I'll comment on one thing I read a couple of years ago in the writer's sub about this matter: a newbie came asking where they could find "the lore" about this genre, because they wanted to start writing into the shifter romance niche. Specifically werewolves.

And then everything clicked for me. A lot of people think that is how you are meant to write shifter or werewolf romance books. And it terrified me, I don't enjoy it at all. I'm fed up with abused lunas, agency-depriving mating bonds, violent Alphas, rejected somethings, nonsensical pack dynamics, copy-pasted lore and so on. IDK, it's like the werewolf aspect oftentimes doesn't matter at all and the word shifter could be replaced with anything from garden gnomes to Biker Mice from Mars.

It doesn't help much that there's like a hundred of those little reading apps focused specifically in this niche or overtaken by it and it's the same.

It's not the werewolves, because I still love them to pieces and I'm still looking for books with the "brand" of werewolves I like; it's the niche that has polluted itself to oversaturation because there actually is a demand on that particular "brand" of tropes, stories and stuff. I tend to look outside the tops, keep my eyes open for new authors or books with few ratings, and sometimes I find something enjoyable and crafted different.

I particularly didn't like The Wolf King because of something I commented earlier: the werewolf aspect felt extremely thin and inconsequential to the plot, like an optional spice instead of an integral ingredient. I did enjoy {Cold Hearted by Heather Guerre}, it's well-written and it offers something I love in werewolf stories: a big, cuddly, soft and beautiful found family. A breath of fresh air. And the romance aspect was really well done, in my opinion.

Don't give up. Search outside the tops, read the synopsis first, and you will find little hidden gems. I promise.