Tex Greerson can have just about any omega he wants. He’s pretty much plowed through all the single omegas in Sweet Water. Even though Tex secretly yearns to find an omega of his own, no one has been able to convince him to settle down.Griffin Kantain is seven months pregnant and running from his abusive alpha. When he tries to steal Tex’s truck, the cowboy stops him cold. When Tex realizes Griff … realizes Griff is pregnant, he’s driven to help him.
Griff isn’t originally from Sweet Water and he doesn’t quite understand all these goody-two-shoes who are trying to help him. Most perplexing of all is the sexy cowboy, Tex, who’s taken him into his home. Griff can’t tell if Tex just sees him as a charity case, or if maybe there’s something more between them.
This 36,000 word book is a sweet and sexy, contemporary, non-shifter love story with mpreg and a HEA ending. Though part of the Omegas of Sweet Water, Texas, this standalone story does not need to be read as part of the series.
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4.5 stars. Tex is a terrific hero. Strong, generous, protective, and kind. He takes Griff in, giving him shelter and support. Griff has been so beaten down that he’s a very prickly guy. He’s never been shown true love and acceptance until Tex. These two go round and round until he takes a stand and tells Griff how he feels about him and gives Griff an opportunity a chance at love and a family. An absolutely lovely ending.
Accepting that you need help is one thing, but actually accepting that help is a whole other can of worms. Griff doesn’t trust easily, especially not a cocky, attractive alpha. That’s what got him into his current situation. And when Tex doesn’t do anything but offer him a room, food, clothes, safety, and genuine warmth in return for trying to steal his truck and snarking at him each time he opens his mouth? There’s got to be an ulterior motive, he just knows it. But as he softens he realizes that he wants those ulterior motives except as more time that passes he’s slowly seeing that Tex might just not have those. Who would want a snarky omega pregnant with another alpha’s kid?
Little does he know Tex really does have desires for Griff. He just wants him to feel safe, protected, clean, warm, and fed more than he wants to get him in bed. He’s had his share of omegas but hasn’t had any that inspired him to keep them. No one before has brought out his protective instinct or inflamed his desire the way this scraggly omega on the run has. The more time he spends getting to know him the more he realizes he just might like him, might want to make his stay more permanent.
Tex had a lot to offer Griff and Griff could have been just the fiery companion Tex needs to keep him in line and interested. When their rough edges are worn down by their prolonged proximity we see new sides to both of them that give us a more complete picture of who these men are, why they are the way they are, and just how great they could be together.
I was frustrated by their inability to communicate. They talked around all the important feelings stuff and it made for misunderstandings, bitterness, and hurt. And the bar scene when Tex knows what Griff is to him, no matter how prickly Griff is, was just wrong. Totally wanted to smack him for saying and doing what he did. I get why Griff holds back but to be so vehemently against claiming and making sure Tex knows that but to be upset when Tex respects him isn’t okay either. I think that the relationship angst was a bit too high for such a short story, especially when there’s other drama threatening to separate them and endangering Griff and his daughter.
And when it came to the external drama it was like fireworks. Big boom only to instantly fade. The confrontations were both sudden and intense only to be dealt with quickly. While that could have been comforting, it didn’t feel right for the story either. A guy who has a history of abusing omegas isn’t really a flash-in-the-pan kind of guy and I was expecting a bit more from that plot point.
The story overall was good, though, because the writing was clear and gave us a great picture of the two men. Passion was present and very intense. Their claiming scene was hot but with the angsting before and especially after I was disappointed in the men. By the time we get to their confessions I had mixed feelings of their compatibility but can’t deny that I’m a lover of honest hearts. With a slightly longer story and a more streamlined plot I think this could have been a great story. As is it was a nice story with great chemistry, humorous bickering (to a point), a surprising amount of angst, and an awesome mom and friends to carry both men through and make them see beyond themselves.