Fake Mate for the Soldier Lion: Shifter Nation: Special Ops Shifters by Meg Ripley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hudson Taylor knows there’s something missing from his a mate. But between his tactical missions with the Special Ops Shifter Force and running his communications company, this veteran can only ignore the roar of his inner lion. Until the day a sassy, iron-willed lioness showed up at the Force’s secret headquarters unannounced.

Leona Kirk was living her dream as a Green Beret, but when an IED injured her overseas, her military career was over in an instant. She’s restless and won’t be happy until she lands a job that will give her the same satisfaction she had in the service. As soon as she hears about the SOS Force, she knows what her new dream is. But that dream evaporates into thin air the moment she locks eyes with Hudson.

Although they weren’t hiring, the Force’s Alpha reluctantly agrees to let Leona head out on a test mission — where she and Hudson will be posing as mates. The only problem? Each immediately recognizes the other as their one true match. And dating within the Force is strictly forbidden.

Will honor and duty keep these big cats from realizing what’s written in the stars for them?

Fake Mate for the Soldier Lion

I am liking this shifter series so far!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💚💜💙❤️
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 😒😀🙂🥰
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Solo Narration

The heroine: Leona Kirk – she is a lion shifter and a green beret. She loved her life and her job, until an IED exploded, ending her military career. She lost her leg in the incident and because she was a shifter, it grew back after she shifted into her Lion form, but she couldn’t let others know that, so she had to quit the Army. She had heard about the Special Ops Shifter Force and thought that was perfect for her, so going to their headquarters to inquire about working for them was keeping her hopes and dreams alive.

The Hero: Hudson Taylor – He is a lion shifter and a member of the Special Ops Shifter Force. He also owns a communications company that keeps him busy, it was named one of the fastest growing tech companies in the country. Though he knows his lion is ready for a mate, he just has not had the time or found his fated one yet.

The Story: When the cameras at SOS Force headquarters picked up Leona walking around, Hudson went outside to see what she was doing. He was surprised when she said she was there to apply for a job. He tells her that they were not hiring, but she tells him that the SOS Force doesn’t know it yet, but they need her. Hudson didn’t know who Leona was but knew from the start that she affected him differently than any other woman. He knew right away that she could be his fated mate. Leona felt the pull to him as well.

SOS Force decided to hire Leona, but the men knew that none of them become intimate with her since they will be working together. Hudson knew that would not be easy for him but agreed with the hire. Hudson had a mission, and Leona was to be his partner on the mission, to pose as mates to investigate a pride in Illinois that is said to be trafficking illegal weapons. Leona knew that pretending to be mates with the handsome shifter would be torture. Especially after they perform a secret ritual for the members of the SOS Force to be like a clan, where they could hear each others’ thoughts while shifted as it was the best way for them to communicate with each other.

The story was interesting, I liked the parts about Leona adjusting to life after being in the military, in a war zone. Hudson was a good resource for her since he had been through the same thing as her a few years ago. I liked the story of their mission, it was exciting and suspenseful, but the two of them argued too much, and it got on my nerves. I was happy when things finally got steamy because I had hopes that the arguing would be over. I won’t tell you what happened after that, but I did enjoy the action.

This audiobook was narrated from multiple perspectives, done in solo narration by Stephen Borne. Stephen Borne has a deep, gravelly voice that I quite like for the alpha bear shifter. Of course, any man with a deep voice doesn’t have the best voice for the female characters, though his isn’t as distracting as some. Overall, the narration was done well, though I do tend to listen to dual and duet narration much more often than solo.

Blog|Goodreads|Facebook|Instagram|Twitter|BookBub

View all my reviews