The Fake Mate was exactly what I expected it would be, a relatively predictable, omegaverse rom com. With three popular tropes (Grumpy/ Sunshine, Fake Dating, Work Romance) and playful banter, this book was a fun and steamy read that I struggled to put down.

It stars Mackenzie and Noah as they enter into a mutually beneficial fake relationship that quickly turns into friends with benefits, leading to actual romance. Mac teases Noah endlessly and he quickly goes from a bit of an aloof character to surprisingly sweet and only a tad rough around the edges. They were cute together and I liked their dynamic. The secondary characters however, were underdeveloped and I wish there had been some more plot line with some of the friendships Mac and Noah had.

Ferguson’s world building was lacking, as there were only hints on how a modern society reacts to the existence of shifters. I think including more of these details would have made the story stronger and well-rounded. The primary focus was definitely romance and even the hospital setting felt like a bit of an afterthought.
Overall I enjoyed this book. Was it anything spectacular? No. But I still liked it and will definitely pick up future releases from Ferguson.

Mackenzie "Mack" is sick of her grandmother setting her up on terrible dates so she invents a boyfriend and gives him the name of the first person that comes to mind: Noah, the surly cardiologist at the hospital where she works as a doctor and the next person to walk into the room. When she asks him for a selfie to help seal the deal, he ups the stakes and asks her to be his fake mate. Someone ratted out his "Alpha" wolf-shifter status to the hospital board, and he's worried he'll be seen as a threat without a mate to tame him. Although wolf shifters are now accepted in societies, alphas are still seen as dangerous without mates. Mack agrees, without disclosing her own Omega status, a type of wolf shifter ultra compatible with Alphas. The two begin to fake a relationship, but can't help but fake dating with benefits...

I've never read a shifter romance before, and this was an excellent introduction. Kind of like "shifter-lite," with a cute illustrated cover, doctor leads who are primarily in human form, and nothing too crazy. I did have to look up the author's Instagram and read her "Introduction to the Omegaverse" post so I could understand the alpha-omega tether, which I would recommend other newbies doing. Setting that aside, this was a fabulous book. Perhaps even better than her first, The Nanny. The two leads were interesting characters with interesting jobs that you were really rooting for (to hook up, to fall madly in love, whichever), and the shifter element was a unique twist on your standard contemporary romcom. With recent witchy hits like The Ex Hex and Payback's a Witch, it shouldn't have been a surprise that this is where the genre is heading... lightly speculative contemporary romance all the way!

Thanks to Berkley for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

A paranormal medical romance was definitely going to get my attention and I remember spying one of the author’s earlier releases and being tempted, but couldn’t fit it in. So, I was glad to spot The Fake Mate with a fun romance trope placed into a mash up of medical and hot as a firecracker paranormal romance.

The Fake Mate caught my eye because I do like the fake dating trope as well as grumpy-sunshine romance pair a lot, but also was curious about a paranormal in a medical setting. The hospital setting was background to the romance and character’s werewolf situations, but still had a visible role.

I’ve read plenty of paranormal romance in the last decade, but this was my first ‘omegaverse’ paranormal though I’d seen mention of them about. I point out this interesting tidbit because there are certain elements to this style shifter romance. First of all, there is the obvious that is even mentioned in the blurb of dominance statuses: alpha, omega, and the rest. In Lana Ferguson’s worldbuilding, alphas like Noah and omegas like Mackenzie are the rarer groups. I thought it was a fun premise that he’d been hiding his alpha status so he could be left be to just follow his career and nobody get testy that his furriness would turn into the big bad wolf of the hospital, but also, that Mackenzie was keeping her omega status under wraps because, she, too, would stir up fuss if others knew. In truth, she was so sassy and confident particularly about what she wanted and needed that I could see how she fooled people even Noah when they started up their fake mating arrangement so he could keep practicing at the hospital and she could get her family off her back. His own nature kicked in while he thought he was just faking it and startled him with his possessiveness.

Many times paranormal romances dive into the sexy side faster than the relationship is at developing and The Fake Mate is no exception. I tend to like more slow build, but I go with it for PNR. But, here’s where that omegaverse-style plays in with much of werewolf mating related to heats, scents, and intense need. The steamy sex is augmented by something particular to alpha wolves when mating omegas. In-te-resting…

All in all, it stayed fairly light in tone, reveled in the spicy mating, and was pretty much what I was expecting when I picked it up. I hope the author writes more of her entertaining paranormal romances that I can recommend to others who are into the genre.

