The best shapeshifter romance books from Next Chapter [March 2023]
Shapeshifter romance is a popular book genre that centers around the romantic relationship between a human and a shapeshifter, typically a werewolf or a werecat. In these stories, the shapeshifter is often portrayed as a mysterious and alluring creature, capable of transforming into an animal form at will. The human protagonist is usually drawn to the shapeshifter's animalistic nature, as well as their supernatural abilities and strength.
The shapeshifter romance genre often explores themes of identity, belonging, and acceptance. The shapeshifter characters are often portrayed as outcasts, struggling to find their place in the world while keeping their true nature hidden from society. The human characters, on the other hand, must come to terms with their own feelings of attraction towards a non-human being, and the potential consequences of pursuing a relationship with a shapeshifter.
Despite being a relatively niche genre, shapeshifter romance has a dedicated following of fans who enjoy the combination of paranormal romance, fantasy, and action elements. From steamy werewolf romances to heart-pumping werecat thrillers, there is no shortage of shapeshifter romance books to choose from for those who enjoy a bit of supernatural spice in their love stories.
On this page, we’ve collected four of the best shapeshifter romance books from Next Chapter authors, now available from all major booksellers incl. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Rakuten Kobo, Apple and Google Books. Some of the books on this page come with some steam, so please keep that in mind before delving in!
We hope you enjoy one of the books you find here - and if you do, please take a moment to leave the author a review :) Don’t agree with our choices? Leave a comment below and let us know which shifter romance book is your favorite!
Books featured on this page
The Knowledge of Love (The Nememiah Chronicles Book 4) by D.S. Williams
Wolf Of The Past (Spirit Of The Wolf Book 1) by A.D. McLain
Polar Heat by Simone Beaudelaire
Book excerpt
Being snowed in over Thanksgiving proved to be so much fun, they made it last as long as they could. Long after the power came back on, they still puttered around Russell's cabin, talking, cooking, and making love. Russ took great pleasure in tutoring Riley to enjoy sex. She proved to be an apt and eager pupil. But at last the time came for them to emerge from their pleasure haze and reconnect with real life. Sunday, Russell showed Riley his oversize garage, where a snowmobile awaited. She eyed the machine nervously.
“I take it you've never ridden before,” he suggested.
“Nope,” she replied. “And a friend of mine broke his arm on one back in high school.” Though her tone was light, her eyes lingered on the chrome and a worried frown creased the skin between her eyebrows.
Russell scooped her into his arms and kissed the crinkle until it smoothed away. “That kid was probably hot-dogging. I'll drive carefully. All you have to do is hold onto me. Can you handle that, Riley?”
She nodded, though she looked far from convinced.
“Come on, you've ridden a wild bear. How much worse can this be?”
“Well, when you put it that way…” Some of the sparkle returned to her eyes. Russell straddled the snowmobile and extended a hand. A moment later Riley's slender curves pressed against his back, her arms gripping tight around his waist.
“Safety first,” he said, handing her a helmet with a darkened visor. “Are you warm enough?”
“Not really,” she replied, “but I don't want to go back to town in your clothes. They don't fit me. We can stop by my apartment first, and I can change out of school clothes, if that's okay.”
“Sure it is, honey,” he replied. Then he revved the engine and set the snowmobile in motion. As he zipped between the towering pines, headed toward Golden, the soft speaking of nature was drowned out by the noise of the engine. He preferred walking – as man or bear – but it was too far for Riley, especially now that winter had set in.
Eventually the quiet drone of the engine seemed to lull her, and she relaxed against him, her head pressing into his back. She still has plenty of adjusting to do before she's truly at home in Alaska.
Trees opened out into a small meadow with a partially frozen stream. Two deer nibbling the bark of a pine shot their heads into the air and stared at the noisy creature that had just burst upon them. Then they turned as one and sprang into the undergrowth. Russell steered away from the deer, not wanting to alarm them more than necessary.
