So, I don’t know what happened, what changed in me, but when I first saw The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson making the rounds as an ARC before publication, I thought it looked cute but there was no way I was going to read it. I thought pffft omegaverse? that’s not for me. That’s for my friend Nem whom I constantly tease about it. And then the strangest thing happened. I picked up The Fake Mate, along with three other omegaverse romances and now here we are, writing this review for a book I finished in less than 24 hours.
Now, Mac and Noah – our FMC and MMC – are wolf shifters and both work at Denver General hospital. Them being wolf shifters was literally not needed at all. It added absolutely nothing to the story. There’s like one scene in which they chase each other in wolf form, but again, it added nothing. I think maybe it was added for mainstream readers that don’t know omegaverse and don’t realize the shifter portion isn’t necessary. Either way, if it was going to be included, it should’ve played a bigger role and not just be there for a blip. That was one of my issues. The other was simply the absolute predictability, which normally wouldn’t bother me because I love knowing what I’ll get when I start a romance. It bothered me here because there was one element that was missing. This was predictable because it was following a typical formula – FMC and MMC attracted to one another but dislike one another, forced into a situation, sparks fly, happily ever after – but misses one crucial part of the equation. MMC Noah never gave off the impression of actually like or noticing Mac until he learns she’s an omega. This was frustrating, especially when there was a side character I was in love with that would’ve been so much better for Mac. Liam, I love you and you deserved better.
With those complaints out of the way, let’s get to why this did end up getting 3.5 stars. Once Noah does start feeling attracted to Mac, I loved seeing him just slowly succumb to madness. He had no idea what was going on, why he was thinking the way he was, feeling the way he was. Noah was just dying in his own mind yearning and desiring Mac and it was everything to me. Mac was funny and assertive, which I feel like is a pretty rare thing to find and have done in a likeable manner in romances. Then, of course, was the spice. It was wildly hot, possibly because I read this as an audiobook and wow, hearing Joe Arden portray Noah’s unraveling was just hot.
Would I recommend The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson? Maybe. I think if you’re looking for spicy omegaverse and don’t care that it’s predictable, you’ll enjoy this! I guess if you’re a Reylo fan? You’ll enjoy this too I guess (what is it with so many published romances being reylo fanfic? and me reading it despite not caring for reylo). If you want substance, a real plot, or something less formulaic, I don’t think you’ll have a good time here.
