Book Talk Review; Best Laid Plans

Such a sweet book 

In a world where omegas rule, alphas must provide. Maxwell Moore is a successful omega who loves his job as CEO of his family’s automotive company. After successfully navigating the company through an economic slump, he wants nothing more than to keep doing what he loves, but his alpha brother, Howard, has other plans. Faced with the threat of being forced into a marriage he doesn’t want, Maxwell comes up with a plan.

Diagnosed as infertile when he was a teen, Chase Grant is a lonely, unmatched alpha with no hope of getting the life he’s always wanted. Working a menial, but fulfilling job at an animal shelter, he doesn’t expect things to change for the better. When he’s approached by a dashing older omega with a mutually beneficial proposal, Chase can’t think of a single reason to say no.

Weeks turn into months and feelings develop between the two men, proving love knows no bounds and fate yields to no one. When an unexpected development turns their world upside down, Max and Chase come together, only to find their separate goals are now the same and they must work together to save the life they’ve built and make their dreams come true.

Best Laid Plans is set in Star Valley, a fictional omegaverse where centuries of power struggles have seen the omegas come out on top. Alphas still provide, but it’s the omegas who call the shots. This book also contains a little angst, a fetch-loving canine, a dash of mpreg, and some naughty knotting.

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I will preface this by saying I love reading Mpreg and we do not bash books here, so if this isn't your genre then please move along and let us have our fun. 

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Best Laid Plans is sweet in its love story. Chase and Max use each other to get what they want. Max wants to keep his job, Chase wants a better life and someone to call family. I love marriage of convenience books. I love watching the characters fall in love when they least expect it. I love seeing them work hard to maintain their relationship and how they appreciate the love they have together. 

E.M. Denning stretches her writing wings with this book. It's Mpreg, which sold me right away. It's set in a world that differs from any other Mpreg book out there and that kept my interest. Normally you get omegaverse books where the alphas are the ones in charge and in a lot of them omegas are nothing but incubators. I love how she turned that on its head and made the alphas as nothing but sperm donors. Of course, our characters don't think like that, but society does, and it's refreshing. 

I wanted to hug Chase. He was so lonely, reduced to nothing but his infertility. He had a job he liked, but that was about it. I hated how lonely he felt. I wanted to love him because he deserved so much more than he was getting. 

Max was also lonely. He might not have realized it, but he was. He chose Chase for his infertility. He wanted to keep his job and he allowed society's stifling views to influence some of his decisions. I don't blame him, but it took a bit to endear me to him because he allowed himself to become blind to Chase. It was easy to forgive him when I was able to see how much he cared, but still, Max needed a little wakeup call and I'm glad he didn't take too long in his realization. 

Both men try to make the best of their situation. They're both kind and caring and they stand up for each other before they're even really friends. It's nice to see and it eases their loneliness a little. To see their friendship turn to love, even if neither of them knows what to do with that. 

Since this is Mpreg we do get to see how Chase and Max deal with Max's heat. Much to the characters' surprise, we get a baby out of it. Their reactions are varied, but I was expecting this part and I thought it was handled well. It was sweet and true to the characters with no more drama than was necessary. Chase and Max were in a place in their relationship, where even though they had very different reactions to the news, they were still able to support each other. 

Best Laid Plans was sweet, it told a love story that showed how even what seems like the best of plans can go awry in the best of ways. I hope we get more in this world because it's a fun twist on the omegaverse and I would love to be able to explore it more. 

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"Chase's happiness had become a puzzle Max wanted to solve." 

"It's nice to not be alone anymore." 

"You can stop thanking me, Chase. I want to give you everything." 

"Max was precious to him, and not only because he chose Chase. Because his kindness and generosity knew no limit. He never treated Chase like a brainless alpha. He treated him like an equal...He didn't have words to tell Max how much it meant to him, so he told him with the way he cradled his face as he kissed him." 

-Abri