Mating of Convenience

Second Chances, Book 1

By: Ann-Katrin Byrde

Narrated by: John Solo

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Money problems? Marry your best friend!

Nathan and Raphael were friends first, then lovers, then...nothing when Raphael left to pursue his dreams of becoming a tattoo artist. But only one year after Raphael makes it out of his small-town home, bad news descends on him. His useless father has gotten their family into debt so deep , it would take 1,000 years to dig them out. With his siblings on the brink of becoming homeless, Raphael turns to his estranged but wealthy grandmother for help and receives a deal: If he settles down and marries, he'll free his siblings of the debt.

When Raphael asks Nathan for a favor - to enter a marriage of convenience - Nathan agrees. After all, he's doing it so he can start his own pet shop, right? Wrong. Nathan just can't say no to the man who used to be his best friend - the man he's still secretly yearning for, even as he's doing his best to hide that fact. After all, he knows better now than to fall for Raphael again.

Haunted by the loss of their past relationship, Raphael regrets breaking Nathan's heart. Scars from the past are never easy to heal, though, and the more time he spends with his new husband, the harder it gets for Raphael to deny the sparks that Nathan ignites in him. Except, this is just a pretend relationship, isn't it?

While this audiobook is part of the Oceanport Universe, knowledge of that series is not required to enjoy this story.

©2018 Ann-Katrin Byrde (P)2019 Ann-Katrin Byrde

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.

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!

Reunited

I like how these two men are being reunited but the biggest thing they need to learn to do is actually communicate with each other. Once the air is cleared they can truly start over. I loved the audio narration. I am so glad to see Oceanport's next generation get their chance to fall in love.

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!

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!

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 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

once again swept up in the Oceanport Omegaverse

another amazing book from the Oceanport Omegaverse brought to us by Ann-Katrin Byrde and brought to life by
John Solo. i can honestly say that i have yet to find a book by Ann-Katrin Byrde that i have not loved in every way possible.

Mating of Convenience

When Nathan and Raphael were younger, they seemed to have it all. The two went from friends to lovers but a scare sends Raphael running to the city and away from Nathan. Some time later Raphael finds himself returning to town and to the alpha he ran from. Circumstances have Raphael turning to Nathan for help but what will he say? Will Nathan look past the hurt and follow his heart or is it too late?

I really enjoyed seeing Nathan and Raphael reconnect. The two are good for each other and make a great couple. As the two spend time together they begin to open up and become closer. Their marriage may not be based on truth, but their feelings are, and it begins to be hard to hide them. Raphael and Nathan’s story is a beautiful romance and is a sweet story about following your heart. I enjoyed the banter and the love between the two. No matter what they support each other and always will no matter if they are together or not. The author has filled their story with lots of angst and emotions that will pull on your heartstrings. Narrator John Solo does a wonderful job of bringing these men to life and I was quickly lost in their world.

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.

Amazing!!!!

Mating of Convenience is the first book in The Second Chances Series by Ann-Katrin Byrde. It is a second chance romance and it's amazing.

Nathan and Rafael are adorable and sweet together. They are so meant to be but have to deal with a major issue before they can accept that. They didn't communicate the real issue the first time around but luckily They get this second chance. The story is fantastic. I got the feels reading it and yup, even had some tears. I cant wait to read more in this series.

John Solo is the narrator for the story and helped me get lost in the story great voice that brings out the characters and their personalities... the story shines. Great job!