KNOTS! I loved this, wow! It exceeded my expectations and I’m so here for the omegaverse. I loved Mackenzie and Noah. The things that would come out of Noah’s mouth and his thoughts about Mackenzie?! It took me out. When I also say this was the STEAMIEST book I’ve read in a while and it was like I needed it. Lena can immerse a love story with such a fun plot and adoring characters. Noah was so precious, was initially propositioned to, and fell first and hard. And I just adored Mackenzie in the hospital setting. Be my doctors! If you love a fake dating story, this one is top-tier for it.

I truly believe this book is something that was in my dreams, come to life. The grovel 🧎🏾‍♀️ the heat scene (heat time off LOL) 🧎🏾‍♀️

The audiobook!! The dual narrators! HELP, so good. I loved listening to the audiobook while reading along.

This book was a different one for me, being that the omegaverse is a newer trope to me. But I really enjoyed it. These two fired up the pages, and I just wanted them to just get together already. That's when I know a book is good , I get impatient with the main characters. The writing, the characters, and the cover were fantastic. I need to go read this authors other books now.

Emoji Summary 👉 👨🏻‍⚕️👩🏼‍⚕️🩺🥸🙊❤️‍🔥🐺🐺☕️🏥🥼🔥

I couldn’t put this down. I stayed up way too late reading it and absolutely obsessed over some of my fave tropes (fake dating, grumpy sunshine).

Some dialogue felt repetitive and unnecessary but otherwise I loved this spicy, spicy romance.

This was so fun! Veryyyyyy steamy 🧖🏻‍♀️ and spicy🌶️! Just how we like it over here 😌 I didn't even know this was about shifters until it started, which is silly because there are literally paws on the covers, but apparently I never noticed them before. Anyway, it adds a little something special, and it makes all the intensity feel like it belongs there more than it would in a normal book, if that makes sense.
I enjoyed the characters, for some reason I really liked that she was obsessed with soup, cuz that's not something I hear a lot 😆

4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

In Lana Ferguson's steamy paranormal romantic comedy, Mackenzie Carter, tired of disastrous dates, agrees to a fake mate arrangement with Noah Taylor, a secretive wolf shifter and interventional cardiologist. Mackenzie's goal is to appease her grandmother's pressure to find a mate, while Noah seeks to maintain his professional standing. As their fake relationship turns into a genuine friends-with-benefits situation, the lines between fiction and reality blur, leading them to discover that love is a complex and unexpected force.

After reading and enjoying Lana Ferguson’s debut, The Nanny, I decided to go out on a limb and check out what’s happening over in paranormal romance land. Despite some initial uncertainty (due almost entirely to the word “knotting”) I actually found this book really charming. I loved Mack’s spirited, forthcoming personality and Noah’s sheepishness. All of the shifter elements that Lana Ferguson hones in on in this book beautifully amplify the spice. For all of the independent girlies that find touch-her-and-die sort of tropes to be off putting like myself, all bets are off when it comes to biology. Were there a couple of cringe moments? Sure, but that’s half the fun of contemporary romance. Overall big fun.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an Advanced Readers Copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this book; it was a nice twist on the werewolf universe with the pretend relationship growing into a real one.

The steamy scenes were pretty intense (which I didn't expect), but I thought they were well written. I will look forward to other books by this author.

Mackenzie Carter thinks she's found a way out of her more blind dates set up by her grandmother when she agrees to be Noah Taylor's fake mate. Noah's alpha status is seen as threatening and in order to keep his career as a cardiologist, he fakes a relationship with Mackenzie. Mackenzie neglects to tell Noah her omega status, but as the two get to know each other they can't deny the chemistry. Overall, a fun quick romance read with two characters who start out agreeing to help their circumstances but find they have a lot in common. While there tends to be drama in these kinds of stories, it was a bit annoying when both characters would make incorrect assumptions about the other that would just led to more miscommunication.

We just reviewed this book for our latest episode and it's one of our favorites of the year. Noah and Mack are a fantastic couple - both characters are phenomenally well written. Here's so of the things we loved:

- The realism of the world. Both the werewolves and humans mesh together seamlessly. We think it was a great choice to have both MMC and FMC as shifters which creates an interesting paradox in their relationship. We don't have that "getting over your differences" bit of their relationship, which often works, but here, we can dwell on other aspects of their lives.
- The Twilight references!
- The humor.
- The way he takes care of her.
- #fallsfirstfallshard
- Mack's grandmother. She's the GOAT.

