The Alpha Experiment

Mismatched Mates #3

by Eliot Grayson

Studying shifter genetics takes brains, patience…and sometimes simulating mating rituals with your alpha-werewolf bestie. You know, for science…

Brilliant geneticist Newton McEwen, the only human in a family of werewolves, has devoted his life to researching the scientific key to shifter magic. Now he’s being blackmailed and his life’s work is threatened if he can’t produce results.

Alpha werewolf Colin Kimball is a newly-minted pack leader with a mountain of responsibilities, but when his lifelong best friend tells him he needs help, Colin drops everything to run to his aid. But Newt’s not just looking for a brawny bodyguard to watch his back—he needs help with an experiment, one he can’t carry out alone.

Out of academically approved methods, and desperate to accelerate his research, Newt’s trying a last-ditch approach, with himself as the test subject. And the very alpha Colin as the catalyst.

Determined to succeed, Newt’s willing to get up close and personal with Colin as many times as it takes. Only feelings weren’t a variable logic-minded Newt took into account. Now not only is Newt’s career on the line, his most important relationship is at stake. Can they outwit Newt’s blackmailer and move on from their experimentation…or will they lose the friendship that means everything to them?

The Alpha Experiment features not-so-scientific mating rituals, magical handcuffs, some very inappropriate outdoor activities, knotting, and a guaranteed happily ever after. Even though it’s number five in the Mismatched Mates series, it can be read as a standalone. The series does not contain mpreg.

Genres: M M Romance, Friends To Lovers, Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy, Shapeshifters, Audiobook

289 pages, Paperback

First published April 29, 2021

About the author

Eliot's a lifelong Southern California girl, right down to the flip-flops and backyard garden. When she's not writing her next book, you can find her reading, drinking tea, or (more likely) catering to the demands of her kids and ancient, cranky cat.

Steamy books with delicious tension, heart-wrenching pining, and a hefty dose of action and adventure have always been her jam as a reader. Guess what she writes?

You can catch up with her on Facebook in her reader group, Eliot Grayson's Escape from Reality, or sign up for her newsletter at eliotgrayson.com.

Reviews

[Astra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am just going through these books. I can't help it. I was a little disappointed though when there wasn’t a peek into the Armitage pack but that’s alright. The one thing this book did have was a bit of world building and I’m taking it. I liked getting to learn about the different kinds of shifters and the sciencey stuff actually made sense to the plot which I wasn’t entirely expecting to be honest 😅. And I also liked the history Newt and Colin had together, it gave both their characters some depth. There were more slow paced moments in this book but nothing that completely lost my interest.

[Jilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We'd just - fuck once or twice.
You know, for science."

Lol, omg! This is the best plot of any romance story ever!

Sex, for the sake of science? I mean, we at goodreads have believed in this philosophy for years. It's about time a book starts to understand and cater to us!



I've read the weirdest porn there is - sometimes involving tentacles - with groups of friends here. For science.
We are all about the science here.
Not perverts. Scientists!!



This book was hilarious. Our scientist guy actually believes in his fucking-for-science experiments. Our other hero, an alpha werewolf, well.... I think he's just okay with the fucking. Even if it doesn't lead to a Nobel Prize.

Their romance is funny, cute, and hot as hell.

[Kati *☆･ﾟ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25**** stars


haha, gaaawd, all these stories are so slow-burn so far. Exactly how I like it. Not. *lmaooo But hey, at least they are all very entertaining and have good smut. And holy guacamole this didn’t even had to be this slow of a burn if Newton wasn’t so damned oblivious. I saw the minute they reunited that his forever best friend Colin was secretly in love with him. *lol

The idea with the experiment bringing them together at last was a good one. I really enjoyed this book as much as the previous ones.


*this audio was free with my audible subscription

*************
Mismatched Mates Series:

Book 1 - The Alpha’s Warlock - 4.25 stars
Book 2 - Captive Mate - 4.25 stars
Book 3 - The Alpha Experiment - 4.25 stars
Book 4 - Lost and Bound - audio tbr
Book 5 - Lost Touch
Book 6 - The Alpha Contract
Book 7 - The Alpha’s Gamble

It’s best to read this series in order.

