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Forgotten Omegas: Initiation #1

Hard Knot: A Dark and Steamy Omegaverse

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Knot Academy is a joke.
A dumping ground for society's rejects, right in the middle of Harlem.
The government wishes we’d just vanish, but they need the Alpha Omega system to keep the world running.

That’s where I come in.

I’m Elizabeth Abercrombie — Harvard’s finest dropout Omega, and if one glance at me doesn’t scream trouble, the illegal tattoos covering my skin sure do.
Five years at this chaos-fueled academy, and not one pack has dared to claim me.
I’m the “Forgotten Omega,” and I’m fine with that.

Or at least I was—until they arrived.

Carter. Felix. Holmes.
The Tainted Trinity.

Ex-mafia drug lords with bounties on their heads, sent here to rot unless they claim an Omega and prove they belong. Without that bond, they’re dead men walking.
And somehow, I’ve become their only shot at survival.

One semester.
That’s all we’ve got to prove we have chemistry, or we’re all screwed.

If we pull this off, they get to live, and I’m finally free from this place.
If not? Well, let’s just say we won’t be around to talk about it.

No pressure, right?

HARD KNOT is a standalone age-gap omegaverse with no cliffhanger! This is a steamy dark contemporary romance with no shifter tendencies. It includes MMFMM and a happily ever after is guaranteed. Suitable for readers 18+. Contains dark themes so please refer to author notes.

654 pages, Paperback

Published January 9, 2025

590 people are currently reading
377 people want to read

About the author

Cinder Blaze

23 books50 followers

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5 stars
283 (35%)
4 stars
227 (28%)
3 stars
183 (22%)
2 stars
73 (9%)
1 star
31 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
Profile Image for Stevie Girl .
152 reviews11 followers
December 23, 2024
This could have been so good. The author is not a bad writer but the academy aspect of this books was unbelievably stupid. It didn’t fit the characters or the world. You have people who have gone to Harvard and now they are enrolling in an academy? Drug lords signing up for classes and wearing school uniforms? But they are old enough that they are starting to get grey hair? Please re write this without the school. It’s ridiculous and not in a good way.
Profile Image for chelle (serial downvoter).
389 reviews38 followers
December 28, 2024
This author can’t count.


“Stop being a child” “Three words that’s all it had taken…” IS FOUR WORDS

“Four simple words carry the weight…” Again, Cinder, It’s actually five words instead of four. “Will you always hate me?” Is FIVE words.

Other things that don’t make sense:

- Elizabeth being bottle blonde in the very beginning of this book. And I quote “Not that I’m judging- my own platinum blonde comes from a bottle these days.”

- Elizabeth calls herself a natural blonde when making fun of Victoria for dyeing her hair blonde. Also a quote, “I step closer, letting my own natural blonde locks brush past her…”

I’m sure there are more discrepancies, but I don’t care enough to finish this book :D
Profile Image for Elle Davis.
92 reviews1 follower
December 30, 2024
really wanted to give this at least 4 stars but the ending was super abrupt and the guys drove a fucking cybertruck :(
147 reviews
February 1, 2025
soooo why is this OV?

Some light spoilers, nothing to do with the plot but wow…














Why is this Omegaverse if there are no heats and no knots? Isn’t that sort of the trope? Also, the secret Omega group was done super poorly. It seemed weird to throw in at the end. It was like a blending of book ideas. The murdered best friend is alive?? The hated adopted sister is also in on it? If this is the end of Elizabeth’s story, it’s just not great. You either need to cut out alll the secret agent stuff or add it into the beginning of the story. The prologue was also unnecessary…idk. It was interesting until about 65% of the easy through and then it got really slow and then had a bunch of info shoved down our throats. Good story idea, wish there was better follow through
92 reviews2 followers
February 4, 2025
Had so much potential

This is the second book I have read by this author (I forgot about the first when I picked this up and only realized when the writing took a turn) and like in the first one I read she starts off pretty good and then the book takes a steady decline. In this book however she added many continuity errors and an absolutely implausible twist at the end that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. She missed the mark when she created these supposedly complex MMCs alluding to an explanation for why they are at the academy and a backstory of some sort. We never got that. She also is so confusing about her omegaverse. Like at one point she says no one knows about alphas and omegas but then the characters all talk about how Alphas are important and the government does anything for them. Finally she just throws in the most unbelievably horrible plot twist that does not fit in at all (like seriously at all she has the FMC with an inner dialogue that completely contradicts who and what she really ended up being) to the inconsistent storyline in the last 5% of the book. Such a confusing read. The supposed storyline had so much potential.
Profile Image for Stephanie Ihle Lloyd.
259 reviews
December 31, 2024
I liked this book. It was a little messy but it still had a fantastic story. I do enjoy the darker side of things.
Profile Image for Megan Key-Holliday.
207 reviews6 followers
December 24, 2024
Oh the twist!

