Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: His Accidental Valentine’s Omega
SERIES: Omega Mansion Novella, Book 2
AUTHOR: Ava Beringer
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 191 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 9, 2021
BLURB:
My biggest rival is posing as my mate for Valentine’s Day, all for the chance to best me. What if I’m not pretending?
Omega salesman Jeremiah Townsend doesn’t believe in love. He’s the best in spite of his worst alpha rival, Mitch Wasilewski. Still single, he’s secretly pregnant by artificial insemination and his family’s going to flip. When his meddling cousin Tajj starts sniffing around, Jeremiah offers Mitch the keys to his sales kingdom, his top-secret contacts list, to pretend to be his mate and father of his child for the big family reunion on Valentine’s. It’s only for convenience’s sake, right? So why does Jeremiah want Mitch more and more every day?
Alpha Mitch Wasilewski is a big shot salesman and a hit with the omegas, if he does say so himself. Still, something’s been missing since his biggest rival, omega Jeremiah Townsend, left the team without a word. When Mitch runs into Jeremiah, he finds him pregnant and desperate to fool his family into thinking they’re in love. He offers Mitch “The List” and the chance to be on top once and for all. It’s an offer Mitch can’t refuse; all he has to do is keep his heart out of it. Easier said than done; he’s falling for the omega and the unborn baby, too. Will his buried feelings rise to the surface?
Can they fool Jeremiah’s family? Can they resist their growing feelings? Will the baby be born on Valentine’s Day?
REVIEW:
His Accidental Valentine’s Omega is an adorable MPreg Omegaverse Valentine’s Day romance. It is a quick, enjoyable read that will leave you with warm and fuzzy feelings. But don’t be deceived into thinking this story is all “fluff”. The author adeptly weaves meaningful subtext throughout this sweet story.
This is the second book in the Omega Mansion series of novellas. You can read it as a standalone. However, you can get additional color around one of the MCs, Mitch Wasilewski, by reading the prior book, His Accidental Christmas Omega, first. Also, note that the characters from the prior book play a decent-sized role in this story. That being said, I did not read Christmas Omega first, and had no trouble following Valentine’s Omega. The author does an excellent job of filling in the blanks.
Pregnant Omega Jeremiah Townsend and Alpha Mitch, were rival salesmen at their company. Jeremiah quit the sales force and transferred to accounting without explanation, six months prior. Mitch has been professionally bereft ever since. Jeremiah consistently won the top monthly sales prize. Mitch claims he’s glad Jeremiah left and he incessantly (and annoyingly) brags about winning top sales month after month since Jeremiah’s transfer. However, Mitch admits that his victories feel hollow without Jeremiah as an obstacle to overcome.
Jeremiah, disillusioned and disappointed in Alpha views and treatment of Omegas, gave up on finding love. Jeremiah is unwilling to compromise himself or accept being viewed as anything less than an equal by his partner. He decides he wants a family of his own, so he takes matters into his own hands and gets artificially inseminated. When the book opens, he is about to go out on leave to have the baby.
Despite claiming that they can’t stand each other, it’s obvious there is a connection between Mitch and Jeremiah. That connection isn’t just professional competition, though. There’s clearly attraction between these two. However, a larger issue stands in their way of recognizing it and moving beyond that.
Mitch had been a stereotypical Alpha. He presumed an Omega had one purpose – to have an Alpha’s babies. He believed they didn’t have the skill or smarts to succeed in anything else. Jeremiah relays that his initial dislike of Mitch stemmed from Mitch’s making these exact presumptions about Jeremiah.
The author does a terrific job of communicating an important social message here. Mitch of old (prior to the start of this book), represents the stereotypical male who believes that an Omega’s (read: woman’s) place is in the home, cooking, cleaning and having babies. This view discounts the enormous value women contribute to all aspects of society, including in traditionally male spheres. In fact, women excel and often surpass male peers. Sadly, this stereotypical view still exists and is more prevalent than you might think. But Mitch stands as the example of how that thinking needs to, and can, change.
The reformed(ing) Mitch we see in this book, recognizes the error in his antiquated thinking and actions. However, he’s still learning how to break old habits. As the book progresses, we see Mitch continue to grow and take ownership of his prior poor attitude and conduct. The development of Mitch’s character is one of the things the author does best in this book. She creates a very real, flawed, but loveable man who ultimately turns into an upstanding, supportive, progressive thinking person. He ends up fully embracing Jeremiah and all of the considerable value he brings to all aspects of Mitch’s life.
Further, the author imparts this deceptively lighthearted story with the further nuanced commentary on the social prejudice against artificial insemination and single parenting by choice. This runs hand-in-hand with the message that you can, in fact, have it all: a full complete life with family, friends and a successful, fulfilling career. There’s nothing wrong with taking control of your life to make that happen.
A sweet romance between two characters in a real relationship forms the package that wraps up this meaningful subtext. To be honest, I didn’t feel a lot of chemistry between Mitch and Jeremiah. The sex scenes (which are minimal) really didn’t resonate for me either. However, in true rivals/enemies-to-lovers fashion, despite their initial feelings and distinct opposite personalities, Mitch and Jeremiah come around and fall in love, and it’s done in a believable way. Despite the weak “sexy” aspects of the story, the emotional connection that developed was palpable and significant. It made it easier to see and understand how they work together well as a couple.
The writing is solid, often witty, and the character descriptions are excellent. However, in spots, Jeremiah’s emotional reaction to certain things Mitch says or does didn’t make sense or wasn’t plausible. This wasn’t a major issue and didn’t materially detract from my enjoyment of the book. However, it was notable enough that it created a transient distraction when it occurred.
Overall, though, His Accidental Valentine’s Omega is fun, funny and heartwarming. It also contains some interesting (albeit mostly predictable) twists and turns, and a great cast of secondary characters in Jeremiah’s family. If you like this genre, I think you’ll enjoy this short, sweet Valentine’s treat of a story.
RATING: 
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