this was super fun, equivalent to watching a reality TV show. no critical thinking for this one, though i do wish the characters had some more depth to them

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.75/5)

After finishing a book that left me absolutely spiraling in my emotions, I really needed something funny and light-hearted to "cleanse the reading palette." Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf was exactly that! It delivered on the humor and cozy vibes that kept me entertained for most of the story.

The premise is so fun: Luna, a human, ends up stranded in an Alaskan town called Claw Haven during a snowstorm and has to stay at the Musgrove Inn—run by a pack of werewolves. Oliver, the grumpy, broody innkeeper, is carrying a heavy burden from a fire a year earlier that almost killed his family and pack. Their dynamic is great: Luna is this ray of sunshine who gradually brings out the best in Oliver.

Of course, things get delightfully chaotic when they accidentally bond/marry using some magical Bonding Nectar. To undo it, they need an ingredient they can’t get until the snow melts in the mountains. Oh—and Luna is engaged to a man named Hector! The forced proximity and magical bonding lead to plenty of hilarious moments, and the banter between Luna and Oliver was a highlight.

Story-wise, it was very light and fluffy (which I wanted!) but it did lack a bit of pizzazz in places. Some plot points just kind of happened without much explanation or buildup, making a few scenes feel rushed or underdeveloped. Despite that, I still really enjoyed it as a fun escape. The ending was especially satisfying: Luna chooses Oliver and returns to Claw Haven, giving us that perfect small-town paranormal romance closure I wanted.

If you're looking for something funny, sweet, and easy to read with a magical, snowy setting and grumpy-sunshine vibes, this is a solid pick—even if it's not the deepest story out there.

I wasn’t really a fan of this book. If it wasn’t an ARC I probably would’ve DNF’d it but I kept on so I’m able to give my review based on the whole book. The concept is cute and great, but the execution was not so great. The main characters are infuriating and not relatable at all. The FMC is some heiress that acts like she’s all party all the time and has cringy coined phrases she says and randomly “strikes a pose” all the time. Think London Tipton from Disney, but smartish. And the MMC won’t even try to help his family because of an accident that happened a year ago and he’s beating himself up so bad his wolf won’t even listen to him. And then, because they’re accidentally bonded, they just start sleeping together?! And there was no finesse on how this occurred either. It was just like “Okay, this is happening now.” Then if you think the FMC is spoiled and annoying just wait until you meet the rest of her family and fiancé.

Overall, this book could’ve been executed a whole lot better if taken in a different direction and had a different writing style.

2.5⭐️. I’m probably being a little harsh here. It was a classic and perfect Hallmark movie. I knew what I signed up for and got exactly what I expected. HOWEVER, that didn’t change the fact that I did cringe quite a few times throughout this novel.

The premise is cute. Rich heiress accidentally gets stranded in bumblef*ck Alaska and drinks from a bottle she thinks is booze, but is actually a magical nectar that bonds her soul to the other person that drank from it. She’s classic sunshine. He’s classic grumpy.

The writing quality is actually decent! Most of my issues came with the plotting and character development. I didn’t need to be force fed over and over again that Luna was a vapid party girl. I got it the first time. And despite the fact that Oliver was getting “less gruff” over the course of Luna’s time in Claw Haven, I never felt like the author showed us much of his softening. Also the author threw in random plot points that she then never fully developed and they were sort of just shrugged off at the end of the book (I do not trust Nick and his flour. It’s not quirky. It’s annoying. Don’t introduce a plot point that raises suspicion only to leave it dangling.)

Luna was also undeniably cheating. I hated it. I’m all for open relationships, but from the get go it was clear the bond forced them into a relationship that was more intimate than the parameters outlined by Hector.

Overall I think the book could have benefitted a little more from more fleshed out characters with more depth.

Fun, silly, spicy! I had a great time. It’s everything that the cover, description, and title promised.

What an unexpectedly fun book to read!! The very definition of a grumpy/sunshine trope mixed in with a “monster” romance. It was quick and easy to read and had me kicking my feet at several spots!

Luna is your typically rich party girl, never having to work for anything and lives a life of luxury. Oliver is your grumpy werewolf with dealing with a traumatic past. Together they get accidentally bonded and chaos ensues. The entire Musgrove Family is endearing and charming- I would gladly live in Claw Haven with them!

I thought the concert of bonding in this book was fun - like a warmth the grows the closer you are, coldness when you get farther away. To the point it causes physically pain to be separated .

I do think the open relationship idea between Hector and Luna threw me off and I felt bit weird about a lot that happened in the book. The immediate spice and how it continually happens despite Oliver not liking the idea initially knocked this down for me.

I think this book needs more work.

