This was fun!

I’ve never read shifter or omegaverse romances and therefore, I can’t make comparisons on that particular genre. No judgement here, it is just a pandora box I don’t want to open and get stuck on 😅
As contemporary romances go, this was incredibly fun, and everything I needed and didn’t know.

Tropes:
- fake dating/ mating
- grumpy/ sunshine
- workplace romance
- (small) age gap
- praise and consent
- lots of spice and stellar chemistry between the lead characters.

I was a bit annoyed with the 3rd act breakup, but luckily our FMC is smart and knows what she wants. Both MC characters are great and I enjoyed equally both POV.

100 % recommended for spicy contemporary readers.

<i>I would like to thank Little, Brown Book Group UK, Piatkus and Netgalley for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

The Fake Mate was my first ever omega verse book, not that I haven’t read a werewolf/shifter book before, but I hadn’t yet come across the knot, which was interesting, to say the least (there was googling involved).

Ferguson has given us a few delicious tropes here; grumpy/sunshine, fake dating, he falls first, and an office romance all mixed within a paranormal universe. There are quite a few steamy scenes, toe-curling tension, and swoony chemistry. I enjoyed reading this book, I loved that even though Noah is an alpha, Mack was clearly in charge of their relationship, I also love he fell first since he’s such a grump with everyone else – yummy.

This would have been four stars, but I took half off because of the third-act breakup. I truly hate them, and Noah and Mack could have done without it.

I loved this book!! The banter between the main characters was so good from the start making me instantly love them

I love that it was double fake dating and the whole web of lies it span - made it so interesting and kept me invested

I could tell early on what the third act conflict would be about and when we got to it it didn’t disappoint. The making up and getting back together was so good as well

I was screaming over how in love Noah was - it was so cute

Definitely reading more shifter romance / Lana books after this

- fake dating - ‘I told my grandma I was dating someone so she’d stop setting me up on bad dates’ and ‘I just lied to the board and said I was mated to keep my job’
- coworkers
- shifter romance - alpha x omega
- he falls first
- duel pov / 1st person

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for giving me this eArc to review.

This book features Alpha/Omegaverse dynamics which I personally feel is rare for traditionally published books (unless I have just been under a rock).

Both main characters need a fake relationship so the fake mate situation is ideal for them both and it was quite fun to see how these two strangers tried to pull it off.

This was an okay book with decent smut (if you're looking for that), but I felt like there was a depth that was missing. While the two main characters did spend time together I felt like they barely knew each other at the end of the book, that they hadn't felt organic by the time they do actually end up together.

I read The Nanny a few months ago and absolutely loved it! So to say I was excited about Lana Ferguson’s next book is an understatement. It is completely different to my usual reads and The Nanny but I adored it and may now have a secret fondness for shifter stories! I swear Lana could write anything and I would just eat it up I love her writing style: she has the perfect combination of plot and spice.

Dr Mackenzie Carter hopes to stop her meddling Grandmother from sending her on any more disastrous dates by lying than she has found a mate. When her grandmother is requesting details specifically a name she gives her the name of the grumpy doctor who enters the break room at that exact moment, Noah Taylor.
Dr Noah Taylor, Head of Cardiology, job is threatened when an anonymous tip to the board of directors informs them he is an unmated Alpha. He needs a mate and quick.
So when Mackenzie Carter asks him for a favour they both agree to enter a fake mating agreement but will they be able to keep their relationship fake when they are both biology perfect for one another.

If you’re searching for a sweet shifter romance with lots of steam and a gentle Alpha then this book is for you.

Read if you enjoy:
- Grumpy/Sunshine
- Fake Mating
- Shifter Romance
- STEM Characters

Thank you Little Brown Book Group and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Headlines:
Unputdownable
Grumpy alpha-sunshine omega
Fakey matey heart

I picked up The Fake Mate and didn't expect it to derail all my other reads, but derail them it did, so that I finished it in 24 hours. The author crafted a clever contemporary world like ours but one where shifters were accepted and society adjusted for their differences. There was plenty of show and little tell which was a fab way of revealing the world and how shifters like the MCs Noah and MacKenzie navigated their life as doctors and wolves.

This story was light, funny but with a deeply growing connection between these two. So we got all the depth with lots of banter, funny capers and a relationship to cheer from fake to more. Noah and MacKenzie were such an unlikely pairing both in personality but their rareness as alpha and omega wolves. There were some very interesting intimacy differences for these two and their on-page chemistry was great, in and out of the bedroom. Also, if you thought periods were rough, you want to see what being in heat was like for Mack.

The side characters around these two were mostly great apart from the one character who wasn't supposed to be likeable. I really loved the family investment in this potential mating; Noah's mother and Mack's grandmother were pretty hilarious.

What surprised me about this story was the softness I found at the heart of Noah. I know it surprised him too and that whole unpeeling of his character was such great reading.

I hadn't read this author before but I'm seeking out her previous release pronto.

Thank you to Piatkus for the review copy.

I enjoyed this book so much, I am a massive Love Hypothesis fan and this book was a shifter version of that in almost every way and that is not a complaint!
Noah was lovely; a big grumpy man who is a secret softie for the right woman. I also love that we get bith their perspectives through the whole story.
This was my first wolf shifter book and there was an aspect that this includes that was a first for me... And I can confirm I am definitely sold.
It was obvious from the start who the villain of the story was that I thought there might have been a twist but it was straight forward the whole way through, good for if you are just interested in a good romance story.

This was an interesting take on the whole shifter trope.
There wasn't really that much focus on the shifter side of things, more their designations which I found interesting. This could have been set in an A/B/O type universe without the shifter bit.

I liked the characters and enjoyed the pace of the story for the most part but I felt like there was more sex than there needed to be. Don't get me wrong, it was well written spice, it just got a bit boring after a while.

I will definitely read this author again and have already had her first novel to my wish list!

This book was so much fun. Seriously tropey, a joyful mash up of fake dating, grumpy/sunshine and fantasy. It felt like reading Ali Hazelwood with added werewolves (what a great thing!)

This book surpassed all my expatations! I love shifter and fake dating romances, and I really like reading different takes on the omegaverse so I LOVED this book! It was great from start to finish, with good characters and plot. The only negative I have about it is that it wasn’t longer! I would have wanted to stay with Noah and Mack forever. Overall a great book that I highly recommend.


Summary: Mackenzie, tired of her grandma's matchmaking, fabricates a fake date with Noah, an alpha cardiologist. What starts as a ruse evolves into unexpected love.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review, all thoughts are my own.