Mating of Convenience

A sweet second chance novel

A second chance novel that tugs on your heart! John Solo did a great job on narrating, each character had a distinct and expressive voice. Ann-Katrin Byrde knows how to write emotional and deep characters and did well with this book, one part I related to had me crying. Raphael and Nathan are the main characters of this book and their relationship is well told. I love Ann-Katrin Byrde books and this one was really good! The second generation of Oceanport is started with this book and I look forward to meeting new and old faces in this new series!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Turtle is Angel’s cuddly hubby

One irrefutable truth about MMramce industry is that a lot of authors write shifters or non-shifters Mpreg books and readers love them and devour them like starved men. 😁 And everyone has their preferred Mpreg authors. I also have some when it comes to Mpreg stories and one of them is Ann-Katrin Byrde. 💙 I love their stuff because the stories are low-angst, fluffy, sweet and very engaging. And usually John Solo narrates them so it’s a plus for me. 🥰 And I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet love story. 😉

Raphael left his small hometown and his first and only love to pursue his dream as a tattoo artist in a big city. Although he enjoys his work, he truly regrets leaving Nathan and that things didn’t end on good terms between them. Nathan left a void in his heart that no amount of happiness from doing his dream job can fill. When he got a call that his father has messed up and they are about to lose his family home, it’s time for Raphael to man up and go back to his hometown to take care of his incapable father and his younger siblings. Is he hoping he’d run into Nathan when he’s there? Yes, of course, but nobody has to know his undying yearnings. It took Nathan a long time to come to terms with that Raphael left him and he wasn’t enough for him to stay in Oceanport. But he has never stopped loving Raphael and he hasn’t dated anyone since they broke up. When he bumped into Raphael in town and when the man asked to marry him for a marriage of convenience, Nathan was speechless. He doesn’t want to pretend-marry Raphael. He wants to marry him for real. But on the other hand, if he doesn’t marry Raphael, the man is going to get married himself with someone else and he’s sure he won’t be able to just stand and watch it happen. So he agreed to marry Raphael ans help out his predicament. But what if their fake marriage turns into a real one? Is that too much to hope for?

Ok, there are a lot of surprises from this book. First of all, I didn’t realize these are second generation Oceanport Omegas. I have only read/listened two books from the original series but I loved them so much. 😊❤️ So imagine my delight when I realized these are the offsprings of original couples. 😱 Secondly, from reading the blurb, you would have assumed Raphael is the Alpha and Nathan is the Omega. So I was very pleasantly surprised that the opposite is the case here. 😉 Raphael is a very confident, edgy, independent Omega who’s brave enough to pursue his dreams and go for the man he wants. 👏 And Nathan is an Alpha only biologically because he’s very soft, sweet, homey and wants and loves babies. 😁 I love that a bit of role reversal here. 🥰 I won’t say this is completely angst-free because there’s a bit of a tragedy and some angst about two-third of the book but it was quickly remedied. The whole book is mostly very fluffy and sweet. 💜 And I think it’s more difficult to write about already established couples or second chance couples than fresh ones but Ann-Katrin Byrde did an excellent job here. 💎 I loved the UST, emotional conflicts and relationship development between Raphael and Nathan. And needless to say, John Solo did a wonderful job narrating this lovely story. 👏😍 The epilogue was very dreamy by the way. Loved it. ❤️ I cant wait to listen the next book in the series. 😊


4.5 Turtle is Angel’s cuddly hubby stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫






Audio rating

Story - 4.25 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Narration - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Performance - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall - 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Raphael and Turtle

Raph and Nate are pretty good - have their endearing moments seem awfully dense at several points in the story which makes me rate it where it as - it's like communication is a third language - and the alpha omega thing seems to just play a societal hierarchy thing - there are no other real manifestations of what that means - are they wolves? just men that are omegas can become pregnant, it's a bit confusing. But, in the end I enjoyed it.