There are a lot of scenes that make the book feel rushed and some scenes that just feel out of place. I think this could absolutely be a great story but it was lacking more than im willing to give it a benefit of the doubt. I cant even say this story just isnt for me considering how many structural problems there were. The writing was okay at best and luna’s personality was less cute than how much the author described her as “cute”.

Luna reminds me of Alexis from Schitt’s creek but with less charm and more fakeness to her attitude. Any time she did something nice for the townsfolk it felt forced or like someone trying to be nice but internally hating every minute. We also dont need to be reminded a million times how skinny and small and cute and gorgeous she is. Especially if her behavior is going to come off as someone who lacks the ability to read the room.

The romance development felt choppy and disjointed. I hated the fact that hector was written as a throwaway character who was okay with polygamy and had no emotions behind his fiancée being married to someone else.

*Thank you for allowing me to ARC read and review this book on Netgalley!*

This was a lighthearted, fun, cozy read. If you're looking for an engrossing small-town paranormal rom-com, with some spice you don't have to wait long for, and humor that will make giggle—then cozy up under a blanket with a warm drink and let this book distract you from reality for a bit. This book had a grumpy shifter running a broken-down Inn and a stuck-up, rich heiress who needed a place to stay, and I was living for the chaos these two characters were creating. It did have its moments and details that I'm sure aren't going to be for everyone, but it still had me sucked in because I had to know what the heck was going to happen! If you want a fun time, without big expectations, here it is.

When I read a shifter/wearwolf/monster romance, I don’t expect “cute”. I expect sexy and a little dark and depraved. This felt “off” to me for that reason. It was surface level. I binged it in a day but it was lighthearted, cozy, 🥱 and mindless. Not enough angst or 🌶️ for my personal taste.

Thank you Net galley for this e-arc.
I was so sucked in to Claw haven that I
Read this book in a day! The grumpy / sunshine trope was perfection! It was light and fun and if you like paranormal rom com this is the book for you!

4.5 stars from me!!!

I was so sucked in to this book, I finished the book in two days. For my slow reading, easily distracted brain, this is a huge win :)

Luna reminded me of Elle Woods from Legally Blond which I absolutely LOVED. And of course, Oliver, the sexy, brooding werewolf was to die for. The book felt so cozy and at home while touching on real topics and feelings that we go through on a daily basis. All the monster townsfolk of Claw Haven were absolutely adorable, and you can't forget the Musgroves. If I could live in Claw Haven, I ABSOLUTELY would. And to top it all off, I was LOL-ing MULTIPLE TIMES. Just *chefs kiss*

Thank you so much for this gem of a book! It really felt like being wrapped up in a warm blanket while sipping hot cocoa on a cold, winter day.

(On a technical note, I think there were a couple of grammatical/spelling errors that may have been missed! I'm not too sure how publishing works but if it's still possible to edit them it might be a good idea! It wasn't a big deal or anything, but thought you might want to know just in case. <3 )

I absolutely loved this book!
It's fun, quirky, full of laugh out loud moments, but also has great character growth. I so enjoyed Luna and Oliver's grumpy x sunshine dynamic, and I cannot wait to return to Claw Haven with the next installment!

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
1.5 / 5

Unfortunately, this did not work for me. Since starting the novel, I became aware that this book was recently picked up by Harlequin and that it was previously and indie published book. I figured this meant that some level of tradpub-paid editing had taken place, but since I never read the original version, I have no basis for comparison. I can only discuss what I read, which is this one.

To start with some of the positives, I think there were a lot of instances of cute dialogue/moments of banter between the main characters Luna (FMC) and Oliver (MMC). and their back-and-forth had plenty to enjoy about it. The length of the story was good as well, with just enough moments of genuine conflict to space out the "cozier" moments. One issue I often take with "cozy" books is that there is basically no plot, but Accidentally Wedded to a Werewolf, thankfully, has plenty, both main story plot and character specific.

I was initially drawn in to reading this book because of the Alaska setting, and coming off of another romance novel set in my home state that I didn't much enjoy due to the under-representation, I was curious to see what direction a cozy fantasy-romance would take it. The answer is nowhere, because the setting is a badly used prop. It's not actually a prop at all, just a word they use to describe why there's snow outside. A fair argument can be made that a "cozy" romance/fantasy doesn't need to have a multi-layered depiction of this, and I would actually completely agree. But quite literally nothing about Alaska was mentioned except 1) it snows (shocker!) and 2) there's apparently no cell service on major roads that lead to The Airport. We don't even learn which part of the state Claw Haven exists in! I dunno.

