Audiobook review: The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson
August TBR optional theme: Everyday Heroes – I’m behind in the schedule!
I have had The Fake Mate on my TBR since it came out at the end of 2023. I LOVE fake relationship stories (RRC bingo square), and this one sounded like a lot of fun. I chose it for the August TBR Challenge because both main characters are doctors, aka everyday heroes.
Noah and Mackenzie agree to be fake mates for mutually beneficial reasons, but the process of “scenting her” is intimate, and they realize they want each other, a lot. So they add a friends-with-benefits addendum to their agreement and the sex is amazing. And then they keep having sex, lots and lots of sex. Here’s the thing: not only has Noah been hiding the fact that he’s an alpha, Mackenzie is hiding her status of omega from the world as well. What does this mean? They are supposedly some super rare fated match, and the consequences of sex seem to be all consuming.
Overall, I liked the story. It is pretty predictable, but like I said, I really love the fake relationship trope, and the author checks all the right boxes. The couple has amazing chemistry in bed and enjoy a lot of fun banter at other times. The first half of the book lacks relationship building substance. There isn’t a lot of communication, which makes sense for the story, but made it frustrating for me. They both worry about overstepping the bounds of their agreement and constantly worry about the relationship status.
The couple has a LOT of (on page) sex, and after a while, I wanted more story outside the bedroom. Eventually, Noah and Mackenzie date for real, but even that’s short lived. The author tries to make the case that they fall for one another outside the bedroom, but I don’t know that the case is well built. Is it the alpha-omega biology that leaves them wanting to be together or do they genuinely like one another. Does it matter if they are happy?
Narration: The story is shared via the alternating first person POVs of Mackenzie and Noah, with Summers reading Mack’s POV and Arden performing Noah. Summers is bubbly and energetic, matching Mackenzie’s personality. She does a great job altering dialogue based on gender and age, with convincingly deep male voices. Arden is dry and deep, very fitting for the the icy Noah. He successfully alters his performance for dialogue based on gender and age. Both do a great job modifying their performance for emotion. The two narrators pair well together.
Towards the end of the story, we finally get some heart-to-hearts as each character comes to terms with past baggage and current emotions. Despite my misgivings, The Fake Mate is decent story, and the narrators do an excellent job.
My Ratings
Story: B-/C+
Narration: A
Jen
About the Book:
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.
Author: Lana Ferguson
Narrators: Samantha Summers, Joe Arden
Series: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary Paranormal Romance
Audiobook Release Date: December 5, 2023
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio
Length: 11 hours
Source: purchased
Audio Speed: 1.3 – 1.5x
Purchase info:
Audible/Amazon (affilate link)
