Bullied and outcast, Ezer has seen firsthand the cruelties of the world. He knows what’s expected from his kind—timid compliance and submission to his “betters.” But Ezer isn’t one to roll over and conform to the role society has forced upon him.
Despite his defiant nature, Ezer is coerced into partnering with a man of his father’s choosing. One his father promises will love and care for him for the rest of his life.
A night of nameless and faceless passion later, Ezer is horrified to find himself bound to Ned, a bully who has done so much to make his life hell. Ezer’s determined to hate Ned but he can’t help the way his body craves his touch.
Ned is young, privileged, and hopelessly in love with Ezer. Too bad his pack of so-called “friends” have targeted Ezer for torment. Ned has a lot of regrets, but none greater than his role in Ezer’s misery. When Ned’s offered the contract of a lifetime, he sees it as the only way forward with the man he loves.
The dual biological drives of heat and its aftermath might be all that’s keeping them close now, but Ned is determined to prove he’s worthy of Ezer’s love.
While Ezer is just as determined not to fall for his bully.
Bully for Sale is the second addition to the Heat for Sale series. If you haven't read book #1- Heat for Sale (I suggest you do- the audiobook is fantastic!) The books can be read as standalone.
Leta Blake is definitely one of the few published authors' A/B/O that I can read and tolerate. If you're not familiar with the omegaverse the author set up, women do not exist, men can be carriers (omegas), while betas are relatively human and alphas are the top of the chain, with their knots and life saving semen. Omegas have less rights and are treated as breeding machines mostly. Let's get the triggers out the way: attempted rape, dubious consent, eating disorder.
In this newest addition, the main characters are still in high school. (Don't worry, they're all legal.) Omega Ezer Fersee is nineteen, dyslexic and the bane of his wealthy alpha parent. His omega parent has been kicked out of their home, his older omega brothers seem to care only for themselves and he has know one. And to top it off, he's bullied mercilessly and labeled as the 'weird kid'. After an attempted rape by three rich alpha bullies, Ezer's life couldn't get any worse right? Wrong. Wealthy omegas usually have their heats and bodies sold to the higher bidder or Ezer's family's case, an arranged 'heat cycle'. But the person who is chosen for him... one his alpha bullies, Ned Clearwater.
Ned is a coward and a follower, two bad combinations to have in life in my opinion. He's idealistic and romantic. And fell for Ezer the moment he saw him. Ned is trying to redeem himself and that's the crux of his arc for the majority of the book. He was loathsome and he's trying to better himself. He's a gentle giant that isn't too set in his ways that he can't be changed as he enters adulthood. I'm not a fan of cowards and Ned most certainly is one. But, he's likeable too.
Ezer is prickly and remains true to his self for the book too. He's had a crap hand dealt to him and he learns more about himself, you can't help but feel sorry for him too.
Essentially, this is new adult, but the adults in their lives are their puppet masters and they get thrown into too many adult things that they're not ready for. There is smut but since most of it due to their biology, I wouldn't say it was gratuitous. They need it at a molecular level. ;)
Why not rate it higher? While the story is paced pretty quick despite being 404 pages, the romance is mainly one sided for the majority of the book. (Which for me, works for the characters especially with the way Ezer is portrayed.) Thankfully, there's an epilogue! But we don't get to read the changes Ned needs to go through on page.I don't mind bully romances but something about Ned's cowardly ways got under my skin a bit.
Overall, it's a solid new adult story. I was happy Heat for Sale's main characters (Heath and Adrien) showed up a for a few. I did like the pair.
P.S. I do hope there's a story for each of the adult Fersee brothers, especially Shan. I'm so anxious at all the possibilities that could happen with Ezer's family.
We are not alone. In the year 2050 mankind’s never-ending quest for proof life exists in the universe is answered—in the form of massive spaceships that appear without warning above the capitals of all major nations. The name of their planet is Tah’Nar—and it is dying. The United States sets up a lottery system, and each young man between the ages of twenty-three and twenty-eight is assigned a number. Once a year, for the next five years, numbers will be drawn and a new set of one thousand males will be collected. The media coined the expression ‘The Harvest’ for when the Tah’Narian’s collect these young men.
Genres: Sci-fi romance, Mpreg Romance
Tropes: Forced proximity, forced DNA change, aliens
Themes: Alien abduction
The stories are not standalone. They need to be read in order.
Captain Keyno Landium Shou is a Tah’Narian starship captain who has been granted the right to take a mate, any mate, he wants during the last harvest on Earth. Dale was seventeen when the aliens first appeared. His parents assumed he’d be safe since the final collection would be done before he turned twenty-three. He didn’t fall within the guidelines established, so they took for granted he had nothing to fear.
They were wrong.
Excerpt from The Harvest: Taken
I was seventeen when the aliens first appeared, so my parents assumed I was safe. The final collection would occur before I turned twenty-three. I didn’t fall within the guidelines the aliens had established, so I thought I had nothing to fear.
I was wrong.
Exactly one week before my twenty-third birthday, an extraction team showed up to collect me. My parents were distraught, and I fought them, but nothing stopped them from taking me. Somebody somewhere had made a terrible mistake. But no one would listen to me.
