Title: Mate
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Publisher: Berkley 2025
Genre: Romantasy
Pages: 457
Rating: 3/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Nightshade Society Club (Full Moon Fever); Cover Lover - Mythical creature
Spice Rating: 6
Serena Paris is orphaned, pack-less, and one of a kind. Coming forward as the first Human-Were hybrid was supposed to heal a centuries-long rift between species. Instead, it made her a target, prey to the ruthless political machinations between Weres, Vampyres, and Humans. With her enemies closing in on her, she has only one option left—if he’ll have her.
As Alpha of the Northwest pack, Koen Alexander commands obedience. His authority is so absolute, only a fool would threaten his mate. It doesn’t matter if Serena doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, nothing will stop him from keeping her safe.
But power-hungry Vampyres and Weres are not the only threats chasing Serena. Sooner or later, her past is bound to catch up with her—and Koen might be the only thing standing between her and total annihilation…
I really enjoyed Bride when it came out and was hoping the same level of plot and romance. Unfortunately, this one disappointed me. My biggest issue was the romance. What romance exactly? For most of the book, the main characters have no interest in each other. Even after they start having sex it’s because of Serena being in heat, not because they really want to. I never bought them actually being into each other at all. I really really dislike the being in heat trope for werewolf stories. Come to think of it, I really dislike werewolf stories. I dislike the power dynamics and misogynistic undertones to every interaction. I much prefer the vampire dynamics. As to the plot itself, so much was left unresolved. What happened to the bounty? Who was behind the bounty? What about Serena’s disease? Did sex magically cure that? What about the cult and all the weird things surrounding that? And even beyond the plot holes, there was so much unresolved trauma in this book. Not everything needs to be tied up in a neat bow, but my goodness, they never even addressed the trauma. So bad.
Next up on the TBR pile:
