What's on the Reading Radar? #rejectedmate #WishList #TBR #Read

Lots of reading and writing going on this week, which makes it a typical week. 

Last week I'd asked for recommendations for the rejected mate trope on my FB group and timeline and in one of the RH groups that I'm in. There was a twist though. I want a story where the MC didn't return to the mate who rejected them. No @hole redemption arcs.

You would be surprised how hard these are to find. That trope is usually about forgiveness and second chances, and you can find them everywhere with a simple search of "rejected". I've read a few of them myself, but many times I find the redemption arc lacking and I still hate the @hole. Here lately, my reading mood really wants the rejected mate trope with "no take backs". I want the mate to find a new life, love, and be happier without that toxic relationship. So I asked.

A lot of the MM romance recommendations didn't quite meet my request since most had redemption arcs, though I think that I'd read all of them accept perhaps two before. The request in the RH group got more hits, enough that I'll probably have enough recs from them for a second post.

Title: Omega Reclaimed

Series: Omega Reimagined

Author: Tanya Chris

Length: 101 pages

Genre: Romance / Paranormal / Gay

Notes: This was one of the ones that met my requests. I've seen this off and on for a while but mood and anxiety had me putting off reading. I'll be digging into it this weekend. :)

Blurb: "Of course I smelled him—smelled him and was drawn to him. Rich, ripe, male omega—not far away and well into his heat. Unsatisfied heat. I laughed, realizing that in this moment, at least, the omega was the boss of the alpha. I needed to help him."

Angel, an alpha who's left the violent, strictly hierarchical rules of his pack to find success in the big city, and Leo, an omega on the run from his abusive alpha, are thrust together to satisfy Leo’s urgent heat-lust. But can a once-hurt omega ever trust an alpha to care for and protect him again? And can an alpha sensitive to social injustice learn to enjoy his naturally dominant nature?

Angel and Leo must both face the pasts they ran away from before the two can build a new future together. They may not be able to change the laws of nature, but they can change the language of love.

Omega Reclaimed is a MM alpha/omega shapeshifter novella.

Content warning: this book includes references to past physical abuse and a description of suicide. This is not an MPREG universe. None of the Omega Reimagined stories include MPREG

Title: Unforgivable: Tale of a Luna
Series:  (Not Quite An Alpha)

Author: Leona Page

Length: 479 pages

Genre: Erotic Romance /  Paranormal / MFMM / 

Notes: This is an interesting series. I started with the first one, Teague's Breeder, which is a rejected mates with a redemption twist. I liked the difference but there were a couple of things that Teague did that grated and I'm still conflicted over it. 

Unforgivable was really great, though. Set in the same world, this is basically a plot of "how does a pack implode". It's a train wreck and it's impossible to look away. The alpha of her pack made one decision that had a domino affect and the author gave us his POV (even though he isn't a MC) so that we could see how his pack started to disintegrate.

Lyri experienced a great deal of trauma because of her alpha. It was really terrible, she barely survived and took weeks to recover. So take the trigger warnings very seriously. Though that scene happens off page, there is mention of it periodically, and it is heart wrenching.

There is a crossover with Teague from book one and Carmichael from book three. I tried to read book three because I liked the twins from book one. I thought I was prepared. Carmichael was called out a couple of time by Lyri for being mysoginistic, I thought I could deal. Nope, I couldn't. Carmichael's book is a redemption arc but I couldn't make it to the redemption part. I wanted to throat punch him for how he talked to Cassie and she just took it and let him do whatever because of the mate bond. Honestly, she might have really liked it but I didn't get back to her POV to find out. And with Mattie being an omega too, I just couldn't. I thought about skipping it and reading the last book in the series because I really liked Inuit in Unforgivable. He wouldn't be stupid and reject his mate, but I'm still peeved at Carmichael's book. I thought I had a couple issues with Teague, yeah, Teague is a complete saint next to Carmichael. I tried convincing myself that the read would be worth it if Teague kicked Carmichael's butt--like a lot. (Cassie and Mattie are Teague's adopted pups). But I still can't make myself.

Boy, I had a lot to say, didn't I?

