Knot Your Life

Jaded Omegas #2

by Jarica James

Just when I thought the nightmare was over, it got worse… After finding my happiness with a new pack and leaving all thoughts of the one that rejected me behind, someone shows up and throws my world into a tailspin. It was naive of me to think I could leave that life behind. Interview after interview exposes just how terrible the people involved in My Fairytale were and my parents are only making the drama worse. Despite the odds stacked against us, my pack is learning that our new normal is even better than before. But the past never stays in the past and the Forrest pack isn’t ready to let me go yet… Can my pack and I survive this new wave of insanity, or will it finally break us for good? This duet will be full of betrayal, moving on, steam, strong omegas, and will end with a HEA. This is an omegaverse world that includes male omegas, a jaded pack that struggles to move on, and one omega who is tired of letting the world tear her down. This book does have on page violence.

Genres: Omegaverse, Romance, Why Choose, Contemporary, Second Chance, Fantasy, M M Romance

243 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 19, 2023

About the author

Jarica is an American author. She prefers writing paranormal and fantasy books. When she isn't writing she is playing her xbox with her husband and fellow nerd. She has two crazy boys who make writing a challenge, but one she gladly accepts.

Reviews

[Zen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The ridiculousness continues in this second novel. It just gets more OTT with coincidences adding another member to the pack. The parent part was eyerolling as it felt like the author tried to redeem everyone, but it really didn’t work. Not sure if I will continue witj Serenity's story.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I'm just not really sure how I feel about the whole Bear situation. Don't get me wrong what happened to him I really felt sorry for him and just wanted to hug him. But who he was to Ellie to start with and then was accepted in like he was kind of didn't work for me. There are some books where I don't mind a male omega added to the mix before or after the female omega but this one really didn't work for me. But my opinion maybe he should of found a surprise pack of his own. Just my thought but I did like him.

Also I completely hate Morgan and Ellies parents didn't feel sorry for them in the least and if I was Ellie I would have told her parents where to stick it HAHAHA they didn't deserve anything from her.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

kind of dissapointing

I’m going to be honest….I skipped a WHOLE lot of this book and I’m really disappointed.

I loved the first book. I love how the omegas, betas, and alphas are all just regular people; there isn’t a hierarchy system and omegas aren’t treated like trash. I loved the reality show concept and how our omega found her fated mates after all the betrayal.

This book probably shouldn’t have happened. It easily could have been included in the first book and everything could have been summed up much quicker. There was sooooo much unneeded drama and over exaggerated character arcs.

Everything with the reality show was annoying. The Forest pack being cliche bad guys, Morgan and that nonsense with the nest, Candice and all her conniving, snotty ways, Ellie’s parents being brought in for drama. All of it.

The pregnancy trope is annoying on a good day. To throw it into a book I was already struggling to continue was even worse.

I do appreciate Bear getting a second chance, but I saw it coming a mile away.

Even the side characters sort of fell flat in this book. In the first, I found myself laughing at their banter and behavior, in this one I was skimming their interactions.

And the absolutely ridiculous ending with Ellie’s mom, beta dad, and Morgan?? Beyond dumb. It just comes across as filler and a way to have added third act drama, but once again fell flat. There was no redeeming their behavior and it was totally unnecessary.

All in all I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I had high hopes coming into it off the first one. It won’t stop me from reading another book by the author in the future, but I’m leaving this one disappointed.

[Mom Reads Romance · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is sort of goofy. 🤷🏻‍♀️ The first book was better and this felt like a weird prolonged epilogue with drama inserted. If that makes sense?


I really didn’t like that the author tried to redeem the mom and her beta dad as well as Morgan. It felt forced. Like all of a sudden her mom and dad were victims of abuse by her other dad?

And Morgan was just gonna help bc one of her friends had been abused? Morgan is a kid compared to these older adults. They don’t need her help. This was such a stupid thing to add into the story.
It just didn’t work for me.

I think having the beta dad leave her mom and other dad would have made more sense to me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The spice was meh. 🫤 I felt like it was tossed in at the end. Or added into the story for shits and giggles. Most omegaverse stories are heavy on smut simply bc of the trope. This, while there was a medium ish amount, didn’t feel super smutty or hot.


RH ✅

MMFMMM✅ the mm was sort of off the side. 😒If I missed any MM steam, by all means let me know.

Pregnancy in story✅

Two omegas trope✅

HEA for the pack✅

Kindle Unlimited ✅

Finished duet✅

[Tabatha Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuation from the first book. The male omega from the tv show pack that rejected h shows up. He ends up being a mate to one of h’s alphas too. If I had known this duet contained a male omega harem member I wouldn’t have read it. It’s just not my cup of tea. I prefer one omega only and for that omega to the heroine.

The original tv rejecting pack and the omega they chose over h show up to cause havoc. It’s a whole thing. The h and the male omega are not impressed.

There’s no cheating or anything. More OW drama and OM drama , it comes to nothing.

[Shannon | invokedreverie ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

knot your life

Super sweet conclusion to the Jadee Omegas duet. I did not see the twist at the end coming. Look forward to reading more by this author.

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a continuation of the previous book to the point that I feel like it should have been a "part 1, part 2" situation.

[Regina · Rating 1 out of 5]

First book was ok this one ? One word BEAR

Frustrated Amazon keeps posting half review so I got whole review here but not on Amazon 🙄

So the first book I was pleasantly surprised. It was good .Mean girl that gets her way by sleeping around and using her body to puff up a pack .A pack that is just evil and nothing real or honest about then .Our FM runs to brother in small town unknowing that the mean girl is from there and pretty much the town knows what She is. We get through her finding her fated.mates them coming together . And weathering the parents and the show storm to get to Bear showing up at end of book 1 . No biggie ...right? No.
The writer makes him ( he is an omega as well) one of her fated mates fated mate meaning C. He is her fated mate then Bear ends up C. Fated mate not hers . So we get the oh I can't step in the way of your fated mate and be selfish cause I have all you guys.. Now for me as someone that's hates the omega heat and any alpha will due no matter what I had found this refreshing till then .
I'm gonna be honest I'm not down with this line of fated mate or reverse harems . For me its cheating .
And I mean real cheating no mater the dynamics .
So this writer and series is sour for me and they ruined it with Bear and having him and C as mates outside of the normal fated mated harem .....and they cheat .End Of.
Sorry folks .No new fated harem mates for me .

[PNW20 · Rating 2 out of 5]

So disappointed in how book 2 turned out. It went from a 5⭐️ best series Ive read in a while to a dnf. The pregnancy 100% turned it into a ridiculous cliche soap opera. It honestly came across as a lazy way to add drama where it absolutely wasnt needed and took away from everything else.

[Boo · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good read

Was a pretty good book. I enjoyed the read and saw what was gonna happen with bear. I like the ending and it had a twist I didn’t see coming. And excuse to the terrible parenting which was ridiculous.

[Amanda Engqvist · Rating 1 out of 5]

20 pages in and Collin apparently have another fated mate? In near the omega from the forester pack.
I ain’t continuing this series book 1 wasn’t that good. And I’m fine with 2 omegas in one pack IF it’s executed well which they rarely are. But one of the alphas having 2 fated mates is a no for me.

[Jordie Priebe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one just wasn't as good. A lot of things happened off page. Again the relationship building lacked.

And it felt like the last half was a bit of an ad for Serenity's book.

And then as soon as they gave the mom any redemption I was done. She didn't deserve that.

[Cait · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt a little soap-opera to me, and I wasn’t in the mood for a pregancy subplot. Not the right book for me now, but it might be someone else’s!

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second part of the duet was really tricky, and I'm not sure how to rate this. I want to give a good review and I still read the story, but it isn't a 5-star review anymore, like book one got from me. In this book there was a lot lacking for me and didn't make that much sense to me, so that's why I didn't like it as much as I did with the first part. The first part even got 5 stars from me, because even though there were issues, I overall was into the story. So, I was able to get over the issues, since a lot of them were due to the pace of the writing in general.

After book one, I had to think about what could possibly happen in the second. Because the important bits of the Omegaverse had already happened (mates, heat, bonds and finding together as a pack). I had a suspicion that there could be an adding of a new mate. And yeah, I was right about that in the end. When the cliffy came, I just knew who it would be.

I mean, it was mentioned how she had connected quickly with Bear and that he was the reason, why she opened up so easily to the Forrest pack. But it felt kind of weird? Of course, it isn't my first book, where the so-called villain/or rejected mate get added to the harem. But considering the circumstances, I wasn't really sold on that.

It probably felt unusual, too, since Bear was only the fated mate of Collin and otherwise than him, he wanted Ellie. No one else. That made it an odd constellation.

Though, I have to say, I liked Bear as a character. And I was sad for what had happened to him. So, sure, I wanted him to be happy. But I'm not sure, if I had gone that way.

As I already explained in the review to Knot Your Fairytale, a lot could have been improved by simply refrain to rush through the story. Less time jumps and all that. And instead more concentration on the characters, their relationships, and emotions/thoughts. Because that's the reason I felt not quite so invested in the characters. It was a story more on the surficial level and expose just enough emotions you would expect from someone in that situations. But not really complex in my opinion.

Or just straight up didn't make sense to me. For example, I was confused about the timeline. It was said, that Bear's recovery took months (it was never said how many), but still she didn't have a visible bump? I mean, she went to dinner with Ezra, who was invited by his uncle and aunt. For one, they didn't know about her being pregnant and didn't even see it. He told them at the dinner, and they asked all sorts of question, but she still couldn't even tell them much, because they still had to make it to the appointment, which they wanted to have before Bear's incident? I was confused, too, why that didn't even happen. I mean, even with all the chaos and anxiety after what happened to Bear, you would think that a pregnant woman would make sure everything is good with the pregnancy, and go to those appointments right? But apparently, they didn't do that.

I was really confused at that point. And then there was all the stuff with the show and the interviews. The parents were terrible. But in the end it was everything a misunderstanding, and that was the mom's only way to protect them? And she just believed them, forgave and hugged them and even though, she didn't let them straight back into her life… but in the long run she allows it, when they get their life back on track. It was never even hinted, that something was wrong or anything.

And let's not forget Morgan and her strange action with the nest. Why? I mean, she isn't dumb. She is the typical mean girl and all. But I would not say she is an idiot. She has the brain to be manipulative and changes her behavior according to the situation. So, I can't believe she did that and never even thinks of the possibility that could backfire? Or that there are nor security measures? It didn't make in the least any sense.

It really degraded massively for me in regard to book one. The first part was not perfect, but it was still enjoyable and I liked the story.

Now, after the second part of the duet, I'm really disappointed and didn't feel the same anymore. So, like I initially explained, I'm unsure how to rate it. Definitely no 5-stars anymore. 4 stars still feels too much too. I would like to give 3.5 stars, but can't. So, I will go for 3 stars. However, I still have to say I liked reading it. The idea was good. Just the execution had its issues.

[Raven9308 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this 2nd and final book in the omegaverse duet (there are more standalone romances in this series but we get the finale to Ellie and her men's love story!). I liked getting more airtime with the side characters, especially her boss and neighborhood grumpy grandpa with the heart of gold. I loved the business venture and how that added to the storyline. I loved getting more of her family (excluding her parents who were POS, no sympathy even with the twists revealed at the end) and more of the besties who I hope get their own story. I need her brother to get a story too! Meeting some of the parents and family was adorable, so many smile and giggling moments with the antics between the cousins haha. I think the twins' dad by the way is my favorite, I felt a warm hug after he got better and was there for Ellie and the guys.

I liked the addition of one of the previous pack members and how they added another dimension to the the pack. I will say some things were a little clunky and didnt flow well for me with him and his other mate. I liked the story with the baddies and how they all got their just rewards. I won't expand on it because I don't want to spoil anything but there is a lot to unwrap but let's say they were all made for each other and their craziness. I like having Bear with Ellie and more of the big plot twists and him being there for her. I wish we got more pack togetherness and I was happy to see some Bear and his fated mate but it could have gone a little further. I liked the different guy personalities and how they meshed together. I loved their bromance and getting the house and working on them.

Narration kept me from giving this a 5/5 stars. Story was better in book 2 but I wasn't a huge fan of the female narrator and there wasn't enough POV for the males to get more airtime for his voice. I thought she again was more OTT than not and I wasn't a big fan of what her narrators were looking/sounding.

Definitely a solid 4/5 stars for me! I am gonna listen to the rest of this series as it releases on audible, thank goodness they all are being worked on!!

[Jennifer G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happiness is at her fingertips but Elle's past won't stay in the past. She can't regret appearing on reality TV because it led her to her fated mates and her pack but now Bear has shown up in town with word that the Forest pack and Morgan are on their way. They want to win her back, not because they realize they want her, but because of the negative publicity they received because of their treatment of her. They don't realize she's not the same Omega they met just a few months ago. She knows who she is, knows her worth, and has found happiness. There's no room in her life for the poison they are bringing.

I was disappointed by this book, not because of the writing but because of personal preferences. Minor spoilers ahead. It was obvious Bear would make an appearance from the beginning. I was fine with him stopping by to apologize but I would have preferred if he had not joined the pack. I am not a fan of two Omega packs. I don't like split attention. I want all of the adoration directed at one Omega. And then for him to be the mate of one of Elle's mates was too much for me. I had doubts about that Alpha already and this didn't help the dynamics. The continuing drama with Morgan and the Forest pack was over-the-top, and the situation with Elle's mom didn't give her an excuse for her abuse. Generational trauma can be ended. Her mother made deliberate choices and I felt there was an attempt to make her look sympathetic that was unnecessary. Again this is all personal preference. I would have been much happier if the first book had been expanded a bit wrapping up the original storyline. By making it a duet, the entire story has been tarnished.

[Brittney Eldridge · Rating 1 out of 5]

the ending irked me to no end

Spoilers

It was going semi decent with the pregnancy drama, I was still okay with the story, I didn’t really love it cause it all felt very filter. But wth the drama wouldn’t stop especially with the weird scene with Morgan being naked that didn’t need to be included at all, especially if she was supposedly helping Ellie’s mom. And finding out there was emotional abuse from Ellie’s alpha dad on the second to last chapter before the epilogue. After all that frustration and coming together as siblings to go no contact the author has to pull some bs so that way there’s a forgiving moment between parent and child is so freaking upsetting. You don’t have to forgive an abusive parent just cause they were also traumatized. They gloss the subject over so easily. Honestly wanted to shove my head through the wall cause this book could’ve just not had all the mom drama in the first place, or if anything this could’ve just been one book and taken out all the extra bs that made no sense. Like they should’ve at least included what the public outrage was like towards what happened to bear and maybe gotten actual revenge on Candace but once again glossed over.

[Bibliophilic Kitten · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel here.

I struggled to even care about these characters or their relationships. I didn't really have a favorite (and I ALWAYS) have a favorite in a harem. I liked Ezra the best, but he got less page time than most of the others.

There was no depth to any of their relationships.

I hate when a harem has more than one Omega, but there's more attention given to the other Omega instead of our main character. I don't mind "in-harem" relationships as long as our main character IS THE MAIN CHARACTER. It seemed the second book of this Duet became Bear's story with a subplot of Ellie and her parents.

We didn't even get much of the other relationships besides Collin and Bear.

I even skipped the spice scenes so that I could see what else Morgan and Co were up to. The ending with them was ridiculous. Why would you be cool with sitting in a room with your nemesis who violated your nest and propositioned your BONDED MATES right in front of you? 😑

Sigh. It wasn't bad, but it could have been better. I'll still read from this author though because I've loved other books from her.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complete Duet Review
Rating: 3.75 Stars
POV(s): Multiple—First Person
Relationship: Reverse Harem (Book #1), Poly w/ MM (Book #2)
Genre(s): Contemporary Omegaverse

❥

This was OTT dramatic, but I enjoyed it. The antagonists were hateable, and the protagonists lovable (I’m talking main and secondary characters.) The town of Lockwood was a character unto itself, which is a compliment to Jarica James’ writing. I’m diving immediately into Serenity’s book, so fingers crossed I enjoy it as much as this duet.

❥

Title: “Knot Your Fairytale (Jaded Omegas #1)” by Jarica James
Interconnected Series: Yes
Standalone: No—Duet
Cliffhanger: End of Book #1
HEA: End of Book #2
Triggers: Yes
•Neglectful Parents
•Physical Violence/Assault (Book 2)
•Abuse (Verbal and Emotional)
•Stalking
Tags/Tropes:
➢ Brother’s Best Friend
➢ Ex Drama
➢ Family Drama
➢ Fated Mates/True Mates
➢ Small Town
➢ Surprise Pregnancy

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

🎧Audiobook Review🎧

📚 knot Your Life by Jarica James (Part 2)

🎤 Narrated by Ava Flynn & Soren Gray

Tropes:
Why Choose
Omegaverse
Small Town
Fated Mates
Hurt/Comfort
2 Omegas

Ratings
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
🎤🎤🎤🎤
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Reviews
This is part 2, and it starts off right where the first one ended, on a cliffhanger! This one had a lot of coming together emotions and physical lol. We got all the answers for this pack we need and it was wrap up in a little bow, which was fantastic.
I really enjoyed this story line and the characters. The twins are definitely my favorite!! They are just so steady, there for her and make her feel so special. Ezra is also a favorite, he just strong all around.
Loved the sisterhood in this book too, with her friends all around her and her sister it honestly make this book for me. It was really special.
I would recommend this duet, it’s a sweet, a bit chaotic and has drama almost like a soap opera but I like soap operas so it was a fun listen.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

All relationships are complicated

Well that was definitely an interesting twist.

I felt bad for everything the show was putting them through especially at the end and I actually found it ridiculously unbelievable.

The addition of Bear and the dynamic of him and Collin was a very interesting twist that I really really wanted explored more.

And Morgan… ughhh not a fan at all!

