**spoiler alert** I picked this book at random from my KU borrows. I was looking for something a bit angsty and that definitely delivers on that front**spoiler alert** I picked this book at random from my KU borrows. I was looking for something a bit angsty and that definitely delivers on that front. However, it wasn't quite the angst I was looking for.
spoilers below, i'm sure
The heroine and one of the alphas are aware that they are scent matches while the other two pack members are in the dark. The heroine uses suppressants, descenting lotion and moisture wicking underpants to completely obliterate her scent. After he father's left her mother, their chosen mate for their own scent match she has some emotional issues over scent matches.The heroine and her eventual pack are stepsiblings, adding that forbidden aspect to the the match.
Unfortunately, I didn't really love this. The first half is too drawn out. I was bored and started skimming because it was dragging so hard. The stepbrother that knows they are scent matches is such an asshole. You are supposed to forgive him because he has issues related to the death of his mother but I didn't care. I just wanted to throat punch him for being a douchebag.
Once he breaks down and claims her and the other two stepsiblings are in on the secret, things get more interesting. It was a bit jarring because the heroine and eldest stepbrother guarded this secret like it would be the end of the world if they mated but when the other two discover it, they just proceed like it was inevitable.
Immediately after claiming h, the eldest stepbrother freaks out and bails. This hurts h immensley and the other two step in and comfort her before claiming her for themselves. They are all very angry with the oldest stepbrother. He has to do some groveling to get back in her good graces but ultimately it was pretty minor and she mostly forgives him because of his *tragic backstory* ugh. So annoying.
There's all this buildup over telling their parents and blackmail from the heroines former employer who is harassing her. However, it's all for naught. The parents literally don't care. Ugh. I'm glad it all worked out but all the angst for NOTHING. It was maddening.
Medium burn, the sex begins around or just past halfway, I forgot the exact percentage.
There's no mention of virgins so I don't think anyone was a virgin. The heroine had never experienced heat with a pack, choosing instead to suffer like a good little misogynistic omega.
Sexual history of all parties is fairly vague. No OW drama Some OM drama Push away from h and one of the Hs No sex scenes with others No cheating No separation once they are all bonded No 3rd act breakup HEA
Safety - the heroine's former employer is pursuing her and wants her for this geriatric pack. She's icked out by him and them. He tries to blackmail her and their parents unsuccessfully. He gets what is coming to him....more
I didn’t see this one coming. I read a few BJ Alpha books earlier this year. The first one I read, one of her very early bo**spoiler alert** 3.5 stars
I didn’t see this one coming. I read a few BJ Alpha books earlier this year. The first one I read, one of her very early books, was bizarrely, insanely terrible. The next attempt was a duet and I didn’t retain the details but it was also pretty terrible, though her writing skills had improved. Here we are and I’m actually surprised it was written by the same person. The writing here is a substantial improvement.
This book has popped off quite a bit in my dark romance groups today and everyone had all the nice things to say. I found myself being pulled in and then I saw the magic world. *Grovel*.
A decent grovel is so hard to come by. Readers who thirst for a proper grovel typically have to make do with scraps. So telling me there’s a grovel is a sure way to end up on my kindle.
**spoiler alert** I’ve seen this one making the rounds in my Facebook reader groups. I’m still on my angsty shit so I decided to give this a chance. I**spoiler alert** I’ve seen this one making the rounds in my Facebook reader groups. I’m still on my angsty shit so I decided to give this a chance. It’s definitely got all the feels. If you are seeking the torment and turmoil you feel reading a cheating and betrayal book this will probably be a great choice.
I adore groveling books. They are hard to come by because a good grovel is difficult to write. Cheating is the hardest betrayal to overcome. It’s easier when it’s a total one off mistake when it’s an affair or something like what you get here it’s harder to redeem.
H & h are high school sweethearts. The golden couple. Then she’s away with her mom on summer vacation and H’s cooler older cousin visits. He gets H to play wingman for him and the girl he needs to occupy for his cousin is h’s arch nemesis. She’s pretty and blah blah blah. H doesn’t really intend to cheat but things get carried away and h catches him cozied up with her enemy. The breakup is devastating. H is immediately regretful but H freezes him out completely.
