Yet this new Seth claims that all he wants is her help to get rid of the curse and he'll leave her alone, and she can't resist him, especially now that he's so hot despite the trauma he caused. Things take a turn when they get into a strange mating bond situation and Cassandra has to consider if she can be with the very man who bullied her all those years ago. I want to start off by saying I did not know this was a bully romance when I got into it, I did not know that the main female lead would be falling for the very guy who fat shamed her and literally forced her into homeschooling.... and never even really did anything to make up for it all those years later. I loved Charlotte's previous book and was so so excited to see her new paranormal romance, especially since this would be the first in a series but was completely thrown by what I was reading when it came down to it. These individuals did not feel like they were in their late 20s, they did not feel like grown adults at all. I also could not get over the fact that Cassandra simply forgave Seth and said: yeah its all good, he's hot so it's fine?? HELLO??? He did nothing and I mean nothing to ever warrant her falling for him again, he didn't grovel, he didn't really explain, and he just used his hotness to het her to help him and be with him again?? Like it's one thing if he was compelled or forced to say it but when he explains why he did, I was just grossed out and honestly if it were me, I would have punched him in the face and slammed the door. I was expecting a cute second chance romance but this was not cute at all for me. I love Charlotte's previous book and will definitely be reading more from her, however this book just did not hit the mark for me.

Release Date: October 1,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. How to Help a Hungry Werewolf is Charlotte Steins debut paranormal romance. Cassandra Camberwell returns to her hometown after her Grandmothers death to clean out her house and decide what she will do with the house. While she is in the process of sorting through her grandmothers possessions her high school nemesis and former best friend breaks into the house desperate for a potion her grandmother made for him. Much to Cassandras's shock Seth Brubaker is a werewolf now and she herself is a witch. This book is a romp through the paranormal genre with witches and werewolves, fairies and magic, talking raccoons, flying cars and vacuum cleaners and a host of potions and lotions. Cassandra learns to have confidence in her abilities, she and Seth are able to repair their friendship and she has the bullies who made her high school years tortuous on the run.
The story is light hearted, body positive and very steamy. I enjoyed it very much and highly recommend it. Publishing Date: October 1, 2024 #StMartinsPress #CharlotteStein #HowToHelpAHungryWerewolf #NetGalley #ContemporaryRomance #ParanormalRomance
#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #romancereader

I so wanted to like this book and appreciated the author's content warning at the beginning. However, I just couldn't be sold on this romance after what happens to set up tension between these characters. I was so turned off of the MMC in the prologue that there was no way I wanted to continue reading about him finding love with the person he treated so disgustingly in high school. Not for me, and I won't be trying this author again.

I had SO MANY laugh out loud moments with this story and it was such a classic rom-com meets paranormal. Think Bewitched or Sabrina the Teenage Witch!

Coming back to the town where you were humiliated by your ex-best friend and bullies, and now you discover you are a witch and you have to help your sworn enemy.

What isn't to love?!

My second Charlotte Stein read… I had honestly thought that the last release had been her debut since I’d not heard of her previously or seen her titles before, but now I’m seeing so many! It’s just these newer ones with the illustrated covers that are getting noticed and spread on social media (and I have her early ‘25 book in my hands, too)! I’ll have to check out some of her older works.

This storyline is a complete deviation from the last, as it’s a paranormal, werewolf and witch, former high school besties turned enemies, second chance romance. The previous book was a ghost writer and the “author” in forced proximity, complete opposites and not exactly liking each other from the start, who become lovers. Both main female characters are large girls, so we have fat girl representation in both books.