“I’m not supposed to be collected!” Men in SWAT gear dragged me to a waiting van. One of the aliens stood off to the side, watching. I dug my feet into the ground, trying to halt the parade of their progress. Two human soldiers were beside me, trying to secure my arms behind my back, but I kept twisting and jerking, frantic to break their hold on me. “Listen to me! I’m only twenty-two years old.”
“Son of a bitch, stop jumping around, you little fag,” the man to the right of me hissed as he grabbed at my wrist and twisted.
“Fuck!” I yelled as pain radiated up my arm. I managed to get my other arm free long enough to get in a good solid shot at the asshole who was currently trying to twist my hand off. I busted his nose. Anger boiled in his eyes as he whipped his arm back to strike me.
Before the blow could land, the Tah’Narian with the extraction team jerked the man away from me by the front of his shirt. Another human took his team member’s place immediately, but my focus was on the alien, not the other man holding my arm.
The alien lifted the human completely off the ground and shook him like a rag doll, snapping his head back and forth. The Tah’Narian's low growls sent shivers up my spine as he spoke to the team member. And his strength was astounding. The man the alien lifted wasn’t a small guy, by any means, and he lifted him with one hand. Then he tossed the guy to the ground, pointed at me and babbled something I couldn’t understand.
“I… I… okay. I won’t touch him again.” The team member stumbled back to the van, never looking back at me.
Good God, the extraction team and that alien could somehow understand each other. Momentarily distracted, I didn’t have time to react when another team member handcuffed both my arms tightly behind me. Someone on each side held me tightly, determined to march me to that waiting van.
“Let go of me, dammit!”
“Stop fighting, kid. You can’t win against five of us.” The new guard fastened a second set of cuffs higher on my forearms. “Plus there’s that alien, too. You just saw his strength. The more you fight, the harder this is going to be.”
I slumped in their arms, the fight draining out of me. “What did it say?”
“Basically, that you’ve been chosen by one of them,” one of the guys from the team leaned down and whispered to me. “I’m sorry, kid. Never heard of something like this happening. No more talking, or they’ll gag you next.”
Horrified, I hung in their arms as they dragged me to a waiting van. I desperately wanted to ask him what he meant about being chosen, but after his warning, I was afraid to say anything. What the hell was going on, and why were the rules being changed all of a sudden? These aliens weren’t supposed to be able to pick and choose. That defeated the whole purpose of having a lottery system.
BOOK 2
Book Title: The Harvest: Journey’s End
Length: 310 pages
Release Date: January 1, 2015
This book does not end on a cliffhanger. The spinoff books follow.
Adapting is a word Dale Michaels has become familiar with. As he settles into his new life with the Tah’Narian starship captain Keyno, Dale has adapted to life with an alien, space travel, and having his body mutated so he can carry a young. He’s closed the chapter on his old life.
Living on Tah’Nar, Dale has a loving mate and good friends. He’s helped cement peace with the Onfre. Sure, being double-dosed during his harvest led to some serious drama, but that’s over. Dale’s happy.
But life is never that simple.
Even though Dale loves Keyno, he still struggles with the way the Tah’Narians harvest young males as mates. Dale finds himself hijacked by his own body, courtesy of his extra dose of Tah’Narian DNA. Then there’s the devastating secret his mate, Keyno, has hid all this time. And if all that isn’t enough, outside forces threaten to rip Dale’s hard-won peace apart as well.
Join Dale for a non-stop adventure and a love that crosses several worlds and transcends space.
BOOK 3
Book Title: Bound by Fate-The Harvest Young (The Next Generation #1)
Length: 205 pages
Release Date: May 15, 2016
It is a standalone story and ends on a cliffhanger for the next couple in the series.
Half human and half Tah’Narian, Szin doesn’t fit with either race. His appearance is mainly human, but he’s able to have a young. Unfortunately, that’s his only Tah’Narian characteristic. He’s smaller and weaker than other young.
Szin’s eighteenth birthday has passed and time’s running out. He has to stop his childhood friend, Takeo, from making the worst mistake of his life: claiming Szin as a mate. Takeo deserves an equal who’s as fierce as he is, something Szin most certainly is not.
Since before Takeo was born, he’s known Szin was his. Nothing and no one, not even Szin, is going to stand in the way of claiming his mate. He understands Szin feels he isn’t good enough, and he’ll do anything to convince Szin otherwise. Including taking drastic measures to ensure his mate listens.
Takeo is the ultimate blend of human, Tah’Narian, and Onfrevian DNA. He’s pure predator, and his sights are set on his mate.
BOOK 4
Book Title: Bound by Destiny - The Harvest Young (Next Generation #2)
Length: 295 pages
Release Date: October 1, 2017
It is not a standalone story and ends on a cliffhanger for the next couple in the series.
Destiny brought them together even before they were born.
Raiden Shou, a fierce and loving Tah’Narian warrior, has everything he ever wanted. A loving mate, a highly sought-after position as Chief Helmsman of the Unity, and now the possibility of a young in the near future. But destiny never promised life would be easy.