Ultimately he’s young and a total moron but he didn’t do what he needed to do. He realized h needed space but he didn’t push the other girl away. He let her hang around and hang on him etc. He let her flirt with him, sometimes kiss him blah blah. He holds off on having sex until he’s 100% sure h is never going to forgive him. ...more
**spoiler alert** This one surprised me. Rejected mates is hit and miss for me because a lot of authors can’t write a proper grovel. I’d never read th**spoiler alert** This one surprised me. Rejected mates is hit and miss for me because a lot of authors can’t write a proper grovel. I’d never read this author before andthe first book in this series didn’t seem like a book I would like. This is also a brothers best friend trope which was strike two. I’m just not into that trope. However, since this is fated mates I had a feeling my personal dislikes of this trope wouldn’t be as annoying as usual. I’m on the hunt for a grovel though so I decided to take the plunge here and I’m glad I did. This isn’t 100% perfect but it’s really good.
The beginning was a bit slow to me. I’m not a fan books that start when the Hs or h are kids and this one does. It’s just something I don’t enjoy. I pushed through thankfully. The first 25% of the book sets up the rejection and treatment of the h. Honestly, I skimmed a bit during this portion. I do feel it was a necessary part of the story but I’m impatient and was ready for the groveling to kick off.
This is a fairly decent groveling book. The biggest missing element was time. You can’t really rush a proper grovel but dealing with the unique elements of omegaverse there was an added urgency because of heats and the h was literally ill from the rejection.
More specific spoilers below, read at your own risk.
The Hs were all 3ish/4ish years older than her and indeed her older brothers best friends. The guys were so close it was assumed they’d form a pack someday. When h is 12 she realizes the friends are scent matched mates. She hasn’t perfumed as an omega yet so they don’t realize she’s theirs. She waits and waits hoping she’ll perfume early or something will happen that will clue them in but nope. They treat her like a mildly annoying kid sister they are fond and protective of.
Before she goes away to omega finishing school she reveals to the prime alpha she is their mate. He straight up doesn’t believe her because her brother is supposed to be part of their intended pack and thus he believes she couldn’t really be their mate. She’s devastated but tries to move on at omega school.
Unfortunately she’s developed rejected mate syndrome. She gets physically ill particularly in the presence of other alphas. For real, this was obnoxious. She avoids the guys religiously when she’s home.
Then she finally perfumes and is even more determined to avoid them. They are having a formal ceremony to solidify her mates and brother as an alpha pack and she refuses to attend despite heavy pressure from everyone else.
After the ceremony, Jacob (prime alpha) catches wind of her scent is frantic to find her as he’s certain she’s their mate. Now here the brother realizes he’s fucked up. He’s bonded his sisters mates a he’s now got to keep them away from her so they don’t realize it. He makes a perfume using essential oils of her smell they begin to court an omega who just came to town. He sprays it on the new omega and himself so they’ll think it’s her.
They aren’t as enamored by the new omega but they are trying to go through the motions until Jacob goes to h’s house one day for something else. He realizes she’s their mate and she’s pissed. He’s frantic to apologize and claim her and she isn’t having it.
He tells the others and they are shocked. Landon, the brother, admits he realized it after the ceremony and since they had already bonded he decided to hide it and make the perfume. This doesn’t go over well. He gets beat up a bit and the others go to find h.
Because she’s an omega so we’ve got some body betrayal syndrome here. She’s still mega pissed so she fights the good fight. She’s determined to avoid them so they openly stalk her, lurk about and leave her gifts she refuses to open. They plan something to try and start over with her and she shows up ready to fight but goes into Heat ...more
**spoiler alert** I wanted to like this more than I did. It had potential but it fell flat. At the core of it, none of the central characters are lika**spoiler alert** I wanted to like this more than I did. It had potential but it fell flat. At the core of it, none of the central characters are likable. The H/h are both unbearable. Their families are worse. Her family is filled with caricatures of cartoon villains and she’s mistreated, misunderstood and abused. H’s family isn’t much better and that includes his brothers and I’ve read 2 out of the 3 other books. I’m honestly not sure how I keep on getting suckered back into reading them. They aren’t like completely terrible but also not really good. The only one I haven’t read is Grant’s books and you couldn’t pay me money to read it.
