I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson Narrator: Samantha Summers, Joe Arden
Published by Berkley Publishing Group, Penguin Random House Audio on December 5, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Paranormal / General
Length: 11 hours
Pages: 352
Format: ARC, Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon | Audible | B&N | Kobo | Libro.fm
Two wolf shifters agree to be fake mates but unexpectedly find something real in this steamy paranormal romantic comedy by Lana Ferguson.
Mackenzie Carter has had some very bad dates lately. Model train experts, mansplainers, guys weirdly obsessed with her tail—she hasn’t had a successful date in months. Only a year out of residency, her grandmother’s obsession with Mackenzie finding the perfect mate to settle down with threatens to drive Mackenzie barking mad. Out of options, it feels like a small thing to tell her grandmother that she’s met someone. That is, until she blurts out the name of the first man she sees and the last man she would ever date: Noah Taylor, the big bad wolf of Denver General.
Noah Taylor, interventional cardiologist and all around grump, has spent his entire life hiding what he is. With outdated stigmas surrounding unmated alphas that have people wondering if they still howl at the moon, Noah has been careful to keep his designation under wraps. It’s worked for years, until an anonymous tip has everything coming to light. Noah is left with two options: come clean to the board and risk his career—or find himself a mate. The chatty, overly friendly ER doctor asking him to be her fake boyfriend on the same day he’s called to meet the board has to be kismet, right?
Mackenzie will keep her grandmother off her back, and Noah will get a chance to prove he can continue to work without a real mate—a mutually beneficial business transaction, they both rationalize. But when the fake-mate act turns into a very real friends-with-benefits arrangement, lines start to blur, and they quickly realize love is a whole different kind of animal.
This is the spicy werewolf romance that I didn’t know I needed! Fake dating romances can be a lot of fun and this one certainly was just that. Mackenzie needs a fake boyfriend so that her grandmother will stop setting her up on awful dates while Noah needs a mate when his Alpha status becomes known at the hospital where they both work. It was incredibly entertaining to watch this pair try to figure things out.
I liked Mackenzie and Noah and thought that they made a great pair. As they spend time together, they find that the attraction between them isn’t fake at all. I thought that the chemistry between them was very well done and it was obvious pretty early on in the story that they both felt more for each other than they had planned when they made their fake dating arrangements. I thought that the secondary characters were really well done and added a lot to the story as well.
I listened to the audiobook and thought Samantha Summers and Joe Arden did an amazing job with this story. I thought that their voices complimented each other’s very nicely. Both narrators did a great job of bringing the characters to life through their reading by adding just the right amount of emotion to their narration. I am certain that their narration added to my overall enjoyment of this story.
I would recommend this book to others. I enjoyed Lana Ferguson’s previous book, The Nanny, and was excited to give this one a try. This story had a bit of a different feel since it had some paranormal elements but it was just as entertaining. I cannot wait to read more of this author’s work in the future.
I received a review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group and Penguin Random House Audio.
I love the new illustrated covers they are coming out with. This looks good Thanks
I’ve put this one on my list because fake relationships are my favorite. Wonderful review!
I really wanted to pick this up for review, but I just didn’t have time. I still want to read it – maybe I’ll see if my library can get the audio. Thanks for the review.
This one sounds so fun! I can’t wait to read it. 😀
Though the shifter stuff was new and weird to me, I enjoyed this book. Like you said, Mack and Noah were very likable and great together. I was rooting for them
I really liked this one too, more than her previous book, The Nanny. You wouldn’t know it unless you look at the cover closely that it’s a shifter romance. I didn’t see the paw prints until recently.
It’s always great when the exact right book shows up at the exact right moment! So glad you enjoyed this one!