I Kissed a Werewolf and I Liked It: a steamy sapphic paranormal romance between a student and her werewolf mentor

by Cat Hepburn

A first year university student and the werewolf that bit her begin a deadly will-they-won't-they chase, in this paranormal enemies-to-lovers romance.

The perfect treat to sink your teeth into, for fans of Ali Hazelwood's Bride, The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson and My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine.


***


The howling doesn't stop after the full moon.

My first term of bad grades and worse sex. After losing my sister/best friend Grace and spending my teenage years suffering for it, I thought academia could be my saviour. So, I buried my head in as many books as I could find. But it turns out you can't just turn the page on years of guilt. Still, the university library has become something of a haven away from the darkness.

Until a werewolf bit me in the romance section. And to my surprise, I kinda liked it.

I should have died - but instead, in true me form, I fell in love with the mysterious wolf that nearly tore me to shreds.

Now I feel myself changing, experiencing urges like never before. Maybe I should run for my life, but suddenly a dark bond is pulling me in closer. Am I making a terrible mistake? Could they be luring me in to finish what we started?

Or could becoming a werewolf be the best thing that ever happened to me?


***


READERS CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF BRODIE'S

'Delivers all the tension, angst, and supernatural thrills you crave' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'I loved this! Great characters and an exciting plot line' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Loved the funny and stressful situations Brodie found herself in' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'Good to see a lack of testosterone in a werewolf novel for a change!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'An absolute delight-fun, fast-paced, and full of charm!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Genres: Fantasy, Lesbian, Romance, Paranormal, Werewolves, Romantasy, LGBT

320 pages, Paperback

Published January 13, 2026

Reviews

[✨ Aaron Jeffery ✨]

DNF page 96. Okay, so this started off really fun and goofy but it’s getting to the point where I am super duper bored, rolling my eyes at every sentence.

[Hennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you so much NetGalley and Wildfire for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

The story follows Brodie, a first-year English literature student grappling with grief, guilt, and her own unexpected transformation after a fateful encounter with Nova, a mysterious werewolf, in the romance section of the library. Brodie’s sharp wit and vulnerability make her a compelling narrator as she navigates her dangerous and undeniable connection to the werewolf who bit her.

While the premise is intriguing and the supernatural elements are well-executed, the romance between Brodie and Nova doesn’t pick up until halfway through the book, which made the pacing feel uneven and slightly boring. The delayed buildup, combined with certain frustrating moments — like Zainab’s betrayal in allowing Brodie to be bitten by a werewolf—detracted from the overall reading experience.

Though Hepburn explores themes of loss, self-discovery, and primal desire with atmospheric flair, I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. The story had potential, but the pacing issues and some character choices left it feeling lackluster.

If you enjoy slow-burn paranormal romances with an enemies-to-lovers vibe, this might still be worth a read, but it wasn’t quite the page-turner I hoped for. 3 stars for me!

Trigger Warnings: This book contains sexual themes, sexual assault, drug use, violence, and injury.

[Rebecca Dee Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

We join Brodie, who is in her first year at Uni. As she is there on scholarship, she needs to knuckle down and do well. and she has to do this whilst being haunted by the memories of her sister..

However, after a strange attack in the library, Brodie finds herself leaning into her animal instincts

Meeting Nova and her pack will change it all for Brodie, but at what cost..

This book was really fun at first, I feel the humour comes through very well, but the story could have done a bit more just to hit the right way with me, but couple fun wee twists along the way though!

Out 08 May so definitely pick up if you like a wee werewolf romance

Thanks to NetGalley and Headline/Wildfire for the review copy, all opinions my own

[Sophie · Rating 1 out of 5]

⭐️ 1.5/5
🌶️ 3/5

For a steamy sapphic paranormal romance, the ‘romance’ was severely lacking - the main love interests barely cross paths until the 50% mark!!

