Tooth & Claw by Heather Guerre is THAT Series

I’m sorry, but you’re newly into vampires and werewolves? Someone told you about a book that had shifters in it? A vampire falling in love with a wolfy guy? A ROMANCE? With paranormal tropes?

You think werewolf and vampire books just fell out of a coconut tree? Modern shifter books exist in the context of all in which they are and what came before them. And the best ones lately … are written by Heather Guerre.

Tooth & Claw Series

The series starts where all good werewolf books should: small town Alaska. In Cold Hearted, Grace escapes there looking for a place to get lost. What she finds is a super-grump bush pilot with secrets on secrets. There’s a mysterious otherness to the town that draws Grace in but keeps her at arm’s length as well. You can guess what it is. And while I don’t love the first person point-of-view in this, the writing and the story carry the reader beyond it pretty easily.

The second book changes pace completely, leaving the cold rural Alaskan werewolves for urbane city vampires. The set-up works so well because vampires were explained in the first book as the supreme baddies, and here we are introduced to a lonely and gentlemanly vamp who decides to use an app service to find a willing human blood donor. Enter Tessa, who’s looking for the money the app service can give her but not necessarily a vampire mate. Hot Blooded ups the stakes with a truly sweethearted romance.

And then we get the gritty survivor story in the third installment, Once Bitten. Jules has escaped a lengthy, abusive relationship and isn’t looking for anything at all when Max, our shifter boi, comes prowling around looking for something forever. There is groveling and gore in this one, but it sets up the rest of the series with some incredible stakes.

I NEED Twice Shy immediately.

So if you’re missing that good urban fantasy, paranormal romance feeling you used to get in 2009, look no further. The Tooth & Claw series is that girl.