There was a huuuuge cast of characters, and I think the author put forth a valiant effort in trying to give them all individuality and interiority, but there was just plain too many people for 248 pages. Lots of character conflict, lots of interpersonal drama, which is something I think you desperately need in a cozy fantasy, but I just couldn't connect with anyone the way I wanted to.

On that note, and *SPOILER WARNING* for this section here... there are two rather faceless villains that appear in the story as people from the Musgrove family's past that are part of explanations as to why Oliver and his uncle are so grumpy and jaded. And I found it sort of personally distasteful that these two characters were just... evil bitch women for the sake of being evil. I didn't really get why these two women were given names and their only purpose was that they were so fucked up and terrible that they've permanently scarred the lives of the super-awesome wolf men they had romantic relations with. I really don't think this subtext was the author's intention, I think it was just a poor coincidence, but I really, really hated it. It takes up a small part of the book, but it is the main driving force behind Oliver's reticent behavior, and I think something else could have worked just as well.
*END SPOILERS*

The prose is what really dropped my rating though, because it altogether feels quite amateurish and I'm surprised that it's gone through professional level edits. I mostly mean line-level stuff (such as word/phrase repetition often in the same sentences, logical inconsistencies, telling over showing), but there was also a lot of hand-holding explanations that I didn't vibe with, or repetition of things we learned earlier in the story as if we haven't heard them before, which I feel can kind of insult the intelligence of the reader. I don't think any of this was the author's goal, of course, but with professional editors I'd hope some kind of change was made.

All of that said, I think there is a lot of potential with this story that simply didn't pan out for me. Despite my personal one-star rating, it's clear that this book has its audience, and I hope anyone interested in a small-town cozy fantasy-romance gives this one a look. I think with time (and better editing) the next books that follow in the series could make great leaps in quality. I just hope Alaska eventually gets its due.

I am a victim of contemporary romance cartoon covers, and I can't even say that I am mad. Yes, I requested to ARC this book because the cover is literally so cute. Did I love it? Absolutely, yes.

This book was SO cute. Loved the town and if monsters were real, I'd move there in a heartbeat. The grumpy/sunshine dynamic was fun and I enjoyed watching them bond.

I was excited about this book because the premise had so much cozy vibe potential—a small Alaskan town as a safe haven for all kinds of monsters sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work for me. The FMC felt a bit annoying and lacked the depth I was hoping for, and the romance between her and the MMC felt rushed and mostly driven by their magical bond rather than any real emotional connection. I still think the setting and idea were unique, but overall, it just wasn’t the cozy supernatural escape I’d hoped for.

I really enjoyed this book! I was expecting a typical gruff werewolf romance but got a heartwarming small town love story that almost made me cry at the end. Something a lot of contemporary romance fumbles is the genuine connection and growth of the love interests, but here it's so clear and so touching. Seeing Luna and Oliver grow closer and grow into the best versions of themselves was so fun to read. And setting in all in a cozy monster town was an added bonus!

Luna reminds me so, so much of Alexis Rose from Schitt's Creek--- actually, this is like "Alaskan monster town Schitt's Creek with werewolves and accidental mating bonds," and it WORKS. It was like a Halloween Hallmark movie but with the perfect balance of sappy and genuine.

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for a digital copy for review!

The setting in this book felt incredibly cozy and charming. I literally found myself wishing I could live there. A small-town vibe with monsters? Yes, please! And the whole pack element; being surrounded by people who genuinely care about and support you is EVERYTHING. I want that kind of love and community!!

I’m afraid this one is a DNF for me
I just cannot get past the FMC being the worst (and yes, please read that in the voice of Mona-Lisa Saperstein because that is the FMC’s vibe)
This is like if you smashed together The Simple Life, one of the last seasons of Trublood and added an open relationship.
I just didn’t really understand how people interacted with each other.
People are supposedly caring, but don’t show it at all and no background or inner monologue is really given outside of the MMC.
I guess to me he felt like the only deep character.
It was just really hard to get into the book for me

This was a cute, easy read with a fun premise, but it didn’t fully hit the mark for me. It felt like the story wanted to explore open relationships in an inclusive way, but some of the messaging didn’t land quite right. The FMC is in an open relationship with her fiancé when she meets the MMC, but the book made a point that emotional connections were off-limits. That line gets blurred pretty quickly. It wasn’t fully explored or addressed, which left the dynamic feeling a little underdeveloped.

There’s also an emphasis that the MMC could never be in an open relationship, which at times made it seem like the book was subtly dismissing that type of relationship as less serious or valid. I don’t think that was the intention, but it came off a bit clunky in execution.

As for spice, despite an early steamy scene that hints at more to come, the book isn’t particularly spicy overall. The scenes are short and scattered.

Still, there’s a lot to like here, especially if you're in the mood for a story with a touch of romantic messiness and found family.