I've recently discovered the omegaverse romance trope? genre? sub-genre? Not quite sure what it is called. Mostly, I just know it as omegaverse.
To loosely define omegaverse for the uninitiated, it's either male/female (M/F), male/male (M/M), or reverse harem (RH). There's a lot of omegaverse fiction that is M/M where the males can get pregnant (mpreg), and that's not my thing, so I'm not going to focus on that. M/F and RH omegaverse is focused on an alpha male or males and a female omega. There's a social or cultural hierarchy in the world where the pecking order is alpha, beta, omega. The alphas are at the top of the heap, they breed or mate with omegas, and the betas are more of the doers of the lot, and the omegas are at the bottom of the ladder. Alphas tend to be jealous and possessive while omegas are meant to be submissive. Betas are the easy going, mild mannered, likable ones.
The crux of the omegaverse focuses on the alpha and the omega, breeding, and the omega going into heat. The omega will invariably go into heat and need to be mated. The alpha will have an overwhelming desire to fill the omega with his seed and knot with her. Knotting is when his penis swells within her, and they get stuck together, orgasming repeatedly until the knot subsides. That could take hours. This is instinctual and built into the DNA of the alpha and omega and cannot be avoided though in some stories there are suppressants the omegas can take to control their heat and reduce the symptoms because they do not want an alpha and to be mated. Apparently, an omega wanting to be independent and a life of her own is a thing. :-p
If you want to read the definition and more information on the omegaverse structure, this is a fantastic article by an omegaverse author whose book I loved.
I've been fascinated by the concept of the omegaverse because I'm all about the alpha male and the submissive omega female. Unfortunately for me, my initial foray into (I'm going to call it) sub-genre didn't quite pan out for me because the books were too dark or the heroines were too resistant and fighting the heroes every step of the way. Not my thing. I DNFed quite a few of them actually, and you can read about them here. I discovered I generally disliked the majority of the omegaverse books out there and the way they were written.
Then I discovered Kathryn Moon, and her omegaverse was everything I ever wanted in an omegaverse. The heroine was sweet and willing, the men were alpha and caring, and there were tons of cuddling, nesting, and smexy times where everyone was consenting and into it.
After that someone in a book group I'm in recommended a book by Isoellen. Being leery from my previous experience with omegaverse books, this time, instead of diving in, I asked a bunch of questions. The main one was "did the heroine resist?" That's a biggie for me. I can't handle another reluctant, fighting heroine who is lying, cheating, and scheming her way away from the hero. Fortunately, no resisting heroine. She's all-in. She chooses the alpha and bonds with him. And there's nesting, and the hero is uber alpha who is so possessive if the other person even looks at the heroine wrong, he chops off their hands. They don't live long without hands, I'm told! :-p
Omegaverse books are becoming more popular, and more and more authors are writing them even though they have been around in fan fiction forever, particularly the M/M versions, which I'm told is where the concept originated. There's tons of omegaverse out in the fan fiction world, particularly on something like Wattpad. https://www.wattpad.com/ I've heard the M/M omegaverse fan fiction is a lot more nuanced and sophisticated and much better than what's out there for general consumption of M/F omegaverse.
From my perspective, I like my omegaverse to be M/F or RH, sweet and sexy, and my omegas willing. I like them to be cherished and prized in their world, and any alpha who nabs one is a lucky man. I like when the omega does the choosing, and the alpha is honored to be chosen and willing to do anything to secure their bond. This is rare in the omegaverse book world, and I've only come across the two books I've mentioned above being what I like. Fortunately, both Ms Moon and Ms Isoellen are planning more books in their omegaverse worlds. Hooray!!
Anyway, tell me, have you heard of or read any omegaverse? And if you have, what do you like about them? Can you recommend any in the vein of what I enjoy?
