Lesbian Shapeshifter Fiction

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Looking for a list of lesbian werewolf novels? Look no further!


Shapeshifters are a lot of fun - from the traditional werewolf to modern fantastical variants. They can be loners, terrifying and misunderstood, or relaxed and secure in their pack. From secretive to bestial, glorious to vicious, werewolves tend to appeal to those seeking a sense of freedom and power, as opposed to the control and seduction of vampires.

Sadly, the list of exclusively lesbian werewolf fiction is a very short one (and feline shifters are even rarer yet - and that's about it for types) - many the shifters in the titles below have to share their stories with lesbian vampires as well!

Note: Books that happen to have a lesbian secondary character are not included. Both the werewolf (or other shapechanger) and the lesbian have to be primary parts of the plot and not thrown in as a token character, or part of the background, however well written. These are books for reading about lesbians and shapeshifters, not books that 'happen to have a lesbian werewolf in one scene'.

These titles took a while to track down - if you know of any more, please share!


Historical, Fantasy and SciFi
Some rather unique titles that don't really fit in the rest of the list. All are worth picking up.

• Cage the Darlings by Elora Bishop

• A romantic fairytale fantasy about a thief who gets caught and the Blackbird girl she falls in love with.
• read the review

• Nadya: The Wolf Chronicles by Pat Murphy (werewolves, historical)
• A 19th century werewolf roams the Old West, and finds love. Romance, adventure and spirituality, with occasional supernatural elements.

• One Solstice Night by Elora Bishop (various shapechangers, fantasy)

• A fantasy romance fairytale story celebrating acceptance and love, about a young witch and the outcast deer Changer she falls in love with.
• Reviewed here

• Santa Olivia, by Jacqueline Carey (Werewolf-like mutant, young adult, science fiction)

• An outsider in a paranoid, guarded town in futuristic America, young Loup is the daughter of a genetically modified and wolflike 'supersoldier'. A story about military rule, boxing and standing up for what's right, but not exactly a werewolf story.
• She's still with her lover, Pilar, in the sequel Saints Astray.

• The Shapeshifters: The Kiesha'ra of the Den of Shadows by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (bird and snake shapeshifting races, dynasty, fantasy)

• A collection of the five stories in this series, charting fantasy dynastic politics set in a fantasy land of avian and serpent shapeshifters. Complicated plots that tend to tie themselves in knots, but generally well reviewed. It does start going downhill, so the last couple of books aren't nearly as good. Unfortunately, that includes the lesbian one.
• Wolfcry is the fourth story in the series. It features a lesbian romance with the main character, although it isn't wonderfully developed, more of a plot twist. But it is a main part of the book, and generally positive.

Urban Fantasy: Shapeshifter only


Fiction that just focuses on the werewolves - horror, murder mysteries and parody, almost all with a touch of lesbian romance! (Most of the books are mysteries, though)

• Barking at the Moon by Nene Adams  (Werewolf, murder mystery)
• A fast paced thriller about a murder mystery, that leads the local sheriff to a mysterious young woman who lives closely with the pale local wolves. An exciting clash between  science and superstition, with a dash of love.

• The Cage by Alyx Delamonica  (werewolves, romance, activism)
• A cute, light romance about what happens if you end up with a lycanthrope toddler, with a background of prejudice.
• A free short story on Tor

• Confessions of a Werewolf Supermodel by Ronda Thompson (Werewolf, murder mystery)
• Lou Kipinski is a supermodel and secret werewolf, who suddenly finds herself scrambling when an attractively tough homocide detective comes knocking. Someone's been tearing apart women who look like Lou... 

• The Madison Wolves series by Robin Roseau (werewolves, werefoxes, paranormal romance)
• An ongoing series following a romance between a werewolf and a werefox, pack politics and their lives as shapeshifters.
• Fox Run
• Fox Play
• Fox Mate
• Fox Afield
• Fox Revenge

• The Garoul series by Gill McKnight (Werewolves, romance/light mystery)

• While the first book was pretty hit and miss, the rest of the series has been a lot better. Set in the modern world, werewolves exist and a whole pack of them have claimed an entire valley to themselves. They seem to have a surprisingly high number of lesbians, which usually end up falling in love with a human and leading to Plot. The werewolves are fairly typical, if very organised and quite civilised.

• Goldenseal (Garoul Book 1) (reviewed here)
• Ambereye (Garoul Book 2)
• Indigo Moon (Garoul)

• Greenbelt by Ford Davis (Werewolves, horror, murder mystery)
• A series of full moon murders spread throughout Austin, connecting gays and lesbians in a solid urban horror.

