How to Help a Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

How to Help a Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein
Published by St. Martins Press on October 1, 2024
Genres: PNR, Romantasy
Pages: 368
Format: eBook
Source: NetGalley
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What We Do in the Shadows with the small town feels of Gilmore Girls in this swoon-worthy romance that will leave readers delightfully cozy and hungry for more.

When Cassandra Camberwell returns to her hometown of Hollow Brook to clear out her late grandmother’s ramshackle old house, the last thing she expects is Seth Brubaker on her doorstep. Her former best friend was responsible for the worst moment of her high school life, and she can’t imagine he wants to do anything but torment her all over again.

Until she unearths the real reason this annoyingly gorgeous beast of a man keeps hanging around: he’s an actual werewolf, who’s certain she’s the witch that will ease his suffering. But Cassie just isn’t sure if she can trust him again. So Seth offers a pact: he’ll teach her all about her undiscovered magic, and she will brew the potions he needs. No feelings, no funny business, just a witch and a werewolf striking a deal.

Totally doable. Until they get hit with a do-or-die mating bond. And now the heat is rising, in between fights with formers bullies and encounters with talking raccoons. They just have to not give in. Unless giving in just might be the very thing they never knew they always wanted.

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