Honestly, it felt that the romance was secondary to a narrative on loss and grief and while yes, there is a lot of sex in this book, almost none of it was romantic… or ‘steamy’
The book starts with the MC getting her period in the middle of receiving oral sex, at which point the guy going down on her passes out at the sight of her blood - Nothing about that screams sexy and every sexual encounter afterwards just felt uncomfortable.

I think it would be more truthful to say that this book is a quirky paranormal lit fic with feminist undertones - it’s not a paranormal romance, not really.

False advertising aside, this book just wasn’t for me - the pacing seemed off, the story was really rough around the edges and the end left a bad taste in my mouth. I can appreciate the vision, and if you enjoy lit fic you might enjoy this (? Maybe) but I myself was not a fan.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
All opinions are my own.

[Beth’s Book Collection · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Since I can remember, I’ve loved reading. Who wants real life when you can live in a different world?”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

What you’ll find in this book:
- Paranormal Romance
- Sapphic Romance
- Hidden Identities
- Will They Won’t They
- She’s a Hot Mess
- Traumatic Pasts
- Found Family
- Werewolves
- Stereotypical Uni Life
- She Gets Bitten in the Libraries Romance Section

This book is complete chaos (and I mean that in a good way), somehow balancing between being light and not taking itself too seriously, while at the same tackling some serious situations having that heavier air about it. In all honesty it felt like this book was trying to capture the essence of stereotypical university student life and it does do that in an effective manner that works alongside the paranormal aspect and Brodie’s traumatic past. Having said all that I really enjoyed the book, and in all honesty wanting to know who the werewolf is that bit Brodie was a massive driving factor for me, I NEEDED to know.

What starts off as seemingly being a fairly straightforward story, begins to twist and turn more and more as the story progresses providing some reveals that I didn’t see coming but worked so well to provide a different dynamic. We begin our story getting to know Brodie and her backstory, and what brought her to Edinburgh university to study English Literature. You get the sense for how Brodie blames herself for the tragedy in her past, and that she doesn’t fully have a true sense of who she is. As the book goes on with all the crazy situations Brodie finds herself in when thrust into the world of the paranormal after being bitten by what turns out to be a werewolf in the university libraries romance section. We follow Brodie as she tries to navigate who she is an what she wants, all while trying to keep her head above water when it comes to her course and university life. Like I mentioned previously the question throughout most of the story becomes who is the werewolf that bit Brodie, and what is holding Brodie back from embracing her true self?

Brodie is a hot mess, especially at the beginning. I honestly can’t say I would handle the bananas situations she finds herself in much better, but she certainly creates unbridled chaos for herself as she tries to work everything out. The found family dynamic between her closest friends provides the strong relationships that are a thread through the story and again a key part of typical university life. The “will they won’t they” back and forth is wonderfully frustrating, and works alongside the characters and their personalities to provide an entertaining paranormal sapphic romance.

Author: Cat Hepburn
Publisher: Headline Books
Release Date: March 1st 2025

[Charlotte Shaw · Rating 1 out of 5]

what did I just read it feels as if the Author has thrown as many tropes into this book that is only 300 pages long as she could. the amount of bombshells dropped in the last 60 pages of this book I was like pick one pick one I don't understand how the two characters who are supposed to be in love are in love I feel nothing I hated the main character as it started going through she seemed quite likable and then I got to hate her more as the book went on. the only good thing about this book is the title the title and the description sounded amazing the book no.

[Evie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had a really bad time reading this. And maybe I should have just given up and taken the DNF, but I was really trying to be charitable. Marketed to me on Instagram as a sapphic monster romance, this is not that. Yes the book ends with a happily ever after (presumably) for the two women who resolve their differences off page and are now in love which we just accept is because they are spirit bound or something. But for about 80% of the book it could be best described as the sexual exploits of our main character across Edinburgh with vague werewolf allusions and the knowledge that yeah eventually she’ll end up with that werewolf woman somehow but who needs to see that dynamic. In the last 10% things begin happening but fear not almost all of that will happen off page but we will reveal her sister isn’t actually dead yay.
As a romance novel this doesn’t focus on the central relationship enough.
As a fantasy novel we don’t get any details on basically anything until the 90% mark.
There was a lot of smut which if y’all are here for no shame but I felt like I was bamboozled into reading a “lesbian/sapphic” romance where she graphically hooked up with various men for 70% of the book
I just feel like that there are expectations one would have of a sapphic romance novel and serial smut scenes with men for 200 pages are counter to that but maybe that a me problem

