Very fast paced and fun read. I love paranormal rom coms and this one was a really fast and fun read. A touch silly at times but super cute, I really do love the entire fake dating trope. Add in a grumpy love interest and I’m sold

Holy Omegaverse! This was my first time reading the subgenre and for me, it was perfect. I toe-dip a little into paranormal/fantasy, but not a ton, so it was all very new to me. I mean, we’ve all heard of Alphas, but I knew nothing of Omegas—and KNOTS! Whew, that was hot! I will admit I had to take a (small) detour over to Google to do a little research on Omegaverse, but it was worth it. I love contemporary romance and rom-coms and this felt like those with a tinge of Omegaverse. So for a first time reader of the subgenre, I couldn’t have asked for a better intro.

3 ⭐️ This was a fun omegaverse story


I mean, it's just a few lies and a fake relationship. Nothing bad ever came from that.


WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ paranormal / shifter romance
✨ contemporary setting
✨ omegaverse
✨ doctor MCs
✨ she needs a boyfriend, he needs a mate
✨ fake dating
✨ co-workers
✨ grumpy x sunshine
✨ strangers to friends with benefits
✨ he falls first
✨ 7 year age gap
✨ teasing banter
✨ 3/5 spice
✨ "you can take it", "good girl"
✨ lack of communication because fear of rejection
✨ third act breakup
✨ groveling
✨ HEA


My Thoughts:

For anyone who isn't familiar with omegaverse, this is a great place to start. If you're not familiar with the concept at all, just do a quick google search for an explanation.


What I liked:

I really enjoyed the beginning of this story. Mackenzie and Noah are both doctors but rarely work together, so they're essentially strangers. She's very approachable and friendly while Noah is serious, standoffish, and known as the Boogeyman of Denver. These two are total opposites and it wasn't apparent how they'd be a match at the beginning, but as the story progresses and they get to know one another, Mackenzie thaws his cold heart while Noah makes hers burn. They're both a little awkward around each other at first, which was super realistic considering the situation. And they end up developing a genuine friendship, which I thought was sweet. They're romance was sweet, but of course, it was also very spicy.

There's a total of 6 explicit sex scenes that go on for quite a few pages, so this is for the smut lovers. And if you're wondering about the type of smut, just know it has a lot of the usual omegaverse stuff: scenting, praise, knotting, licking, biting, and chasing. All very primal. And even though these two are shifters (they can turn into wolves), don't worry, they only do it as humans.


What I didn't like:

There’s not a lot going on besides the romance, so once they’re together I started losing interest. Sure, there's some drama with Noah being outed as an alpha by a mysterious person, who is revealed towards the end. But, that side plot was predictable so the reveal wasn't a surprise. So around 60% of the story when the romance is established, I ended up skimming a lot of the non dialogue just to see how it all ends.

The third act breakup was also very predictable. It was also incredibly frustrating because none of it would have happened if Noah had just talked to Mackenzie, but he got scared(?) and decided to make choices for the two of them even if he knew it would make them both miserable. It was a dumb decision.

However, I will say the groveling and makeup sex afterwards was satisfying; so at least the story ended on a high note.

Priya was a random, annoying friend. All she ever did was ask Makenzie about her sex life with Noah and it just got really weird after a while.

I cannot say enough good things about this book 🥹 After reading The Nanny Lana Ferguson immediately became an auto buy author, and The Fake Mate just further confirmed for me the Lana is firmly in place at the top of my favorite authors!

Noah and Mack just truly are the absolute cutest, and this story is fake dating perfection! And with the added aspect of it being paranormal just made it even better! Fake mating instead of fake dating is such a fun fresh take on the trope, and really adds something new to the trad published romance genre! It’s so exciting to see paranormal romance from a traditional publisher, and I hope this is just the first of many!


Plus, Noah being an Alpha whose pretty beta in the streets Alpha in the sheets was PERFECT 🥵

I really hope we get a second book from Lana in this universe!

