From the publisher:
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 With outdated stigmas surrounding unmated alphas that have people wondering if they still howl at the moon, Noah has been careful to keep his designation under wraps.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 fun, steamy romance has interesting, well-drawn characters who happen to be shifters…Fans of fake relationships will appreciate Ferguson’s paranormal twist on the trope.”—Library Journal
https://amzn.to/3tfucik
“What begins as a typical fake relationship story quickly slides into a delightfully endearing study of two people overcoming expectations.”—Publishers Weekly
“Charming. Funny. Primal. Ferguson’s paranormal romance manages to be sweet and spicy at the same time, with two likable leads who can’t ignore their wolfish urges…Readers will tear through this omegaverse novel.”—Booklist
I have never read a paranormal romance like this. In fact, I rarely read any paranormal romance but this past year I decided to give it a go and read a couple of witchy romances, which I enjoyed. But I’ve never read about shifters or wolves or whatever this is. I’m still not totally clear about it – are they werewolves? I’ve heard of those at least, but it doesn’t seem like an exact match. But I pushed on through and it was a super fun read, even if I was a tiny bit confused about it all.
Mackenzie is a young doctor working in the emergency room of a hospital. She is an omega, a special kind of wolf/shifter (I really don’t know what I’m talking about!), and is well liked by the staff and her colleagues. Noah is a cardiac surgeon and has the arrogance that sometimes goes along with those positions. He is feared more than liked, and rumors about him flow through the hospital. His only friend is the former head of cardiology, who recommended Noah to take his place. Another cardiologist was really angry about that – he thought the job should be his by virtue of him being there longer.
Noah is also a wolf/shifter, but he an alpha which apparently means he is prone to be violent or something. It wasn’t quite clear to me, but he kept that a secret. I found it interesting that everyone just accepts these shifters working and living among them. But an anonymous tip lets the hospital board know that Noah is an alpha, and he is afraid they will let him go because of deep seated prejudices.
Noah and Mackenzie find themselves in the staff lounge one day. Mackenzie is constantly being setup on blind dates by her grandmother, and one is worse than the next. She gets the idea of asking Noah to take a selfie with her that she can show her grandmother in hopes of getting her to back off. He agrees, but has his own favor to ask. If he can tell the board that he is mated, they won’t care if he’s an alpha. They both agree to the deal, and the fake dating begins. They find they have a lot in common and begin to have real feelings for one another, but there is trouble afoot in the hospital that appears to be destructive to their relationship.
Honestly, the only reason I even read this was because I liked Ferguson’s first book, The Nanny, so much. She is a good writer, builds interesting characters, and they inevitably have steamy sex. In this case, the alpha-omega thing means something very specific in the bedroom, and that adds another dimension to the story. Ferguson has made a paranormal romance reader out of me!
There is some humor here as well, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. If anyone reads it or can explain shifters to me, please leave a comment!
12/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
THE FAKE MATE by Lana Ferguson. Berkley (December 5, 2023). ISBN: 978-0593549377. 400p.
Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™ 