A chance encounter with the Ne Reyn goes horribly wrong, an enemy from the past makes a reappearance, and egos flare out of control. A rejection turns lethal during a trip to Quai to collect mates for the Tah’Narian Volunteer Program. Jealousies threaten to destroy Raiden’s perfect life.
A plot is hatched, and Raiden’s mate, Dayo Kwen, is kidnapped during a mission. Time is running out as estrus looms on the horizon for Dayo. Once it strikes, Dayo knows his body will betray him. He’s alone, scared, and surrounded by enemies. Can help from the most unlikely sources change the course he’s set on? Will Raiden and Dayo overcome the obstacles they face? Only their belief that destiny bound them together can save them.
BOOK 5
Book Title: Bound by Love - The Harvest Young (The Next Generation 3)
Length: 294 pages
Release Date: June 21, 2020
It is not a standalone story but does not end on a cliffhanger.
Years of peace are shattered with a devastating strike against the very heart of Tah’Nar, and war threatens once more.
Prince Hamza Shou: Young to King Duran and King Consort Jolak. Grief stricken. Angry. Vengeful. Screams of the dying stalk his waking moments. Death surrounds him even as he plots. He’s losing himself to the darkness and growing colder to those around him, including Neo. Brought together by some universal force and bound by love even before they were born, heartache tests the ties that bind them.
Dr. Neo Kere: Young to Doc and John. Sorrowful. Worried. Overwhelmed. He’s seen males draw their final breath. What doctor hasn’t? However, his experiences didn’t prepare him for wholesale murder. The last gasps of the dying stalk him too. But he took an oath to preserve life, and he doesn’t want the death of innocents on his conscience. And now his oath is being tested by the very male he loves—his mate, Hamza.
Or will the same mistake be made again?
Extinction once hunted the Tah’Narians. Now they threaten the Ne Reyn with the same fate. Can Neo change the destructive path Hamza treads before the darkness swallows him? Or is it too late?
BOOK 6
Book Title: Bound by War-The Harvest Young (The Next Generation 4)
Length: 75 000 words
Release Date: June 21, 2022
It is not a standalone story, but it is the finale in the series.
Laken Fihk has no idea his destiny waits for him on the Unity, a Tah’Narian starship. But all it takes is one look at the incapacitated male, and Laken knows that’s his fated mate. Which is a problem, because the severely beaten, bloody, and unconscious male is the Blishue warrior named Torin. The species is considered sadistic, cruel, and without mercy—bloodthirsty monsters who kill without regard.
No one, absolutely no one, is going to be happy if Laken claims Torin as his.
Torin, member of the Blishue House of Dorntok, has found his mate and nothing will stop him from claiming Laken. So what if he has Tah’Narians doubting his honor, Ne Reynians wanting to kill him, and a battle brewing that could jeopardize all he holds dear? War has bound them together, and nothing can break them apart. He and Laken will overcome all obstacles to find a love that could last a lifetime. No matter what.
Destiny doesn’t make mistakes.
Trigger Warnings: violence, mention of past sexual abuse and rape, flashbacks
About the Author
M.A. Church is a true Southern belle who spent many years in the elementary education sector. Now she spends her days lost in fantasy worlds, arguing with hard-headed aliens on far-off planets, herding her numerous shifters, or trying to tempt her country boys away from their fishing poles. It’s a full time job, but hey, someone’s gotta do it!
When not writing, she’s exploring the latest M/M novel to hit the market or watching her beloved Steelers. That’s if she’s not on the back porch tending to the demanding wildlife. The ducks are very outspoken. She’s married to her high school sweetheart, and they have two grown children.
She is a member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Author K.L. Hiers and Gay Book Promotions returns with new release info for Just Calamarried (Sucker For Love Mystery #5)! Read more about the tentacle romantic suspense and enter in the $25 Amazon gift card giveaway!
RELEASE BLITZ
Book Title: Just Calamarried (Sucker For Love Mystery #5)
Author: K.L. Hiers
Publisher: Dreamspinner
Cover Artist: Tiferet Designs
Release Date: March 22, 2022
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Tropes: Mpreg, Wrongly Accused, Double Murder
Themes: Love Conquers All
Heat Rating: 4 flames
Length: 61 000 words/257 pages
It is not a standalone story. It is book 5 in the Sucker For Love Mysteries series.
Newlyweds Sloane and Loch are eagerly expecting their first child, though for Sloane that excitement is tempered by pregnancy side effects. Carrying a god’s baby would be enough to deal with, especially with the whole accelerated gestation thing, but it’s not like Sloane can take maternity leave. He works for himself as a private investigator. Which leads him to his next case.
At least this strange new mystery distracts him from the stress of constant puking.
When two priests are murdered within hours of each other, a woman named Daphne hires Sloane and Loch to track down the prime suspect—her brother—before the police do. Between untangling a conspiracy of lies and greed, going toe-to-toe with a gangster, and stealing a cat, they hardly have time to decorate a nursery….
Excerpt
Sloane Beaumont had known and persevered through many hardships: the death of his parents, losing his job as a detective, and the struggle of establishing his own private investigation business.
Oh, and saving the world from ancient murderous eldritch gods who wanted to awaken their even more murderous father and destroy all of humanity, of course.
