I absolutely adored this story- it was so unique and fun, while also giving all of the spice and steam. I love a good fake dating trope and this one was so great.

A interesting take on the normal fake dating trope! Although not expecting the omega verse lore to have found it’s way in this book

This was a shifter romance with a fake dating/mating plot. It was funny, cute and spicy. This was a quick read and it just drew you into the story. It didn't have the heavy shifter worldbuilding which I really liked because it made it super easy to read.

3.5/5 stars! The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson is a fun, fake dating romance, that is the perfect Fall/Halloween read. it follows Mackenzie Carter, an omega, and Noah Tyler, an alpha, who are both doctors at the same hospital and agree to be fake mates to benefit one another. I had never read something that takes place in the Omegaverse, but it was cute, steamy, and overall really funny, which I was not expecting from a wolf-shifter romance.

I enjoyed the fake mate much better than The Nanny, Lana Ferguson's debut, which I read and reviewed last month. One thing that bothered me about The Nanny, was the 2-dimensional characters, but in The Fake Mate, both main characters, and all of the side characters were well fleshed out! the banter in The Fake Mate was also way smoother than the cringy dialogue in The Nanny. It honestly reminded me of Ali Hazelwood's books because of the hospital setting, so if you're a fan of her books or if you're a fan of paranormal romance, pick up The Fake Mate when it is published on December 5th, 2023!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the e-arc of the fake mate by lana ferguson in exchange for an honest review.

Dr. Mackenzie Carter is an ER Doctor and an Omega wolf-shifter who cannot seem to break her string of bad first dates. Her Gran is a very dedicated matchmaker and if she has to spend one more dinner learning about model trains, Mack might lose her mind. On an impulse, she tells her Gran that she is already seeing someone - an Alpha Cardiologist named Noah Taylor at her hospital. When she asks him to take a selfie with her to solidify her story and buy her a couple of weeks, he tells her that the hospital board has learned that he's an unmated Alpha and have concerns about his ability to practice medicine safely. Desperate to keep his job and avoid legal action, he asks Mack to give this fake relationship thing a try - he'll keep her Gran off her back and she'll keep the hospital off of his. What could go wrong?

This was my first ever Omegaverse! All in all, not bad. I definitely did a lot of googling. What is rutting? Who has heats? Lol. But I enjoyed this and I loved the chemistry between Mack and Noah. The first 3/4 of the book was fabulous, but the ending lost me a little bit. I hate when couples have drama at the very end of a romance novel that could be easily resolved if they TALKED TO EACH OTHER, but at least it was resolved quickly. It also drove me a little crazy that a purported HIPAA violation was used to resolve this drama, despite the reality that HIPAA only applies to covered entities. Not a huge deal, and I get there was all sorts of non-reality happening, like heat leaves and werewolves, but it still bothered me that romance novel set in a hospital would have doctor characters that didn't understand HIPAA.

Overall, what a fun book!

✅ Omegaverse
✅ Fake dating
✅ Grumpy x sunshine
✅ Workplace romance
✅ Spice spice spice
❌ Not how HIPAA works

Thanks so much to Lana Ferguson and Berkley Publishing Group for this ARC through NetGalley. The Fake Mate will be available in December of 2023!

Mac's Grandma won't stop meddling in her love life, and that has led to some truly awful dates. She would much rather focus on her career as a doctor than finding love. Determined to stop her grandma's matchmaking, Mac makes up a fake boyfriend, but accidentally uses the name of the grumpiest doctor in the whole hospital, Noah. As luck would have it, Noah needs a fake mate to help him keep his job at the hospital, so the doctors embark on a whirlwind fake romance that becomes complicated when they start to sleep together.

Readers who are new to paranormal/shifter romances will find Fake Mates a great place to start! This novel offers a good balance of shifter lore and character development.

Not gonna lie, the fact that this was a wolf-shifter romance caught me SO off guard 😭.

In starting this book, I didn’t actually read the full description since it was a netgalley arc and I knew I was gonna read it regardless (gotta keep my feedback ratio up yfm), and when I tell you I was like ??? Honestly I’m not even mad at it though so 🙌🏾.

To be fair, this is the first omegaverse type of book I’ve ever read, so my knowledge of wolf hormones is limited💀, but I liked how it was portrayed in this novel. Ferguson did a great job at making the idea of “mates” and “wolf shifting” the forefront, but also leaving human aspects that make it all cutesy and adorable rather than straight “me alpha you omega #reproduction”.

I LOVE me a brooding man who only has a soft spot for me, and when I tell you Noah’s transition from “this is just business” to “you’re my business” was so scrumptious. I will say that the dialogue did keep me going a lot of the time, so there was some skimming through pages done, but overall it was really cute.

Although this was not 100% my type of book, it was still lovely regardless and I would recommend it to someone I thought would enjoy it.

I love this author's writing style! I am a sucker for a paranormal romance and this did not disappoint! I will definitely continue reading and buying this authors' books!

The premise of this book was so unique it drew me in. I loved the characters but the world-building was a little off for me, it didn't feel believable at times and needed more details. The fake-dating trope worked really well and I was satisfied with the ending. Lots of spice!

The Fake Mate was my first ever shifter romance and oh my gosh I had a blast reading it! I could knot (😉) put it down. This story was so addicting. I cannot wait to read more from Lana Ferguson!

