None of the gore is explicit, but it can't really be helped if someone gets shredded, and there aren't any sex scenes, merely mild romance if that is involved.
October Daye series - Seanan McGuire - no swearing, some corpses, lots of shifters of all sorts, main character is a woman.
Monster Haven Series - R.L Naquin - female lead, minimal romance, some shifters, entertaining.
Mercy Thompson series - Patricia Briggs - werewolves, coyote-shifter, other shifty things, main female character. Minimal romance - not as romantic as her Alpha & Omega series.
Castle Hangnail - Ursula Vernon - children's/ YA book, female main character, not so much shifting, really good book though.
The Grimm Legacy - Polly Shulman - YA book, can't remember if there were shifters with all the other weird stuff.
Dresden Files - Jim Butcher - all sorts of shifty characters. Strong female character as secondary character. Some gore.
Iron Druid Chronicles - Kevin Hearne - druids, werewolves, vampires, other shifty things. Some gore. Series gets strong female main character somewhere in the second or third book.
A Key, an Egg, an Unfortunate Remark - Harry Connolly - 60-something female lead - original.
The Shining Falcon - Josepha Sherman - based on a Russian fairytale - female main character and a shifting human/falcon, minimal romance, no gore.
The Book of Atrix Wolfe - Patricia McKillip. You may want to look at the other books she wrote e.g. Riddle Master Trilogy.
Sunshine - Robin McKinley
Mystra: The DragonLord Chronicles - Thorarinn Gunnarsson - old, but has shifty dragons.
That's all I've got. I don't read books with goody-two-shoes werewolves and sparkly vampires - that's just wrong! ;) I hope you find something you can use.
I pretty sure I am going to enjoy following your blog. Thank you for all the recommendations, I will be checking them out. I have already reviewed The Grimm Legacy and actually have Castle Hangnail scheduled to post on Saturday. / I really liked the characters in The Dresden Files, but the books were a bit much for me (so now I just let my brothers tell me what happens, since they usually read them the week they come out). / I've read Riddle Master & some of McKillip's other books, but not Atrix Wolfe. / I liked Sunshine a lot; but it did have some mild explicitness, so I won't be reviewing it here. / I'm not interested in sparkly vampires either, but don't mind goody-two-shoes (I don't plan to read that series though). Thanks again, when I have some time, I will add your recommendations to the section above.
October Daye series - Seanan McGuire - no swearing, some corpses, lots of shifters of all sorts, main character is a woman.
Monster Haven Series - R.L Naquin - female lead, minimal romance, some shifters, entertaining.
Mercy Thompson series - Patricia Briggs - werewolves, coyote-shifter, other shifty things, main female character. Minimal romance - not as romantic as her Alpha & Omega series.
Castle Hangnail - Ursula Vernon - children's/ YA book, female main character, not so much shifting, really good book though.
The Grimm Legacy - Polly Shulman - YA book, can't remember if there were shifters with all the other weird stuff.
Dresden Files - Jim Butcher - all sorts of shifty characters. Strong female character as secondary character. Some gore.
Iron Druid Chronicles - Kevin Hearne - druids, werewolves, vampires, other shifty things. Some gore. Series gets strong female main character somewhere in the second or third book.
A Key, an Egg, an Unfortunate Remark - Harry Connolly - 60-something female lead - original.
The Shining Falcon - Josepha Sherman - based on a Russian fairytale - female main character and a shifting human/falcon, minimal romance, no gore.
The Book of Atrix Wolfe - Patricia McKillip. You may want to look at the other books she wrote e.g. Riddle Master Trilogy.
Sunshine - Robin McKinley
Mystra: The DragonLord Chronicles - Thorarinn Gunnarsson - old, but has shifty dragons.
That's all I've got. I don't read books with goody-two-shoes werewolves and sparkly vampires - that's just wrong! ;) I hope you find something you can use.
The Timber Wolves Trilogy by Tammy Blackwell
There is also a spin-off that I haven't picked up yet