The Things we didn't like as much:
- No mating sex!
- Farther along in their relationship epilogue
- Wanted to see a scene of Noah's parents and Mack's grandparents. Just Sayin'

There's not much we didn't like about this book - if you notice it's a lot of "we wanted more!" rather than "changes should have been made!". Get more of our insights on Episode 78, which can be found here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/chicklitbookclub/episodes/Episode-78-The-Fake-Mate-by-Lana-Ferguson-e2d7l0d

I thought this book was good however I am not sure it was for me. This was my very first time reading something like this and I am still trying to figure out how I feel bout it. Definitely not for everyone but it does not mean it is not a good book. I thought the story was interesting and fun. If you enjoy this type of books then you’re really going to love it! I honestly had a good time getting to know Noah & Mackenzie. I thought their dynamic was fun and definitely enjoyed the tension. I think my smut lovers will really enjoy this book 🤭

✨ Review ✨ The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson; Narrated by: Samantha Summers, Joe Arden

Mackenzie and Noah both work at a Denver hospital and end up entangled in a fake dating situation -- Mackenzie to get her grandma to leave her alone and stop setting her up on awful dates (e.g. with model train enthusiasts) and Noah to get the hospital's board to back off. Both are shifters and there's a whole story line about alpha-omega pairings, etc. etc.

The story was pleasant and I enjoyed it overall, but didn't quite find that there enough at stake to keep me excited. The alpha-omega bondedness / possession isn't my favorite, and also slick should not be used as a noun, yuck.

I did love Mackenzie's obsessoin with soup and the delightful mom and grandma of the two. Mackenzie also had great friends that livened up the story. The humor and Mackenzie teasing Noah were standouts as well!

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: 05 Dec 2023
Length: 11 hrs
Setting: Denver
Reminds me of: Grey's Anatomy meets True Blood (without the vampires)
Pub Date:

Read this if you like:
⭕️ shifter romances
⭕️ soups of all kinds
⭕️ fake dating

Thanks to Berkley, PRHAudio and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson.

Honestly this was pure fun - I am AMAZED to see that the omega verse has landed in traditional publishing and I think this will be a real turning point for the industry. However, this will not be for everyone. It's fantasy-lite in that you have to accept the existence of werewolves & their dating habits (which will be great for new fantasy readers to dip their toe in) but on a more extreme side of romance in terms of spice and what it means to have werewolf anatomy...google at your own peril.

Now for the brave, curious, or experienced this is delightful. I took to the characters & their motivations instantly and I enjoyed how the romance played out. This was both emotional and spicy, so what more can we ask for! The writing and pacing were pretty spot on as wells so I would love to read more from the author.

A shape-shifting, werewolf romance in a hospital setting? Yes, please! I was so into this shapeshifter romance filled with some of my fave romcom tropes, sizzling chemistry, wonderful banter and of course steamy spice! Think Grey's Anatomy but where the gorgeous doctors are also werewolves. Loved the Alpha/Omega angle, the workplace setting (steamy moments in the hospital - I was here for it!) and the chemistry between Mack and Noah.

If you're looking for a fun and spicy shifter romcom - this is it! I breezed through the audiobook, unable to tear myself away.

🐺THE FAKE MATE by Lana Ferguson🐺

📆PUB DATE: Out Now!
➡️Swipe for synopsis
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: Audio/Ebook
Read if you like:
🐺Paranormal romance
😤Grumpy/sunshine
🥸Fake dating

If you’re a fan of paranormal romance or just any of tropes listed above, I can’t recommend this book enough! I am very new to the paranormal romance world, and this was the perfect book to start with because it’s not too heavy on the shapeshifter aspect and way more focused on the romance. This book has the perfect amount of both spice and plot, as Noah is trying to save his career as an interventional cardiologist. It was very fun and fast paced, the only thing is that I wished there was just a bit more background on the paranormal stuff.

Thank you so much @berkleyromance and @prhaudio for the advanced copy of The Fake Mate! I switched between the ebook and audio and both were amazing.

Thank you, Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC of The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson! This book was a surprisingly fun time, and for some reason, it completely slipped my mind that this was Omegaverse, so I was in for a good time from the get-go! I enjoyed this book, and it sets the stage for so many people's most anticipated read next year, Bride by Ali Hazelwood. I'm definitely incredibly excited after reading this!

this was most definitely an interesting way to tell the same story we've all seen a million times. this was well written but i guessed every single thing that was going to happen. if you're looking for well written predictable romance that throws some omegaverse into the mix, definitely pick this up. but if you want something new and exciting, i wouldnt necessarily recommend it.

The Fake Mate plays with supernatural beings - werewolves - and introduces fake dating, office romance, and grumpy meets sunshine. And I fell for it. This dual POV story was steamy and charming. While to be honest I'm not sure what Mackenzie was getting out of it because she seems like a sunny angel, I can see the broody appeal of Noah. If you love those tropes of grumpy characters who are secretly all soft if the right person sees through and makes the effort, this is for you. Plus it has some interesting *ahem* anatomy.