I like my werewolves any way I can get ’em—whether they are good guys, bad guys, alpha, beta, omega, young, old, sexy, furry—or called lupines, shifters, lycans, weres, loups-garous, verwulfen, changelings… I think you get the idea. LOL Heck, my blog’s even centered around them. Yes, I am a
I prefer it when they are the protagonist rather than the antagonist, although I have read a few stories that featured them as the latter that I enjoyed, namely Keri Lake’s SONS OF WRATH series. I also have a weakness for ones that are more animal than man with a strong protective streak. Authors who put their own spins on the standard mythology tend to rank high on my favourites list; nothing crazy, just a few aspects that set their werewolves apart from the crowd.
I’m not a big fan of their clothes magically going *poof*, I’d rather they be butt naked when they shift back, but I understand that from an author’s POV it can be inconvenient having their characters constantly in their birthday suits. I don’t really have a preference for how they change, whether it be by magic or more graphic transitions like in the TV mini series BITTEN that aired recently. However, I don’t like there to be too much of an ick factor, like in Laurell K. Hamilton’s series where gross fluids is involved.
Insta-love is a personal pet peeve of mine, and the ONLY instance where I don’t mind it so much is in werewolf books because of the whole mate aspect, but it still has to be believable. The pack is yet another aspect of this genre that I adore; I like the idea of having a family that would die for you—one that has your back no matter what. Ok, I could seriously go on all day about my fav supe, but I’m going to hand things over to you now…
Owner, designer and main blogger behind Rabid Reads. Avid book reader, snowboard bunny, video gamer and Supernatural fan. I love all things paranormal, werewolves especially. Oh, and I’m Canadian, eh!
I prefer them like in the Women of the Otherworld series. Wolfy, and with a realistic transition, but not the over the top alpha-ness some weres seem to have. Not every wolf in the pack can be the alpha (: And their clothes don’t just disappear.
And I agree, the pack is one of my favourite things in werewolf fiction!
Kelley Armstrong’s werewolves will forever rank among my favs!
I’m like you Carmel, I’ll take them almost any way I can get them. I love Kelley Armstrong and Patricia Brigg’s wolves the best, though I could make my list very long. I do like the pack thing, and the overwhelming loyalty that the wolves have.
Hehe Well, I guess that makes us indiscriminate werewolf loves Melanie. LOL
Naked! What??????????? I know I should be all Alpha, In Love, Protective, blah blah blah but I prefer them naked 🙂
Under, over, behind…. Naked
And, why am I not surprised to see you here encouraging Felicia?? LOL
I’ll give you that. Naked is ALWAYS better than clothed.
Naked…Most definitely NAKED!
Like Felicia, I like them NAKED. #NakedWerewolves
Though I also like them just about any way I can get them. (Except I’m not a fan of shifters with a bunch of fluids and things bursting and such. Always makes me shudder.)
And, here I was expecting an intelligent discussion today. 😉 Nope. Everyone’s mind is in the gutter. LOL
I love werewolves stories that feature that whole pack dynamic, and of course I enjoy the Alpha factor, just as long as they retain some of their “human-ness” you know what I mean? Sometimes the whole dominance thing can go a bit too far, and yeah, Laurel K. Hamilton’s weres are icky!
The dominance thing can be annoying at times, especially when the males are overly possessive. I love alpha males, but the women need to be equally badass.
Clayton Danvers. Clayton Danvers is how I prefer my werewolves. From his being more wolf than man, but still incredibly intelligent, to his ruthlessness, but under-the-right-circumstances playfulness . . . Clay can call me Darlin’ anytime. N. E. Time. 😉
Euuh, I hate to break this to you but… CLAY IS MINE! 😛
Angua from Discworld is my favorite. Smart, strong, and able to fasion clothes out of anything around within seconds if the need comes.
But really I would prefer them to be nasty killers with rage issues.
They do make especially evil villains, I’ll give you that.
Believe it or not I have never given much thought to it but I love how they are portrayed in Cecy Robson’s Weird Girls series. Have you read it yet? If not you NEED to. You will love it.
It’s on the list…
LOL! Obviously, I’ve been spending too much time with Felicia and Amanda because as soon as I saw your title I thought, “NAKED, of course.” Really, I like my werewolves any which way. Because werewolves rock.
