ARC Review: The Mating Game by Lana Ferguson ★★★★

ARC Review: The Mating Game by Lana Ferguson

This grumpy meets sunshine paranormal omegaverse shifter romance is as spicy as it is cute. While the book was not entirely my cup of tea, it was definitely a mood-setter for the winter. 🌲🏔️ 🛠️🐺

“I’m realizing that the place I thought was my home is just like I was, just a shell. I didn’t know what home looked like until I met you. And I want to *be* that for you. Whatever it looks like. Wherever that is. If you’ll let me.”

[Contains some spoilers]

PLOT SUMMARY
28-year-old contractor Esther “Tess” Covington is in Denver for a renovation project, hoping to get her own television show to help pay for her dad’s operation. When she gets off the plane, she is hospitalised because of flu-like symptoms. Turns out, despite all her life being a beta –and her family being betas– she is a late-presenting omega wolf shifter. And omegas in heat must stay away from alphas.

Of course, this turns out to be impossible because the owner of the Bear Essentials Wilderness Lodge in Nowheresville is not the woman Jeannie – but her 32-year-old nephew, the grumpy aptly-named alpha Hunter Barrett, who doesn’t approve of the changes. A decade-old tragedy has left him guarded and cold. What’s more, his heart was broken by an omega before, and he will not be making the same mistake again. Yet Tess is Hunter’s only hope to restore the lodge to its thriving prosperity, and avoiding her is impossible.

When the inevitable happens, they strike a desperate pact: if her heat strikes, he will help her. It’s supposed to be just biology. But as her pheromones pull at his instincts and real feelings begin to surface, the lines between duty and desire blur. When Tess’ dream job opportunity presents itself, will she leave the reno and the man she has grown to love? And will Hunter push her away, or overcome his past and realise he deserves to be loved?

I kiss her softly then, closing my eyes as she leans into me. She’s so warm, so soft and sweet—it’s hard not to pull her closer, to let her warmth bleed into the coldest parts of me, thawing them, making them come back to life.
I haven’t felt as alive as I do with Tess in a very long time.

This is told from the first-person present-tense POV of Tess and Hunter.

OVERALL OPINIONS
ㅤ🐺info about author and books in the series🏡
Having never read Lana Ferguson’s work before (quick aside: love that she has LOTR Extended Edition marathons!), I was excited to have a go. Truth be told, I’ve not read a lot of omegaverse romances. I used to often go on the Chapters app that tells visual interactive decision-making stories, so I am aware of some of the terms. However, this is a great place to start for those who are unfamiliar with the omegaverse.The concepts are explained well and anything I didn’t understand was covered. In fact, the description in this story was so excellent when it came to the interior and exterior of the lodge, I could visualise it clear as crystal.

This is a standalone novel that exists in the same universe as The Fake Mate, which I’ve yet to read. Both the characters Mackenzie and Noah (Hunter’s cousin) have cameos here: Mackenzie is the doctor at the beginning of the story and Hunter gets advice from Noah. Lana Ferguson in the Acknowledgements mentions that this companion sequel was more difficult to write as there was “so much pressure to deliver” something as good as the first one. I have a feeling Ferguson delivered.

I was intrigued about the other two couples mentioned in here: Cat who runs the clothing store and Jarred who is a friend of Hunter (Cat had a crush on him in high school and it took years for her to notice); Ada who is Tess’ best friend and a single mother, and the mysterious takeout guy at the gallery (the Epilogue mentions she is mated now and that it was a whirlwind). I really hope Ferguson does take the chance to explore these thoroughly.

ㅤ🐺charming characterisation🏡
What I really loved about this story were the wholesome moments. My absolute favourite moment has to be the indoor makeshift tent that Hunter makes for Tess because she said she’d never been camping. And also the pretend picture-taking scene, it harkens back to the Before Sunrise film, which I adored.

“Beautiful,” I whisper. I lean backward on a whim, bringing both of my hands in front of my face to make a square shape with my fingers. Then I make a clicking sound with my mouth as I pretend to take a picture, watching her blink in surprise as she cocks her head.
Her face breaks out into a smile. “What was that?”
“A mental picture,” I tell her. “So I can remember.”
“Oh?” She presses a finger to one of the buttons of my shirt, tracing it lightly. “So this is something you definitely want to remember, huh?”
I look at her then—*really* look at her, at the way her freckles spray across her nose like lightly dusted sugar, the way her bangs perpetually hang into her eyes, giving them a sort of sultry quality, the way her nose is so petite that it wrinkles with almost every emotion that plays across her face—and, well…
“I think everything about you is something I want to remember,” I answer quietly.