The only reason I rated this 3 stars instead of 2 is that Sebastian does grovel. Now, I wouldn’t have personally forgiven him here but this author - like so many others - isn’t skilled at writing a grovel so they don’t try. I’ll give an e tea star for effort. Why wouldn’t I forgive him here? He took too fucking long to realize he shouldn’t be doing what he did. If this had been me - I’d have accepted what he did to fix his colossal betrayal and then told him to fuck all the way off and never grace my presence again.
His betrayal? He actively worked to oust her as CEO from her company, soliciting help from his douchebag brothers. In the beginning his plan was understandable because he felt she had trapped but he starts to see things for as they truly are pretty much immediately and he continues to plot her downfall because he’s a pathetic manchild.
There is mild OW drama. He’s dating someone when the whole arranged marriage thing happens. They weren’t in love or anything so it was easy to break off. OW is scattered throughout the book but he doesn’t want her back nor does she really want him but it’s a device to hurt the h because she thinks H loves her. ...more
**spoiler alert** Rejected mates x3. This poor omega can’t catch a break. This story starts like a lot of the Facebook ads for stories on those readin**spoiler alert** Rejected mates x3. This poor omega can’t catch a break. This story starts like a lot of the Facebook ads for stories on those reading apps. Poor abused omega. In this universe, omegas are thought to be extinct. She’s really only tormented by one person in the pack. The rest of them ignore or avoid her.
The focus on her physical weakness was tiresome. I know omegas are weak but her pack alpha literally rejected her because she was too weak. The alphas right hand beta rejected her because he was already unfortunately mated. His mate was batshit crazy and her abuser. The other mates excuse was he had been desperately searching for answers about the pack who’d slaughtered his entire family and the only way he could get it was by giving her to the asshole with the info. Lucky, lucky girl, eh?
They all end going after her immediately but she’s able to get away from her captors and manages to disappear into the human world for 2 years. The mates who’d rejected believe she’s dead except one who’s continued to look for her unsuccessfully. The wolves who’d originally taken her find her and return them to her mates so they will stop hunting them down.
She doesn’t immediately forgive them. She fights them viciously, in fact. She then ends up in heat. She lets them bang her but refuses to accept any claims.
This was an okay read. They aren’t super great at groveling. They mostly just want to buy her stuff. They are desperate to win her back over though.
It’s an interesting read. They have human forms, wolf forms and manwolf forms that seem to be an effect of having the omega.
Virgin h One H is a manwhore Knotting Biting OW drama Push away from Hs, then h No scenes with others No cheating 2 year separation HEA
Safety - they don’t have sex with anyone else after finding her but the safeness is questionable, imo. The alpha had turned into a massive manwhore after giving up on mating her. Her abuser made her clean up his sex room after he’d hook up with random hoebags.
One mate was mated to her abuser. He was sorta trapped into mating the crazy woman.
One mate takes her to eat at a diner a steady hookup of his works at. She’s a cuntface....more
I liked this one but it was a wild ride. I know this author essentially signed herself up to write, at least, 7 books about psychotically possessive cI liked this one but it was a wild ride. I know this author essentially signed herself up to write, at least, 7 books about psychotically possessive cavemen but then had to figure out how to write all 7 books and have them be different but not lose the magic. That is a task I do not envy.
She’s had some stumbles along the way. Based on her author note, I can only imagine the vitriol this sort of book draws. Props to her for soldiering on for the fans. Overall, she’s done an amazing job with this series. I’ve liked some books more than others but even the ones that were misses for me have been great. There are few authors or book series that can prompt me to drop what I’m reading to pick up one of her books instead.
I really enjoyed this addition to the series. In the first half of the book, I struggled with some frustration. It’s clear Gemma Weir is trying to make sure each of these books is strong on its own and not the exact same story each time. I was torn because I do love stories were H fucks up royally and then epically grovels. Those are hard to come by because it’s really fucking hard to write a decent, satisfying grovel. 95% of the time H fucks up and the h forgives him with the first hint of remorse or worse some supposedly grand gesture. Those are the worst.
