Becca Thornton leads an ordinary life in Wolf’s Point as a divorcee entering middle age—and the change. Menopause brings not only hot flashes, but reveals the town’s secret: women of a certain age can become werewolves, charged with protecting the town. The women’s club is more than just a chance to meet and drink cocktails.
While Becca adjusts to her new normal—and her growing attraction to another female werewolf—an old enemy threatens the town. When their pack leader is kidnapped, as part of the pack Becca must use her wits and ancient magick to save her home.
Most of the time werewolves are a thinly veiled puberty metaphor, so this is the first time I have seen shapeshifting come with menopause. Although if you think it through logically the idea does make sense. In general I rarely see books centered on middle aged women—they’re a demographic our society for the most part ignores. Werewolves too often are a symbol of youth and vitality, whereas in this book they are the guardians of the town secrets. Someone older would understand what needs to be protected and how.
The characters feel real, and not just in the three dimensional way. They deal with real life problems like selfish exes and paying bills and caring for sick relatives. The story feels grounded in the real world, even as it explores the paranormal. The villain is a werewolf who turned on the pack and was sent off. While she is a supernatural creature, the enemy really isn’t the supernatural, its human failures taken to a dangerous levels.
Romance is light, and there isn’t much steamy scenes. Which fits more with the realism of the story. Honestly, the characters all feel like normal women facing middle aged that just so happen to be werewolves, not werewolves who just so happen to be middle aged women. There are a bunch of times when supernatural creatures are metaphors for queerness, but this book really doesn’t lean into the metaphor that way. Besides the one lesbian, most of the werewolves seem to be married and cis het. They also aren’t outcasts—they simply have a different skill set they also use to protect the town. The werewolves are a part of the town the protect, although they do have to keep their transformation secret from most.
I would almost say the book may be too fast pace and thin. There were some aspects of the world I would have liked to see developed more fully, and the budding romantic relationship really didn’t get page time. While it was likeable, I didn’t completely adore the story.
I very much enjoyed it and recommend it for werewolf fans who are seeking something beyond teen romance.