I like the parallel between Hunter and Tess that they both want to do things out of the goodness of their hearts: Hunter wants to look after her; Tess wants to make sure his place is successful again. A few other moments I enjoy between Hunter and Tess include: when Hunter goes to the pub for her and grins and enjoys himself (that selfie too), the “Miss Fixit” nickname he gives her, the way Tess calls the place a “dingy lodge” which evolves from an exact insult his ex used into a term of endearment, their jokes about him being an “old man” who uses “oil lamps”, of course when he gives her the flannel to keep warm.

The family and friendship in this book are also lovely. Tess and her brothers have a beautiful bond and they don’t resent that she is their dad’s favourite child. Tess and her father have a much-needed conversation at the end about that she doesn’t need to keep looking out for him and what is important in life, and that was very emotional. Hunter and his aunt also have a touching exchange where she is able to tell him he shouldn’t blame himself for the past and that he deserves the future. Tess and Ada’s friendship is great and I like that despite keeping things from her to begin with, she decides to come out with everything. Even the small arc with Reginald the cat – who practically disappears 2/3rds of the way through? – where Tess can pet him at the end was sweet.

ㅤ🐺left to be desired🏡
Lana Ferguson is the Tessa Bailey of paranormal romance, without a doubt. Both like to make the spice either a huge part of or *the* plot. So if you expect something completely cosy and cute, forget it. There was more spice in here than anything else, really.

Tess being in heat cropped up time after time, and they question again and again whether what they are doing is just biology or is it love. Unfortunately for me, this made the narrative rather repetitive. Apparently, this is something that is a common issue in omegaverse stories.

I also found it difficult to get into to begin with, as it did read a great deal like a Wattpad fic. While I appreciated being launched straight into the hospital visit, the suddenness and the rapid-fire back-and-forth conversation felt jarring. It was a lot of information and worldbuilding to process all at once. This did improve as it went on – but to the extent that the worldbuilding vanished and the smut took over.

To name some important aspects that should have been explored more:
• Tess and Hunter only shifted into wolves once which, for a werewolf shifter romance, is dire. This is a missed opportunity to expand on their relationship.
• We never find out why Tess has late presentation of omega, why she is the only person in her family to be one. While we briefly get some history that could explain it, this is never actually explored.
• Jeannie says quite early on that Tess actually smells so familiar to her. This plot point seems to get forgotten about because it never crops up again when it really should have. Even if it’s a “that’s why she smelled so familiar!” moment. I assume it is meant to be a foreshadowing of the fact that their scents will mix – but it makes no sense at this point because they haven’t done anything yet, not even touched.

ㅤ🐺to conclude🏡
Overall, this is a bit of a mixed bag, but one that I ultimately enjoyed. While Hunter’s alpha possessiveness occasionally grated on my nerves and the repetitive nature of the heat cycles slowed the plot, the emotional core kept me invested. It is not a perfect book, and definitely leans into some Wattpad tropes, but if you are looking for a spicy, grumpy-sunshine escape with some heart this Christmas, this is a great place to start. Looking forward to see if Ferguson continues this series with Ada and Cat’s stories.

<< Positives >>
🠚 Effective worldbuilding for newcomers to omegaverse.
🠚 Excellent vivid imagery.
🠚 Hilarious and light read ideal for the holidays.
🠚 Charming banter and quips (the “gramps”, “whittling knife” and “oil lamp” inside jokes had be grinning every time).
🠚 Meaningful growth of Hunter’s character.
🠚 FMC was personally relatable.
🠚 Wholesome side characters (especially Ada, Jeannie and Cat)
🠚 Fun and giggling-and-kicking-feet spice. The moment in Chapter 14 where he is “starving for her”. *chefs kiss*, I must say!
🠚 3rd act break up is brief so ideal!

<< Negatives >>
🠚 First chapter especially gave Wattpad story vibes.
🠚 Initial chapter felt too info-dump.
🠚 Unresolved/unexplained plot holes of Tess’ late presentation and Jeannie’s “familiar scent”.
🠚 Spice got in the way of opportunities and character depths and repetitive.
🠚 Missed shifting opportunities: for a werewolf romance, their shifting into wolves only happened once.
🠚 Characters often disappeared in the latter half of the book (Jeannie, Reginald the cat).
🠚 Stereotypical very tall, huge alpha with an average-height woman. Give me short women! We deserve some love too!
🠚 The selfie from the pub Hunter and Tess take is never revisited. Tess could have looked at it and provided a sentimental callback.
🠚 Lana Ferguson, I love you, I love that you love Lord of the Rings – but please never write “My poor vagina’s eyes are bigger than its stomach” ever again. This was absolutely horrifying! You had to ruin the one chapter that I adored (the tent).
🠚 The Taylor Swift pop culture reference. It’s become an ick for me when people use her name in everything for the sake of relevance.