However, rejection from H is at odds with the heart of this series. I’m not saying this is a bad book or a bad grovel Gemma did a solidly, decent job of writing a Barnett style grovel but having Bay reject h in the first place is a hard pill to swallow. Given the nature of this series it’s hard to imagine H rejecting h for literally half the book.
H did have to work to get her back. He was still fucking up left and right even after he stormed back into her life to claim her. It felt like his OTT caveman act was dialed up to a 12 the whole time he was trying to get back into her graces. It almost balanced out his initial stupidity.
I do recommend this. Especially if you enjoy a grovel. I’d give him a 7/10 on the grovel scale.
Virgin h, Manwhore H, no condoms, breeding, cock warming (swaddling), no cheating, OM drama, 3 month separation, no cliffhanger
Safety - it’s pretty safe. We see a text convo with him & OW before he meets h. OM is brother Cody. Nothing inappropriate happens. They are legit great friends. H is jealous as hell about it though. ...more
**spoiler alert** 3.5 stars. Ok. If this book had been a bit shorter I’d have said 4 stars. There is too much filler here. It got to be a bit tedious.**spoiler alert** 3.5 stars. Ok. If this book had been a bit shorter I’d have said 4 stars. There is too much filler here. It got to be a bit tedious.
As we approached the end the author floundered a lot. The last 80 pages or so were pretty important but getting there seemed to be a real struggle for the author. It’s like once back in school Harper wanted to be this bad bitch but She wasn’t exactly sure of her footing so it fell apart too much. The author tried to cinch it up but it was too late. Heavy editing developmental editing is needed.
There was too much times sans Royal. The author wrote this brutal gang rape green lighted and partially witnessed by H. He literally wanted to leave her for dead at one point before his regrets started to come for him. He began handling Harper with kid gloves and helping her find healing and revenge but she the author didn’t know how to recover from his deep betrayal she floundered and wrestled with Harper righteous anger. Having Royal be out of the picture too long and come back being angry was a misstep. Having him drag Lo off for a blowjob made that worse. ...more
This one got a bunch of attention in some of my Facebook reader groups awhile back. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it because the opinion was splitThis one got a bunch of attention in some of my Facebook reader groups awhile back. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it because the opinion was split on the grovel. I need a good grovel and they are ridiculously hard to find.
I was definitely hoping for more here. If you don’t know anything about this i can summarize here.
Girl is newish in town, fresh out of a bad marriage. Boy had *tragic backstory* and isn’t very trusting. Boy is prez of local MC. It’s starts out as just sex and then girl definitely catches feelings. Boy does too but remember *tragic backstory* so he tries to play it cool. Rival MC attempts to frame girl for something. Cue boy’s *tragic backstory* and he instantly believes it.
Boy has clubwhores and the lone girl in the club who was girl’s friend capture girl and brutally beat her, a hammer is used at one point, they cut her hair etc. Legit I knew this was the cause of the grovel and I wasn’t up to reading it so I skimmed right on past it.
She is really messed up, physically and mentally. Boy realizes quickly he’s fucked up but before another boy tells him he ticked up. Instant regret. Lots of apologies and some attempts to make amends but girl is too heartbroken to entertain it or believe his apologies or declarations of love.
The grovel - 4/10 - more than most authors attempt but still wildly inadequate given the situation. The author also takes a shortcut by having girl discover boy knocked her up before the betrayal. I’m pretty sure girl would not have forgiven boy if there had been no manipulation baby in play.
Story 3/5, Heat 2/5, Angst 4/5, Grovel 1.75/5
Fast burn - I saw this described as a slow burn by others - I get it, after he has her beaten she takes a long time to forgive him. I measure burn by when they get physical. They knock boots on page 56 of 356.
Inconsistent condom use, no virgins, he was definitely a manwhore, sex is fairly vanilla, exhibitionism, push away from h, no OW drama, no OM drama, months long separation after he has her beaten. No cheating, no sharing, no cliffhanger and HEA.
Safety - there are club whores. She is somewhat jealous. H is completely uninterested and shuts them down. I say no OW drama because it’s not a big part of the story. Both are celibate during separation.