I enjoyed this story. Elizabeth definitely has past trauma and her men come from sketchy backgrounds, but that doesn't stop them from finding a HEA. I loved the twist at the end! That surprise element was really nice! I do feel like there were some editing errors throughout but they didn't pull me far enough out of the story to cause issues for me. This was a new author for me, and I look forward to more to come.
Profile Image for Savannah Simpson.
7 reviews
January 6, 2025
I really wanted to give this one more stars.
I liked the charters, the banter and the concept.
There were definitely some grammatical errors that tripped me up having to re-read to be able to understand what was actually meant.
For me though, it was the inconsonances. Some I can ignore (like 1st saying she was a bottled blonde, then saying natural blonde), but there were 2 big ones that i was like wait what?! The biggest for me was that both James and Abbie said at one point that they were sexually together at Harvard. "we would make out or fuck" but then later we are to believe that she was taken against her will during her 1st heat at Harvard (losing her innocence) and that she left without ever speaking to James because she was embarrassed he'd find her damaged goods. Then later she tells James she was saving herself for him.
The other was that earlier in the book James supposedly bought the school and made a big scene with the advisor in the power play of my balls are bigger than yours. But at the end of the book Holmes says he bought the school.
These 2 things for me really made it seem like the author started with one story but changed it in the middle.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Hilda.
1,326 reviews294 followers
February 15, 2025
This was such a weird read. This book didn’t know what it was or even what story to follow. The ending was suppose to be a giant plot twist but it just seemed like another story. Like what is this? What have I been reading? Is this the same book?

I just realized I hate read this. And worst of all want to continue reading the series. Why?
133 reviews2 followers
March 15, 2025
This has so much potential to be a good book, but needs some serious editing. Several things stood out as wtf?
Elizabeth has a mini breakdown in the shower while in James’ dorm room and Holmes goes to comfort her. She tells him about her rape before passing out. When she awakens she’s in Homes’ family home.
Felix has a security room in the mansion but none of the pack members know where it is?
Elizabeth and Holmes are sway dancing in a bar and she tells him she was raped. Didn’t she already tell him that?
Elizabeth and James were friendly rivals while at Harvard together sometimes sneaking away to f**k, yet when she tells James about her rape after she and her sister have a blowup at a family dinner she tells James that she had wanted him to be her first. He walks her out of the woods and takes her to his apartment…um, the pack was visiting her family - they drove there so where did the apartment come from?
While on the airplane she is sitting with Homes in first class while the rest of the pack is in coach because there weren’t any more seats available, yet she looks around at the half empty first class section.
The reveal scene after her kidnapping from the airport bathroom? Really? More garbled messes. All the dead/not dead friends/sisters/enemies?
There are so many inconsistencies that makes it frustrating to read. I did finish the book because it did have a different story line than most omega books but damn, it needs some editing. Lots of potential for this author if she gets a good team to work with her!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for MaryLovesRomance.
882 reviews9 followers
May 31, 2025
DNF @45%

Hahahaha no. This book is so ridiculous. Usually when I am reading a fantasy or paranormal book I just kind of go with it for the world building under the assumption that I will eventually understand what is happening and everything will fall into place. Not so for this book! After 45% of the book, I still have no idea what is happening and I do not care to find out. These are full blown adults going back to some bizarre school and all of them have the emotional maturity of a fruit fly.

There were so many characters and so many settings and rules and school things happening and I just have no idea at all. Why does this school allow rape and murder? Why are there essentially slums as student housing in this school? Why can't people leave the school ever? And why do I care about these things? The answer is: I don't care and so I stopped reading.