He was a fighter, a warrior, a Starkiller amongst mortals.
It was hard to believe he was being beaten by morning sickness.
Then again, it was crazy enough dealing with the fact he even had it to begin with, since men usually couldn’t get pregnant. Most men, however, weren’t married to a very well-meaning but ultimately irresponsible god.
“You are the most beautiful creature in all of the universe,” Loch was soothing. “Even when you are depositing your stomach contents into the porcelain bowl, you are stunning, my sweet mate.”
“Oh, by the gods.” Sloane groaned and rested his head against the toilet seat. “That’s very nice. And very gross. Thank you.”
“Here, my love.” Loch presented him with a slitted tentacle, the tip ghosting over Sloane’s lips.
“Thanks.” Sloane lightly sucked on the tentacle, closing his eyes as a rush of sweet liquid flooded his mouth. It was the divine nectar of a god, easing his nausea and the cramps in his stomach immediately.
It was also technically Loch’s come.
Though it was sort of weird to drink it so casually, it had incredible healing properties, and Sloane could use all the help he could get right now.
Carrying the child of an ancient god was turning out to be a real pain in the ass.
“I don’t understand,” Sloane grumbled as he got up to wash his face. “The first three months were great. Solved some cases, went apartment hunting, got the one with the extra bedroom I liked, got everything packed and moved, no problems. Not a one! Awesome. I didn’t get sick, I felt wonderful, I was happy. And now….” He threw up his hands. “This!”
“I’m sorry, my sweet Starkiller.” Loch frowned. “Gods don’t usually spawn with mortals. I’m not sure exactly what we should expect with this pregnancy.”
“What happens with the gods?” Sloane dried off with a towel. “There’s not much written about the actual spawning. Just that, you know, some of you choose to do it by yourselves whenever you want.”
“It can vary. Many gods mate and one will carry a spawn for nine months exactly as mortals do. The triplets, Eb, Ebb, and Ebbeth, on the other hand, were spawned directly from Baub’s breast with a mere thought. My half-sister, Chandraleth? Salgumel carried her for a hundred years before giving birth.”
Sloane paled. “I might be pregnant for a hundred years?”
“No!” Loch paused. “Probably not. It’s unlikely. You could always lay an egg instead of giving live birth. I think one of my uncles did that.”
Groaning, Sloane dragged himself into their bedroom. “By all the gods, I’ll be in a nursing home by the time I’m having our egg baby!”
Loch was right behind him and gently swept him up in a tentacle-filled embrace.
The touch of Loch’s true flesh was always wonderful and flooded Sloane’s entire body with a rush of sweet warmth. It was the touch of a divine being, and it was without comparison. Even so, Sloane’s thoughts were determined to make him miserable.
“Two words,” Sloane grumbled. “Egg baby.”
“My sweet Starkiller, all will be well,” Loch promised, kissing Sloane’s hands. “My family will be visiting soon for your Neun Monde celebration. My mother is the goddess of fertility! If anyone can help us with your pregnancy, it is she.”
“Yeah, but my ‘Neun Monde’ might not be nine months! It might be a century! When are we supposed to have it?”
“I am not qualified to answer that.”
“Is there any way you could maybe call your mom now? Maybe she can hook me up with one of her blessings?”
“I can call my sister. She always hears me. I’ll let her know to bring Mother as soon as possible so we can take care of you.”
“Thank you.” Sloane sighed in relief. “There, now I feel better.”
“Really?” Loch beamed.
“Yes.” Sloane kissed him. “I love you.”
“And I love you, my beautiful mate.”
About the Author
K.L. “Kat” Hiers is an embalmer, restorative artist, and queer writer. Licensed in both funeral directing and funeral service, they worked in the death industry for nearly a decade. Their first love was always telling stories, and they have been writing for over twenty years, penning their very first book at just eight years old. Publishers generally do not accept manuscripts in Hello Kitty notebooks, however, but they never gave up.
Following the success of their first novel, Cold Hard Cash, they now enjoy writing professionally, focusing on spinning tales of sultry passion, exotic worlds, and emotional journeys. They love attending horror movie conventions and indulging in cosplay of their favorite characters. They live in Zebulon, NC, with their husband and their children, some of whom have paws and a few that only pretend to because they think it’s cute.
Second Chance – a small town where anything can happen.
Once upon a time, a teenaged Alpha named Alex fell in love with a pretty Omega boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Zachary was everything he’d ever wanted -- sweet, sassy, and sexy as hell. Alex would have married that boy and raised baby after baby with him -- if Zachary hadn’t run away when Alex popped the question.
Alex doesn’t give up easily. When a train derails on its way to Alex‘s hometown, he’s finally got another shot at the one who got away, and he’s not going to waste it. Now he’s got Zachary in his sights, and he’s never letting go again.
It killed Zachary to let Alex go the first time. He loved that man as much as that man loved him, and he’s never fallen out of love, but he left to give Alex his best chance at living his best life. He can’t -- won’t -- be sorry for that, no matter what it cost him.
