Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Addicts discussion

Ok, so this might be a bit hard, considering what's usually out there, but the whole concept of Alpha Male, specially the rough, toxic, violent type, is something I'm not fond of.

- I was wondering if there are any werewolf romance books out there where wolves are portrayed behaviorally realistic, preferably with slowburn (I don't find instalove realistic).
- I want something cutesy and fun to make my stomach shudder.
- I don't mind who the wolf is, or if both are.
- I would like if the wolf identity is sort of a mystery being slowly revealed through the pages too, because for me that's a lot of fun.

Any books like that?

I think of the seventh book in the Women of the Otherworld series vu Kelley Armstrong. The first one is also with werewolves but Clay is maybe too savage !
Some people say that we can read this book surtout reading the others (but it spoils the relationships between the characters).

Sorry if my English is not very good, i'm French :)

Thank you! I'll look it up! :D

Marta wrote: "Ok, so this might be a bit hard, considering what's usually out there, but the whole concept of Alpha Male, specially the rough, toxic, violent type, is something I'm not fond of.

- I was wondering if there are any werewolf romance books out there where wolves are portrayed behaviorally realistic, preferably with slowburn (I don't find instalove realistic).
- I want something cutesy and fun to make my stomach shudder.
- I don't mind who the wolf is, or if both are.
- I would like if the wolf identity is sort of a mystery being slowly revealed through the pages too, because for me that's a lot of fun.

Any books like that?"

I don't like the whole toxiz alphahole either so this is my jam. ANd I have two series that fit almost all of what you are asking for.

1) currently 4 books and a novella with the last book due for release next month. These characters are very much WOLVES first and foremost so their behaviour is very wolflike - something that has put off some readers, but that I very much loved about it.

There are alpha's in this world, but male and female alphas and none of that toxic crap that is so prevalent in so many shifter series. Also no insta love either. There's no real mystery of who the wolf is, but there is an overriding plot that runs throughout the main books.

2) My favourite shifter series (no 1 above is a close second), this one also has an overriding series plot and is 4 full length books with 3 short stories that are free to read or listen to on the author's website.

Again, there is no mystery to who the wolves are, but they're not 'out' to the human world although there is a thread of this throughout. It also has no insta love, or toxic chest pounding alpha nonsense either. And it has an incredible found family aspect from start to finish.

This first book (which I LOVE with all of my heart) is actually a slow burn, but be prepared with tissues as whilst there is a slot of humour to this series, it is also High Angst with a lot of 'heart in your mouth' moments and a very tactile pack - just like wolves in the wild. These are also on the longer side too and if you are an audio person (I'm not but I've heard people singling it's praises) , the narrator is apparently fantastic.

Typically the werewolf books that are in a historical setting don't have the alphas. They are usually loners, lords living in dark castles with their secret. I can recommend some of those if you are interested.
Guardian of Werewolf Keep
The Dark One

also (not historic)Touch a Dark Wolf

Also, if you are into shifters in general, not just werewolves, and you enjoy absurdist humour you could try Shelly Laurenston's shifter world. It's made up of three series that lead one into another with a lot of crossover characters. If all of them interest you, I would highly suggest starting at the beginning so you meet all the characters chronologically which makes it less likely to get lost along the way.

In this first series, three books and a novella, the FMCs are three best friends and the shifers are mostly wolves. It's my least favourite as it is more sex and less plot, but is still extremely funny. It leads on to the second series
9 books and a prequel novella. After the first couple of books the plot picks up even more, and then it really gets going with all the chaos! There are all sorts shifters here; wolves, bears, lions, tigers, jackals, hyenas, wolfdogs and honey badgers... and ther's a lot of fighting between the different 'clans' based on their behaviours. The last in the series then leads into
which is my favourite and is mostly honey badgers and bears but still with a smattering of the other animal types. This series is PURE GOLD and even though it is far less romance focussed (despite the man titty covers of the first three), the stakes really are upped and the sisters that the first three books are about are all crazy in their own way!

Some of the men are very 'alpha' - but with a very strong caveat that some of her women are even more so and none take their shit - far from it, and that is very much played up for laughs. In fact some of them are even deadlier than the males, and a lot of the dynamics between the couples are hilarious because of that!

The books are chaotic, will have your head in a spin because of all the different POVs, characters jumping in from other books, and the utterly ridiculous shenanigans but they are the epitome of fun. And one huge highlight for me is that there are multiple different animal species, and each character is written with many of the character traits of whatever animal they are, often to an exaggerated degree which add to the absurdity and fun of it. If you don't already know about them, go watch some you tube vids about honey badgers in the wild - that will give you an excellent idea of how she writes her characters!!!

Again, no real mysteries, but there is a lot of shenanigans going on, mostly absurdly hilarious. The first series is very much insta love as I recall, but I didn't mind it as much as the humour was so vital to the stories.

Most of the ladies in all the books are bloodthirsty in some way or another and are a perfect match for the alpha hole type men they end up with - some of whom happen to be the 'sane' one in the relationships!

Thank you for all your suggestions! I appreciate it very much!!! :D

I'm going to take a look at all of these. I've read the sypnosis and they seem to be the sort I'm looking for.

As for honey badgers, they're just awesome, yup! XD

Alpha by Audrey faye of ghost mountain shifters series. I know the name of the first book is opposite to what you would think, but it has a unique take on what an alpha should be. The entire series following a lot of different pack members is heart warming.

Thank you! I'll look it up! :D

My Kind of Town

Though he’s not a werewolf but a lion shifter.

The Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggsmight fall into your inquiry
Moon Called

Though I wouldn’t consider it funny..

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews is another great series. It’s got the slow burn down. But it’s shifters.

But one that is a perfect match to your inquiry:
How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper. VERY funny, secret kept hidden, and a normal pace of romance evolution (meaning: not so much slow burn but definitely not insta love.

I love author Ilona Andrews too.

This is an admitted Necropost, I don't know if anyone's still around, and this is not a shifter series, but a series with shifters. While it doesn't hit most of your points, with the central romance being between the main character, the immortal Imogen Gray, and a vampire king, the romance is slow burn and he's not an asshole despite being a billionaire and 2000ish years old, nor is he the dominant one in the relationship. He's also the younger of the two (by far). (She's (view spoiler)[about 255,000 years old (hide spoiler)])

I mention it because the shifters in it do not have alphas, and the book acknowledges that as a myth found in contemporary shifter romance novels, (small spoiler) (view spoiler)[ Male shifters have in many cases reacted to those novels as an example of a toxic male personality standard and have emulated it, to the point of becoming abusive. This is mentioned as a social issue that shifters are dealing with, but in the two novels I've read, it hasn't happened on camera. However, there is an emotionally abusive partner to a small character in the second book who is put in his place. He's a manipulative manchild who makes his wife do all the housework and uses weaponized incompetence to make sure she doesn't get him to do anything. (hide spoiler)]

These probably aren't exactly the books you're looking for, and I heard through the grapevine the final book is bad, but I thought that detail about shifters was interesting enough to share, even after three years.