• Lunatic Fringe by Allison Moon
• A feminist lesbian werewolf love story, set in a modern world where werewolf attacks are apparently normal. Lexie heads to college and meets a radical group of women   who aim to end the werewolf menace - as well as attractive, mysterious Archer. Drama, politics, sex, romance and horror ensues.
• Read the review

• Natural Order by Moondancer Drake

• A pregnant woman flees to her lover's family, her lover dying to protect them. There, she finds love again, learns that her baby isn't quite human, that all the women are shapeshifters, and that terrible forces are after the child.

• Second Nature by Jae (Various types of shapeshifter, lead is is tiger/lion shifter, romance)
• The Wrasa are a species of shapeshifters, living in secret amongst humanity, rife with politics and desperate to stay hidden at all costs. When Jorie Price writes a book that treads much too close to reality, they send assassins to silence her - including Griffin, who ends up falling for her.
• Golden Crown Literary Society, Goldie Winner 2010, Speculative Fiction
• Also see the short story collection Natural Family Disasters

• Silver Kiss by Naomi Clark (Werewolves, romance/crime-mystery)

• A splendid werewolf mystery set around the uneasy homecoming of Aayla Hammond, who left her pack due to tension over her lesbianism, only to be drawn into a missing person case that her (human) girlfriend is involved in.
• Sequel: Dark Hunt (Werewolves, murder mystery)
• Read a free short story introducing the characters: A Wolf In Girl's Clothing [PDF]

•  Skylar's Pride by Lara Zielinsky (lions?, murder mystery)
•  Skylar is caught between her lover (who doesn't know she's a shapeshifter), the demands of her pride - and the mystery disappearance of her lover's son.

• Tame by Melissa Snowdon (werewolves, humour, romance)
• I can't find much about this one yet, as it's new, but apparently it's a contemporary day romantic comedy with werewolves. Also has been compared favourably to Terry Pratchett so *GRABBY HANDS*

• Touch of Silver by Nichole Gestalt (Werewolves, romance/erotica)

• Stubborn, rural Tammy arrives in town just as the biker pack (literally) arrives, and is caught up in an erotic romance with a silver haired werewolf. Unfortunately, Kathleen is currently mated to the alpha male, who doesn't take losing his mate lightly... More of an erotic novella than a full story, it works well as a sexy but unstartling shifter romance, less well for people wanted more.

• True Nature by Jae (Various types of shapeshifter,werewolves, romance)
• A normal human woman, her adopted son and the woman send undercover to protect him, and keep his shapeshifter status hidden from humans. The perfect recipe for drama, romance and adventure. 

• Werewolf: The Beginning by Peggy Sue Gregory (Werewolves, romance)

• Scarlette and her girlfriend are driving home one night, when Scarlette stops to help someone out. And now the two of them have to cope with falling in love - and monthly werewolf outbreaks.

• Wild by Meghan O’Brien (Werewolves, romance/crime-mystery)
• Selene Rhodes, the werewolf in this story, is transformed against her will each month into the monster out of legend. A thriller-mystery, she ends up joining forces with her mutually wary and emotionally fearful love interest, a forensic pathologist, in catching a serial killer.

Urban Fantasy: multiple fantasy races, standard modern setting, generally non-serious
A lot of urban fantasy just throws the doors open to the paranormal, with werewolves, witches and vampires coexisting in various uneasy combinations. These all appear on the Lesbian Vampire Book List as well.

• Angel in the Attic (Werewolf in the Kitchen) by Rebecca Tregaron (werewolves)

• The first part of a three novella series (or part 1/3 of a full book), this is a fun paranormal romance about a werewolf who rescues an angel, ends up as her chef and gets caught up in a mysterious spate of vampire attacks. 

• Dead Witch Walking, by Kim Harrison (General shapeshifting)

• Rachel Morgan is a witch and bounty hunter who clashes with the authorities and ends up on the run, in an uneasy alliance with Ivy, a bisexual vampire who's in love with her. A paranormal mystery full of fantasy creatures, similiar to Laurell K. Hamilton's early Anita Blake novels, only with more plot and less sex.  Shapeshifting figures fairly prominently.
• Notes: The series is very popular, currently has ten books published, with two or three more on the way. Ultimately not a lesbian series, though gay friendly and Ivy is a significant supporting character throughout..