Stranded in Second Chance with nowhere else to go and no way to get there, Zachary's got no choice but to accept the help and shelter Alex offers. The chemistry’s still there. The desire. The connection. The yearning. But when the secrets they’ve both been keeping come to light, will they shatter their bond for keeps, or bring them together in a forever kind of love?
Reviewer: Shee Reader
We meet Zachary on a train. He’s alone, unwell and desperate. He just needs to get away, but then the train derails.
He’s near the town where he grew up, and ran away from the future he was sure he didn’t deserve.
Alex found his heart when he was just a teenager, only to have Zachary run out on him after he proposed. Alex is broken, but becomes the man his people need him to be.
He’s on a train, aware of the man who broke his heart just a short distance away. After the derailment, he isn’t going to let Zazhary get away a second time. He’s going to take Zachary with him.
The story then unfolds as our two men carefully circle around each other. Alex offers everything Zachary has always wanted, but can’t accept. How can they find their way to each other? I enjoyed the story, but there were a few leaps I felt could have been better explained.
This is a beautifully written tale with twists, turns and some painful truths. The ending is happy, thank goodness!
Recommended.
I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
In a world where omegas sell their heats for profit, Adrien is a university student in need of funding. With no family to fall back on, he reluctantly allows the university's matcher to offer his virgin heat for auction online. Anxious, but aware this is the reality of life for all omegas, Adrien hopes whoever wins his heat will be kind.
Heath—a wealthy, older alpha—is rocked by the young man's resemblance to his dead lover, Nathan. When Heath discovers Adrien is Nathan’s lost son from his first heat years before they met, he becomes obsessed with the idea of reclaiming a piece of Nathan.
Heath buys Adrien’s heat with only one motivation: to impregnate Adrien, claim the child, and move on. But their undeniable passion shocks him. Adrien doesn't know what to make of the handsome, mysterious stranger he's pledged his body to, but he’s soon swept away in the heat of the moment and surrenders to Heath entirely.
Once Adrien is pregnant, Heath secrets him away to his immense and secluded home. As the birth draws near, Heath grows to love Adrien for the man he is, not just for his connection to Nathan. Unaware of Heath's past with his omega parent and coming to depend on him heart and soul, Adrien begins to fall as well.
But as their love blossoms, Nathan's shadow looms. Can Heath keep his new love and the child they've made together once Adrien discovers his secrets?
This was a solid omegaverse read.
In Heat for Sale, young omega Adrien is in a society where breeding/heats for profit is not frowned on. Omegas selling their heats to the highest bidder or having babies to secure future generations is key in this society. Women don't exist here. Omegas are revered for breeding. Virgin Adrien is a quiet omega college student in need of cash for school. He sells his heat and the highest bidder, older wealthy alpha Heath has an unknown obsession with Adrien. Plus, tie in Adrien's link to Heath's dead lover, it makes for an interesting plot.
There is something about the way Blake (Moreno) writes A/B/O that works for me. I've read the Heat of Love series, while both have similar bones in their omegaverses, Heat for Sale is more erotic, slightly darker. The D/s structure was a nice addition to story. The first time Heath gave Adrien an order, it was nice to read Adrien's submissive response. Heath was commanding in the bedroom, but wasn't authoritative 24/7. Adrien was submissive in nature but I didn't find him to be a doormat.
I bought the audiobook to read along with the story, so it was my first time listening to narrator Michael Dean. I'm pretty picky with narrators, and I'm unsure if I'd listen to more Dean narrations. We'll see. But I enjoyed him reading Heat for Sale. What grabbed me the most when listening is when the narrator would get on a roll and not take a breath when booming through a sex scene...it was like he was preaching porn. It made me giggle a bit, I can't lie. Dean was there narrating and getting into the characters and boom! Something erotic started and it was like there was a porn pulpit and he was there to preach. He seemed to have a blast. The voices were pretty great for the main characters.
If you like ABO and D/s (without the excessive fluff as some omegaverses tend to lean), I'd say check out Heat for Sale audio or book, either version works.
I see this is considered first of a series. If this actually comes to fruition, consider me there for future reads. I wouldn't mind revisiting this world.
Author Willa Okati and IndiGo Marketing host today's blitz for second chance omegaverse romance. Yes, You Are (Second Chance Omegas #2)! Discover more about the new adult romane and enter in the giveaway!
Title: Yes, You Are
Series: Second Chance Omegas #2
Author: Willa Okati
Publisher: Changeling Press LLC
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Heat Level: 4 - Lots of Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 109
Genre: Romance, New Adult, Action Adventure, Sex/Gender Shifters & MPreg, Single Parent/Pregnancy Romance, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Second Chances
Darian's as unique an Alpha as Coby is an Omega, but opposites attract twice in Second Chance.
Everyone always assumed small, pretty Darian would be an Omega. He ticked all the boxes -- except for the temper and the tendency to cuss a blue streak. But whatever, right? And everyone always assumed big, athletic Coby would be an Alpha. Just stood to reason -- as long as you paid no mind to his tender heart. When they met in passing as teenagers, both boys had no reason to doubt that was who they’d be. Everyone said it, after all. But everyone was wrong.
