Book 30, 2022

[chez_jae]

30 Day Mate by Kristen Strassel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Book 30 for the year was 30 Day Mate by Kristen Strassel. I vow I did not intend for it to work out that way. Ha ha! This is the first book in the author's "The Real Werewives of Colorado", which is (I believe) a spin-off from some other "Werewives" series of paranormal romances. The main characters are Gretta and Saint.

Gretta has recently run afoul of 'cancel culture' online. She was just building a following for her 'Plant Based Country Girl' cooking streams when someone revealed that she doesn't actually live in the country. Saint, meanwhile, is in danger of losing the ranch that has belonged to his pack for generations if no one in his current pack can produce an heir. Enter 'The Real Werewives', a reality TV show that introduces human women to werewolves to see if they can make a match. Gretta signs up, hoping the exposure will give her another chance. When she learns that it's the alpha himself who has shown interest in her, Gretta is both flattered and fearful. She wasn't entirely sure what she was getting herself into, but she commits to the situation whole-heartedly. Saint can't keep his mind off of curvy, delightful Gretta, but he has other problems on his hands than simply producing an heir. Someone has been tampering with buildings and livestock on the ranch in an effort to undermine the pack's hold on the land. Saint wants to give Gretta everything, but if he loses the ranch, he'll have nothing at all. Fortunately, he has the strength of his pack backing him up, and now he has Gretta standing by his side.

This was mostly cutesy fluff, with some drama sprinkled in here and there. I liked that the characters were more mature (both Gretta and Saint are in their 40's). While the chemistry between them was hot, they were also shown apart from one another and doing their own things, which I also appreciated. My biggest peeve with the story is, not only did it end on a cliffhanger, but it ended quite abruptly. It seems that if I want to see how the entire, arcing storyline plays out, I'll have to read about the other couples that are matched up via the Werewives.

Favorite lines:
♦ Eventually every ride comes to an end, and I got ejected from the front seat once the safety belts had been lifted. Then I got run over by the next train.
♦ "I refuse to let anyone tell me I'm old. Especially when the call is coming from inside the house."
♦ "I need to stop worrying about what everyone else thinks." // "What would you do differently if you didn't care?"
♦ "Walk of shame?" // "It's a horrible name. We'll call it the stride of pride instead."
♦ "The haters can go shit in their hats."

Enjoyable, for the most part, but I'm still irked about the ending. I'll be generous and give it a four.