The snowmobile ate up the miles quickly, and before twenty minutes had passed, the town of Golden appeared on the horizon. First the landscape sprouted up isolated homes like Russell's with increasing frequency. Then outlying subdivisions crowded cheek by jowl in one or two block squares of matching new construction. At last the town proper became visible. A few taller buildings, mostly historic. Some houses. A school. A store. A church. Russell reduced speed. Eventually he skidded to a halt and helped Riley to her feet. She groaned and waddled around, rubbing her aching thighs while he chained the snowmobile to a tree. Then, pocketing the ignition key, he gathered up his girlfriend and walked her into town, arm around her waist.
The Knowledge of Love (The Nememiah Chronicles Book 4) by D.S. Williams
Book excerpt
The first snowfalls of winter had arrived and eight weeks passed since the attack. The people inhabiting the city were more confident, although an air of tension hovered perpetually as we waited for something to happen. Everyone was waiting for the penny to drop, as if someone's itchy trigger finger was holding a weapon to our backs - the knowledge it was there made it difficult to relax. The Drâghici were continuing their plans to eradicate packs around the world and it seemed they would leave Zaen until their mission was accomplished.
Archangelo became increasingly frustrated as the days passed. In a welcome turn of events, Lucas divulged that he could 'see' Archangelo and report when he drank the sleeping potion. Owing to Lucas's vigilance, the Drâghici gathered no useful intelligence during Archangelo's sleep cycles. Lucas warned us when Archangelo took the potion, and I ensured I was doing something innocuous. As soon as Lucas sounded the warning, I'd run to the cottage and stare at the ceiling until Archangelo awoke. His ability wasn't as powerful as mine - Lucas explained that Archangelo only saw myself and my immediate surroundings. Epi said it was because he hadn't been allowed to mature. For whatever reason, we'd been using the tactic for a week and it was very effective.
Nobody had any idea why Lucas was capable of this, when the other spirits couldn't or wouldn't. Ben and Epi guessed it was because he had closer ties to me after consuming my blood. I didn't care why he could do it, only that he was helping us. The numbers in Zaen had swelled to one thousand men, women and children as we continued to portal, marking and bringing refugees back to the safety of the city. Tactical planning was withheld from Archangelo, ensuring the Consiliului were blind to our preparations. All in all, life in the city continued to run smoothly whilst we waited for the Drâghici's next move.
I pulled the cottage door shut and walked down the steps to meet Gwynn and William, ready to attend our morning meeting.
“Good Morning, Charlotte,” William said, his arm draped around Gwynn's shoulders. Gwynn looked glamorous, wearing a chunky green anorak with black fur trim, black leggings and sturdy boots. Her hair fell in gentle waves down her back and shoulders, its coppery tones adding to the festive nature of her clothes.
“You don't look well, Charlotte. Are you feeling okay?” Gwynn queried, scrutinizing my pale skin.
I glanced in either direction, confirming we were alone. “Morning sickness,” I muttered.
Wolf Of The Past (Spirit Of The Wolf Book 1) by A.D. McLain
Book excerpt
Rodney tossed back another beer and slapped the shoulder of the man standing beside him. “So, they’re coming after me. I mean, what have I to them did… done… they did… I ain’t done nut’in. They just got too much free time that they gotta mess with me.”
The other man cringed away from Rodney’s foul breath and endless tirade. Quickly paying for his own drink, he moved away to find a better seat elsewhere in the bar.
Rodney shrugged, already forgetting about the stranger, and pushed his glass toward the bartender. “I’ll have ’nother one.”
The bartender looked him over. Rodney reeked of alcohol, and his clothes were a disheveled mess. His shirt was stained with dirt, sweat, and drink in several places. His pants were worn through at the knees and had dark stains all over them. He could barely stay upright without leaning on the bar, and even that perch seemed precarious at times. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” he asked, already knowing what Rodney’s answer would be as he filled the glass. Beer foamed up and spilled over the rim or the glass, forming a ring-shaped puddle on the bar.