I enjoyed Werewolf far more than I expected to, and far more than the last book! This was quite a lighthearted paranormal tale, where the former friends, who had quite a terrible falling out in high school, reunite when she (Cassandra) has to return to the small town she fled after the horrific bullying got to be too much to endure, and dropped out, leaving for good. She’s back after her grandmother passed, and she has to clean up and sell the house. She’s got an intruder one evening, who happens to be the former best friend turned bully (Seth), searching the house for something her grandmother promised him…

Fast forward to the pair making a magical deal - something neither expected, but draws them back together in very unlikely circumstances. Those circumstances lead to a really fun book and very interesting storyline (quite unexpected, in so many ways)! I definitely had a good time reading this one, and think it’s a perfect addition to everyone’s Halloween TBR … though it would really be a good read any time of the year.

The audiobook was narrated by Yael Rizowy, a new-to-me voice (I’m always still so surprised, as a dozen + year listener, when I come across a new name as a narrator! So many new ones, it seems, recently, and all doing great). I enjoyed her performance, but it would of course be better to have two voices doing two viewpoints.

I received an advance read and listen copy from NetGalley, St. Martin's Press (St. Martin's Griffin), and Macmillan Audio, and this is my honest feedback.

Great premise, interesting characters. And while this is well-written SPICY, I'd actually like more time spent on the house and the other characters. I also thought the rebuilding of the relationhip was true to life. Looking forward to more in the series.

4.5 rounded up!

This was such a delightful, lighthearted, horny, supernatural romp. When I say horny, I mean this was possibly the horniest book I’ve personally read. We’re talking supernatural levels of horny. There were times it became more smut over plot but that was fine with me and it didn’t stay that way the whole book. I had a good time reading it! It was a silly and fun read and perfect for spooky season🎃

The bullying was hard to read and I don’t feel like we got a good enough explanation from Seth about his part in that. The rest was a lot of fun though.

🐺 Legit laughs
🐺 Explicit spice
🐺 Friends to enemies to friends to lovers
🐺 Werewolves, witches, magic

What a perfectly timed fall release!

This is a cute premise - very much gives me Vampire Diaries vibes. I struggled a little bit because it did feel a bit more young/YA than what I usually read.

Overall it was fun and entertaining.

I had such high hopes for this one. I was disappointed. The writing was so hard for me to get into. I think if it was in first person I could have followed better. I hated the fat shaming. I almost dnf at the prologue, but kept going. The steam was hot but everything else was meh.

DNF @ Page 109

I only got 109 pages into this but it was already so repetitive. Cassie thinks Seth is evil because he pulled a prank on her in high school. Seth apologizes and tries to respect her boundaries because he actually grew up after high school. Cassie is sure that he only has evil motives. Seriously, Cassie clearly has not grown up since she graduated and spends her time holding grudges.

The writing in this also really bothered me. The tone felt very immature for an adult book and already a lot of the lore didn't make sense. What little explanation I've gotten on the magic system was so vague and basically magic works however the person with the magic wants it to work. There's no rhyme or reason as to werewolves transformation-some change for the moon, others change due to high emotions. Seriously, pick a lore and stick with it.

Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing this ARC to me!

I really enjoyed this quick and hilarious read. I think this is the perfect fall romance. It had a great balance of humour to serious moments. We can all guess what kind of hungry he was and it didn't disappoint. Definitely a spicy read. I kinda hope there is more in this series and it's not a standalone. I loved the writing style and characters. Great job.

Cassie returns to her hometown, Hollow Brook, to clean out her grandmother's old house when she unexpectedly finds her former best friend at her door and in need of serious help. Seth was at fault for her worst moment in high school (don't we all have one of those?!) leaving Cassie to assume he wants to torment her again. Her attitude softens when it turns out he is an actual werewolf and not just a figurative beast. He is convinced she is the witch to help him. Cassie is wary and uncertain if she can trust him after what happened in high school. He promises her to teach her all about magic if she will brew the potions he needs.

As usual, Charlotte Stein makes the perfect romance - romantic, sexy, laugh out loud funny, and heartfelt enough to tug on your emotions! This romance is the perfect read for spooky season - there are witches, werewolves, and a romance that will take you on quite the emotional journey - one so tender you'll want to read it over and over again. Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for letting me read this ARC which I completely adored!