[Rosabel]

Ummm, I DNF this one at 20% so no rating. I don´t even have a big enough reason to write a whole review, it was just really boring. 😔😓

This series to me started with a bang and then it went downhill, the second book didn´t work for me, then the shorter story came out and I had hopes but... The Alpha experiment killed that, it started in a way that had me thinking: Seriously? This is where the story is going to go? A boring WTF plot and then a weird friendship and some boring stuff going on. No, not for me. 😑😑

I dunno, the other books at least were about pack mechanics or fights, or something... This was just meh. 😞😞

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️ 4 stars ⭐️

“It wouldn’t be mating. We’d just—fuck once or twice. You know, for science.”

TROPES:
🌙 Werewolf vs human
🌙 Friends to lovers
🌙 Queer awakening/GFY

Experiments in the forest and fucking for science with your best friend might bring out more than just a hidden gene in your DNA.

Another fun read, this time with best friends experimenting, sexy primal play, and some secret pining.
Nothing much happens in The Alpha Experiment, but I think it’s exactly what I needed. Just a simple shifter romance and sexy smut.

“Yeah, just like that,” Colin murmured, holding me tighter, his fingers flexing against my collarbones. “Taking every inch of me. You can’t get enough, can you?”

The drama was a bit underwhelming and anti-climactic, but I honestly didn’t come here for high-stakes action so I’m not too disappointed.

Like the rest of the series so far, it’s just two dummies who don’t know how to communicate, but I still love them.

“Yeah, I’m yours. Always, Newt. I’ve always been yours.” I held him close. Mine.

CW and NSFW info (spoilers):
- Brief mention of parental abandonment
- Blackmailing (not between MCs)
- Insecure MC
- Top/bottom
- Fuck first, kiss later
- Primal play
- Rimming
- Coming hands-free
- Knotting
- Multiple orgasms
- Restraints
- Hand necklace

[Cadiva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this addition to the Mismatched Mates

This book is a great addition to the series and is nothing like the typical best friends to lovers story.

Colin and Newton were super sweet, seriously hot and pretty funny as the plot rolls along at a cracking pace.

[Cat the bookworm (semi hiatus ish) · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite so far - nerdy, hot friends-to-lovers 🔥
I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did, seeing as the reviews of my goodreads friends are all over the spectrum - from dnf to 2 to 5 stars.

First of all: if you don’t mind some minor plot holes, this book can be read as a standalone. There are references to previous incidents, like the fact that Colin (one of the MCs) took over his pack (the Kimbles) after an almost-pack-war with the Armitages, but that’s not really relevant here.

The focus is on Newton/Newt, Colin’s best friend, whose pov we get throughout the book. Newton is human, born to an alpha father and a human mother, while all of his siblings are werewolves. And that’s something that has bothered him all of his life, and why he dedicated his studies to finding a way to “activate” his were-genes.

Because yes, he’s a scientist (something with molecular genetics/biology) and a teacher at a college.

And that brings us to the one plot line I didn’t quite get into, and the reason I can’t in good conscience rate it with 5 stars: the evil mastermind/blackmail plot.

At the beginning, Newt receives a bunch of pictures of himself and his little (alpha) sister, which he quickly connects to some guy trying to convince him to take a job at some pharmaceutical company. I won’t even go into detail, because while I liked how “nerdy” he got out of it, the entire plot line felt underdeveloped. Like… why go to all the trouble of investigating him, and taking pictures, but then letting him do his… thing… unsupervised for weeks?

But let’s focus on the things that had me giggle and swoon and scream at Newt in frustration: the absolutely brilliant (and imho quite realistic) friends-to-lovers plot.

Because Newt calls Colin the moment he feels threatened, and Colin immediately drops everything and comes to his side. I loved their friendship, even though it was pretty obvious to everyone but Newt that Colin had more than friendly feelings for him. And when Newt comes up with the idea of “triggering” his dormant were-genes with mating-related situations, Colin offers himself up as a tribute.