Blurb: A Reverse Harem Wolf-Shifter Erotic Romance.

Lyri is a rejected she-wolf, but only she and her mate know the devastating truth. Her pack lives in ignorance of their alphason's betrayal of his truemate. Instead, his choice is celebrated and loved. Fiercely determined to gain her place by her mate's side, Lyri fights with everything she has... and fails spectacularly.

Her mate's father, the Alpha, declares Lyri nulla venia, unforgivable, and sentences her to suffer a brutal punishment under the Moon.

Lyri would have died, but three males take her to their home to heal. Now, Lyri must make a decision, does she stay and choose to belong to these males, or does she flee to live alone in the wilderness?

Her decision will have consequences that she never imagined, but she is already unforgivable. Can she finally win her battles, and become the she-wolf she was meant to be?

Warning - This story contains mature subjects including sex, mention of sexual violence, violence, and language.

Title: Her True Alpha

Series: 12 Sectors, 3

Author: Isoellen

Length: 110 pages

Genre: Romance / Post Apocalyptic / MF

Notes: This sort of fit the bill. This is an Omegaverse but not a typical one, which is usually my cuppa tea. Here, Omega's contract with Alphas. Her alpha breaks the contract after a couple of things happen and Phee goes back to her parents house. There is a slow reveal about what Phee was raised to believe, and with the rejection of her alpha, Phee now has a bit of clarity and is seeing her parents with new eyes.

Phee's sister bonded with an alpha of a different sector and she's coming to visit, bringing with her an unbonded alpha who will change Phee's life.

I liked this right up until the end. This is the third book in the series and I was thinking about reading book one and two, but now I don't think so. It's not that anything bad happened in the story. The world is interesting and the reveal came at the right pace to keep me interested. But it just stopped after all the claiming happened. There was a lot more story to tell. The king was visiting. She needed to tell her sister what their mother did. She and her mate needed to face the parents and move back to his territory. We get none of that. It just stops and made me wonder if the first two books just stopped like that. It was unsatisfying even though the two got their HEA. I might convince myself to go back and read the series from the beginning, it just depends if it keeps bugging me.

Blurb: Phee was a proper Omega.

She’d done everything society expected of her–Obeyed her parents, married an appropriate choice of Alpha, tolerated his infidelity.

And what was her repayment? To be cast out by her husband in favor of his pregnant mistress.

With their marriage contract canceled and her reputation in tatters, Phee’s future seems hopeless.

Then, the most unexpected suitor appears… Right as her long-absent heat begins.

~*~
Her True Alpha is a side novella set in the world of the 12 Sectors, featuring the secondary characters Phee and Alreck, and features a HEA for the characters involved.

Title: Shameful

Series: Rejection Island

Author: May Sawson

Length: 254 pages

Genre: Romance / Paranormal / RH

Notes: This was suggested in the RH group and I'm keen on the revenge part of the blurb. I'm reading it this coming weekend. 

Blurb: I’ve had a crush on Lucas Harley, the alpha’s son, since fifth grade. So when one moonlit night reveals Lucas and I are fated mates, I think I’m lucky. I have no idea my happy life in the Northwoods pack is about to crumble.
Lucas isn’t the only one drawn to me. When I’m attacked by a stalker with supernatural powers, I do everything I can to save myself… and I accidentally reveal my abilities to the human world.

Lucas rejects me. My pack turns on me. And I find myself kidnapped by surly shifters and taken away to Reject Island, where the unwanted—and unstable—wolves are both abandoned and guarded, until they can prove themselves worthy.

My stalker is still out there, still hunting me. Now he thinks I’m an easy target. But I’m determined to redeem myself by destroying him.

And as I get to know my grouchy but gorgeous guards, I realize I need more than redemption.

I need revenge on not only my stalker, but Lucas and the pack who wronged me. And I need a second chance at love.

Shameful is a standalone reverse harem romance that is part of the Reject Island shared world, which can be ready in any order. If you don't enjoy rejected mates, cocky shifters, snarky heroines and hot scenes, back away now.

Thank you for stopping by and reading!!