The Omega's Third Whish

3stars

This was a tough review. I didn't love this book but I didn't exactly hate it either. For the most part, it was a sweet story about a single dad finding love. What I did love about it though was that the main characters shift. I've read my share of Mpreg alpha omega stories with omegas being in heat and all of that and no one shifts. This always leaves me confused like are they wolves/shifters or not and if they aren't what's with all the Alpha and Omega talk. Now onto the more important stuff.

There may be spoilers:

Man makes wish, daughter makes wish, Genie is a real Genie, wishes come true. We all know this is going to happen because this is a HEA. So, it's about the how. My first problem was I find it very hard to believe in a world where shifters and elves, (as the main characters have an elf couple literally for neighbours), and so on people do not think Genies exist. Especially if they know Fae are real. It was just hard to buy into that plotline.

Secondly, I keep secretly hoping the fact that there are two men involved and one can actually become pregnant that things would be less stereotypical. But before it even happens Theo is already happy to just be taking care of an Alpha and his family. I went into this thinking it was a story about how chance landed him a job and through that joint connection between employee and employer a love would blossom. But that angle got glossed over for the idea of an Omega taking care of home and an Alpha realising how nice it felt to have an Omega around doing that.

A good point though was even though Theo thought the curse still existed for it didn't consume his every waking moment. He settled into his new normal accepting that it might all end, but as a plot device, it wasn't hanging over the reader with him overthinking it on every page. The problem here is that it doesn't match up with the ending. When pregnancy finally happens he turns into a drama queen.(I was annoyed by this for the same reason as the above paragraph, just devolving into stereotypical overly emotional Omega territory). Apparently, him getting pregnant is the curse finally manifesting itself and he's doomed to be kicked out of his new happy. The idea is fine but the reaction not so much. How many times has the curse done this? He's been disappointed so many times by now he should be an emotionless void, sitting on the bed unable to even summon the emotion needed to be upset as what he knew would happen seems to finally have manifested itself. Thankfully this was short-lived. But even still, with all that went well for him an adultier 'so it might end' would've been better cause he still didn't know if he was pregnant or just sick as Zeph had not returned with the test. Which brings me to my next point... closure.

As a reader what I was craving at this moment was for Zeph to come back, for us to find out Theo was pregnant and for him to state he was not kicking him out. That would've let the readers have a HEA and know the curse had gone up in smoke in one fell swoop. Instead, we are given more information about the curse by a last-minute character and then the Genie makes a fleeting appearance so the end feels like this big empty void. Basically, it didn't end. Almost as if the author was going for something cute and fantastical to tie up a lose end that as a reader I didn't even know existed and was blindsided by, the cat thing to be specific.

Lastly it would be extra-stupid-amazing if for once I read a Mpreg where it didn't end in pregnancy or that wasn't the crux of the story. I've been alive for decades and in 'hetero' books the women do not always without fail get pregnant. It's totally okay to not get pregnant while still having the ability to become so. I like the idea of Mpreg so I will keep reading them in hopes that it becomes as normalised as women being able to do so and isn't part of the plot. If it happens it happens.

So with all the Omega devolving into their only purpose being taking care of an Alpha cliche, the few plot holes and unsatisfying ending, I still liked this book. That's why it gets three stars. This is probably because for a short story it wasn't quite long enough do drag any of my issues far enough to take me out of the soft blissfully angstless romance. That's exactly what this is so if short, sweet stories that you don't have to invest yourself into is your thing, this is that perfect hide in your bathroom with some bubbly and soak kind of tale. Would def recommend it on those terms but beyond that, the whole Genie, Fae curse, and ending could've been handled much better, possibly with only a more satisfying ending this could've been bumped up to a solid three stars but as it is it's a tentative 3.