Some of you said that they would have needed Colin’s pov to make him more real, and to know what’s been going on in his head. I didn’t. I thought it’s pretty obvious to everyone (but Newt) what’s going on in Colin, and I LOVED that we only got Newt’s nerdy, totally oblivious pov. Did it frustrate me? Absolutely. But on the other hand, I could totally relate to his permanent overthinking, his scientifical approach to everything, even during the steamy (and we’re talking SIZZLING HOT steamy) scenes.

And the finale? Standing there in the cold rain, practically being thrown over the shoulder by an alpha who just doesn’t care any more if he “ruins” his friendship? Come on - that’s the stuff we're here for, right? 🫠

As for the narration (because I’m still on my audio trip, esp when the audios are free with my audible subscription): either Chris Chambers gets better with every book, or I got used to his narrating, because I loved it. I’m still listening with 1.15* speed, but I forgot there’s somebody narrating - and as you well know, that’s the highest compliment I can give when it comes to audiobooks.

[Deborah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to be honest I nearly skipped this one. The blurb didn’t really appeal to me and I wasn’t sure I wanted to read about Colin Kimball. Like most readers of this series I’m still waiting for Charlie and Dor’s book.

But I found I liked Colin, he was the one plus in this book.

For me the actual plot/story was really weak and didn’t make sense. I lost my patience early on with these two. Nothing seemed to happen for so long. I ended up skimming and it still seemed to go on forever.

[Rielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mates, bonding, and alphas done right.

This was such an unexpected pleasure. I thought the premise would be too silly, but I couldn’t resist giving it a shot. I’m so happy I did! While it was a bit silly at times, it certainly served some heat in between the giggles. Not kidding...I had a smile on my face half the book.

The characters are just all so gosh darn sweet I couldn’t have asked for more. I loved every interaction and every relationship. It was a really well done friends-to-lovers trope. It started as a science experiment and, though it was only single POV, you could tell both MCs were helpless to stop their attraction and drive to be together. It was so fun and sexy to read, which can be a tough mix to hit. I haven’t really loved reading any “fated mate” tropes (Is that what this is? Is that even the right trope for this?) before, but this is exactly what I want to see going forward in a light-hearted book.

I keep saying how sweet and fun this book was, but I promise there are several really good sex scenes and hot alpha behavior. I’ll always be impressed when an author can serve up the same sexual tension multiple times and that happens here. I was actually surprised by it because of how cutesy the book came across. Even the wrap-up avoided being too quick and neat and worked well in this story. I love being pleasantly surprised like this.

Also, huge fan of any with a similar caffeine addiction to my own. I give this book: ☕️ ☕️☕️☕️

“Not even true love could replace my caffeine addiction.”

[juli✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

reread 11/30 3 stars


i did not like the alpha experiment nearly as much this time around. the friendship between colin and newt was supposed to be the anchor of this story, and yet … the connection wasn't there for me. also, the romance was not doing it for me. the chemistry wasn't there, imo.

however, this is an Eliot Grayson book. her books always have that addictive spice to them. hence, three stars. it didn't hold up upon reread but it was still hella readable, if that makes sense.


. . .


ғᴏᴜʀ⋆²⁵ sᴛᴀʀs ✰

❝Newt. Sometime this fucking year. Before I start thinking you’re going to want to actually mate, you know, for science.❞ He let out an uncomfortable-sounding laugh.

[…] ❝It wouldn’t be mating. We’d just—fuck once or twice. You know, for science.❞

♫ sᴏɴɢ ʀᴇᴄ ♫ ~ Hungry Like the Wolf (DURAN DURAN)


-ˏ͛⑅ ᴍʏ ᴍᴀɪɴ ʀᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ⑅ˏ͛-

anything for science, y'all ✨

𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗗 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦
🐺 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗽𝗵𝗮'𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 ~ 𝟯.𝟱
🐱 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲 ~ 𝟰.𝟳𝟱
🎄 𝗔 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗔𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 ~ 𝟰
🦇 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 ~ 𝟯.𝟱
🧬 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗽𝗵𝗮 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 ~ 𝟯
🧭 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 ~ 𝟰.𝟱

[Mir · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fucking treat!