When Darian and Coby meet again in grad school, Darian’s still small and pretty but he’s one hell of a ferocious Alpha -- and tall, muscular Coby still struggles with having turned out to be an Omega. The college is short on space due to storm damage, and they’ve got no choice but to share living quarters and come to terms with themselves and their past -- and when Coby gets pregnant, their soon-to-be future.
Opposites attract like lightning and steel rods when they meet again in Second Chance, but do they have what it takes to overcome the unexpected for the long haul?
Keys in hand, Darian was five steps ahead before he realized Coby hadn’t budged. He looked over his shoulder. “Well? Are you coming?”
Reluctantly, taking one more glance at the admins probably to make sure this was really happening, Coby unfolded himself. He was still half a foot taller than Darian, maybe more, and he’d filled out those lanky bones into wide shoulders and legs long enough to make a man want to try and climb him like a tree. <em>I mean -- damn.</em>
But Coby didn’t walk like he used to, full of confidence. He sloped along with a slouching kind of gait that suggested bashful uncertainty, and the way he kept his head down indicated shyness, but the look on his face was nothing but pure, frustrated rage.
Darian couldn’t blame him. Hell, this was fucking with his head. He could only imagine how tangled up Coby had to feel about it. Coby, an Omega? Seriously? He made an even weirder specimen that way than Darian did in his, so what the fuck even.
Behind them, Oscar gave them a wry salute before turning to head for his single digs.
“Bastard,” Darian muttered before turning to give Coby a dose of straight eye contact. “This isn’t how I planned for things to turn out either, but since they did, we can either bitch about it or make the best of it,” he said bluntly. “So come on. Or don’t, but if that’s your call then I’m going to leave you behind. It’s not even noon and I am fucking tired. So?”
Coby looked like he was going to argue, then shook his head and fell into step. He tried to stay behind, act like they weren’t together, but his legs were too long not to catch up. When he did, Darian had the weirdest urge to take his arm. Just an urge, of course. An Alpha thing, a real throwback to the days when a gentleman would take a submissive’s arm to guide him. If he tried that now, fuck knew if this new angry Coby would try and break his elbow.
Darian didn’t do playing it safe, but unusual times called for unusual circumstances. He kept his hands in his pocket and his walk to an amble, and -- again, not his usual thing -- took a stab at small talk. Anything to calm Coby down before his head imploded. “You’re a teacher too, huh? No kidding. Makes sense, now I think of it. I don’t make sense, but I’d started the pre-classes before things turned out like they did, and I’d put in too much work to go back.”
No answer.
Annoyed, Darian tried again. He hooked a thumb backward. “That was Oscar, a friend from back home. He can be a real douche sometimes, but deep down he’s pretty decent. A good guy to count on, in case you were wondering.”
Which Darian could tell Coby wasn’t. Too lost in his own head and his flinching awareness of every single person who paused to give them either odd or shocked looks when they put two and two together. Darian would have ignored those -- he’d gotten used to them years ago -- but being with Coby made him glower at everyone, daring them to make a deal out of it, and he could only do that so much before he gave himself a fucking migraine.
One more shot. “What are you teaching?” Darian asked. “I’m math. Calculus, trig, and basic algebra as I need to.”
Coby shook his head and kept his trap firmly shut, his head so far down that his chin almost touched his chest and yep, there went the temper Darian really did try to keep locked down. Didn’t help that looking at Coby made his mouth water and that pissed him right off because for fucks’ sake, his libido needed to mind its own business right now. The rest of him didn’t like the way the Coby he remembered had changed, and his being Omega wasn’t part of that.
He stopped in front of the big man, blocking his path, and lifted his chin. “Would you mind looking at me? And while we’re at it, what the fuck besides the obvious is your problem? It’s not like this is easy for me either.”
Coby glowered at Darian and shouldered past him, strong enough to jostle him aside.
Okay. That was really it.
Darian put on a burst of speed and shouldered past Coby in turn, minus the passive-aggressive shove, and walked in front of him all the way to the housing they’d been assigned. Not much to look at, just your basic small dorm. Still, his key worked on the front door and, down the hall, the quarters he and Coby would be sharing. God help them.
Which were not bad, actually. Darian’s eyebrows went up as he took it in. Roomy enough for two grown men to move around in without knocking elbows, decent closets, a closed door that was likely a private toilet. Even a mini-kitchenette with a sink, a cabinet, and space above a micro-fridge for a coffee pot and an illegal hot plate.
And of course, twin beds shoved in opposite corners.
Darian wrinkled his nose at them. “You’re not going to be able to fit in one of those. You’ll dangle off from the shins down.”
Coby shut the door behind them, and holy shit, Darian had not expected what happened then, nor had he noticed the near-total lack of airflow in there with the windows closed. His own Alpha scent wafted out in waves that completely failed to mask Coby’s Omega scent. Gunpowder and pennyroyal. They shouldn’t have gone together at all, but somehow they did and they gave Darian an immediate half hard-on that he was glad as all hell his loose shirt covered.
The Omega -- no, don’t call him that, he’s more than just a gender -- Coby -- was looking at him now, boy howdy, his hawk eyes gone so wide that the whites showed around his irises. “You really are an Alpha. How?”
“You really want me to explain biology to you?”
