Okay, so I devoured this book in less than 24 hours. Because I am a fickle reviewer, I will say Fake Mate had little to no plot and almost no character development, and at times, it felt like it was just bouncing from spicy scene to spicy scene, yet I undeniably enjoyed it. The banter was charming and, at times, laugh-out-loud funny. The main characters, Mackenzie Carter and Noah Taylor are a dual POV grumpy/sunshine pairing who enter into a fake relationship to protect Noah’s job and prevent more setups for Mackenzie; they add some benefits, the end.
Additionally, both main characters are physicians, shifters, and rare forms of their species (omega and alpha, respectively). If you are unfamiliar with shifters (aka werewolves), this book has little to no world-building; I would not consider it true paranormal or fantasy. I sometimes cringe at hospital descriptions, but for the most part, this worked; there were a few out-of-scope lines, but I think most healthcare workers would approve of the descriptions. This book has a ton of intimacy, including unique aspects of shifter anatomy, so if an open-door is not your thing, I would avoid it. The book’s ending was too quick for me, and it would have benefited from a scene entailing some details mentioned in the epilogue (no spoilers, but if you have read it, I hope you agree). Overall, this was light, fun, and very sexy, and I would recommend it for a quick MF shifter read.
I have seen this book recommended for those who liked Bride by Ali Hazlewood, and they are entirely different. Comparing them closely is a disservice to both books. Where Bride is dark with mystery and lots of character development, Fake Mate is honestly a lighter and fluffy romance. Both include detailed descriptions of wolf anatomy(🪢), but the similarity stops there.