[Marlou Klijn · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

This book was so bad I couldn't even get through chapter 2. Badly written, bad layout (no paragraphs, dialogue spaces, etc.), and no buildup whatsoever. Don't know whose POV I'm reading, don't know we're in a paranormal world, don't even know which part of the world we're supposed to be at. Nope, this ain't it, moving on.

[Kirsty (BookBlogger) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Kissed A Werewolf And I Liked It by Cat Hepburn

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Wildfire and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

The howling doesn't stop after the full moon.

My first term of bad grades and worse sex. After losing my sister/best friend Grace and spending my teenage years suffering for it, I thought academia could be my saviour. So, I buried my head in as many books as I could find. But it turns out you can't just turn the page on years of guilt. Still, the university library has become something of a haven away from the darkness.

Until a werewolf bit me in the romance section. And to my surprise, I kinda liked it.

I should have died - but instead, in true me form, I fell in love with the mysterious wolf that nearly tore me to shreds.

Now I feel myself changing, experiencing urges like never before. Maybe I should run for my life, but suddenly a dark bond is pulling me in closer. Am I making a terrible mistake? Could they be luring me in to finish what we started?

Or could becoming a werewolf be the best thing that ever happened to me?

My Opinion

Whilst the premise was intriguing, I really struggled to connect with I Kissed A Werewolf And I Liked It. An entertaining read that had so much potential.

Rating 3/5

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️
In this book we follow Brodie who is a first year university student in Edinburgh, throwing herself into her studies to try and distract herself from her sisters death many years ago. However this quickly goes wrong when Brodie is attacked by a werewolf whilst studying in the library.
I really enjoyed the university/academic setting as it was at a nice background level rather than being a fully academic novel and of course the Edinburgh setting was gorgeous.
Within the story Brodie refers to her 'shame goblin' which is a voice in her head making her doubt everything and I really resonated with this as someone that suffers with severe anxiety myself, so it was nice to have that representation.
I did find the last ten percent or so of this book a bit too convenient and lacking in descriptions - we are given statements of this happened and then this and this very conveniently resolved itself with very little description as to how or why things happened which I felt let the book down a little bit.
I think if you are a fan of fake mate, room mate is a vampire etc you will probably enjoy this book as it falls into a similar category of being paranormal but not too complicated/intense.

[Here_Lies_the_Bookdragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brodie is a first year English Lit student at the university of Edinburgh. She's just trying to make friends, do well and cope with grief when she's bitten by a werewolf in the university library - life gets confusing and overwhelming quickly from there.

I'm really struggling to rate and review this one. Overall, I'd say it's an alright read that could have been really great with a bit more editing.

The pacing felt uneven, and ironically the most disappointing parts of this paranormal romance were the paranormal and the romance. The werewolf aspect of things never really got fully explained, and more pages are spent on Brodie having disappointing hookups with strangers than on the romantic plotline and love interest.

Brodie's friendships with Autumn and Zainab, on the other hand, are great and the 'mundane' student life was really well written. Themes of grief and mental health were handled sensitively, and I found Brodie a compelling narrator (with bonus points for the 'shame goblin' inner voice.

Overall, I'm a bit disappointed. Not because it's terrible (it isn't), but because it has the potential to be so much better. It's still a solid palate cleanser.

Many thanks to Headline for the ARC via Netgalley.

[Charlotte Hewitt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe this just wasn't for me, but the romance was pretty much non-existent. The steamy scenes just seemed random and not very well paced with the rest of the story. It almost felt like the author forgot that this was marketed as a romance and just threw the occasional scene in there to hit a target.

