Heavily crushing on his attractive neighbor Tobias, Boston newcomer and vegan Kyle Slidell is thrilled when Tobias agrees to a dinner date. But while picking strawberries in the community garden for their dessert, Kyle comes face to face with something he couldn’t anticipate: A wolf. In East Boston. Who attacks him.
Kyle awakens in Tobias’s living room in a world he barely understands, but he learns three things: He is now a werewolf, Tobias is the Alpha of the pack Kyle’s attacker belongs to…and Kyle is still damned if he’ll eat meat. And soon he discovers that he is fated to be Tobias’s mate. Good thing he already likes the guy.
Adjusting to being a werewolf is far from easy, never mind adjusting to having a predestined mate and the disapproval of his packmates. And it’s even more complicated when a wolf from a neighboring pack, determined to destroy Tobias, kidnaps the pack’s healer. Immune to the power Tobias holds to command his pack, Kyle disobeys his mate and goes to the rescue–and to lengths he never imagined possible.
This book was originally published in 2011. The current version has been revised and re-edited with some content added. The story contains discussion of past sexual trauma (the trauma does not occur on-page, the conversation does), physical violence between werewolves, abduction, and a werewolf Alpha living with PTSD.
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Reviews listed below were done for the 2022 edition of this book. No changes were made to the content of the story for the 2024 reissue.
Author Anthony Avina gives Salad on the Side 5 stars and says, “Heated, engaging, and thrilling, author Karenna Colcroft’s “Salad on the Side” is the perfect first novel in the Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat series and a brilliant LGBTQ-driven supernatural romance novel.”
Joyfully Jay gives Salad on the Side 3.5 stars and says, “Overall, I think this is a great selection for people who love werewolf stories.”
Bayou Book Junkie gives Salad on the Side 3.5 stars and says, “With plenty of subplots and secondary characters included in Salad on the Side, I’d recommend this book to fans of shifter romances looking for a new series.”
MM Fiction Cafe gives Salad on the Side 4 stars and says, “Seriously though as quirky as the title suggests, this story is quite a page turner. It has all the wholesome ingredients of a good novel.”
TTC Books and More gives Salad on the Side 4 meows and says, “This story is a fun, unusual take on werewolves. Especially with one that is vegan. I liked some of the characters, disliked others (in a good way).”
Rainbow Book Reviews says of Salad on the Side, “I have to admit the author deviated a little from where I thought she’d go which made the ending more interesting.”
Linda of Paranormal Romance Guild gives Salad on the Side 5 stars and says, “This is the first shifter book I have read where the wolf is vegan and a pacifist and where same sex romance is not readily accepted, but it is a whole different take on werewolves. I can’t wait for more of Tobias and Kyle’s adventures.”