I love shapeshifter alpha/omega dynamics. I love knotting and slick and the way an alpha can calm an omega down or an omega can send an alpha into rut with nothing but their scent. I love a good toppy dynamic and although I didn’t include the fated mates trope in my own omegaverse, I can certainly appreciate the comfort of knowing that this is your one, forever and always. I love, love, love heat—anything that makes sex hotter and more necessary wins in my book.
I just don’t love M-PREG.
As I often joke, I’m not a fan of F-PREG either. I never look for babies in my romance, but I especially dislike unintentional pregnancy. Unintentional pregnancy is exactly what I’ve spent my whole life trying to avoid. It’ll never be sexy to me.
Lots of people do like M-PREG (and F-PREG), and I’m not going to tell them they’re wrong, but as I often say, I write the books I want to read, and what I wanted was shapeshifter alpha/omega dynamics without the M-PREG, so that’s what you get in Omega Reclaimed: all the knotting, none of the babies.
I started the book with a classic alpha/omega scene in mind: Alpha Angel comes upon Omega Leo in a particularly brutal heat and ends up taking care of him for a few hot sex scenes. But then, me being me, I found myself less than comfortable with the idea of omegas being at the mercy of big strong alphas and the demands of their own bodies.
Let’s face it, in omegaverse, omegas are a stand-in for women, and I write feminist-friendly romance. I couldn’t leave Leo to suffer in a world that gave him no rights. The challenge was to work towards social justice without losing the heat, and I think I succeeded. Leo is an omega who can take care of himself, even if he does enjoy being tossed around in bed. He ends up fighting his own fight, and Angel does what I’d want a man to do for me: love and support without taking over.
Thus started my desire to subvert all the omegaverse tropes, which has led to a second book with a third to come in early 2019. The new one will be omega/omega, but I still plan to work knotting/heat/slick in there, because why should alphas have all the fun?
Yes. I have never wanted to be pregnant, so why would I want to read about it. Nope on the babies. I also don’t like how the whole genre has be commandeered so now authors have to explain there is no mpreg when that was not initially what Alpha/Omega was about. Or how you have to defend that you don’t like mpreg or you’re anti-Trans. I’m not anti-anybody. I just don’t find breeding sexy. It’s not my thing. I don’t care if it’s your thing as long as you don’t attack me because I disagree with you. And you know what, never say never, because there is always one or two books that are done well and you think, ok–but those are rare anomalies. If it is not your thing, it is never going to be your thing. I don’t try to shame others when they like what they like, so I certainly don’t appreciate it when I am shamed for not liking what other people want me to. Also, I really don’t like being tricked when I am reading a series and all of the sudden in book two or three, there is mpreg with no warning and I am having to review it. Nope.