The werewolves and vampyres are back in Mate, one of my most anticipated releases of the year. It didn’t disappoint! It takes place in the same universe as Bride and is full of spice and snark. Despite a few quibbles, the story had me hooked. You don’t have to but I recommend reading Bride because Mate picks up where Bride left off.

Koen is the overprotective, grumpy alpha leader of the Northwest territory’s werewolf (were) pack and Serena is a half human – half were hybrid. The story is told in Serena’s POV except for snippets in Koen’s POV at the beginning of each chapter which I appreciated. Serena is a sweetheart – she is an orphan with low self-esteem and always tries to put others’ needs before her own. Koen recognizes this and looks out for her. Serena is adjusting to life as a half human, half were hybrid. She has a target on her back because the vampyres are afraid that if the were and humans form an alliance, they could go up against the vampyres and so they put a price on her head. After she is attacked by a vampyre, Koen takes her to his den so he and his pack can keep her safe.

Serena is keeping a secret, but it isn’t long before Koen figures it out. She has been growing weak with a mysterious illness and can no longer shift into her wolf form. That makes it harder for her to protect herself so Koen is forced to stay close by to keep her safe. Not only are vampyres after her but she has also found some long lost family and they cause problems and bring danger to her and Koen. While there is a lot going on, the focus of the story is on Serena going into heat and how it affects her and Koen. This is a slow burn romance with fabulous sexual tension, and it’s even spicier–with more knotting!–than Bride.

Koen lets Serena know that she is his mate but he is only interested in having sex with her, no liking, no loving and no emotions – he doesn’t want any distractions. Of course, it doesn’t take long before he falls for her – he thinks she’s perfect and the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.

Mate is a lighter story than Bride with tons of snark between Serena and Koen. We get to hear from our favorite characters from Bride, especially Misery (Serena’s best friend), Lowe, and Lowe’s adorable little sister Anna. In Mate, we also get a new group of fun and quirky characters that are members of Koen’s pack. I think Hazelwood is the Queen of Snark and the banter kept me grinning throughout the book. Some of the pacing felt a little wonky (maybe too much time spent on her heat) and at times the banter between them got a bit silly but then Koen would growl and give off serious possessive vibes with touch her and die energy! Yowza!

I hope Hazelwood will give us more books in this series and I would especially love to see Owen’s story, who is Misery’s twin brother and the leader of the vampyres. Both Bride and Mate are super fun reads and I recommend them both!