This was also crazy hot.

Seriously, this was ridiculous, hilarious, adorable, fun, and had one of the hottest CNC scenes I’ve ever read. LOVED THIS!

Just a funny side note…I feel like I’ve read a crazy number of books with this guy on the cover. Like this exact photo, just manipulated differently.

[~✿ Tala✿~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars, rounding up to 3 :(

I really like the series so I'm sad that I didn't enjoy this one more. The books take place in a paranormal society where humans are aware of mages, werewolves etc, in the two previous books these paranormal elements play a large role in the conflict of the story (packs fighting, using magic to attack each other etc). We meet Collin in the previous books as the son of the unhinged and evil Kimball leader. Collin decides to help the good guys and defeat his dad, he ends up becoming the alpha of his pack. Unfortunately, this book was very relationship-focused, so even though Colin is his pack's alpha, his pack is not involved in the story at all. Since the pack was previously shown negatively, it would have been really interesting to see how the pack handled Collin as the new leader and how his life changed. This book was also single POV in Newton's perspective and I think that negatively impacted the story because it felt like a lot was missing. Collin is supposed to be a leader but instead, he stays with Newton for weeks, guarding him (aka waiting around for him) and we don't really find out what he's doing besides fielding calls to his pack. Like doesn't he have things he should be doing as an alpha?!

Also, the whole Newton in danger plot was confusing to me... it was like Newton is in danger, Collin needs to protect him!! lol jk he's not actually in real danger??? I wish it had been resolved with magic or Collin's pack, something paranormal not a plagiarizing grad student lol I did really like Collin and Newton once they got together and their scenes in the forest were hot (though I did learn that dubcon is not my thing..). This book had a lot of great reviews so I think it was just not for me. I enjoy Eliot Grayson's writing so I look forward to what she writes next :)

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

ughhhh I wish we had a little bit more time to linger at the end before the epilogue hit, but I still kinda really loved this

[Ninni · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was a struggle. Wanted to read it before getting in to Jareds book but I could have skipped it. Felt to long. Now I'm done, finally, and ready for the next one. This however is a generous 2 ⭐⭐

[Gustaf · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was bored throughout most of this book.

[Iz · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as I remembered.

4.5

"The Alpha Experiment" was so freaking good. Like seriously, thank God my exams are over and I'm celebrating by reading all day long: I managed to finish this in half a day of reading non-stop. I was so engrossed in the story I couldn't physically stop.
This installment in the "Mismatched Mates" wasn't as action-packed as the previous books and it seemingly has no connection to what was happening before, apart from Colin Kimball finally finding his mate. I couldn't care less, though.

This book is a trope-fest, in the best possible way: friends-to-lover, secretly-pining-for-the-other, gay-for-you, only-one-bed, lets-have-sex-for-science. You name it, "The Alpha Experiment" has it.
I thoroughly enjoyed both of the protagonists, even when Newt was being a bit too thick-headed and Colin a bit of an idiot. Their chemistry was off the charts, their friendship was pure and lovely and the sex scenes... WELL, they were the perfect balance between respectful and sweet, but also hot, needy and possessive and just a tiny bit kinky and dark, and Eliot Grayson has a gift for them.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the way these two managed to go from "yeah, I'm straight" to "sexy times, but for science, so it doesn't count" and then from that to "whoops, I've caught feelings but it can't possibly be reciprocated so I'll deny it" and then, well, to the most perfect ending ever. I loved it. So damn much.
Ian and Nate's book will probably remain my favourite, especially plot-wise, but this is a very close second.