Update: I've recently found a few more omegaverse authors I enjoy. They tend to be on the more sweet and steamy side. I don't enjoy the dark omegaverse so I won't be recommending any of those. Milana Jacks writes lighter, funny omegaverse. Her books tend to be quite funny. Callie Rhodes writes shorter, more intense, and sexy omegaverse. There's a little push and pull in her stories since the world is set up in such a way that some betas turn into omegas when they touch an alpha and society has taught them that alphas are bad. Finally, a new-to-me debut author, Alexis B Osborne, who writes sweet and steamy sci-fi-esque omegaverse. I read her free series prequel and enjoyed it a great deal. Her books are more akin to Kathryn Moon's omegaverse on the sweet and steamy front. Happy reading.
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What a fascinating post, Deanna.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
DeleteDeanna i found a couple more authors Hannan Haze and Sierra Cassidy
DeleteLoved this. I don't know how I missed it before. But what an honor. And also...shhh. Don't tell, but one thing that inspired my stories is the heroines who seem clueless and self-hating about their nature. It drove me batty and I couldn't figure out why no one helped them just find a decent guy!
ReplyDeleteMy disappointment in the genre at first was the fact that all the omegas fought against their nature. Why did they all have to fight it? Why not embrace it?
DeleteI found this post while searching for other sweet omegaverse books. I just finished reading the Kathryn Moon books and really enjoyed them. Like you, I tried other OV books and found them too dark. We can’t be the only ones who want happier OV books, can we?
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm sure we are not but those books seem so rare. Also try Isoellen. Her books are more intense but still sweet and sexy. And Milana Jacks. Her books are fun. Also funny. Much more lighthearted.
DeleteCallie Rhodes is also similar and lighthearted omegaverse author. Her Boundarylands Series was amazing. Also read The Omega Rule by Sharilybb Skye.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I've recently discovered Callie Rhodes. I'll check our Sharilynn Skye.
DeleteThe hidden dragon omegaverse by mercedes jade is also really good. Reminds me of Kathryn Moons sweet verse
ReplyDeleteThis is a great list ! Totally agree with you thanks for the recommendations
DeleteThanks for stopping by. I'm glad you enjoyed the post.
DeleteOh and thanks for the rec on the Mercedes Jade book. I will check it out. I've heard good things about her.
DeleteGreat list! I have only recently gotten into the genre and I really am in the same boat as you. Thank you for your recommendations, thoroughly enjoyed the writing of isoellen. Have you got any updated recommendations since you last posted on this thread - there are so many novels within this genre that I only get a chapter Into.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found this post helpful. I'm sorry, but no, it's hard to find sweet and sexy omegaverse as opposed to dark omegaverse which is abundant. Most authors write dark omegaverse which is not my thing. Isoellen has a new book coming out soon and I think Kathryn Moon is going to be writing another book in her sweetverse soon.
DeleteThank you! I was really intrigued by the Omegaverse but they all were too dark for me with the abuse and cheating and a lot of them don’t even have HEA. I like alpha males but only if he cherishes his lady and she’s willing in the first place. Thank you for your recommendations!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found this helpful. I'm the same. I want the heroine (omega) to not be fighting the alpha every step of the way.
DeleteTHANK YOU! Your post is literally my feelings on Omegaverse. I am fine with tension & will they/won’t they, but dub con and darkness are not my thing. Please keep updating this if you find more authors like these :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. I'm glad you found this post helpful. xoxo
DeleteI've only recently discovered Omegaverse doesn't have to be dark, anxty, and quite often abusive. Viola Grace has 2 series 'Omega Next Door' which leads into her 'Betas in Waiting' most of the omegas come from bad backgrounds and their pack, pride etc are kind and help get beyond it. She also has some A-O type themes in a few other of her books like the Wedding Hunt books in her Blind Date Corporation series.
ReplyDeleteI've been searching for kindness in Omegaverse since. I read to escape, so thank you for adding possibilities to my tbr.
There are quite a few newer ones now too since the trope has grown in popularity. If you haven't already, try Hannah Haze. Her books are awesome. Very much in the ilk of Kathryn Moon's sweetverse.
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