photograph: pinterest

Today, we’re getting up close and personal. When I was younger, I had the biggest obsession with vampires. I loved the Twilight franchise and the whole “mating” process– for some reason, Edward biting Bella to turn her was so hot. But, like most adolescent obsessions, I grew out of my weird attraction to fictional characters. I grew to become a respectable, super-intelligent, young woman who would never revisit adolescent obsessions for a romance blog. Definitely not.

Can you hear the sarcasm practically dripping off the page?

This week, I read new, up-and-coming romance author Lana Ferguson’s The Fake Mate. It’s a forbidden romance between two human-to-wolf shifters (NOT werewolves, these people walk on all fours) who also work at a hospital. Full disclosure: I didn’t like Ferguson’s debut romance, The Nanny. As an avid romance reader, I believe in the P and V timeline, aka what happens before penetrative sex. What’s that, you ask? Let me explain…

Every romance novel has two main characters coming together (literally and figuratively), usually slowly– hence, the slow burn. This means there’s a natural progression of both the physical and emotional relationship. It starts with a kiss that quickly devolves into regret and both characters pretend it never happened. Then they kiss again, but this time it’s filled with passion! They regret it (again) and swear off any more sexual advances— but of course, they end up having the best sex of their life, etc., etc. Instead, Ferguson’s The Nanny had none of this– all of a sudden, the two main characters were fucking and I had to stare at the page with my mouth agape, thinking:  What’s going on? Where’s the emotion? 

Anyway, safe to say I was worried about her new book— but where The Nanny failed, The Fake Mate succeeded. When Mackenzie Carter’s grandma won’t get off her back about finding a boyfriend and Noah Taylor’s “alpha” condition is found out by the hospital board, the two strike up a deal: they agree to pretend to be mated to fix both of their problems. Simple enough, right?

It would seem that way, except (and stay with me here non-fantasy lovers) Mackenzie’s an omega. What does that mean in this world? Noah and Mackenzie are biologically compatible. So when Noah begins “scenting” Mackenzie (it’s a wolf thing to mark territory– very Middle Ages, I know), both of them are incredibly aroused by each other. 

There’s a catch, though – Noah’s the “boogeyman of Denver General,” and Mackenzie refuses to get attached to a man who’s leaving in three months. Oh, did I forget to mention Noah’s leaving for a new job in New Mexico so their arrangement has a timeline? Oops!

Everything changes, though, when Mackenzie suddenly falls into heat way earlier than scheduled. Heat is like a shifter’s version of a period except it makes you incredibly horny. Noah’s instincts kick in and he takes her away to a private cabin in the woods where they can privately… take care of things.

This book was adorable, smutty, and fit into a perfect niche of fantasy, romance, and comedy. On the “Enemies to Readers” Sex-o-Meter, this gets a 3 out of 5 stars! The sex scenes were long, which is always a bonus.

I didn’t realize my obsession with fictional creatures would continue into my adult years, but here we are.

See you next read,

Charlotte