Drs. Mackenzie and Noah are wolf shifters. Yes, you read that correctly. Even further, Noah is an unmated Alpha (rare) and Mackenzie is an omega (also apparently rare). Mackenzie needs her Grandmother to stop setting her up on bad dates, Noah needs to appear to be mated to stave off possible discrimination based on stigmas about unmated Alphas. Thus, a fake dating... sorry fake MATING plot emerges.

Ok, so this book slayed. Here's the short of it: was it perfect? No. Sometimes the characters felt underbaked and the romance a little rushed. Though that is possible I am just a glutton for a slow burn. We do get some really cute moments of seeing Noah loosen up around Mackenzie, starting to smile at her jokes, make some of his own, and I loved it.

Now onto the elephant in the room! The omegaverse! I never... EVER thought I would see the day that I would be reading an Omegaverse story. And the complete honesty is that I think I find a fully fictional omegaverse easier to read than a fanfiction omegaverse. In my mind, i know that this is a weird fantastical paranormal universe with characters that are new to me and can thus engage with the silly ABO stuff with no problem. When it's like my favorite ship from my favorite media... harder to deal with the ABO.

But it was fun! and silly! I will say... this is just the Love Hypothesis but Omegaverse. They're fake dating to get Mackenzie's grandma off her back, and for the board to leave Noah alone for him to get a new job. Beyond that... Noah is so clearly Adam Driver-coded that it's insane. Like... look at that cover. That's so clearly Adam Driver.

I don't have much in the way of detailed review, it's pretty much exactly what you expect when you hear omegaverse wolf shifters fake dating in a hospital. The characters were both likable, not cringy, not too over the top. I LOVED that the 3rd act breakup was clearly resolved by Mackenzie being like "does he think I'm stupid? I literally know exactly why he's pushing me away.... dumb idiot." And this book was thin on the plot, heavy on the smut and constant horniness. Which was exactly what I needed to catapult me out of a string of mediocre reads! I am both shocked and extremely entertained by the fact I enjoyed this book so much!

I don't know if I can say it is a lifelong favorite or a long-lasting staple like its muse, the Love Hypothesis, is for me, but I can sure say this is one hell of a read. By god do I love a socially awkward reserved grump who has a filthy mouth <3

Lana Ferguson nailed it with her first book and this one was pretty great, too. I’m not a huge fan of paranormal, but this was well done and a great book. If you haven’t read her first book, definitely grab that as well, but this is a great author and an auto buy Author for me now as well.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I am unapologetically such a sucker for werewolf romances, and I definitely enjoyed this one. It was more unique than the usual since it's a contemporary romance with some werewolf details sprinkled in.

I really liked Noah and believe he should be protected at all costs. Mack was OK; I think she was being a little obtuse/selfish toward the middle when he was clearly having feelings and she thinks it's a good time to propose friends with benefits.

Also not really a fan of the 3rd act breakup. The whole I'm gonna leave you for you to protect you is bullshit. I think he could have groveled more imo, but I'll allow it. We also miss a very important event at the end, so booooo.

But overall recommend for contemporary romance and werewolf romance 3

Mackenzie Carter navigates pressure from her nosy grandmother to find a perfect mate which leads her impulsively claim she’s dating Taylor, a cardiologist hiding his true nature. Could their fake dating arrangement possibly lead to more?

I liked Lana’s debut, The Nanny, so I was excited to see that her sophomore book, The Fake Mate, especially since it went into a different direction. This paranormal romance explores fake dating, grumpy-sunshine, wolf shifters, and set against a hospital backdrop. I was engaged in the two distinct perspectives in this novel. The banter and chemistry between Mackenzie and Noah was a great balance of sweet and spicy. There were a few of cheesy moments which weren’t for me and I wasn’t a fan of the glands concept. I found that Noah’s reason for fake dating was justifiable, but Mackenzie’s reasoning came off as silly. Overall, this was a 3.5 star read for me, but I rounded to 4 stars on GoodReads.

2.5 Stars

I believe this would fall into the romantsy category, although it’s heavy on the romance, and the only fantasy is that they are werewolves. Although Noah and Mackenzie do shift once in the book, the majority of the time it was just lots and lots of talking and thinking about being a wolf. The rest of the book is sex. Or that’s how it feels.

