Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Whole: An Omegaverse Story
SERIES: Breaking Free #5
AUTHOR: A.M. Arthur
PUBLISHER: Briggs-King Books
LENGTH: 291 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 9, 2017
BLURB:
Two broken hearts…one perfect fit.
Alpha Morris Danvers likes his quiet life as a paralegal and as the uncle to his beta brother Morgan’s infant son Aeron. Raised by an abusive sire, Morris and Morgan have relied on each other for years, and Morris doesn’t trust himself to do right by an omega mate. When a tragic accident leaves Morris alone to raise a baby, he reaches out to his boss Ronin Cross for help—and gets more help than he ever imagined from Ronin’s mate and their friends. But Morris can’t take bereavement leave forever and Aeron needs a caregiver.
After surviving an abduction and months of torture, all omega Jaysan Rowe wanted was to give away the baby he never asked for and move on. But after months of acting out, Jaysan finally hits rock bottom on the one-year anniversary of his child’s birth. Desperate to get his act together, he meets with an alpha who needs full-time daycare for his infant nephew. But the instant Jaysan sets his sights on little Aeron he knows: Aeron is his biological child. Even Morris’s nose can tell the pair belongs to each other. His nose also tells him something even more shocking: Jaysan is his bondmate.
Both men feel the bond, but neither is ready to mate, period, so they come to a business arrangement. Jaysan wants a relationship with Aeron, and Morris needs a sitter. It should have been perfect, except for that pesky mating bond. A bond that draws them together, over and over, no matter how hard each man fights it. Jaysan swore long ago he’d never mate or let another alpha touch him during heat—except everything about Morris makes him feel safe. Wanted. Whole. But Morris deserves an unsoiled mate, not someone as dirty and used as Jaysan, and Jaysan will do anything to prove it to the stubborn alpha…even if it means giving up his son a second time.
NOTE: This is a non-shifter Omegaverse story with alpha/omega/beta dynamics, heats, knotting, and mpreg. In this world, omegas are second-class citizens with few civil rights and almost no protections under the law. Trigger warnings for physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. This series is best read in numerical order.
REVIEW:
Killing me. The sweet baby omegas. I just want to wrap them all up and hide them away. But it’s stories like these that I’m glad show omegas for what the truly are. They are valuable. Worth something. Just because they aren’t alphas doesn’t mean the have no worth. And that’s in any story. Omegas are the ones that hold it together most often. And I adore them all.
The worst surprise in history was given to Morris when he finally found out what happened to his brother and brother in law. He had gotten a call from the babysitter, because neither could be reached. When he finally finds them, his brother is gone. Burned severely from a car accident. His brother in law is hanging to life. And then no more. Lost in grief, he catches the sweetest smell he’s ever smelled in the form of a very irritated omega. But he doesn’t have time to worry about it. His nephew just lost his parents. He just lost his only family. And now Morris has to figure out how to raise that precious baby, Aeron. Thankfully, he has Ronin, who brings Kell, and they help get him started. Tarek and Braun and many others have stepped in to help or offered. Morris knows he’s going to need a governor for the baby. What he gets is the surprise of his life. Jaysen is so downhearted. And he’s using sex to try to feel anything but numb. Giving up his baby was the worst thing he could have done, but at the time, he didn’t know better. So when Kell says he knows someone who needs help, he figures he will give it a go. His life has to get better. When he goes to Morris’s with Kell to interview for the job, he is immediately frozen. It can’t be. His own son? What are the odds he would need to babysit his own son? And the smell of the man now keeping him? Oh boy. But Jaysen doesn’t want to mate and neither does Morris because of their pasts. So they have to find a way to work together and through the bond they feel every second.
As I’ve been reading this series, I, of course, adore all the omegas. They are just such a part of my heart. These little fighters, who try to break free of crappy conditions and laws and such. But one of the ones that stood out to me the most was Jaysen. I was so hoping he would get his story. Not only did he suffer through that fighting ring, but he felt his only option was to give up his baby. The grief he suffers daily from missing his little bundle is enough to make a person insane. I couldn’t imagine not having my kid. Nutty as she may drive me. Through his grief, he becomes angry. More and more angry at his circumstances. And actions out in a way that makes him feel. Even if it’s painful. When he meets Morris for this job, everything in him is frozen. Here’s his baby. Right in front of him. Even though he can’t claim him, he can be his governor. He can have his baby back. He just hopes Morris sticks with their deal of no mating, despite how strong their bondmate is pulling at them both. I feel so horrible for both of these boys. The circumstances of them meeting, the pasts they are still trying to overcome. It’s so hard. Both are terrified of giving themselves to each other. No matter how much they may want it.
What a book. It’s will pull you and just make you bawl. But it’s such a good story. It is not a standalone, if you have not read these books. They need to be read in order. But it is so worth it. Jump in along for the ride. It’s an emotional one but a hell of one too.
RATING: 
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