Artist Kisses for the Omega

I loved this. Everything about it. I routinely get annoyed with MPreg because of its tropey nature and most importantly how it does Omegas. It was so entirely refreshing to read one where the Omega was his own man, and the Alpha allowed him the space to be that.

The other thing about it that I love is how, when dealing with his evil mother, the Omega didn’t turn whiny or into an angsty mushy mess. He stood his ground and had a much more adult-type argument. And the moment where he runs away was also refreshing. Even at his lowest, he didn’t turn into something that only existed for an alpha to use. He didn’t fall prey to the manipulation.

The Alpha, I need me one of these. He was just everything swoons. Okay, to be fair I’m definitely more of the army guy type so team Omega gets a double swoon. The thing I love here is the same I love about the Omega. It’s not all about finding a baby machine or having a homemaker. It’s about meeting someone where they are at and respecting that. He didn’t even stay close enough to him to take advantage of the Omega’s heat even knowing how much the Omega wanted him. I honestly thought I’d never find an Mpreg where both the Alpha and the Omega weren’t just in it for the two normal reasons. The Omega being dominated and finding their Alpha so they can start a family, and the Alpha looking for an Omega to take care of and start a family with. I mean they can’t all follow this pattern. Life is more rich than that.

As far as the plot goes everything was fine. The two leads are suffering from the same problem but from different angles. As the story moves along, through conversation, they both learn a thing or two from each other. This romantic growth is also directly related to the problems the Omega is having with his mother that leads to a perfectly timed climax that segues into a pivotal moment for the relationship. There’s just a lot to love here when it’s compared to how other Mpregs are written.

The tension, characters and overall plot has the feel of a regular non-Mpreg book, while simultaneously allowing readers to enjoy the fact that this is indeed Mpreg. I wish more books did this.

What I didn’t like is that like most Mpreg stories there are no women other than the mother and she is the villain. At least this one didn’t go so far as to have his mom also be a male. In all fairness, he just calls her mom so I could be wrong but she is going to be a she in my mind. I don’t know how these mystery all-male universes are created but it’s weird. Even in regular non-omegaverse human novels there are no women sometimes. It’s weird.

Also, there was some forced drama at the end involving the omega’s brother and father. I find it hard to believe that he would wait that long to show up especially considering he walked away from the Omega’s mom. He would’ve told his son that when it happened, and, small town and all, even if you cut someone off gossip happens. The omega would’ve known considering it’s been just over a year that his parents were divorced. It was almost like the author was looking to pick a fight because the story just couldn’t end happily. It felt forced and is definitely one of those things I don’t like. Forced unnecessary tension. It falls into romance tropes in general and not specifically Mpreg.

And then there’s the first time pregnant thing. Sigh. All Mpreg reads like every time you finish inside someone they will get pregnant. If this were true the human race in real life would be way more overpopulated than it is. It’s entirely possible to do this and not get pregnant. So the idea that since they had been having safe sex and then the one time they don’t lead to pregnancy is so odd, and it’s very unique to Mpreg. There’s a whole niche for condom-free and none of those characters in non-Mpreg novels get pregnant every time so I really don’t understand this.

And lastly, jumping of the getting pregnant idea, after all the praise about breaking down Mpreg tropes, instead of allowing the Omega to go to police academy graduate and then start a family on his terms, this story, unfortunately, takes the first time when I mark you as mine you get pregnant plotline. By doing this we miss out on the Omega actually getting his chance to be independent and live out his dream and, sadly the story dissolves just like all the rest of Mpreg into being about him getting pregnant for his Alpha.

Mostly this story was amazing but not completing the full cycle of an Omega not being there to just start a family and giving him his moment, plus the argument that didn’t need to happen with his father and younger brother, both fell squarely into the tropes of Mpreg that this novel did a really good job of avoiding. If it wasn’t for how this played out in the end it would’ve been an easy five stars, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really disappointed that in the final act it slipped back into what I was hoping would not be in this story.

If you’re like me and need a break from what Mpreg is usually like then I highly recommend you read this. Best Mpreg I’ve probably ever read and I think I’m going to read more from this author just to see if my opinion holds up.