I absolutely adored this book. The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson is the perfect book for fake dating trope lovers.
Mackenzie is a doctor who agrees to be fake mates with Noah, another doctor in the hospital. Noah has recently been outed as an Alpha and if he has a mate, he won't be subject to the stereotypes of the aggressive alpha. Mackenzie's grandmother is determined to fix her up with any available man. She's also hiding the fact that she is an omega. The two see that this arrangement can be beneficial for both of them.
This was sweet and sexy and fun. I loved these characters.

This book was a steamy delight. Here for the STEM rep, here for the knots, here for the omegaverse!

Thank you NetGalley for eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fans of multiple romance tropes will love this book. There's something for everyone: fake dating, medical romance, enemies to lovers, even omegaverse done well! Mackenzie and Noah's relationship progressed naturally from the beginning of the story in a way that wasn't too rushed. The spice was also spicy! I personally loved that Mackenzie and Noah were both doctors and both respected in their fields. The secondary characters in this story are also fun and very diverse, so koodos to Lana for writing them in.

Reviewed for Shelf Awareness:

Lana Ferguson (The Nanny) turns up the heat with The Fake Mate, a scorching wolf shifter romance set at a Denver hospital. Desperate to dodge yet another terrible set-up, emergency room doctor Mackenzie Carter impulsively tells the grandmother who raised her that she's dating the "Boogeyman of Denver General," interventional cardiologist Noah Taylor. Noah ups the stakes and asks her to pretend to be his mate because someone reported him to the hospital board for not disclosing his alpha designation during the hiring process. In this alternate universe setting popular in fan fiction, shifters are classified into different group and the alpha and omega designations are both stigmatized. Alphas are said to be prone to violence without the calming effect of a mate and by pretending that he's mated to omega Mackenzie, he can avoid disciplinary action.
The fake-dating pretense gradually morphs into something very real--especially after Mackenzie proposes a "sex addendum" and an especially memorable week when Mack goes into an unexpectedly early heat. Ferguson goes full steam ahead in this opposites-attract romance, but all that sex is skillfully blended with genuine relationship-building and readers will be eager to see these two big-hearted people figure out their happily ever after.
The Fake Mate is a great example of how professional and personal obstacles can be important to a romance plot without compromising character development. This mashup of Grey's Anatomy, Ali Hazelwood and high heat Reylo fan fiction will make even the most seasoned romance reader's heart beat a little faster

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance, Netgalley, and PRH Audio for the advanced copies of this! All thought and opinions are still my own.

Look. This was fucking DELIGHTFUL 😅

The Nanny walked so this book could fly.

First of all -- this cover is a crime against the book. It in no way, even remotely accurately depicts the story inside.

But the story that is inside is a wild, delightful, STEAMY romp.

Our heroine is a secret omega who accidentally tells her meddling family that she's dating the grumpy surgeon. Who just so happens to be a secret alpha (hello drama).

We have erogenous hugging. Secret closet rendezvous. A surprise heat. And so. much. knotting.

If you're looking for a really fun, steamy, shifter romance that will leave you both laughing out loud and fanning yourself - look no further. This book is such a good time and I can't wait for more from Lana Ferguson!

🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺
I was dying to get my hands on this book from the moment it was announced! I LOVED The Nanny, so I knew I would love this one too! And I DID. 😍 This book was so unlike anything I have read before. The perfect mix of sweet, funny, and SPICY 🔥
This book was a lot of fun, and I highly recommend it 💜
⭐⭐⭐⭐

....now it's time to start the countdown for The Game Changer!!

This book is what Lana Ferguson does best! It was funny and well written. It's Lana's best book yet, I never thought I'd love a shifter novel but I was genuinely surprised!