LOL Damn you Felicia, look what you’ve started! 😉
It is my goal in life: The answer to everything should be naked werewolves or wine or both 🙂
Um. Naked? Obviously Mary and I are on the same page 😉 Like you, insta love drives me crazy, but with werewolves and their mates it makes more sense to me so I’m able to roll with it. Anything that has werewolves in it is something I want to read Carmel!
Ok, ok, everyone likes their werewolves naked. I got it. 😀
Ooh I agree with you about the pack. Having that kind of protection and support is awesome in were books. But I definitely like my werewolves to be the good guy. I want to root for them, not fear them heh.
But, they can be pretty awesome bad boys too! There’s just something super sexy about a lone wolf.
Ready and willing? LOL I like it when a werewolf’s shifting isn’t a totally gross transition, I don’t want to read or watch skin falling off or too many bones breaking-that creeped me out while watching Hemlock Grove and wasn’t sexy at all. I love reading about pack traditions/politics and prefer that element to lone weres. Insta-love is not my favorite kind of romance but when it comes to werewolves having one soul mate I totally get it. I’m a vampire girl at heart, but werewolves are my second favorite supernatural creature…especially when the author writes a fresh take on the myth! Great question Carmel, I hope I kept it clean enough for you this week 😉
Werewolves are your SECOND fav supe?? I may have to re-evaluate our friendship, Lori. 😉 Although, I do appreciate that you tried to keep it clean this week. Unlike half of the other commenters today. LOL
Naked. *snort* Thanks for all the comment love at Caffeinated this week, Sadly I have pneumonia and haven’t been able to return the love. As soon as I am back on my feet, I shall shower ya all with comnents
Aaww, sorry to hear that you’ve been under the weather Kimberly. I hope you feel better soon. We’re all allowed to slack-off with commenting from time to time. 🙂
You and I share a similar opinion on werewolves, Carmel. I think my main issue is when they’re just extremely attractive WHEN in werewolf form (I’m thinking MTV’s Teen Wolf). They’re werewolves! They’re supposed to be these scary, intimidating, things. I can’t run for my life when all I want to do is lick their abs. Gosh.
I agree with you! They SHOULD be butt naked when they change. Clothes don’t poof in and out of existence, lol.
I prefer it when they look like actual wolves when they change because they are my fav animal. Deformed monstrosities just don’t appeal to me.
Werewolves aren’t my favorite although I haven’t read many. The biggest reason though is because my brain can’t help thinking silly things like: do they have sex while in wolf form and what do they eat when they’re wolves?
I did like Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock and I love the wolves in the Chicagoland books.
I don’t mind the sex or eating as werewolves, but I draw the line at bestiality. The couple either needs to be BOTH in wolf or human form. I read a book where it was half and half, and it traumatized me for life. That series should have come with a serious warning label. URGH!
OMG, I’ve never even read a book were they have wolf sex, I can’t even imagine how traumatizing the human/wolf sex would be! *cringes*
LOL When I read the title of the post I thought, “anyway I can get them”…and then I read your first line! 🙂 I really love werewolves myself although I didn’t always. I think maybe Patricia Briggs changed my mind. 😉 I too, love an author who puts their own spin on the mythology, Carmel. And I also don’t mind insta-love with my wolves. 🙂
Have you read Nicky Charles? Just wondered what you thought, if you had…
Great minds think alike! And no, I have not read Nicky Charles or even heard of ’em for that matter… Off to GoodReads I go!
Rabid, of course! The more feral the better regardless if they’re the good guys or the villain. I too like clothes ripping when they shift, perfect example for me would be PBriggs’ wolves, the pain, the torn clothing, etc, they’re my ideal.
NICE!! *high five*
Yeah I agree about the whole clothes thing. I prefer my wolves to be the protagonists and not the antagonist. Who cares what they are like as long as they are sexy!
Clothes that go *poof* is just weird IMO. Hehe
I’ve always kind of liked werewolf books, although I haven’t read too many outside of YA. It bothers me when they shift back into human form and they still have their clothes, like how is that even possible? And I saw your comment on human/wolf sex and what the heck are there actual books like that? D:
I don’t read a lot of YA unless it features werewolves. Haha So you read that comment, eh? Yeah, that was just… EEW.
I like them alpha, uber alpha, I like them beta, I like most of them, but not idiot alphas
I don’t like idiots period regardless of whether they are werewolves, vamps, fae, etc.
Werewolves aren’t my favorite but they’ve grown on me over the years. I like them lots of ways I guess. It’s kind of nice when they are the basic werewolves with the normal sorts of ‘rules’ though because then the story is easier for me to follow. I guess it depends though.