Don't read this book unless you're a fan of your brain melting out your ears from boredom and confusion or unless you like it when adults have to go back to a high school but it's so dark and mysterious that you have no idea what in the world is happening or how it is even a school at all. This is so poorly written and confusing that I am actually enraged by it. You would need all manner of reference books to even get an inkling of what is happening in the plot and understand the characters reactions. Just don't do it.
Profile Image for Page Turner.
1 review
February 10, 2025
This was originally a commented that wouldn't post as one 😅.
I really enjoyed this book. But it doesn't decline in quality as you read. A little bit at first. Large inconsistencies and plot holes that will lea e you confused. And then further in, the writing takes a steep decline. It suffers from strange "plot twists", rushed exposition. Things left very unexplained... but again, I loved the premise of the book. I usually hate this type of female MC. &

I don't recall Holmes saying he bought the school. I, however, could just have started glossing over words towards the end. But I agree, I was confused and then very angry with the James×Eli sexual past inconsistencies. And then their lack of closure in that aspect as well. Especially when the story switches to the virginity she saved specifically for him being taken during her first heat. And then slotting Holmes into the (not seen) heat redo.

I think that kinda speaks to the whole "well nvm, Holmes, bought the school, not James." Because the 2 MLs were competing for prominence in the story, instead of meshing together. I personally thought that given how it was written, James should have superseded Holmes in all dynamics.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Laura.
125 reviews1 follower
March 3, 2025
Hard Knot

Okay, this book would have been better if it had a better editor. There are so many mistakes and factual errors in the book. From what she's wearing to actual events that took place. Holmes was the one who overheard her in the shower but then in the club it's like that scene never happened. It at times seemed like more than one person was writing the book and they weren't on the same factual page. It really took away from the story, and it was a great plot. And also the fact that it's an OV with NO HEAT OR KNOTTING..... BIG disappointment. Also have some content warnings: OW drama, SA mentioned, sex trafficking etc. I was really disappointed because i have thus far liked Cinder Blaze's books. Really need to pay attention to details. It takes away from the story, this could have been much better with proper editing and a more fluent storyline. It was a bit choppy and lacking in details. Definitely not Cinder's best work.
Profile Image for Lucy Mason.
320 reviews
November 7, 2025
This book was a train wreck, it had a solid start and that’s about it. I feel like the author thought of the story as it was written, some parts were just so random.

It fell apart for me really at the part where the FMC has a meltdown in the showers and screams about her past presuming she’s on her own when in fact holmes is there but then later in the book when she again just blurts about being r*ped he’s surprised and overcome with anger - like he doesn’t already know. Also the part about Jessica being alive after being murdered was just unnecessary especially with the odd emotional scene thrown in and the dedicated tattoo towards her too, it just didn’t make sense. Neither did the secret omega club or the attempted kidnapping - the ending was 100% rushed as all that happened in the last 15% of the book.

The best part about the book was her dad, he was funny.

Also you made ‘hot’ guys MAFIA guys - drive a CYBERTRUCK!?!?! EEWWWWW instant ick
Profile Image for Kat.
163 reviews2 followers
December 25, 2024
Has potential

I was really, really enjoying this book until about Chapter 32 or so....from there, it felt like a completely different book. There were chapters that were swapped and mixed up, there were twists that just don't make any sense. The last little bit of the book felt like the author had thrown everything at the wall and hoped something would stick. It was filled with glaring plot holes and simple mistakes (like a certain Alpha doing something in the beginning and in an end chapter another Alpha claiming he had done it). If the author has an editor run through the story and help with the ending, I think this could become quite an amazing book because it has the potential. The story (for the first 30ish chapters) is there, but the twists and wraps up just don't make any sense.
Profile Image for Nikki Cazes.
135 reviews1 follower
January 20, 2025
3.5 stars..

So, I just finished this book, and I hate to say that it read like a hallmark movie. There was a lot of double speak when changing pov which for me is unnessessary filler and annoying. You get one plotline and it just keeps shifting and then the "big reveal" is a completely different one in the very last chapter. I think if the plotline was completely geared to how it ended, it would have made for a better book.. but at the same time, you think this person is dead, but isn't but oh wait... this other person isn't really dead either. Face Palm. The book just abruptly ends. I was dissappointed and I found myself skimming and skipping a chapter here and there after I got to about 65%. I won't be continuing the series.
Profile Image for Lacee Jessogne.
12 reviews
January 31, 2025
It had potential in the beginning but the inconsistencies ruined it. From saying she was a “bottle blonde” to then having “natural blonde hair” to talking to her dad in the beginning and he spoke normal to then all of a sudden speaking with such a strong Russian accent where the phrases were choppy and broken up as it would be with someone who isn’t an English as a first language speaker. James saying he bought the school only for Holmes to say at the end that he bought it. And then the whole mindfuck at the end where it threw the entire plot of the book off only to make you realize it was all fake. It was terrible honestly.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
188 reviews8 followers
February 12, 2025
Needs a hard edit