Aside - they name the baby Umberto :/, I have a hard time believing that. ...more
If you’re looking for a good grovel you’ve found it. So we’ve got this wolf pack and I was surprised by how primitive it is. The former alpha was defiIf you’re looking for a good grovel you’ve found it. So we’ve got this wolf pack and I was surprised by how primitive it is. The former alpha was definitely living in the dark ages and the new alpha (his son) has brought them a long way out of the dark but not all the way.
Reading about how the females, especially unmated or “defective” ones were treated. They were treated 1000% better under Killian’s rule but still far from good or equitable. The females of the pack weren’t even allowed to have phones. Seriously ridiculous.
Killian is the H, pack alpha. He’s super strong, undefeated and completely clueless. He doesn’t recognize the h as his mate even though she recognized him. Apparently her realization came about 10 years after this was normal. She was severely injured as a child so she has a bad leg and a limp. When she publicly lays claim to her he rejects her and treats her callously.
The amount of time that passes between him rejecting her and realizing she actually is his mate was fairly brief, I’d say it was maybe a week, give or take. His realization comes at 45% into the book. I would have preferred it to come a bit sooner but after the initial rejection he doesn’t treat her poorly he can’t stop thinking of her and seeking her out.
The rest of the book focuses on him groveling and making amends. It’s a bumpy ride because he continues to make blunders but he’s actively trying to do right so it’s all good.
Story 5/5, Heat 2/5, Angst 3.75/5, Grovel 5/5
Slow burn, they finally get it on at 85%. There is a scene before that where he pleases her to take the edge off. He’s desperate for her but doesn’t want to consummate their mating until she is ready and not being driven by her wolf’s Heat. I don’t love slow burns typically except for groveling books in these I want her to hold out until he’s earned forgiveness.
No condoms, virgin H, knotting, jealous/possessive H, push away from both initially but heavier and longer from h, some OW/OM drama. No cheating, no sharing, no cliffhanger and HEA with epilogue.
Safety - there’s no cheating but there’s definitely OW/OM drama here. The H, Killian, is actually a virgin - yes, you read that right. He has gotten plenty of BJs and handies from many of the pack females but he didn’t want to have sex with anyone but his mate. There’s a nasty, gross OW who rubs up on him multiple times and kisses him (once). He doesn’t reciprocate but he doesn’t push her away either. She eventually does get a smackdown but it was long overdue, IMO.
The OM drama is different. The h has had sex before with two different human guys though it wasn’t serious or anything. He freaks out when he finds out and it’s not pretty. There’s a creepy human OM that propositions her but she had no desire to agreee....more
Where to start? I’ve wrestled with the rating for this one for the whole last half the book. We have a strong start with this one. Beck has realized tWhere to start? I’ve wrestled with the rating for this one for the whole last half the book. We have a strong start with this one. Beck has realized too late how epically he messed up. Josie doesn’t fold like a house of cards. This girl holds onto her righteous anger and it’s a beautiful thing.
Even when she cracks and kissed him, has sex with him even - she won’t forgive him. She shouldn’t either because at this point in the book all he’s done is stalk her and try to get her to listen to his apology and denial that he posted the video but he knows he should have never taken the vid so he knows how bad he messed up. That’s the problem here. She’s still justifiably and righteously angry and all he can do is run around demanding to talk to her and issue the same apology over and over again. How should he have handled it? I honestly don’t know and it’s clear that the author didn’t either. The repetition of his stalking, demanding she listen and apologizing which inevitably leads to a sexual encounter because they are both still into each other grows extremely tiresome. It’s clear the author is meandering around trying to figure out how to achieve the necessary end here.
Let me assure you romance lovers, she eventually gets there. Unfortunately, she hurts the innocent heroine unnecessarily again. That’s ultimately why we fell to three stars here. She didn’t need to hurt Josie again just to achieve the ending she got. Is it angst-y? Yes. Did it lose a whole star from my rating because it’s a boring, predictable lazy trope? Also yes. You can do better than this authors. Do better.