I loved Mackenzie & Noah so much! Their romance gave me Grey’s Anatomy vibes and I ate it up. They were literally perfect for each other. I enjoyed seeing how their relationship progressed while trying to fake mate. It was definitely a wild ride for sure. The banter between them was great. They had me laughing out loud a lot. I did read The Nanny so I know Lana Ferguson writes some good spice but this book?? It was hot! Like I read about new spicy things and well I was 100% here for it! 🌶️ 🌶️🌶️

Do yourself a favor and add The Fake Mate to your TBR! This book makes me want to read all the shifter romances now! I feel like I have found a new love.

This book was so entertaining, I loved the writing and the humor. Mackenzie was a great character and the chemistry between her and Noah was so strong. I wanted more background on the main characters and I don’t always love a third act breakup, but atleast this one was resolved fast. It’s been a while since I’ve read a paranormal romance with this many tropes but I’m happy to say I really enjoyed It.

When my friend Maddie said that this is omegaverse fan fic, I BEGGED the publisher to let me read and review. THANK YOU for this gift.

The Fake Mate is all of the things I needed.

Shifter romance
Fake relationship
Omegaverse throwbacks.
So much steam
Grumpy/Sunshine
He falls first

The Fake Mate is the story of Mackenzie and Noah. She is getting tons of pressure from her Gran to settle down so when she makes up a boyfriend, the first person she sees is Noah. Noah is the grumpy head of cardiology at the hospital where Mack works. Unexpectedly, he is looking for a fake mate to help keep his image at work. Sparks fly, pages turned quickly. I need a paper copy right this second so I can reread all of my favorite parts at least weekly.

This had me at wolf shifter romance. This story is captivating with its several tropes and I really enjoyed it.

The banter & chemistry is chefs kiss!!!!


Thank you soooooo much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗
"I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

I started this book on a flight and couldn’t put it down! I’m seriously impressed how Ferguson incorporated werewolf lore with a modern day setting. Let me just say it didn’t leave me with questions unlike Twilight. The banter between Mackenzie and Noah had me laughing at times and melting from sweetness the next. This book was incredibly hot—like holy crap! Overall, one of my favorite romcoms I think.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Having always been #teamjacob and a huge fan of Grey's Anatomy, I was super excited about this book.

This book had a lot of my favorite tropes such as:
-Grumpy/sunshine
-Fake dating
-Alpha/omega
-Workplace romance

This was a fun, fast-paced book, and the spicy scenes were 🥵🥵🥵. The description could have just included, "Good girl" and I would have been sold. Yes, a lot of the story was stereotypical and I knew how it was going to play out, but that doesn't mean I enjoyed it less! I ended up rating this 3.5⭐, rounded up to 4.

I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys:
-Dual POV
-Paranormal romance
-Medical dramas
-Idiots to lovers

So I was a bit skeptical at first but then I read yhe book and I fell head over heels for these 2 characters it eas like the best of 2 worlds fantasy and real I have only read twilight so a rom com about shifters was different for sure but I couldn't put this book down I read it all in 2 days time cause I needed to know how the story was going to

When I tell you this one had me in an absolute KNOT - I mean it. (IYKYK please @ me LOL). I started and finished in one sitting. I stayed up entirely too late just to finish.

This is one hundred percent a shifter romance but also fake dating and I was HERE for it. The writing was great and I loved the humor. Mackenzie is tired of the dating scene and at the same time tired of her grandmother pushing for her to mate someone. Noah's focus has always been on his career, only he hid his alpha status to avoid the stereotype that they lose control without mating, so he'll either need a mate or possibly lose his job.

The answer for both of them? Fake date (mate) each other, of course!

Watching the banter between these two was so much fun. Their journey of discovering each other but also themselves within the boundaries of what is happening for them was just too sweet.

Alternating POV
Fake Dating
Spicy Scenes (and I HAVE QUESTIONS)

Definitely message me when/if you read this!

I read and reviewed and LOVED "The Nanny" earlier this year, so I held my high hopes a bit with this one, knowing it was a second novel and therefore would have sophomore syndrome. WRONG. The worlds created for this novel make sense - supernatural creatures are out there - like OUT - and there are regulations on them because of assumptions about different ranks. Within that world, having regulations in the workplace - the medical community in this story - are commonplace. (Hello discrimination)

Not only does this story address the issues of society thanks to a jealous colleague, it is also ALL NEW in the spice department, giving werewolves an edge even when they're not shifted. Lana is my new romance rec go-to.

Honestly, if I could give this book 10 stars, I would. I knew from 30% that this would be my favorite of 2023, and now that I've finished it, I can confirm it is.

✔️ Fake Dating
✔️ Hospital Setting
✔️ Grumpy/Sunshine
✔️ Grey's Anatomy Vibes
✔️ Rom Com
✔️ Paranormal Romance
✔️ Omegaverse

Soooo many amazing things to this book that I just can't put into words just how much I loved it. But it was equal parts everything!!

The spice 🌶🌶🌶

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙡”— 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙪𝙛𝙛 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙠—“ 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚.”

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧,” 𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙨𝙚, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢.

“𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙜𝙖, 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪?”

The humor 😆😆

“𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙣. 𝙊𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚.”

The ANGGGSSSTTTT

“𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙥 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙩.”

Do yourself a favor and read this one!