Mackenzie and Noah are doctors at the same hospital in a world where werewolves are known and accepted into society. They enter into a mutually beneficial fake relationship but soon real feelings develop. Opposites in personalities and a fun side cast, there was definitely comedy and a few laughs, but the inordinate amount of time spent on wolf thoughts was a little too much for me. As someone who has not read many if any shapeshifter books, I also didn’t understand what some of it meant, but my takeaway is that werewolves are a horny bunch.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I cannot begin to describe how happy I am to see more paranormal/shifter romance books becoming mainstream. This is a fabulous first book for those interested in shifter/omegaverse romance!

This was so hit and sexy, so sweet, and so satisfying to read! Noah is a dream, and Mackenzie is such a great, strong willed FMC. The dual points of view always get me, as does a fake dating trope, so I was pulled in from the beginning!

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5 stars

The Fake Mate is Lana Ferguson’s follow-up to the steamy The Nanny and could not be more different. It follows Mackenzie Carter, a doctor in desperate need of a fake boyfriend to get her grandmother off her back. Oh and she is also a werewolf. She finds her solution is cardiologist, Noah, who is an alpha in need of a fake mate. The grumpyxsunshine dynamic is in full force in this paranormal romance.

This is much different from my typical read and I enjoyed it! Ferguson gets right into the world-building and the fake dating. Noah and Mackenzie had a fun chemistry with plenty of steam. It is fast-paced and I appreciate Ferguson showing she can write multiple genres.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was cute. And hot. Not as good as the nanny BUT I loved that Mackenzie was older - 29 and 36 is much better than the girl in the nanny who was like 25.

This is a contemporary romance but with shifters and werewolves and knotting and omegaverse. It feels kind of strange because of that - like the world is weird. Who is a shifter? Like everyone we met if a shifter except Parker it seems but also I’m not 100% sure. There was some confusion there for sure but once I just ignored it I felt much better overall.

Noah made the book for me. He is communicative, sweet, swoony, filthy. He falls first FOR SURE. The heat scene was TO DIE FOR. I wish we saw them in their wolf forms more. The central dilemma felt very predictable but I think Noah and Mackenzie made it worth it. Plus I just KNOW Noah’s cousin Hunter is going to be a lead in the sequel to this.

The one thing I truly hated, the use of the word SLICK. Like good lord every wetness, every suck, every moment of sex Mack or Noah are talking about her slick. Sounds like a WET ROAD. Goodness gracious. It’s worse than WET MESS. Nope.

I almost didn’t want to finish this one, and it was really because I knew when the conflict came I was going to be a mess!! I know it gets resolved, but I love the main characters and they were so cute and oblivious for so long, and then they were JUST STARTING TO ADMIT THINGS!! Anyways, I did finish it and it was superb, and also I learned a lot of the uhhh “omega verse” that I had never delved into, but not in an overwhelming way!!

Thank you for the ARC, and I will definitely highly recommend this!

As an intro to the omegaverse, I appreciate the way the author fit themes of contemporary romance with some topics I was VERY unfamiliar with 😭 just like her first book, I liked this one and appreciated a lot of her writing style and plot structure, but felt like something was missing to connect with the characters more. This was a fun, quick, somewhat strange (haha) read.

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC.

I'm not sure I have the right words to describe this steamy alpha/omega wolf shifter grumpy sunshine fake dating love story. It sounds like a lot, but is just the right amount of everything. Noah and Mackenzie together are perfection. The way they care for each other is so sweet and their love scenes so hot. The shifter aspect is not something I've read about before, but is a fascinating twist. This is a book you're going to want to read and reread and then reread it again.

Lana Ferguson is officially an auto-buy author for me now! This book was so freaking cute and I absolutely adored it.

This was the perfect blend of so many of my favourite tropes with a cast of lovable characters. Mackenzie and Noah have so much chemistry it practically leapt off the page and their personalities were the perfect complement to each other. Not to mention Mackenzie’s grandmother, Noah’s mom, and Parker who brought a lot of fun to the story and helped flesh out their characters.

I was having such a good time reading this that I just didn’t want it to end. Give me more!!

100% recommend. If you’re not reading this book, what are you even doing?

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Fake Mate was my first "knotting" book and I overall enjoyed it!

