Rating: 3.75 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Rowan, an Omega, is the best friend of Celia, the princess. They grew up together, and on the evening of the ball where Celia is to meet the prince of another country and get engaged (for a peace accord), Celia wants to live vicariously through Rowan and hopes he’ll go to the ball, meet a man, flirt, and perhaps have a fling.
Prince Gaspar, called Gus by everyone, is an Alpha and he’s gay. He’s only agreed to marry Celia to keep the peace. Gus wants to marry for love and he knows that will never happen with Celia. His half brother, Bruce, encourages him to go downstairs, choose a handsome man, and have sex before he’s formally introduced to Celia. Gus isn’t really into that idea, but when he heads downstairs to get a sneak peek at the festivities, he meets Rowan, who doesn’t recognize him as the prince. Of course, Gus leaves out that little detail as well.
Rowan helps Gus find his way back to his rooms. They can’t deny the attraction to each other and act upon it, having passionate sex. Both men feel a powerful draw, but Gus knows it can never be. He apologizes to Rowan and heads down to meet his fate. When Gus discovers who he’s just been with, he is mortified and ashamed. The damage has been done, though, and Rowan is left with a reminder of what happened during that wonderful hour with Gus. Gus misses Rowan, and he wants nothing more than to be with him, but he’s solely responsible for the fragile peace that has been agreed upon.
I know I say this a lot, but I love omegaverse stories. Especially if there is heat and knotting involved. They answer to a sort of primitive side of me. When mpreg is involved, I usually get all swoony and drunk on all the love. However, The Prince and the Omega left me feeling a bit let down. The premise is great. A royal prince doomed to marry someone he doesn’t want because peace between two lands depends on it. Especially if that someone happens to be a woman. He wants the male omega, but he doesn’t want to let anyone down. Certainly there’s going to be a happy ending, and that’s what I especially love…the happily ever after.
However, I feel like this one missed the mark. I wanted to love it, but I didn’t really connect with the characters. Yes, there was passion, desire, and an ache to be together, but it felt a little forced. Also, there was quite a bit of angst. I had an incredible amount of tension and anxiety while I read this, and I think it was because I wasn’t all that invested in why there was so much. It seemed to me that the story was supposed to be about Rowan and Gus, but there was so much going on, they got lost.
Along with Rowan and Gus, there is Celia, Amelia (another best fried from childhood), and Bruce. Lots of time is spent on them, with or without the MCs. It came across as a book about a royal wedding, rather than making the romantic relationship between the men…like that was simply a subplot. Truthfully, I didn’t care much for any of them, and one of them definitely proved me right. I’m not going to give away any spoilers, though.
I think The Prince and the Omega went a little too long and got bogged down in a lot of detail that it could have gone without. I mentioned the angst and tension. While it’s not my favorite thing, and I felt anxious while reading, I’ll send out a few kudos to the author because it wasn’t faked. Still, it took up a lot of the story and I was starting to become frustrated enough to stop liking the men, especially Gus.
I was actually very satisfied with the ending. It was unique, and while I had an inkling of how it was going to go, I was pleased. I got my happily ever after, it just took awhile to get to it.
I’m still going to recommend it to those of you who like the omegaverse, castle intrigue, angst, and little bundles of joy. I’ve read other books written by Penelope Peters, and I have no qualms about reading more.
