The Fake Mate

I heard a lot of hype around this book, but unfortunately, it was the boy who cried wolf for me.

I will say that I normally don't read this type of romance (Alpha werewolves and the like), but I wanted to try something different. I want to give that disclaimer because it very may well be that I am just not knowledgeable to the genre and its tropes. I'm not sure if it was the nature of these types of books where the main characters are a "perfect match" or if it was the countless spicy scenes with little personal growth that turned me off this book. Regardless, it was a rough one for me. This book was pretty long, but I don't feel like I really saw WHY the characters liked it each other. It all seemed very superficially explained. They start out seeming to "hate" each other, but as soon as they smell each other... all is well? It may just be me, but I root for main couple to get together in books because their personalities match, not because pheromones say so. I will say that I liked being able to see each person's perspective. It made me realize that they did have some sort of personality, even if it didn't show itself very often. I also appreciated that they simply explained the whole werewolf Alpha/Omega lore. As a newbie, it all seemed to make sense. Overall, I found this book to be a trumped up spicy romance with little chemistry between the characters outside of the physical. They didn't have much banter or the "enemies" part to enemies to lovers. Maybe this book wouldn't have been so bad if the marketing for it hadn't been so off.

Oh my goodness, this was such a fun book! I bought this book completely because I thought the cover was cute, but this may be one of my favorite romcoms. The Fake Mate follows Mackenzie, a fairly new ER doctor tired of her grandmother trying to set her up on dates, and Noah, a cardiologist who has a grumpy demeanor and is keeping a secret. They make a bargain that is mutually beneficial to both of them. The Fake Mate is a paranormal romance that I think would be great for people who are curious or new to omegaverse stories. The spice is spicing in this book and I absolutely devoured it! Will definitely be checking out other works by the author. If you're looking for a hot, fun, slump-busting book, check this one out! The Fake Mate is an adult paranormal romantic comedy, 18+ for sexual content.

Bride, who? This book was everything I wanted in a modern omegaverse! Societal implications based on designation? Check. Kinky sex? Check. Funny banter & loveable characters? Absolutely check! This was sweet, fun, and everything I wanted from it!

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

Interesting and low key omega verse shifter romance. It was what all good fake dating books are made of and quite enjoyed the cute simplicity of it

This is the first published omegaverse book I've read and I've gotta say it was pretty...average? And surprisingly that has nothing to do with the omegaverse aspects of it. On a technical level I'd say that was done pretty well; the author definitely has experience in reading it and knows what she's talking about. Most of it didn't come across as too cringy which is a bit difficult to pull off when you're writing this theme outside of fanfiction.

But mostly I just think I didn't really connect with the characters in this one. Not that there's anything particularly wrong with Mackenzie and Noah but once I got about halfway through the book and the luster wore off I just got kinda bored? I think I just don't really connect well with hetero omegaverse. I think it's much more meaningful and subversive when it's written with queer pairings. When it's a hetero couple with an alpha male and an omega female it just felt like gender roles but More if that makes sense.

Honestly, I wish we could've gotten more shapeshifting. That was the most interesting part to me and we only got it in one scene with no further explanation other than “some people can turn into wolves and others can't”. And personally, I could've done with less sex scenes. I think there were only 3-4 overall but I still feel like that was too many for my tastes.

Just a three star for me.

Jessica from Radiology said this is another Reylo fanfic so of course I read it.