MacKenzie Carter needs good luck in the dating department. Only a year until she's finished with residency, her grandmother is at her tail to find love. Fed up with it all, she creates the lie of all lies: she's dating broody cardiologist Noah Taylor.

Noah Taylor is an Undercover alpha. Undercover until an anonymous tip comes in to the hospital board. Feeling pressured, he needs to show the big playmakers that he's not a messy alpha. He needs a mate. Who else better than MacKenzie Carter, who's just asked him to be her fake mate.

Tensions fly quickly as both broody and sunshine clash. But what's once fake starts unraveling into something more. Something neither has had before. Something that brings out the very animal that they are.

The Fake Mate was an enticing grumpy sunshine/ fake dating tale that I enjoyed listening to. Joe Arden brought the right level of grumpy and sexual desire into Noah. I found myself rooting and fully invested in him! Samantha Summers allowed me to envision MacKenzie as warm and bubbly. Both narrators brought this story to life. While there is some knotting involved, I felt the whole alpha/omega situation not overwhelming for a newbie. Fans of fake dating/ workplace romance/ enemies to lovers will adore this one!

Thank you Berkley Romance and PRH audio for the alc/earc in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read if you like:
🐺 Werewolf Shifters
❤️ Supernatural Romances
🩺 Workplace Romances
🥵 Spiceeee
💋 Fake Dating
🛌 Friends with Benefits to More
⛅️ Grumpy x Sunshine

I really, really enjoyed this one! I was feeling a bit slumpy prior to starting this one as I started it after dnf’ing another book and this was the exact thing I was needing! I got hooked with this one sooo quickly and really really enjoyed it!

I do have to say you need to liked a bit of a supernatural plot since both the MC’s are werewolves/shifters so it added something new to the romance plot.

This one did pair great tropes for me that I personally love with fake dating for mutual convenience with grumpy x sunshine, and workplace romance that all worked so well for me!

This one does get pretty spicy so maybe don’t read it in public once you get to the halfway point 😉

Thank you so much Berkley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Twlight meet smart doctors and Rom.Com. This was fun enemy to lover story with a fatasy twist where doctors/ lovers are wolf shifters and they cannot control their animal instict of mating. Sometimes animal instict is same as human 6th sence.

📚✨Book Review✨📚

The Fake Mate
Author: Lana Ferguson

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫

Notes: I received a copy of this book as an advanced reader, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

What I Liked:
🐺 I thought it was interesting that this was a shifter book, but they only shifted once for a few pages. I think readers who have never read any paranormal or shifter books, would enjoy this as their first foray into the genre.

🐺I enjoyed the fact that not only did Noah have a special “designation” amongst his species, but so did Mackenzie. I think it keeps them both on a more level playing field. I don’t like when the power dynamic is off between couples, especially in more contemporary books.

🐺This book had just the right amount of spice and plot. There was a strong storyline, but also enough to satisfy those readers who might be craving a little something more. 😏

What I Didn’t Like:
🐺These two dummies literally just needed to talk to each other! How can two people who are so dang smart, not communicate better. I say this knowing that smart people in real life are also often not good communicators.

Final Thoughts:
🐺Another hit from Lana Ferguson. She’s quickly become one of my autobuy authors. Can’t recommend her enough!



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I officially have beef with Lana Ferguson because how DARE she make me feel this way! I loved it. Will be recommending it to every single person I know.

Overall The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson just wasn't for me. Contemporary omegaverse stories are hit or miss. This one just felt like it was going in too many different directions and incorporating one too many tropes. Not a bad book! A/B/O fans will still love it. Traditional romance readers might struggle.

The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson is a steamy workplace romance with a twist. The two main characters are werewolves. They enter into a fake relationship full of spice and banter. This romance is a great way to immerse yourself in a fantasy romance without getting lost in all the world building. Ferguson wonderfully explains werewolves while still making it an easy enjoyable read.

I ABSOLUTELY loved this dual POV, spicy, workplace, fake dating romance between an Alpha male shifter and an omega female shifter. Both doctors at the same hospital, this had tons of Grey's Anatomy vibes and all the best brooding, pining, dirty talking MMC traits I love in the best Ali Hazelwood books.

Highly recommended for fans of paranormal romance and books like Bride by Ali Hazelwood. I couldn't get enough of this one and really enjoyed the audio narration by Samantha Summers and Joe Arden. Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!