[Megan [Slump City] · Rating 2 out of 5]

MM Romance
Best Friends To Lovers-Werewolf Shifter
2 Stars ⭐️


I lost my original review so this will be short. I’ve loved the previous 4 books in this series. On GR it says this is #3 but on Amazon it’s #5 so 🤷🏻‍♀️ but the point is I’ve absolutely adored this series. So I am so incredibly disappointed by how much I loathed this book. Best friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes when done right but unfortunately this was just lacking in all ways. Newt is being blackmailed and needs to amp up his research into alphas and to do that he uses his alpha best friend. They have to do pretend courting rituals like chasing and while some of those scenes were fun, the transition to more than friends was super awkward. This is only in Newt’s POV and while having only one POV wasn’t an issue in the previous books, I needed it in this one. Colin didn’t feel like a fully formed person even though it was obvious to me he’d always been in love with Newt. Newt drove me crazy because he was so oblivious of both Colin’s and his own feelings. The sex scenes were super cringy and the 3rd act breakup was ridiculous.

Thankfully I’m reading the next book in the series and it’s much better. This one can be read as a stand-alone but books 1&2 read better together and tie in to book 6.

[Jane aka Coughy019 (Safety info included) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tropes: friends to lovers, forced proximity, hurt/comfort, paranormal
Feels: 3/5
Steam*: 2/5
Kinks: knotting, primal play, toys, bondage
Angst: low
HEA: yes
Pairing: MM
Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: unethical medical research even by the MC, violence

Colin and Newton are 30. They've been best friends since they were 13 years old. Newt is a researcher and professor at a college. Newt is the son of a werewolf and a human and he's the only human amongst his siblings. He's resented at his whole life that he does not have shifter powers, that he's not like everybody else, that his family has tried to protect him cuz he's the weak little human. Colin has taken over as leader of his pack and hasn't had time in the last year or so because of pack business taking up so much of his time, so their friendship has looked a little different.

An unethical medical company approaches Newt to try to head hunt him to do his research on shifters for them because they want to harness the powers of shifters. They threaten his family. Newt calls Colin for help and Colin comes running to be there for him. Newt ends up asking Colin to participate in a research study with him to try to appease the medical company that's threatening him to make progress in his research. The experiment involves trying to stimulate and trigger dormant shifter genes to present in times of stress and high emotion. Newt comes up with the idea of Colin chasing him and mating him. They start a f****** but is it just for science or is there more to it? And is this going to completely wreck their friendship?

In a way this was an okay book. There was a lot of plot. There was good characterization and there was a solid friendship base to their relationship that made the eventual development of feelings make sense. And there was some good steam in the mix. But overall I would say this book didn't work for me. There was some things that made me uncomfortable and I felt like the romance development was pretty nonexistent for the most part.

Things I didn't like:

- I have a bit of knowledge of psychology and research methodology. And I also have a sensitivity for unethical psychological treatment/experiments and power balances. And this book is exactly the type of story to make me uncomfortable with what is happening. I know it's a book and you're supposed to ignore reality, but when it's dubious science and it involves ethics and power balances I'm just so sensitive to that. I thought that Newton's research was completely faulty methodology and that it would not be repeatable because the circumstances were so specific particularly because of the personal relationship between him and Colin that was pre-existing. I thought even the idea of him doing the research that he was doing was dangerous and put people at risk of being abused. His research could lead to humans and shifters being caused harm. If someone like the unethical medical company got a hold of his research, it could result in people being raped because no one would volunteer to be used and mated. The plan at the end to sneak bad research into the hands of the company was also extremely unethical and could have resulted in harm to people, and should have had a paper trail leading back to Newton and should have really involved Newton in the scandal and affected his career. And what they were doing was unhealthy even for Colin and for Newton, it disrespected feelings.

- I think it was a mistake for this book to be told in single POV. It was told in Newt's POV and Newt was a very cold, factual, scientific narrator who did not have sexual or romantic feelings for Colin until far too late in the book. The first moment that Newton was aware of Colin in a sexual way was that the 41% but Newton didn't even experience sexual attraction to Colin until their first time at the 53% mark when they were in the midst of it and it was a bodily reaction that wasn't very personal. After their first time there was attraction, they got caught up in sex for the sake of it at times instead of just for the science. It didn't really feel like it didn't really feel like Newton specifically felt something for Colin sexually until about the 75% mark. And then they had non-experimental sex for the first time at 88%. Even when they were admitting "their love for each other", I still wasn't feeling the romance. I think Colin's POV would have helped, because Newton had never been with a man before but Colin had so Colin at least was aware sexually of men and he was a more emotional character so I think you would have had more romance and connection if we had seen some feeling from Colin.