Don't get me started on the amount of tropes and plot points that were unnecessarily in this story. For some reason, fairies are introduced in the last 100 pages and then never mentioned again. There's a pending war that never actually goes anywhere and is cleared up with a simple "they decided to retreat". If the author had focused on one or two plot points and made them really strong, I think this would have been a much better book.

This did start off as a fun, cheesy book but very quickly became boring, poorly paced and nonsensical. There's barely any scenes involving transformed werewolves and it felt like the entire Edinburgh Zoo situation was ripped straight out of "An American Werewolf In London".

And for the record, using "bum cheeks" in a steamy scene immediately makes it less sexy 😅

[DeljM · Rating 2 out of 5]

What did I just read??? I think giving this 2 stars would be generous there’s not a single likeable character in the book. We get the story through the FMCs POV and she’s the worst. I wanted to stop reading this so bad and I’m not sure how I persevered. So the whole book is about her being a vegan bi uni student who gets bitten by a werewolf, starts going off the rails eating meat and fucking everyone but in the end it turns out she was bitten as a child so was already a werewolf?? It’s full of stereotypical tropes, bad and random sex scenes and all the men in the book are dicks. The werewolves are shite, there’s no chemistry between her and the female she’s acting in love with and it all conveniently wraps up in the end without any struggle as the other werewolf clan just leaves them alone without any showdown, she’s branded as special and yet does absolutely nothing remarkable in the book……I’m going to stop there! The list of faults could go on…….

How did I rate it 2 stars - 1 star because I actually made it to the end of this book. 2 star because of the cover and title the intrigued me in the first place. But I definitely wouldn’t recommend.

[Vicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book had a lot of potential, but was a bit of a miss for me. Our FMC finds herself in the wildest situations and does the stupidest things, which is occasionally fair given that she is a 19-year-old first-year university student. However, a lot of these situations are never properly resolved and the plot has some gaping holes. The final 30 or so pages have some massive revelations that are way too easily resolved. You can't tell me that our FMC, who thinks about her dead sister every single chapter and feels immense guilt about her death, is just absolutely fine when her sister turns out to be alive? This is revealed in the last 30ish pages of the book, they have one conversation and everything seems forgiven? Additionally, the bad people who are after them just end up disappearing and then everyone is just happy?!

Apart from the questionable plot, the romance was also severely lacking in my opinion. This is marketed as a werewolf romance for fans of Ali Hazelwood, but somehow our FMC doesn't actually spend any time with the love interest until about 50% into the book and even then, their time together is very limited. Our FMC is definitely horny for the love interest, but I did not feel any sort of chemistry between them.

[Hayley · Rating 1 out of 5]

NGL, I feel super conned.

We barely even see the werewolf love interest (hello name of the book!), but we sure do get to see all of the men the MC entertains. Sometimes in graphic detail. Pretty sure the MC F'd her way through the entire student population in the end. Which is fine. I just didn't realise this is what I was signing up for.

I just don't understand how you have the title of this book and we don't even really interact with this werewolf until maybe halfway through. Also, I'm pretty sure Brodie is 19 or 20 and Nova is like 40? And yeah, she's hot but like, outside of being hot who even is Nova? We know nothing about her. So it's defo instalust, since honestly, there's nothing there to love.

I'm so sad, I thought I was getting a cute lil sapphic werewolf romance and I got this instead.

[Lexa K · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 40% or so of this book I was invested in where this story was going. I thought I was headed into a funny werewolf romp just waiting to begin. Until I wasn't...

I don't really understand what happened from that point on - and where this story decided to go, just felt rushed and almost as if the author got a bit confused as to what this book was going to be. Romance? Fantasy? Spicy?

Near the end, I thought there must be another book and that this would perhaps become a series, but then the whole build-up was over, and nothing had even happened!

This could have been an excellently executed paranormal romance, but sadly, after the initial intrigue, this one fell flat.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book via Netgalley.