DNF at 68%. Maybe I'll slide back in and finish this one day. I honestly feel like I've gotten all this book has to offer and if I continue my rating would be even lower. The pacing is slow but at the same time, all of the juicy bits of the story were given to us in the first 40%. Nothing was left to be desired to keep me wrapped up in the story until the end. I know that Mack and Noah will be together and Dennis will get wrecked somehow. I haven't found anything in the story that makes me intrigued enough to figure out how though.

yup!! keep bringing the omegaverse and shifter books to trad publishing!!!

not my fav book ever but i still had a good time reading it

Very first things first, I knew nothing of the omegaverse, so if you have any interest in reading this book a quick google (although be careful out there, it's a wild search term) of said term would probably be helpful for you, just as it was for me. That being said, this was a totally ridiculous, over the top steamy romance novel and I basically loved it. This review is going to be pretty short, cause I don't have a lot to say about this book other than it made me wish Ferguson was going to write more in this world, or at least more paranormal stories, because this one was wildly entertaining (as was her debut novel, in case you were wondering). It wasn't anything overly new or inventive, and it probably would have worked just a little better if it described some omegaverse things instead of just assuming people knew what they were, but seeing as that can be fixed with a quick google search it's nothing too egregious. With this book Ferguson has certainly cemented herself in my eyes as an author to keep an eye on, and I'll be checking out her next book (out later this year [2024]) because they've all been a delight and I have high hopes for her sports romance too.

Lana Ferguson could write a shopping list and I would drool over it.

I never thought I'd pick up a wolf/shifter romance, but Lana wrote one so I had to. And I loved it. But that's honestly more to do with loving her writing style. I love the way she writes characters — the connections they share, the miscommunications, the mishaps, and especially the fun shenanigans!

This book was described recently as "Grey's Anatomy...but they're wolves" and it's pretty accurate. I loved the hospital setting, the side characters (will we be getting more about these beauties??), and the overall environment. There was also a bit of a mystery and some blackmail going on which kept the suspense strong!

While this book did have a lot of spicy chapters (and trust me, I enjoyed those immensely too), I definitely just love the way Lana crafts stories — she pulls me in and makes me beg for more every time.

Tropes:
- wolf/shifter romance
- enemies to lovers
- he falls first
- office romance
- forced proximity
- fake dating
- fake marriage/"mating"

This was my first Lana Ferguson book and all I can say is that I'm officially obsessed with this author! While the book is very steamy, the love and chemistry between the characters was equally off-the-charts. I'll be reading anything and everything she writes going forward.

I don't generally read paranormal books but this was recommended to me. It was actually pretty fun. Mackenzie is funny and has a big personality and Noah was great too. I love fake dating because it always leads to 'oh no real feelings' and this did not disappoint. This was entertaining.

This was a fun time! I really enjoyed the writing, the two main characters (especially Noah, he was the best), and the banter so much!! This was a fun palate cleanser type of book. I personally don’t think shifter romances are my thing so that kind of took away from the story for me with all of the terminology, etc. I also don’t mind spice in a book but once it gets to a certain point I start to become uninterested waiting for the plot to progress so I think this one was a little too spicy for my taste but that’s a me thing! Still an enjoyable book with great characters.

1) Super hot, but whyyyyy do you have wolf shifters with ZERO worldbuilding. WHY. This reads like an all-human omegaverse commonly found in AO3, but the publisher/author decided that they needed a PNR element to justify the ABO dynamics to a mainstream audience. Solution: let’s make them wolves to explain knotting and heat cycles! WHYYYYYYYY. I won’t stop sulking over the wasted potential. They don’t shift into wolves even once! 😭 Like damn, be honest and just publish the all-human version of this book if the alternative is zero expended effort.

2) The “alpha discrimination” bullshit… I’m sorry, is this Zootopia? Do we need to have nonsense portrayals of bigotry in PNR?? I’m here to have a good time, not to roll my eyes at a half-assed, cringe allegory for prejudice.

Read via audio (narrated by Samantha Summers and Joe Arden).

The Fake Mate was the omegaverse romance I never expected to read in traditional publishing. Like, it's not as far as we know the omegaverse can go, but if you're just dipping your *ahem* knot into the genre this is a nice gentle start while still being batshit crazy.