Such a wonderful story!!!! Loved it!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5 stars
🔥🔥🔥🔥 Heat Level: 4
🎧🎧🎧🎧 Narration: 4.5

Such a wonderful story!!!! Loved it!

I loved this story! I'm new to MPreg romances and Alpha and Omega stories but this one seemed different from the others. The Alpha, Nathan is sweet and romantic and not overbearing and 'alpha' like in other stories. I really enjoyed Ann-Katrin's take on the relationship balance between Nate and Raph. They were each hurt and broken but this second chance at their relationship was a perfect way to come back together!!

The story ebbs and flows so easily and so much happens as Nathan and Raph find their ways back to trusting each other again. What starts out as a marriage of convenience turns into an epic second chance romance! I dislike Raph's Grandmother and her use of money as power but Nate's Great-Grandmother is probably my favorite character with her lack of tact and unique knitted creations, she added the perfect moments of shock and hilarity when the story needed it most!! 

I really liked that while they got married quickly and was sort of a 'fake marriage' when they got married they actually communicated (thank goodness!!) and the 'fake' part dropped away quite quickly. I loved this, as many stories draw out the angst and the will they or won't they parts but Ann-Katrin knew what she was doing and allowed her characters to build their real relationship back up almost from the start. I also loved that the Omega, Raph was quite bold, more so than the stereotypical Omega. This created a wonderful balance between Raph and Nate and you can just feel their love for one another grow as the story moves forward. 

I loved this story and the narration was a joy to listen to and follow along with. I will definitely be re-reading/re-listening to this again. Now one of my favorites!!

Thanks for reading!

Heat, tears, and humor

Second chances are a gift from cupid and Raph and Nate make the most of it eventually. Some heartbreaking times, but things work out in the end. These two are meant to be together. The narrator's voices for different characters were awesome. Loved it.

great extension of a loved series

I love how the offspring of the oceanport series is coming along. all the kids are growing up and it amazing to see how they are developing and who they are meeting.

Good Story :)

I enjoyed this book very much. This was the first one that I've read/ listened to from Ann-Katrin Byrde and I will definitely be getting more. It kept my attention and had me going through every emotion. John Solo also did a good job bringing the characters to life. I'm looking forward to more in this series :)

Loved it all!

Not only was the story a great retelling of an old classic "fake-marriage" trope, the narration was great!!
I think the narrator did excellent giving each character their own voice and really putting feeling into it! The part with Raph at the end had me laughing out loud!
The story really was great and the couple adoringly awkward! I love how the Alpha seemed more submissive and the Omega more dominant!

The kids from Oceanport are all grown up...

And now we get to find out their stories!

I love that the author has given us Oceanport - the Next Generation. The kids are all grown up and having life experiences for themselves. We've met Nathan and Raphael before, both in the story that bridged Oceanport and the Second Chances series, and from their fathers in their own books. I love that both of these two aren't the stereotypical roles associated with their status - alpha and omega. Raphael is strong-willed, determined, and wants to go out and have a career. Nathan is sweet, softer, quieter, all roles that might typically be associated with an omega. I love that they are the opposite and are just completely perfect for each other.

Throughout their reunion, the humor, their crazy grandmothers, there is also some heartache and pain and loss, but I love how they cope with everything that happens and move on. I really enjoyed their story. I can't wait for more characters - and to FINALLY get Jake and Conner's story! (I'm dying to know what's going on with them!)

John Solo is such a great narrator for this series. He does quirky, fun character voices (the grandmothers in this story are a hoot), and I'm always glad when I can tell the characters apart in an audiobook, and I always can with his. He really brings life to the characters and I enjoy books that he narrates!

Back to Oceanport

Even though this is mpreg, just a trigger warning about miscarriage.

I really love that we get to go back to Oceanport. I may have to go back and reread all of the stories. The best part of this story is that it's the omega that seems tough and ready to take on the world and it's the alpha that is sweet and a little undecided on the future. John did a great job voicing these men and it was very easy to see who the romantic is. Even though she is a cranky old woman, you almost have to thank Raphael's grandmother for getting the two men back together.