Darn you MacSpon - but I’ll third these even though it is not quite done as a series and has been languishing awhile as Carey tends to other projects.
Hey Fenris I assume you’ve already read the relevant Tim Powers stuff, yes?
Really?
That’s my current favorite author, and there are several things that don’t really jibe with your description. Bitten starts with the main character living as a mundane (and in a relationship with another mundane), not with the werewolf pack, and only comes back due to the primary plot conflict - non-pack werewolves, aka mutts, are trying to destroy the pack. None of the pack wolves are jealous because they can boink anyone they want to, they just don’t get to have long-term relationships.
The second book introduces other paranormal races, and starting with the third book, the heroine of the book may be from any one of several races. It seems like you would have remembered that.
Other details you might have mis-remembered. The hero is second-in-command, not the Alpha. And the boinking doesn’t seem excessive to me (YMMV).
The reasons for the main character don’t seem to be too twisted - most werewolves are hereditary, the disease that turns a human into a werewolf is very dangerous, and if you really loved someone, would you risk their life just so they could run with you. Mind you, I had read some of the back story shorts before I read Bitten, so I might have accepted some of the setup a little more readily.
Unfortunately, “Bitten” is an obvious title for both werewolf and vampire stories, so it might have been another author.
If you’re looking for a top notch super hero novel, check out Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman.
Read that one when it came out - terrific stuff.
I don’t think he read past the first book, which would be a good reason not to remember the second book.
I’m pretty sure it’s the right book, based on my vague memories and reviews on Goodreads.
One more strange werewolf book recommendation: Sharp Teeth. I picked it up and nearly put it down again when I realized it was a novel-length prose poem divided into chaptesr. And I’m so glad I didn’t put it down, because the form works perfectly. It’s a great werewolf novel set in grimy LA.
And I believe it isn’t based on having read the book a few months ago.
All he says is that there is only one werechick, and that there’s a lot of boinking. Yes, that could sort of fit the Armstrong’s Bitten, but I’ll bet it matches half of the paranormal romances about werewolves.
For my recommendation, I suggest Blood Lite, which is up to 3 volumes now. They are anthologies of humorous horror stories. They aren’t romances (despite what half-price thinks)
Blood Lite 1 introduced me to Jim Butcher, so I have a particular fondness for it.
If you don’t mind fluff, there’s also the Parasol Protectorate Series by Gail Carriger. “British” Victorian London - where sure you may be a werewolf, but that’s no reason to go out with an improperly tied cravat!
It’s extremely funny, but it’s not even trying to be anything other than a paranormal romance, is it?
There’s quite a bit of decent plot in those so I figured I’d mention them. Sure they’re popcorn books, but it’s decent popcorn.
My recommendation for the non-fluffy urban fantasy novel is *Sandman Slim *by Richard Kadrey.
For werewolf-girl soft-core dreck, there is the movie Ginger Snaps. When we were watching it my (adult) daughter turned to me and said, “This…is about puberty, right?”
I found that book unreadable. There are a good ideas in it, but they are few and far between, the characters are awful, there’s a lot of “because reasons” in the plot, and it isn’t all that well written. Anyone who didn’t like Bitten is definitely not going to like those.