Coby ignored that. “You don’t look like an Alpha.” He started to reach for Coby with one hand, then pulled back at the last second. Even so, Darian had the strangest sensation that he’d followed through. He could feel the warmth on his cheek. “You’re still little, and still pretty, and -- look at me.”
Darian resisted the urge to rub his cheek. “I don’t look like an Alpha, and you don’t look like an Omega, so aren’t we an equal pair?”
“Equal,” Coby scoffed. He wrapped his arms around himself again squeezing tight. “Do you know the kind of shit I went through when I didn’t present, and when I did --”
“About the same kind of shit I did, I’d guess,” Darian retorted. “And if you’re going to have an attitude about it all summer --”
“Like you’re one to talk!”
Darian sailed past that. Mostly because he was right. “If that’s how you want to be, then I’m setting some ground rules.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “If we can’t get along, we keep our mouths shut when we’re in the same room. No bringing anyone back here to fuck, and that includes me with Oscar -- yes, we do fuck sometimes, because neither of us is all that sold on the standard rules. Find somewhere else or it’ll confuse everyone’s nose.”
Coby looked at him, shaking his head. “I didn’t ask for this. Any of it. I didn’t ask to be an Omega.”
“Who the fuck does? I didn’t.”
“You didn’t get it, either,” Coby fired back. “And you know what? I don’t need your help. I can take care of myself. I didn’t ask to share with you.”
“No, the resident director or whoever-the-fuck he is did, so if you have a problem you can take it up with him, mkay?” It wasn’t that Darian didn’t feel any sympathy or empathy for the guy. Turning out not to be what you’d always thought was hard, right? Which meant something else needed saying. He held up a finger. “One last rule. No bullshit embarrassment. We are what we are, and we can’t change that. In here, neither of us has room to hide.”
“And you’d be damned if you even wanted to try,” Coby scoffed. He dropped his bags in a messy heap, a deliberate insult from an Omega. “So it’s really easy for you to say, isn’t it? I’m out of here. There’s got to be somewhere else.”
He stormed out, slamming the door with a bang behind him.
“Shit,” Darian said aloud. He rubbed at his forehead. Well, this was going to be a fun summer, wasn’t it?
Willa Okati (AKA Will) is made of many things: imagination, coffee, stray cat hairs, daydreams, more coffee, kitchen experimentation, a passion for winter weather, a little more coffee, a whole lot of flowering plants and a lifelong love of storytelling. Will's definitely one of the quiet ones you have to watch out for, though he -- not she anymore -- is a lot less quiet these days.
Only You (Second Chance Omegas #1) is out from Changeling Press! Celebrate with author Willa Okati and IndiGo Marketing! Find out more about the A/B/O second chance romance and enter in the giveaway!
Second Chance -- a small town where anything can happen -- and does.
Once upon a time, a eighteen year old Alpha named Alex fell in love with a pretty Omega boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Zachary was everything he’d ever wanted -- sweet, sassy, and sexy as hell. Alex would have married that boy and raised baby after baby with him -- if Zachary hadn’t run away when Alex popped the question.
Alex doesn’t give up easily. When a train derails on its way to Alex’s hometown, he’s finally got another shot at the one who got away, and he’s not going to waste it. Now he’s got Zachary in his sights, and he’s never letting go again.
It killed Zachary to let Alex go the first time. He loved that man as much as Alex loved him, and he’s never fallen out of love, but he left to give Alex his best chance at living his best life. Zachary can’t -- won’t -- be sorry for that, no matter what it cost him.
Stranded in Second Chance with nowhere else to go and no way to get there, Zachary’s got no choice but to accept the help and shelter Alex offers. The chemistry’s still there. The desire. The connection. The yearning. But when the secrets they’ve both been keeping come to light, will they shatter their bond for keeps, or bring them together in a forever kind of love?
“As much of it as you can fit in a cup. No cream but double the sugar. Please.”
The train attendant shook his head, but with a smile and a finger briefly pressed to his lips as he passed over not one but two Styrofoam cups filled to the brim. He was an Omega too, in his mid-thirties by the look of him, and he wore a black jet widower’s ring instead of a wedding band. Things weren’t much easier for the widowed than the unmated or separated. He understood.
Zach took a grateful gulp, not caring that the coffee was hot enough to scald his throat, and asked, “How far behind schedule are we?” Stretching his legs at the next station would do him good; they ached when he stayed still for too long.
“About half an hour, at this point."
Wishing wouldn’t make the wheels turn faster, but with nothing to look at outside in the dark, Zach adjusted his position so he could get a better view of the passengers in his car. Like most Omegas, he wasn’t very tall. Some new folks had gotten on and others disembarked while he’d dozed, and he liked wondering what their stories were. Two young Alphas who acted like frat bros; interesting, they weren’t the usual size for Alphas, but small and compact and they weren’t at each other’s throats but laughed and joked like best friends. A couple that had to be recently married from the way they could barely resist climbing all over each other; an Omega with a contented smile, probably on his way back home, and --
Oh.
Oh, God.