I did like the friendship with Meredith. And there were some great moments of humor too. I liked Colin and Newton better as friends than as romantic partners.

Some notable moments:

"“You told Meredith you still had work to do. More…experiments?” “Yeah,” I breathed. “More experiments. Definitely necessary.” Colin rotated his hips very slightly, enough to shift his cock against my ass. I clenched involuntarily. Fuck, I’d almost forgotten it was there. I’d gotten used to it. “How about now?” My brain whited out for a second, and I had to blink rapidly to come back online. “Now?” “Yeah.” He nudged me with his cock again. “Right fucking now.”"

"He caught me around the waist and knocked me back into the wall, his other hand behind my head. The impact still jolted me, and I heard his knuckles crack into the wall hard enough a human hand would’ve broken. He pinned me with his weight, body pressed to mine from knees to chest, and hesitated for a second, staring into my eyes, his wild with emotion and dilated pitch-black behind the gold. Colin slammed his mouth down over mine. My brain shorted out"

I love this level of friendship, instantly ready to help dispose of dead bodies. "“In a minute. Look in my car first, okay?” Colin quirked an eyebrow at me. “How many dead bodies? And are the cops after you?”"


*FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink.

**Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers.

[Morgan ♓︎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 - the smut was hot, I’ll give it that

I liked the tropes used in this book (best friends to lovers, gfy, werewolf mating stuff) and I thought the romance was decently paced. But something about the writing style was weird to me and the characters were pretty forgettable. And the plot was super flimsy and I skimmed a good portion of it. But, like I said, the smut was good. There was some primal play and knotting and made the book enjoyable enough to keep reading. I’d recommend giving it a try if the tropes call to you because maybe you’ll click with the writing style more than I did.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was better than I expected! Loved the chemistry. I did miss Colin's POV, but it was still enjoyable.

[Devoted❤️Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knot for science

This book—series—gave me the best book hangover. My dreams were awesome and as soon as I finished reading this I wanted to devour it again. It has it all: best friends, knotting, science geekery, some handy magical toys, knotting, scorching experiments, phenomenal writing and did I mention knotting? Nngh, I want more, more, more of Colin and Newt. “Colin had claimed me all those years ago when he sat down next to me, grinned, and made a stupid joke. Apparently I’d claimed him at the same time.” All the feels! I love them even when they made me crazy, like when Newt was logically illogical and I wanted to shake him yet hug him or when Colin was displaying his stubborn alpha-ness and I wanted to alternate licking and thunking him. There’s knot a doubt in my mind that these two are meant for each other or that you’ll fall in love with these incredible characters and their sensational world.

[Ditte · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for vibes only. Maybe I've also been influenced by magical werewolf hormones but I love this dumb book.

On one hand this book is kind of bad. On the other, it's pretty fucking amazing.

They fuck for science. For SCIENCE! 

The whole thing is utterly ridiculous. The plot is set up with so many details originally and then basically abandoned, the mc, Newt, is too oblivious for it to be believable, and we don't really get to know much about the love interest, Colin, except for how he's besties with Newt. And yet? I had the best time reading this!

It was fun, it was cute, it was so dumb, it was hot af, and I loved it.

[❥ Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whenever I see this picture on a cover it gives me The Exorcist head spinning vibes

Anyway this was pretty good! Best friends boinking for science!! Some really hot primal play & handcuff action

[Vini · Rating 3 out of 5]

is 2023 the year i will enter my omegaverse era?

update:
okay so technically, none of the characters are omegas so CAN i really say that i'm in my omegaverse era?? 🤔
anyways this was so stupid!! i had so much fun!! literally one of the most idiotic idiots to lovers

[Sailor Neptuno · Rating 4 out of 5]

“That looks expensive as hell,” Colin commented. “Nothing but the best for your research, huh?”
Nothing but the best for you.
Oh gods, where the hell had that come from?