CHARACTERS
-ˋˏ ꒰ Tess꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ She doesn’t like burdening people she cares about, and looks after everyone but nobody looks after her. That really resonated with me, so this really made me like her. I like that she comes in and changes Hunter’s life for the better. It is especially sweet that she calls her friend Nate to make sure that he is nice to Hunter and was being so thoughtful about him, even though they had called it quits by then. I like that she stands up for herself and calls Hunter out on his behaviour.
I did cringe at her rambling about the murderer thing and then backtracking because this happens too often in romcoms, it more irritated me than anything else. But it was funny when her narrative talks about Hunter winking at her and she is like “Is he trying to kill me?” (missed opportunity for that murderer joke, to be honest).

-ˋˏ ꒰ Hunter꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ The stony innkeeper who is warmer than he appears; the sexy, “good girl”, “you’re mine” 6ft 5 lumberjack. Y’know what, I did like him a lot. The way he looks after Tess, especially when she is going through her problems, as well as teaching her how to use four legs as a wolf. And takes accountability. And opens up about things, love to see that. He has a lot of depth to him.
Not going to lie though, when he said Tess was “kind of tiny for a contractor”, my 5ft 1 self (even shorter than Tess, might I add) was going to throw hands! There were moments like that where his attitude was uncalled for, crossing the line from charming grump to simply annoying. Then that scene where he was thinking of how inconvenient her heat is when it is causing herself troubles, sheesh. Don’t get me started on how possessive he is of her around her brothers, that was weird even for an alpha: they are her family, not competition, for Pete’s sake!

FAV QUOTES
• since my best friend is like a shark smelling blood in the water when it comes to sussing out my moods, I doubt I can keep any of this from her for long.
• it’s like he stepped right out of Lumberjack Weekly
• I’m strangely curious about this woman who looks like she would have no qualms with, at the very least, *attempting* to kick my ass despite being half my size. • There’s a ghost of a smile on my mouth as I remember the way she tore into me; she’s such a tiny thing, and yet, when she let me know what’s what, she reared up like a brown bear protecting her cubs on the mountainside. And I shouldn’t find that cute.
• I spent most of the night fuming over his snide Little Miss Fixit comments—having half a mind to spend the rest of the evening boarding that asshole up in his own bedroom just to show him I’m perfectly comfortable around a hammer.
• His mouth does something I’ve yet to see it do, turning up at the corners until I’m blasted with straight white teeth that make my stomach flutter a little. I decide then and there that should I ever find myself miraculously given a seat in Congress, my first order of business would be rendering Hunter Barrett’s smile *illegal*.
• The problem, I think, is that after that day in the snow… I can’t stop looking at her. My eyes gravitate toward her whenever she’s in the same room; they search for her when she isn’t. And even if it’s biology, if it’s just instinct, it feels impossible to stop.
• It seems like Tess always makes sure to take care of everyone else—but does anyone ever really take care of her? I find that lately… I like taking care of Tess a lot.
• I’ve had my fair share of heartache and disappointment and downright bullshit in the men department over the years, and adding not the hot lumberjack’s type to the list might actually be the thing that pushes me over the edge.
• “If I ever kissed you… I’d want you to damn well remember it tomorrow.”
• Her eyes are softening now, moving across my face slowly as if memorizing my features. I feel my pulse quicken when I reach one hand out to cup her jaw, my thumb stroking back and forth across her cheek as I study her. I remember thinking she was pretty when I first saw her, and knowing her hasn’t diminished that. Now that I understand she’s a little quirky and a lot wonderful, with her desire to help others and her love of silly songs, she’s fucking beautiful. It’s hard to even tear my eyes away from her.
• “I’ve got you,” I tell her. “I’m not going anywhere.” There’s not a place on this earth that could entice me away.
• I can hear my pulse in my ears, my instincts chanting for me to *take, take, take*—but I don’t have to. There’s nothing to take because she’s *giving* it to me. • all I can think about is the man in the other room. The one I promised to be there for tomorrow. And in all the times I imagined this—getting everything I ever wanted—I never imagined that there might be something I would want just as much.
• The facade cracks, and I can see a sliver of pain—the same pain I’m feeling—bleed through in his eyes. “I can’t watch you go, Tess,” he says quietly. “Please don’t ask me to.”
• The lodge feels emptier without Tess here, which makes no sense, given that she was only here for a few weeks. But in that time… her presence was so *large* that it almost seemed to brighten the place, to make it feel like more than what it is.
• There’s still a lifetime of real moments to experience…and I want to live every single one.

══════════ ⋆★⋆ ══════════

I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review and I’d like to thank Lana Ferguson and Little, Brown Book Group for the opportunity. This has not affected my opinion in any way.

A huge thank you to the Little, Brown Book Group Influencer program for providing me with a paperback copy.

“The Mating Game” is out now!