“Yet, what if he could have a happily ever after?”
In a word: Maybe read the thing. I didn’t hate this, but I was quite underwhelmed. Having said that, though, I am interested in reading the next book in the series to see how that shakes out. This is the first book in the Hart Medical Center series, and I think it does a good enough job of introducing the rules of the universe it takes place in. Jamal is an omega police detective in a job – and world, really – dominated by alphas. Dealing with bigotry and sexism are constant occurrences for him, but the most egregious example of that seems to be at Hart Medical Center, where he ends up with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. He almost dies because the alpha doctor assigned to him refuses to treat him because he can’t be bothered to work on an omega. Luckily, Dr Brace Jacobs is also on the scene and he and other less-sexist hospital staff work together to save Jamal’s life. It’s a traumatic introduction for the two of them, but it’s how they meet and fall into insta-love (caveat: Omegaverse). Once the danger of the injury has passed, Jamal is then targeted by a stalker who leaves him creepy and threatening notes, which then has him staying with Brace for added protection. I suppose it’s a decent set-up for a story like this, but I feel like the writing kind of let it down. The writing in this book isn’t great, and could’ve definitely benefitted from some editing. Aside from some awkward sentence structure and name swaps, I wasn’t really feeling the romance between Jamal and Brace. This is very insta-love, even for Omegaverse standards, I feel. And there wasn’t really a whole lot of chemistry between them because Jamal tries to keep Brace at arm’s length because of the power imbalance between them and Brace just kind of waits him out on it. They seem happy enough together in the end, though, so that’s something. The thing with the stalker doesn’t get resolved by the end, but I was expecting that because I knew going in that it was supposed to be a mystery that spanned the entire series beyond this book. I am interested to see where that goes, though. Also there were a lot of side characters introduced here that will be showing up in future books, so I am curious to see what the series does with them.
The Summary: (from Goodreads) Detective Jamal Tuma was used to life not going his way. As an omega in an alpha dominated world, he’d experienced more than his fair share of bigotry when he’d decided to enter the police force. His life had been put in danger more times than he could count for no other reason than alphas above him thought it wouldn’t matter if he’d died on the job. Yet, in the six years he’d been a cop, he’d never come quite so close to death as he did when an alpha doctor didn’t feel it necessary to treat his gunshot wound.
Brace Jacobs had never given much thought to the omegas in their world. As a doctor, he’d taken an oath to heal, no matter their color, creed, sex, or even their omega status. But not everyone felt the way he did. It didn’t sit well with Brace, but he didn’t go out of his way to fix the problem, either. That was until Detective Jamal Tuma came through those doors and nearly died with Brace’s hands deep in his body as he fought to save the omega.
Warning: Hijinx and mayhem will ensue, as these two fight the world around them, as well as their own ridiculous preconceived notions, as they hope to build a future together. But that might be easier said than done when there are stalkers, assholes, idiots, and one very determined Patient Care Coordinator, who will kick everyone’s ass while planning a circus, if that’s what it takes for them to begin Breaking Barriers.
[available for purchase at Amazon.ca]
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