“There’s no such thing as too much,” Rodney slurred. He waved his new drink around, the contents splashing out in all directions as he spoke to the bartender and anyone else within earshot. Raising his voice, he continued where he’d left off with the other man a minute before. “I used to really be something, ya know. Before all these people started nosing around in my business, everything was jus’ fine. But I’ll show ’em. I’m gonna have all the power. I’m gonna be a millionaire someday, and I’m gonna have a big fancy house with an indoor heated pool, lots of expensive cars, and women… lots of women. I’m gonna be able to get any woman I want. People are gonna to be sucking up to me, doing anything just to get a little piece of the pie.” Rodney downed the rest of his beer and slammed the glass down. “Give me ’nother one.”
“Sorry, I can’t do that.” The bartender took the glass and wiped down the bar with a rag. “You’re at your limit. That’s all the drinks you’re getting here tonight.” He was starting to scare away the other customers, and that wasn’t good for business.
“What? That’s stupid. I don’t need your damn drinks anyway. I’ll just go somewhere else.” Rodney stumbled across the crowded bar, people gladly making a path for his departure. “You just wait,” he said, almost falling when he turned back around at the door. “Someday, I’m gonna run this whole damn town, and you’ll all have to answer to me.”
You Within Me by Simone Beaudelaire
Book excerpt
“What’s that you’ve got there?” Violet’s father demanded.
Violet looked up from her seat in the parlor. Sunlight beamed through the window through her new trident-shaped prism onto one of the pages of her book. The rainbows highlighted a patch of scribbly hieratic. It looked pretty, but it did nothing to reveal the meaning.
Then, Hiram Warren’s shadow fell across the page, erasing the colored bands of light.
“Nothing in particular,” Violet replied. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason.”
Violet perceived the note in her father’s voice. She scrutinized his face, looking for more information. “What’s bothering you?”
“Just a rumor I heard.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You’ve taken to listening to rumors?”
“Only when they come from certain people.”
“Who?”
“Oh, Jim. You know, my protégé?” Hiram sank into an armchair and crossed one leg over the opposite knee.
Violet sighed and gently closed the cover of her book. “What does Jim have to say for himself?”
“That he saw you in the hallway at the party, alone with your employer, and it didn’t look… seemly.”
Violet shook her head. “Yes, Miles Owen was there. You invited him, remember? I went to the hallway mainly to escape him. He’d had too much to drink, and yes, he was behaving in an unseemly way. That is, until he passed out from drink, and I left for the evening.”
Hiram frowned. “And yet, you’ve gone to work with him every day this week.”
Violet shrugged. “It’s one of the reasons I don’t like to go to these parties. Everyone acts differently when the pressure is off and the alcohol flows, and it’s usually unsettling. Time will tell if Prohibition—once it goes into effect—makes a difference in women’s safety. In the meanwhile, Mr. Owen has far more to lose than I do if he misbehaves. Besides, he doesn’t act that way at work.”
“But you keep working with him, even after he behaved so badly?”
Violet shrugged. “I like my job. Where else can I put my multilingual reading ability to use?”
“I do wish you had chosen a more ladylike hobby,” Hiram mumbled.
“It’s not a hobby, Father,” Violet reminded him, “any more than selling steel is your fun way to relax on the weekend. It’s my profession. I think you’ve forgotten—again—that I am not some useless trinket who lives on tea and gossip. You might prefer that, but it will never be. Can you accept it, or is it time for me to seek a home of my own?”
“Alone,” Hiram muttered, mostly to himself.
“Yes, alone,” Violet confirmed. “I haven’t yet met anyone I would want to share a home with, and before you ask, I wouldn’t marry Jim Wilson if he was the last man on earth. I’ve told you that before. I have a friend who might like to meet him.”
“I don’t understand why the very thought of marriage makes you so uncomfortable, Violet. You’re an… an interesting person. You’re intelligent and quirky, and you still look rather pretty. Someone would surely like you well enough to take the plunge.”
There we have it: the best shapeshifter romance books from Next Chapter as of 03/2023. We hope you enjoy the stories - and if you do, please leave a comment below, or a review in Goodreads or your favorite store. We’d love to hear from you :)
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