A Werewolf’s Guide of Seducing a Vampire Book Review

Pub Date	August 13, 2024
Publisher	Berkley
Page Count	444 pages
Genre	Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal, Adult
Goodreads Star Rating	4.12
My Star Rating	3.8

A Werewolf’s Guide of Seducing a Vampire Summary

A Werewolf’s Guide of Seducing a Vampire by Sarah Hawley is a paranormal fantasy romance about Ben, an anxious werewolf and Eleanore, a vampire succubus. They meet after Ben buys a plastic crystal off ebay after a drunken night. When it arrives, it turns out that Eleanore was trapped in it and made to serve the crystal’s owner.

My Review

A Werewolf’s Guide to Seducing a Vampire is the third installment of interconnected standalones set in the same fantasy town of Glimmer Falls. And I have to be honest — I didn’t read any of the others. This is actually my first Glimmer Falls book.

See, I planned to read the first book in the series, but then found this one. It looked so cute and the premise sounded so fun, that I decided to read it first. And I’m glad I did, because it was a perfect light read.

For one, I loved both Ben and Eleanore. They’re such endearing characters and so unique in this genre. Ben is a werewolf who doesn’t like shifting, has anxiety and overthinks everything. He takes on too much work, but loves to knit and tinker with his plants.

At the same time. Eleanore is a vampire succubus who was kept tied to a witch for six centuries. She’s unfamiliar with our time, but knows Star Trek and threatens violence as easily as she breathes. She’s inquisitive and blunt, yet soft underneath.

And when these two meet, things get hilarious pretty quickly. Between Ben’s anxiety and Eleanore’s bluntness (and tendency to do assassin-from-middle-ages things), they’re endlessly entertaining.

It’s such a refreshing dynamic. Plus, it feels like they’re a perfect match. Ben is caring, nurturing, and kind which is what Eleanore needs, while Eleanore protects what she sees as hers (Ben, in this case) and isn’t afraid to tell people to leave him alone.

But aside from the romance, this world is entirely wholesome and charming. Glimmer Falls has all kinds of creatures and animals, magic, cozy shops and any nefarious plots get resolved quickly. So, if you need something sweet and relaxing, this is the book for you.

I would recommend reading the previous two if you care about spoilers. This one starts with a wedding of one of the couples and they’re all pretty prominent secondary characters.

That all being said, it wasn’t a perfect reading experience.

For one, I think that 440+ pages is a bit too much for a romance, even if it is paranormal. A lot of on-page time was spent on Gigi’s (Ben’s sister) campaign (she’s running for mayor). Almost all of the main couple’s outings were related to that. And it’s a boring subplot, not helped by the fact that I didn’t like Gigi or believe that she would make a good leader.

The main subplot should have been Ben and Eleanore looking for either the Witch or a way to break the curse. That way, the focus would be on them and allow them to connect more.

The length also isn’t helped by the fact that this is a third installment in a series of interconnected standalones. And what I mean by that is that so much time is spent describing the side characters (main couples in other books) — how in love and happy they are, what their individual personalities are like, and so on.

And look, I get that this is sort of necessary — part of it is fan service, part is marketing for the previous books — but it was just too much at times. I liked the characters, don’t get me wrong, but I would have liked them more if I didn’t hear our leads talk (or think) about them so much.

Other than that, this was a pretty fun book. It was so nice to sink into this lovely world where nothing huge goes wrong and there’s magic. The main couple was charming as well, and their romance was very believable. I highly recommend reading it!

More Books Like A Werewolf’s Guide to Seducing a Vampire

The good news is — there are plenty of books like this one! If you read it and enjoyed it, you can easily find more fantasy romances set in our world and time. Here are some: