Don't let that adorable cover fool you. This is a down right delectable, spicy, why choose romance. 

Omegaverse is like a drug…or a potato chip. You can’t just have it once (don’t do drugs though…this is just a metaphor). You must consume it as much as possible, in as many forms and fashions as you can find! And boy am I consuming this genre at, potentially, alarming rates. That’s right, reader friends. I’ve read another omegaverse in one sitting (around 3ish hours). We are heading back into the cozyverse created by Eliana Lee and Emilia Emerson, this time with one of Lee’s brand new packs. 

Not only is Lee an author of color, she tends to include POC characters in many of her novels. In this story our pack grows to include a man who is Sri Lankan and a man who is half Chinese half Singaporean. There are very fun elements included in the story that tie back to their cultures, as well as important discussions about not using their full name in professional settings and the weight of growing up differently. I always look forward to these aspects of Lee’s characters. I love getting a little insight into different backgrounds, and the conversations that can be had between characters because of it. 

Another form of representation in our pack this time around was body positivity, with one of our alphas being extremely self conscious of his weight and size, as well as our omega feeling like she’s not a good enough omega because she considers herself to be flat and lacking curves. She googled it, you guys. Omegas are supposed to have specific hip to waist ratios! This is dire! Thankfully, our omega and her pack are able to show the alpha that his body is perfect for them, and in turn they remind our omega that she is perfect because of who she is, not just how she looks. 

We’re over halfway through the review and I’ve barely mentioned the story itself! Our omega is a school teacher who is struggling to get by with limited supplies or support from school administration. I see this detail going one of two ways with readers. Either you’ll absolutely love the acknowledgment of how overworked, overlooked, and underappreciated teachers are, or you’ll feel a spike of jealousy that our omega gets a bit of a classroom makeover and many of her professional concerns taken care of by the end of the novel. I loved all the ways Lee showed the reader how much effort (good) teachers are constantly putting in behind the scenes for their school and their students. It definitely felt like a bit of a nod to the profession in the way our omega was written. 

This pack includes our omega, two alphas, and a beta. While I love pack dynamics with all alphas, vying for that coveted top spot of pack leader, I have a very special place in my heart for our betas. This beta, in my opinion, is the only reason this pack stayed together by the end of the book. Our characters are realistic because they are flawed. They mess up. Repeatedly. They push one another away, and refuse to let each other go. Without our beta I think this story would not have had our HEA, and I’m so so thankful he was the cohesive unit in this pack. 

If you’re wondering when the best time to read this book is, we meet our characters right before winter break, and leave our characters just after Valentine’s day. As it says in the title, this is a perfect winter read, hitting all of the big holidays (focusing primarily on Christmas, NYE, and Valentine’s Day) and getting you in the mood to cozy up with a nice big cup of hot chocolate and a warm gingerbread cookie. I’m so happy I got a chance to revisit this cozy omegaverse, and am thrilled that we still have two more omegas and their packs to meet in spring and summer.