Spoilers but this is a pregnancy trope book.

A rh urban Nonshifting omegaverse. Small town romance with fated mates and found family.

Multiple povs told in first person

Characters-
Ellie - omega female
Ezra - alpha
Collin - alpha
Dean and Atlas - twin betas
Bear - male omega, formally Forrest Pack
Micah - Ellie’s alpha brother
Tori - Ellie’s sister
Serenity and Katya - Ellie’s best friends

Steam - slow burn but heat with knots at end

[Not Before Mom Has Coffee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book even more than the first! This had more action and twists and suspense than the first. So much so that it almost seemed like a different genre than the first book.
This book had stalking, violence, suspense while the first book didn’t have any of that. That’s probably what made it a better book in my humble opinion. There was a little more character development too.
I really wish we got to see Bear’s heat it would have been interesting to see how that all worked in their pack dynamic.
Overall it was a good ending to the story but this easily could have been one book if some of the extra unimportant stuff was removed like all the talk about the renovations and the stuff with Ellie and the extra interviews. And what felt like a last ditch effort to sort of redeem her parents.

[Ines · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Knot Your Life” is the second and final book in the “jaded omegas” duet and when you think book one held a lot of drama, you should buckle up because the author added even more in this final book! I’m not going to give away any spoilers, but at times it felt a little like watching a soap opera, in a good way.

While I liked the first book, this second book managed to grab my attention a little bit more. Maybe because the first book was more focused on the getting-to-know-each-other stage, while this second book held more action and power… I like the role Bear plays in this second book, and how everything ultimately comes together. I was really surprised by a twist at the end of this book, and it only made me more excited to see future books with some of these characters!

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I finished book one and hit that cliffhanger, I was instantly disappointed — I really don’t like ending without an HEA. Thankfully, Knot Your Life was already released, so I could dive right in and keep going, which made it forgivable.

This book wrapped up the duet well, delivering both closure and growth for the characters. The added drama with interviews, family interference, and the lingering shadow of the Forrest pack kept the tension high, but it was balanced with the healing and strength found in the new pack dynamic.

It had betrayal, emotion, and plenty of steam, but most importantly, it gave the satisfying ending I needed after book one’s cliffhanger. A solid continuation and conclusion.

[Miranda May · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this second book just as quickly as I did the first one. It picks up right where book one left off so we get to find out what we’ve been wondering since that cliffhanger. Jarcia handles this story of twists and betrayals easily, taking us on the ride of our lives. Nothing is easy for Ellie and her pack, or even her family. But they do what they do best and pull together to support one another. There are secrets revealed that I never saw coming. And there’s plenty of other things I didn’t see coming either. This was a great wrapup to Ellie’s story, and I look forward to getting to read more stories in this world.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great continuation

Picking up where book one left us this book added to the emotional onslaught...

The character development is brilliant. There are moments where I truly got involved and moments where I couldn't look away even if I wanted to (#triggerwarningsareimportant) and I am not someone who squirms easily. however it did feel like some a important moments are left off page. Those moments took away from the overall enjoyment as left me pondering some and therefore I'm going to have to give it a 3.5 stars rounding up to a four...saying that I'll be adding Serenity to my TBR!

Enjoy

[Dominique · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so ready to jump back into Ellie's story after the end of Knot Your Fairytale because I could tell we were in for some drama. Boy did we get it. Bear is back and it looks that fate has made sure he'll be sticking around. But of course Pack Forrest and Morgan couldn't just let Ellie and her pack be happy. There were many heartwarming moments and a few that made me tear up. The steam was delicious and the wonderful side characters made this duet so easy to love. I'm excited to read Serenity's story next and maybe we'll be lucky to get a couple others too! 

[NewFriendJen · Rating 4 out of 5]

entertaining

This was a cute ending to Ellie’s story. From seeing her connect with all of her mates, finally start to fully move on from her rejection at the start of the duet, and fully cutting off her parents- we get the resolution and closure we needed! But with a whole lot of twists along the way!

I do feel like this part of the story lost emotional traction in comparison to book one as we didn’t really get as many scenes to allow Ellie and her mens connections to grow more fully. It was very plot heavy and less emotionally driven. Still a great read though! I loved it!

[Leny R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second chances are beautiful

I'm not going to lie, I skipped past a ton of the story that seemed redundant and unnecessary to me. However, I understand why those bonding moments were out into the story. They were meant to get to know the other characters who will have their own books later on, it helped us see the growing bonds between new friends, it helped us see how the family we are born into, isn't always better than the one we make on our own from loving friends who accept us for who we are.