Story 2.5/5 (rounded up obviously), Heat 2/5, Angst 4/5
This is on the faster side of medium burn for sex. They bang in locker room at 34%. She doesn’t actually forgive him until near 70%. Dual POV, condoms used (they forget once), they like to mess around in semi public places, push away from h, OW drama, tiny OM drama, no cheating, no cliffhanger and HEA with epilogue.
Safety readers - there is no cheating between H and h but Cami, our resident OW is a giant angst mobile in this one. She clearly wants to keep her hooks in Beck and tries to sabotage in every way she can. She admits to posting the video though at the time Beck refuses to believe her.
He publicly rejects OW while claiming h but OW later manipulates him to spending night at her house. Nothing happens but she predictably tries to use it to hurt h but H had already told her about it.
However after being threatened by h’s dad to take away heroine’s inheritance from her mom if H doesn’t back off he uses Cami to hurt her and push her away. It’s actually all pretty mild but it disgusted me after everything else h had endured.
We also discover married man OW had been banging since she was a sophomore was not a teacher but he’s dad. GROSS. He’s a cheater and doing with a teenage girl his daughters age....more
This duet is crazy dark. Still a mountain of triggers. It didn’t have the edge if the first one after Joshua rescued Tamara. It feltA much needed HEA.
This duet is crazy dark. Still a mountain of triggers. It didn’t have the edge if the first one after Joshua rescued Tamara. It felt like it floated around trying to figure out how to wrap itself up. ...more
I haven’t come across an omegaverse book lo this one before. They mostly present in the same ways. Growling alpha absolutely determined to have his waI haven’t come across an omegaverse book lo this one before. They mostly present in the same ways. Growling alpha absolutely determined to have his way. Defiant omega who puts up a usually pitiful attempt at resistance only to always succumb to her nature and submit. Repeat ad infinitum.
This one absolutely starts that way but took an unexpected detour. Big bad alpha, Ander Cain broke his omega. She was near catatonic. In turn, he had to actually work to get her back. No demands, no dominant vibes, no using her nature against her. He broke her and was forced to put in the work to fix her. It was deeply gratifying in a way I wouldn’t have expected.
Always on the hunt for a good groveling book. They are far and few between. This one definitely has the grovel! He does a pretty decent job with it.
IAlways on the hunt for a good groveling book. They are far and few between. This one definitely has the grovel! He does a pretty decent job with it.
I didn’t rate it higher because there were a number of unrealistic things that happened throughout and it was distracting and frustrating that my suspension of disbelief kept getting broken.
It’s a good story though! I’m really intrigued that she adapted it into a paranormal story too. I may check that one out. ...more
I’ve been dancing around reading this book for a few weeks now. I’m glad I finally took the plunge. It was a good read, if kind of bittersweet. It doeI’ve been dancing around reading this book for a few weeks now. I’m glad I finally took the plunge. It was a good read, if kind of bittersweet. It does have an HEA and it made me happy to see them get it. Their relationship was kind of sad though so it’s a bittersweet feeling.
They have quiet a connection and orbit each other for about half the book. Then they get together and it mostly works. He’s a busy musician doing gigs etc. she’s busy with school I think. They have interludes together. Eventually get engaged. She finds out a few months before the wedding he’s been cheating on her.
You can imagine her heartbreak. He’s not just a manslut he’s got a lot of broody issues and a viper of an OW who manipulated him. I’m not excusing his behavior, just putting it in perspective.
She drops him like a hot potato and he begins his grovel. It’s a long, heartfelt epic grovel. She has several relationships in the aftermath. He has one but remains faithful and celibate their entire 2+ year separation. In the end I felt he earned her forgiveness.
Also this isn’t a criticism of this book but just factual information. They sex scenes are either fade to black or glossed over. There is one scene near the end where they reconcile that is more detailed but still lacks passion. ...more
This one was really good. It might be kind of odd to say this was a bit of a palette cleanser but it was. It really hit the spot too. I wouldn’t call This one was really good. It might be kind of odd to say this was a bit of a palette cleanser but it was. It really hit the spot too. I wouldn’t call this book dark but maybe dark-ish.
I really appreciated Eden’s strength and backbone. She made him grovel. So many books don’t devote enough time to that crucial grovel. This book is a shining example of how to do it right...more