Zach’s heart jumped into his throat and wedged stuck there even around the burn of his beverage. Three rows ahead, dark wheat-blond hair and a profile almost as familiar as his own turned to smile at the attendant as he refused their offer of coffee. It couldn’t be, it couldn’t be, he hadn’t seen that profile since he was eighteen, but -- He’d changed -- well, he’d grown up, the way everyone did, the bones of his face maturing from soft boyish cuteness to strong, masculine definition. A short beard, trimmed and shaped, that suited his strong, stubborn jaw. The kind of casual suit that would have cost the equivalent of a month’s rent in Manhattan. Elegant hands with sturdy knuckles and deft fingers, and a smile that lit up the train.
He did and didn’t look a thing like the boy Zach remembered but it was, it was, it was him.
Alex.
Zach would have known him anywhere, even if he’d shaved his head and started scowling instead of smiling. If he closed his eyes, he could feel those hands on the bare skin of memory. After all, you never forgot your first.
“I love you. And I know you love me too.”
He should stop staring. Alex would sense it any second now, and he might look around, and --
His gaze drifted back up, drawn like a moth to a flame.
Alex. Oh, Alex.
Zach’s body twitched with the first pangs of arousal, wanting what he’d had once upon a time. He remembered it all, and he remembered it perfectly. He dreamed about it, when he slept. The taste of Alex’s skin, the softness and hardness of his mouth and how his eagerness had nearly rubbed the insides of Zach’s thighs raw. The fullness, almost too much and too tight, when he slid inside Zach.
“I love you. And I know you love me too.”
Anger slowly took alarm and unhappiness’s place – anger, and frustration with himself. Zach should have sensed this train was to be avoided. Dodged. Something! And Alex, sitting there as if he didn’t have a care in the world – it was everything Zach had wanted for him, the entire reason he’d left Alex in the first place, but seeing it in the flesh opened all those old wounds back up and made them bleed afresh. The pain from that moment of saying no to what Alex had offered with all his big, warm heart cut sharper than any knife – but he’d had to. You didn’t do that to your first boyfriend, did you? Take him up on a marriage proprosal and tie him down to a shitty life based on a few promises made in the afterglow?
He’d done the right thing by saying no, leaving, and giving Alex his freedom. Zach knew that. Was sure of it. Even if none of that had ever made him feel any better about it.
They must have been traveling farther and faster than Zach had realized, or he was more out of it than he’d known. Between one blink and the next the train’s PA system crackled to far-too-loud life again, announcing they’d reach their next station at Second Chance in ten minutes. Second Chance? What kind of name was that for a town?
Alex looked up at the speaker, nodded in an absent sort of way, and stood to open the overhead compartment. He took out a bulging messenger bag and slung it over his shoulder and stuffed a pair of thick gloves and a warm knit hat in the pockets of his coat. This would be his stop.
Zach caught his lip between his teeth, torn between – it was pure foolishness, the idea of going to him -- and sanity, staying right where he was.
Let it go.
Zach would have, really he would. But as Alex walked past him – always so eager to do things, that one; he would start heading for the exits before the train had even come to a halt -- he only made it two steps past Zach’s seat before he stopped. As Zach’s heart sank down past the pit of his stomach he saw Alex pause, then turn to look back.
He stopped, just like Zach had, blank with surprise. “Do I know you?”
Zach held his breath. Could he lie? Yes, but this new, matured Alex would have the life experience not to believe him, and he hadn’t changed nearly as much as Alex had. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
“I do know you. I know your face,” Alex said. His voice had matured with the rest of him as he aged, going from sweet to firm with a raspy vocal fry on the edges. “Zach?”
Willa Okati (AKA Will) is made of many things: imagination, coffee, stray cat hairs, daydreams, more coffee, kitchen experimentation, a passion for winter weather, a little more coffee, a whole lot of flowering plants and a lifelong love of storytelling. Will's definitely one of the quiet ones you have to watch out for, though he -- not she anymore -- is a lot less quiet these days.
Charlie taught me I deserved to be loved. Will I be brave enough to claim him as mine?
Temporarily separated while Charlie is on tour, my love for him grows. He is my future—or he will be, once we’ve made our relationship public.
Charlie has been patient—probably too patient—while I’ve been struggling to get over my fear that history will repeat itself. An unforgiving media destroyed my career, I don’t want the same thing to happen to the man I love.
Telling the world is one of many obstacles we have to navigate. The only thing I’m sure of is that we’ll find our way together.
Reviewer: Shee Reader
I previously reviewed book 3 in the series, and it took me a while to get on board with the guys and their relationship. This book starts with the men in a relationship but keeping it secret from everyone as Austin wasn’t happy to face the expected furore. I felt so bad for Charlie in this scenario, and really appreciated the work of the security team to get Austin in to secretly visit Charlie on tour, involving shifting and hiding in a backpack!
Austin and Charlie had really grown on me from the start of their story, and seeing them struggle with claiming each other, the family falling out and subsequent debate about carrying a baby was so touching and heartfelt that I was ready to go to war for Austin and Charlie.
There is conflict and character development, but it is relatively low angst. I do love a happy shifter book with a charming HEA that was just right for these two guys.
The writing was good and emotive without being too heavy.
Recommended.
I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
