The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson: My Review

Holy Smokes does Lana Ferguson deliver the steam in her new werewolf romance book, The Fake Mate.

I’m sharing ALL of my feelings about this must-read paranormal romance that I couldn’t put down in my book review below so you can determine if it’s a book you need to add to your TBR list (hint: the answer is YES!).

*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Fake Mate Summary:

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With outdated stigmas surrounding unmated alphas that have people wondering if they still howl at the moon, Noah has been careful to keep his designation under wraps.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.

The Fake Mate: My Review

I think I found a new, favorite werewolf romance book! Thank you Lana for this steamy hot paranormal romance that was so much fun to read.

I’m such a sucker for fake relationship romance books but this one took things up a notch by making it a fake mate romance.

So, Mackenzie and Noah aren’t just faking being boyfriend and girlfriend, they are faking being a mated pair. And not just any mated pair but an alpha and an omega werewolf pair only not many knew the designations of these two.

These characters were so much fun to fall for. You’ve got Noah, a renowned cardiologist who has been hiding his designation as alpha by taking suppressants to hide his scent.

There’s still a stigma about unmated alphas and he’s been hiding his status to protect his job but someone outed him and all his hard work is at risk.

Mackenzie is an ER doctor who’s dating life has been pretty dismal but her grandmother in particular is desperate for her to find someone. To get her grandmother off her back, she claims to already have a boyfriend, one Dr. Noah.

What transpires is their agreement to be fake mates to not only satisfy Mackenzie’s grandmother but to get this hospital board off Noah’s back.

But we all know how fake relationships go, especially those when you start mixing in fake-mates with benefits and that’s when Lana really turns up the steam with this one!

Before you get to the steaminess though, Ferguson really built things up well with these two.

I loved the focus on their scents and how Noah had to “scent” her to mark her as his. Those “scenting” scenes were so hot and provided the best build-up to their super spicy scenes.

Not to mention this alpha could lay down some serious dirty talk which made the steamy scenes all the hotter.

And if you didn’t already know about “knotting” in werewolf romances, well you will after reading this book. They go there and then some and it’s super hot given that it’s an alpha knotting an omega.

I also loved the idea that Ferguson explored in this romance that you may have to hide who you are when really stigmas should be thrown out the window.

Both Mackenzie and Noah had some baggage that they have been carrying that impacts their comfort in being able to actually recognize for themselves and share with their partner that they are actually falling for the other.

But they had family members who helped them to see those issues so that they could then see what was right in front of them.

I really liked that the third act, moment of conflict, didn’t last longer than necessary but helped propel their relationship further.

I’m so happy that I read this book and highly recommend it!

Related Book Lists:

• Best Werewolf Romance Books
• Best Fake Relationship Romance Books
• Best Fake Dating Romance Books
• Best Paranormal Romance Books
• Best Office Romance Books
• Best Grumpy Sunshine Romance Books
• Best Steamy Romance Books

More by Lana:

• Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson

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