Review: Falling for the Omega by C.W. Gray
SYNOPSIS:
Carter Benson is a lonely, scarred mess of an alpha. Honorably discharged from the army after being injured, he is left with very little that really matters. All he has is a Trust fund he refuses to touch, burns on his face, and a brand new prosthesis. He doesn’t have his family, he isn’t near his friends, and his face makes small children cry. So, he goes to Maine, finds a tiny town, and starts a business as a plumber. It doesn’t help his loneliness, though. Until a little girl hunts him down and forces him to be her new best friend.
Elijah Wilson has lived in Hobson Hills his whole life. So what that most of the townspeople think he’s a whore because he’s a single omega and got pregnant at eighteen? So what if they think he takes advantage of his grandparents by living on their property? Elijah and his large extended family know better. They know that he hasn’t dated anyone since before Olive was born. They know he works hard in the family business and is great with investments. They know the truth, but it can be hard living in a town that doesn’t care about the truth. It can also be really lonely. Until his daughter makes a new best friend.
When the two men meet, sparks fly. Their lives change for the better, but life isn’t always easy. Narrow-minded townspeople and greedy parents can cause a lot of trouble. But there’s always hope. There’s always love.
REVIEW:
I recent read a C.W. Gray collaboration book with Amy Bellows and positively enjoyed it so I thought I would give their individual works a try. Unfortunately, this story was a miss for me. It had the potential, I liked the shorter novella length and the synopsis promises a light-fluffy romance but I just struggled to finish the book for a few reasons.
First off, C.W. Gray skipped over literally 90% of the Carter and Elijah interacting. When they first meet the insta-lust is obvious but that isn’t a deal breaker for me. They have a friendly neighbor dinner that is the first date…then the book literally flashes forward a month. We miss the tender-hearted getting to know each other moments. And as a result, the Carter and Elijah fell flat as characters, they lacked any depth and them together as a couple seemed misplaced as we missed all the substance that is their relationship.
And this seemed to be due to C.W. Gray wanting to include this sub-plot with Elijah’s parents (who were the absolute worst). The subplot sort of took over the entire narrative and any Elijah and Carter relationship was pushed to the backburner. The drama with Elijah’s parents was ridiculous and over the top and Elijah’s meddlesome extended family was a little bit too much of a character dump. There had to be upwards of 15-20 characters from his family alone that we were introduced to, some of which didn’t even contribute to the narrative or plotline.
Another weird caveat I have was that Carter made it sound like he wasn’t on good terms with his family. But suddenly they have one phone call and they are all best friends and closer than ever? It was very strange; why even try to insert some form of drama there only to have everything be swept under the rug even though they apparently have been disappointed in Carter his whole life? I think C.W. Gray had a great concept here but this was a classic case of poor execution. There was literally no fluidity to the story. Unfortunately, all the external drama took over the plot and left little room for Carter or Elijah.
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