• Everafter  by Neil Stark & Trinity Tam  (Panther shapeshifter)

• When Valentine is bitten by a vampire, her and her beloved struggle to cope, stay together, and bring Valentine's attacker to justice in a world of shapeshifters and the paranormal. Panther shapeshifter/Vampire romance. 
• continued in nevermore

• The Midnight Hunt (Midnight Hunters Series) by Radclyffe (as L.L. Raand) (Werewolves)

• Drake the medic saves the life of a girl suffering from werefever, gets bitten and attracts the attention of the local alpha... werewolf forbidden love story, featuring vampires. Rather a lot of focus on bestiality. 
• Book 2: Blood Hunt which has a much more central vampire romance.
• Book 3: Night Hunt mostly back to the werewolves. 

• Some lesbians and vampires and oh yeah a worried werewolf by H. M. Dunn (Werewolves)
• A fantasy spoof set in the 1980s, this book includes a young werewolf, her immortal lesbian grandmother, a family curse, and the daughter of a murdered senator, Diane Hersh.

• Witch Wolf by Winter Pennington (Werewolves)
• Kassandra Lyall's lovelife and job is already difficult, but the witch, werewolf and investigator's world becomes a lot more complicated when a seductive vampire takes a very personal interest in her. An urban fantasy romance mystery that begins a new series.
• Second book in the series is Raven Mask (in which the vampire Countess is established as Kassandra's lover)

Anthologies

•  Bitten by Moonlight
•  A lesbian werewolf anthology featuring four short stories about lesbian werewolves (note: Amazon page isn't very helpful)

• Daughters of Artemis edited by S. L. Armstrong
• A recent anthology that is entirely about alpha lesbian werewolves. Erotic romance about scary, sexy and strong female shapeshifters and a reasonably good selection of stories (although that does depend on how picky you are). 
• Reviewed here

• Embracing the Dark edited by Eric Garber
• Eleven stories that include werewolves. A mixture of gay & lesbian, vampires, werewolves, fantasy, horror, erotica. Can't tell if the werewolf stories are lesbian or not.

• Natural Family Disasters by Jae
• Five short stories featuring the cat shifter characters from Second Nature

• Queer Wolf

• A wide range of werewolf stories, mixed M/M and F/F - more male than female, but still a good anthology.

• She Shifters: Lesbian Paranormal Erotica edited by D Devlin
• Sixteen stories about lesbians, exploring several different kinds of shapeshifter myths, including raven, dragon, feline, selkie and wolf.

• Women Who Run With the Werewolves: Tales of Blood, Lust and Metamorphosis edited by Pam Keesey

• A very mixed collection (quality wise) but featuring a few good stories, this collection is all about women who are werewolves, with a few lesbian takes.

Single stories:

"Take Back the Night," a short story in The Drag Queen of Elfland: Short Stories by Lawrence Schimel About a lesbian bookstore owner who meets one of the women who runs with the (were) wolves

"Soul Mates" by Ali Spooner, a story about a werewolf who falls in love with a human and is trapped in wolf form. Download from Smashwords

The Cage is a free short story by Alyx Dellamonica, about modern day werewolves, and two women left, literally, holding the baby after its mother is murdered. Read it online

"The Witch Sea" by Sarah Diemer is a mythology themed short story. Not exactly a shapeshifter story; all but one of the cast are sea creatures transformed into human shape, and the love interest is a seal girl. She gradually becomes less seal like as she comes to the protagonist, a witch keeping their god trapped on land. Download from Smashwords, or read the review.

Comics/ Graphic novels

• Mystique is the penultimate shapeshifter and a central character throughout the X-Men. However, her bisexuality and gender shifting was glossed over and snuck past the editors for many years. She was originally created as bisexual, and was in a secret, committed relationship with a woman for most of her existence.
• As there's no one issue that's openly about Mystique being bisexual, you will probably want to read more about Mystique and her appearances in Marvel canon before deciding which titles to pick up.
• Mystique: The Bisexual Shapeshifter

• Karolina, from the young adult Marvel comics, the Runaways, is a lesbian alien girl. She doesn't really shapeshift, but her natural form is quite fluid. Her (arranged marriage) fiance Xavin is a Skrull, a race of true shapeshifting aliens and 'he' turns into a human female for her. Xavin shifts genders a fair bit and there are plenty of issues around this that many transgender people are probably familiar with (pronouns, questioning of their 'true' sex, and so on).

Just been bitten? You may be interested in something a little more practical, like The Werewolf's Guide to Life: A Manual for the Newly Bitten (a guide for all werewolves, no matter their sexual preference)

You may also be interested in:

• Lesbian Vampire Fiction
• All Themed Fiction Lists
• All shapeshifter reviews | fantasy reviews |  crime and mystery reviews