Did I just read a book with a friends-to-lovers trope and didn’t want to throw it across the room? To be fair, Eliot Grayson could collect all the tropes I dislike in the next books of this series and I’d still want to read them. As Newt’d say, I’d do it for science!



This book was different from the previous ones. It didn't focus on the wars between packs or the things we discover in Captive Mate. What’s more, we don't get to see any of the characters we love,except for Collin. It wasn’t a big deal for me but you’d be aware of that. Though, I’ve got to admit that I missed Nate the most!

I think what worked for me was the fact that the story was from Newt’s POV. He was so distracted by all the scientific aspects of the experiment that his obliviousness was both endearing and funny. Would I have loved to read Collin’s perspective? Sure. Particularly on the steamy chapters (and there were LOTS of those), if you know what I mean...



A different addition to the series but still angsty and geeky. Can’t wait to know who are going to be the MCs of the next book!

*Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a free and honest review*

[Jennifer☠Pher☠ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, yeah. This was totally different than the previous books in the series.

This really wasn't that "mismatched" at all in my opinion. Yeah, I know that Newt felt it was but really, these two had such a history, they were definitely made for each other.

I guess the real difference here was that this lacked the danger and fighting that the previous books had. Yes, there was a baddy, but it was no where near the same.

Mostly everything else had the same vibe though. The lack of real communication in these books is freaking frustrating for sure, but, that's the meat of the series so...

All that said, I really liked it. There was a lot of sciencey type stuff but I found it a little interesting.

Another winner for sure. I am having a great time diving into a series and gobbling them up one after another.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Don’t apologize.” He gazed up at me, licking his shiny, reddened lips. His voice went so deep it rumbled through me as he said, “Don’t ever apologize for taking what you need from me.”

What you'll get:
Friends to lovers
Wolf shifter x human
Primal play
Bisexual rep

Setting: Oregon

Newt (Newton) is a scientist who is being blackmailed for his research a tiny bit and calls his distant best friend for advice. Colin rolls in two hours later because he'd do anything for Newt. They try to work on Newt's experiment which delightfully for me involved banging each other for science. Newt's theory was that under the right circumstances being chased after by an alpha werewolf will cause biological changes to your body. Weird way to ask for primal play but go off, science king.

This was my favorite of the series so far.

[raccoon reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some super fun parts of this, and some "I woulda made different choices" parts of this. I hate the miscommunication trope which is laced allll throughout this. They clearly are on separate pages as they fumble through the "science" experiments. I also would have liked to have seen the idea of fated mates and their mating bond explored a bit more. Or fleshed out in writing a bit more. It's hinted at that at least one of them felt that the other was his "mate" since they met at 13. Which is a cool idea, of a bond just snapping into place. But due to their age and friendship they didn't explore it as anything more than just that, friendship, until the blackmail starts (which is a weak plot point but I'll spare you my rant.)

Regardless I'm looking forward to Jared's story. I was afraid it was going to involve Kyle (it doesn't look like it will thank god).

[Shannon Mae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was steamy and funny with great characters who had major chemistry (pun intended). There is this villainous presence threatening Newton, but once Colin comes on the scene this book is hot and hysterical and the threat almost takes a back seat. Oh the things Newton will do for science. It was so darn fun! The friendship between them was fantastic, and the build up to their relationship was the best kind of friends-to-lovers reading you can get. Although it is the Mismatched Mates world, it is totally a stand-alone.

Whereas some parts of the book are pretty lighthearted and fun, there was also some angst, and I’m personally not a big fan fan of that, which is all that kept it from being five stars for me. That being said, it is totally a personal preference - I felt like the angst fit and was well-written, and it didn’t take up too much space in the book. And rest assured these boys totally get their HEA. I would highly recommend this!

[Mina]

Having a bout of insomnia this week - it’s led me to binging this series. This is by far the worst of the books. I loved the characters but the storyline got weirder and weirder, plus there was just a touch too much smut in this for me.