Piper Hart never planned to return to her hometown, Stonehill. However, with a death curse slowly killing her, she’s out of other options.
But Stonehill—a border town that crosses to the Otherworld—is not how she remembers it. A darkness is creeping across the area and werewolves are turning up dead.
In exchange for answers to break the curse threatening her life, Piper agrees to work for Stonehill’s founder to solve the mystery of the dwindling wolf population. But there’s one catch.
She has to work alongside the man who broke her heart and caused her to leave town in the first place—Dean Lewis, heir to the werewolf pack, vice president of the Iron Wolves MC, and most importantly, her fated mate.
Can Piper learn to trust her magic, solve the town’s problems, and break her curse all while avoiding old feelings and the heat that still simmers between her and Dean?
With her life and Stonehill’s fate on the line, will Piper rise to the challenge or fall to the curse?
This book gave me serious author envy. Fellow writers will know what I mean. You read a book that's so good it a) makes you wish you'd written it and b) makes you want to improve your own writing.
That's how I felt on finishing Shelter Me From Darkness.
Something I always look out for when reading is lore and world-building, and Katie does it wonderfully. There's a unique magic system, with different abilities and various origins for these abilities (such as pledging yourself to a God or Goddess), which extends not only to the witch characters but the shifters and other paranormal beings too. It's clear Katie is familiar with mythology and folklore, and she weaves it seamlessly into her story, making the magical systems her own. Honestly, I would happily read a whole lore book about Katie's world!
Another thing Katie does wonderfully is making relatable, likeable characters. I quickly fell in love with her main character Piper, empathised with what she'd been through, and was rooting for her to succeed from beginning to end. The side characters, like Piper's Mom and her best friend Lark, are also easy to like and relatable and I'd happily read spin-off books featuring them.
The sexual tension between Piper and her former lover/fated mate, wolf-shifter Dean is OFF.THE.CHARTS and the steamy scenes left me breathless.
Katie perfectly balanced the supernatural mystery in the story, along with the second chance romance, and the over-arching plot of Piper's death curse.
While book one had a clear resolution, not everything is neatly tied up in a bow by the end, and I'm eager for book two, to read what's in store for Piper next.
Overall, SHELTER ME FROM DARKNESS is an excellent debut, and a promising start to one of my new favourite series.
First of all - thank you Katie for creating a likeable character that's not only curvaceous (hello fellow plus size baddie) but in her early 30s 😭 finally one that is totally relatable in that sense.
Every paranormal aspect was spot-on. From the gods/goddesses and their respective rulings to the way Piper can communicate with ghosts/spirits based off her powers and the goddess she pledged to. I loved reading all about how different the otherworld, netherworld and between were as well as the respective entities that dwell there. AND THE TWIST AT THE END 💀💀
I'm all for a woman that's been broken down to find herself, and you get plenty of that here. I mean, I teared up at a few parts but still cheered my girl Piper on. She is badazz and knows it! Even though she's been through SO much, she grounds herself and keeps trucking on. And man the way her mom reacts (I CAN'T SPOIL IT) to her confession is EVERYTHING.
Dean is such a lil hottie, and the fact that he loves Piper so much (but broke her heart - for good reason) but refuses to force anything on her is everything. We love a man with strong feelings with who knows boundaries 🖤
The only thing I didn't like is that I have to wait for book 2 😤😤
Full of some of the tropes I love:
✨️ witches, shifters, magic ✨️ second chance romance ✨️ strong FMC ✨️ fated mates ✨️ forced to work together
I am super late to this party. I received this as an ARC back in Sept/October.
I really did enjoy this book. There have been authors who I wasn't a fan of their werewolf novels, but this one caught me by surprise. Love how Katie took the Lycan look/lore and made it her own. You'll have to read to find out what I'm talking about by that.
Piper was I think written wonderfully. We saw pieces of her past and how broken she was. We got glimpses into hers and Dean's(MMC) relationship, that WHOLE dynamic. I truly do not like "momma's boys'" and thankfully Dean isn't one anymore but that story had me grinding my teeth. When she went back through the memories of Dean breaking their mate bond, man I was crying with her. Seeing bits of Edmund and what he had put her through. Ugh.
I am definitely looking forward to book 2 and seeing who this Edmund guy really is, finding out what his family is about and why he targeted my homie Piper. I want to see what happens with her and Dean. Does she allow their bond to repair?
Looking forward to book 2!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Great read! Not your everyday dark paranormal romance novel. Piper is a witch, a self made woman that hasn’t have good luck in love, in fact, she got cursed. Forced to find a cure, she goes back to her home town looking for answers. But there’s a catch, the man who can help her needs a favor in return. Piper must help in a mission to find out why werewolves are missing and turning out dead. Ironically, the man in charge of the team is her former friend turned lover who rejected her. Both will have to deal with their differences, specially Dean, who finds it irresistible to be around Piper. What I loved must of the story is that the MFC is strong and is determined to focus on the mission rather than chase Dean. Story has good pace and characters. The forced proximity and pent-up tension will put to test the severed fated mates bond.
Katie L Smith weaves in wolves, witches, and MC in one enchanting tale that follows Piper, a feisty heroine who is in need of some help to break the curse placed on her by her cruel ex.
She heads back to her hometown, but unfortunately, the deal she makes to help break the curse sees her forced to work with her first love, the man who broke her heart.
What follows is a battle of wills, a fantastic mix of magic and mayhem, and some hot scenes thrown into the mix too!
A spectacular first novel, with more books in the trilogy to follow soon! <3
The more shifter books I read, the more I fall in love with them. I can't believe this is Miss Smith's debut book. It is filled with all the things I love - magic, Greek Mythology, curses, and soul bonds. This is a fantastic read and I can't wait to see what comes next.
Shelter me from darkness is book 1 of the shelter me trilogy. Piper is such a great FMC and had good character development. Shifters yes. Great storyline yes!!!.