A Wolfe in the Woods by Zoey Draven and Marcio Catalano
Paranormal Romance
July 28, 2026- Self Published
ARC

Review by Angela

I want to preface this review by saying that I am a huge Zoey Draven fan, and have read almost her entire backlist. I frequently hit up her website to check on her writing status for upcoming books. I was kind of surprised by this release, and especially that it was a collaboration. But hey, A Little Red Riding Hood retelling with a grumpy Lycan? Sign me up.

A Wolfe in the Woods has a very different vibe that the usual Zoey Draven books. It’s cozier than I was expecting. The woods surrounding the small village where the majority of the book takes place is a character in and of itself. Blanchette and Jonathan, the main characters. spend most of the book trying to figure out who they really are, after escaping Juniper Woods to the big city, and then realizing that their corporate careers are taking a toll on their mental and physical health.

When the book opens, Blanchette is sick and tired (literally) and working for a hard man who makes her life miserable. She’s working herself into sickness and after passing out at work, gets talked into a vacation by her best friend. She doesn’t realize until she’s on the road and headed up the highway that her vacation will be in the woods near the village she grew up in. Still mourning her grandmother, she almost turns around and heads back home but ends up continuing on to her little vacation cabin.

There she meets Jonathan Wolfe, owner of the bed and breakfast. He’s grumpy, closed off, and really a dick to her at first. Having known and befriended her grandmother before her death, he has all kinds of ideas about Blanchette. He also has some personal issues he’s dealing with, and really wants no part of Blanchette

This book read a lot slower than this author’s previous releases, there is a lot of getting to know you, backstory, and rediscovering the small town and woods that meant so much to them both as children. Their relationship kind of goes from cold to hot pretty quickly There is a big bad villain that both Blanchette and Jonathan have to deal with at the end and a gallant rescue. It did have a very old school paranormal romance feel, which I liked. I’m curious to see if this duo will be writing anymore books in this world with other characters.

Not the usual Zoey Draven story, but I did enjoy.

Grade- B-