This short paranormal romance was recommended to me because I was looking for a "fated-mate" story in which the mates weren't instantly attracted. It's probably as close as I'm going to get, since of course you have to have some kind of attraction to know someone's your fated mate, now that I come to think of it.
Shifters Teddy and Reece quickly recognize each other by smell, but both are initially aghast to see whom fate has paired them with. Reece, who loves tall thin women is appalled that his mate is short and chubby; Teddy, a bear shifter, had expected another bear, not a wolf. But her real issue is the look in Reece's eyes when he sees her: although she's worked hard to love her body and has found no lack of men who appreciate it, it's still very painful to find her fated mate is repulsed by her.
This was a cute, entertaining read. I liked that Teddy fights her attraction, refusing to be involved with a man who doesn't appreciate her. And I sympathized a lot with her sadness, although it irked me that her mate is her physical ideal, as well as the classic tall, broad-shouldered, thin man that almost all romance heroes are. It's considered great for romance heroes to appreciate a plain or large woman, but less conventionally attractive men don't get any love. And I didn't buy how conceited, arrogant Reece changed into the perfect loving mate so fast, and would like to have seen more growth.
Although labeled "erotic romance" this seemed fairly tame to me, other than the fact that it uses blunt language and both characters are sexually experienced and hop into the sack quickly. So a good read for those who prefer their erotic stories on the vanilla side.