[Jeanine Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Im late with my review of this one, but it seems fitting that it is my first review of Pride Month!
Thank you to @netgalley and Wildfire publishing for the e-arc.
With an academic setting in Edinburgh, Scotland, this called to me from the start. On a scholarship to Uni in the old city, Brodie really needs to work hard and stay focused, which becomes hard after an attack in the uni's library.
When Brodie meets Nova, the story picks up, and while there are some interesting plot twists, I did feel that it fragged a little in places. It was, however, as fun sapphic werewolf story! #ikissedawerewolfandilikedit #sapphicromance #werewolromance

[Zuzia · Rating 1 out of 5]

JEZUUUUU W KONCU SKOŃCZYŁAM, TA KSIAZKA BYLA TAKA NUDNA I TAKA DURNA I TAKA EHHHHHH
Dawno nie czułam się tak niezaangażowana w jakąkolwiek książkę, bohaterka była irytująca, wszystko co robiła było durne i głupie, i niepotrzebne. Oczywiście na końcu wszystko się ułożyło i było świetnie i nieważne, że popełniła tysiąc błędów, wszystko się rozwiązało!!!
Mój kolejny zarzut to za dużo seksu, mam tak dość, btw nie, to nie brzmi lepiej po angielsku. Jest tak samo tragicznie.
Jedyne co jakkolwiek ratowało tę książkę to dwie przyjaciółki bohaterki, ale i tak za dużo o nich nie wiadomo, bo ważniejsze były schadzki Brodie 👍

[mo • lesmotsdemo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy reading this book. It sounded promising but it fell flat. The plot is quite messy and weak. There were way too many random sex scenes out of nowhere, and they threw me off. The main character was a brat, and unlikeable. Autumn was the only okay character, even though I didn’t like her at the beginning very much. And there was nothing romantic in this book. It is insta-lusty and barely existant.
At least the writing was good and it was quick to read. But it was a disappointing read.

Thank you to Netgalley for an e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.

[Delusional Bookworm · Rating 1 out of 5]

Big thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC!

What to expect:
- paranormal sapphic romance
- college setting
- traumatic pasts
- found family
- steamy & passionate


I got into 50% of the book and then had to DNF. I just wasn't that interested, it was all too chaotic and the buildup was all over the place.

I wasn't invested, I didn't find any character likeable, and overall, I found the plot too jumpy.

[Emma Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was such a cute and easy to follow read and very entertaining. I loved following Brodie's journey through the book and trying to find her place in the world. plus I liked the other characters. I highly recommend it to other readers and I look forward to reading more by the author.

[Sie · Rating 4 out of 5]

🏳️‍🌈 A steamy sapphic romance 🏳️‍🌈
🖤 Paranormal/Supernatural 🖤
🐺 Werewolves 🐺
❤️‍🩹 Past trauma ❤️‍🩹
💝 Finding where you belong 💝

I feel like this is the beginning of a series. Impending war with the Norse Army (we know who/what you are 🤐)!!!

[Marthareadsacouplebooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had really high hopes for this book when I first bought it, but it sadly just never followed through. I never really felt interested in the characters nor the plot through the entirety of the book and honestly for the most part I was just lost as I read on.

[Nicola Malloch · Rating 2 out of 5]

library book - My god this book was awful, im still confused by what happened. Mostly extremely casual sex and a lack of plot throughout. 2 stars break down, 1 star because I finished it and the second star is for character names.

[Jasmin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt as if nothing particularly happened in this book. About 50 pages before the end, things finally seemed to be kicking off, but then the group who were posing a threat backed away off-page without having made an appearance. The book just fell a bit flat.

[Jaq · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recieved a copy of this from Netgalley and Headline, I ended up enjoying this so much more then I thought I would. I really enjoyed the characters and will 100% be reading from this author again.

[steebs · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ disappointing and i felt bad for brodie the whole way through, although in some moments she was kind of insufferable

[Miranda Ralston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Werewolves, sex, literary references and an anxious protagonist - I Kissed a Werewolf has everything I’d want in a book 🐺

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

started off poor, picked up a little in the middle, and then went back disappointing again. I had high hopes for this one too. I'm sad about this one