different dynamicsRating: 3.5 stars
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Length: Novella


Richard is the captain of his hockey team and an omega. While with the help of heat suppressants Richard should go into heat every four months, instead it is happening every 30 days. Richard has a hard enough time as an omega in hockey with people thinking it makes him a detriment to the team. So Richard weathers his heats alone, not wanting to let anyone know how truly unbearable they can be.

When Richard’s heat shows up early while he and the team are on a road trip, there is no way he can totally hide his condition. Fortunately, his best friend James is willing to help Richard make it through his heat, and with his sexual aid, things are bearable. To Richard’s surprise, James is willing to continue to help, even when they get home. And when Richard also imprints on another alpha, rival player Dmitry Sokolov, it turns out that both men are willing to help get Richard through the heat. For the first time, Richard may have everything he has needed from two unexpected sources.

Ok, so I sort of expected this one to be kind of omega mating heat crack, and that is pretty much what we got. Sometimes I am in the mood for light, fun, and sexy and so Different Dynamics seemed worth a try from a new-to-me author. And for the most part, this delivered pretty much what I expected and was an easy, quick read.

So there is a basic plot here of Richard unexpectedly coming into his heat and his friend James, and later James’ friend Dmitry, stepping up to help. While some effort is made to build the set up for how James finds out about the heat and why he gets involved with helping Richard, once things get going we are pretty much fully into the “must have sex now” portion of the book. James and Richard are best friends, so we know James cares about him. We also get mention that there is some prior attraction among the three men. But things still move right from zero to hot and heavy without much transition. I do appreciate that it is made clear that all of these guys are into it though, not just responding to urges and pheromones that are forcing them together.

There isn’t much character development here. We are in Richard’s POV and we get a basic sense of his reluctance to share about his heat problems and why. And we know he is a hard worker and determined captain, but that is about it in terms of his character. James and Dmitry are pretty much interchangeable, honestly, aside from the fact that Dmitry speaks in heavily broken English. Both are nice, kind, and caring men who are willing to put their lives on hold to help take care of Richard. But beyond that, we learn nothing about them and mostly they are just foils for Richard’s needs.

We also get only some basics of world building. I was never clear if everyone is an alpha/beta/omega, if there are any women around, or anything beyond the essentials of what is happening to Richard’s body. Even Richard is kind of clueless, and the other guys have to explain a lot to him (this need for exposition is somewhat conveniently explained as a result of the poor sex ed omegas get). It isn’t even clear why these guys go into heat, as it doesn’t appear pregnancy is involved. So not much is really developed here. Mostly the world building revolves around imprinting and all the different hormones and stuff that Richard needs to take and why.

So this story stays mostly on the surface in terms of depth and plot development. It really is pretty much just what it seems — a sexy story about three guys getting it on with a some light world building and a friends to lovers element. And sometimes that is just what I am looking for and that is why, for the most part, this one worked for me. Do be aware that this isn’t a traditional romance. We do get an HFN for these guys in the sense that they are going to continue to be together for Richard’s heats, but there is no indication of any kind of relationship between them, romantic or otherwise, other than the friendship they already had. But if you are looking for a light, quick read set in the omega world with a lot of sexy times and three hockey players, this one may be worth checking out.

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