Sometimes the lore can get a little complicated, so I don’t mind the occasional author who keeps it simple.
Ohoho, easy to answer: I like’em alpha, real intense, antihero or even villain, and plentiful 😀 Occasionally nekid is a biiiig plus 😀
Totally agree with you, I love it when the author puts their own spin on the notion. I kind of love it when they do that with any and all creatures minus angels, lol.
I hear ya, I’m not a big fan of angels in paranormal either.
I like them to be alpha but a little softer with their mate. I’ll accept insta-love but need more to the relationship for me to really believe in them as a team – not just a couple.
I love the wolves in Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld series where they also hunt, play and act like a pack because I enjoy seeing the wolf side as well as the human.
Armstrong does a great job of making her werewolves act very wolf-like, plus I love her animal POVs.
To be honest, I haven’t read that many werewolf books. After reading about why you enjoy them so much, I certainly want to read some! I’ll have to go through Mt. Read Me and dig up some werewolves. 😉
If you want wolf-y recommendations, feel free to email me. 🙂
I think KArmstrong’s are my favorites. I actually haven’t read all that many werewolf books, I’d be interested to hear some of your favorites 🙂
I actually put together top 10 werewolf books posts every year; check out my 2012 & 2013 picks.
Thanks, checking them out now! 🙂
I’m like you – I like my werewolves in every variety. But I really don’t like the quick changes that are all painless and BAM! It just seems like that kind of transformation should come with some work and pain – it’s just not as realistic the other way (because shifting into a giant wolf is TOTALLY realistic LOL). I think my favorites are Patricia Briggs in the Mercy/Alpha&Omega world.
I’m all caught-up on Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series, but still have some work to do with Alpha & Omega.
I love my werewolf more animal than man too. And I agree, they need to be naked when they change, no magic cloths.
I am not a fan of insta-love but yeah, the mate aspect still intrigues me.
Ugh, Hamilton’s fluid changing is just effing gross!!!
Finally! I was beginning to think that I was the only reader who likes my werewolves primal.
This is weird but werewolves aren’t a favourite supe of mine, they are probably my 2nd least favourite next to fae. Something about the way they mate with everyone and are territorial is kind of weird to me.
Aww, why you gotta hate on werewolves like that? Maybe you haven’t experienced enough naked ones yet. 😉
I don’t think I’ve read ones where their clothes magically go poof – I’ve always read it where they have to deal with the shredded clothes or have to ditch the clothes before shifting or get stuck in the clothes after. love the weres!
I’ve read a few series where the clothes vanish, and it’s not THAT big of a deal, but it’s the small things that can make all the difference sometimes.
Don’t skin me, but werewolves aren’t high on my favorites list. I don’t know why, but I tend to avoid books when they are the main focus. My favorite werewolf and one of my favorite male characters in general is Bren from the Weird Girls series. I love him!
You are very brave leaving a comment like that, Christy! 😉
awww Lycanthropes..so cute and cuddly. I like them alpha with a hint of a soft side. A clear understanding that they are different but a willingness to hold onto their humanity. One of my favorite wolves right now is…well crap…I just can’t pick a favorite. I love Adam (Mercy Thompson series- Patricia Briggs), Simon Wolfgard (The Others Series by Anne Bishop), and so on and so on.
I wouldn’t call Simon Wolfgard cuddly, but yes, he’s definitely up there on my list of favs.
You make an interesting point about instalove. I definitely agree that the mate situation makes it okay, but it still has to be done really well for it to work.
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Exactly! Insta-love is ok, but only if it’s believable.
I like my werewolves as sexy alphas for the most part! Although I’ve been persuaded by a sensitive beta on occasion, too. The clothes need to be at least ADDRESSED somehow, even if it’s not a big part of every single shift.
Wendy @ The Midnight Garden
I think it’s a huge oversight whenever an author “forgets” about werewolves’ clothes. You’re right, it doesn’t need to be a major production, but some mention is important.
I agree with your points Carmel! I love a sexy alpha werewolf {Patricia Briggs Adam} – I’ve only read about shredded clothing in the books I’ve read which I’ve preferred, the change has to be believable.
A great post!
Mmmm… Adam… *drools*
Hmm… I haven’t read many werewolf books – they’re usually with other paranormal creatures. I would prefer it not to be confusing though… and like Sharon said, at least make the change believable! :3
i read mostly werewolf books, so I have a long list of likes/dislikes. Hehe