As an avid OV reader, I don’t know if I would consider this an OV book. I’d more accurately describe this as an academy book with some OV elements and a mild mafia element. The story itself was compelling. It’s not a standard fluffy OV story which was fine. But it was missing some key elements of an OV story. There was no heat. There was no multiple partners. She was with each of them individually. And in some cases only once on page. The story also needed a hard edit. There were a lot of incongruencies in the story that it made it hard to follow at times along with some grammatical errors and misspellings. Was not a fan of the end.
48 reviews
January 6, 2026
not great

This book was not well written at all in the beginning we have the story of someone who was broken but continued to fight her way forward then in the end the twist made absolutely no sense also there was no real connection with the pack no shows of how they all lived together or got along no structure at all for the timeline the story I feel could of been amazing with more editing and story telling also it did not feel like an omega verse at all like where were any of the typical traits for this type of story and another big one no heat or nests at all wtf! Could of been good but overall a waste of time to read
5 reviews
January 12, 2025
I don’t even know where to start honestly. If I could rate the story separately from the writing I definitely would!! The story was pretty awesome honestly, plot twists all over the place in the best way, and Elizabeth is hilarious. But the writing. It was terrible. So many discrepancies it was unreal. “Cost more than my wardrobe” was in there at least 4 times. “Will you always hate me” that’s five words, not four. There were just so many errors it was really hard to keep reading the book. I feel like it never went to an editor and if it did then Cinder needs a new one.
116 reviews2 followers
January 10, 2025
I liked it

I really liked this, the book flowed well although it did jump around a bit. The only thing that got me was the inconsistencies… she tells Holmes about what happened to her in the shower but then again tells him at the club like it’s the first time? Or talking about Holmes buying the school with the founders when it was James… anyway besides that I really enjoyed the story and how brazen Abbie was.
Profile Image for Kilee.
11 reviews
January 14, 2025
Amazing with an extra zing but also a little… meh

The ending was a little out of left field, and really felt like a rushed way to end the book. It was a phenomenal book, and I loved every single second of it. But the last 10 pages were very out of nowhere and it felt off. I won’t post any spoilers because I hate that.

Overall it’s a fantastic story with amazing character development, plot, and spice… it just doesn’t sit well at the end.
16 reviews
March 7, 2025
I love how you write.

I really felt there in the moment, the FMC is strong, witty and funny, utterly fearless when her insecurities could have swallowed her up. Instead she rose to the occasion. MMCs each had very different personalities and with all of them I felt their masculinity, how completely spell bound by the FMC they were. Well spun story telling you feel connected to. I actually cried when FMC had her triumphant moment.
15 reviews
April 3, 2025
confused all the way !!!

First of all let me say this book storyline has potential. However that being said the second half of the book. I was extremely confused and lost. The author needs to slow down, it seemed like when she was trying to wrap up the story line she was confused too many ideas without any background content.
Omega verse!!!!
I don’t think so!! their was no heats, sex scenes were truly sad, I think a knot was mentioned Twice in the whole book.
Profile Image for Nicole Polson.
471 reviews1 follower
June 10, 2025
this was so twisty!!!

I couldn’t not read this. It was so convoluted and dark in places. There were moments I wanted to break for her and scream the house down at the things she walked through. Then there were moments I was clutching at my hair in confusion because there was yet another plot twist. I do mean true plot twists. Some of them seeming to come out of nowhere. I absolutely enjoyed it and think you should check your triggers and enjoy!
Profile Image for Carrie.
866 reviews5 followers
June 16, 2025
Didn’t see that coming!

Another great omegaverse by Cinder Blaze! This one centered around Elizabeth, who is at a *horrible* academy, who ends up meeting her mates there…who just happen to be mafia drug lords. No biggie.

I loved the tension between her and the guys, Elizabeth’s strength and her dad is hilarious!

And the ending!!! No spoilers here but I seriously didn’t expect any of that! Great job and I can’t wait for the next book!
Profile Image for Alexa Jaye.
399 reviews14 followers
July 21, 2025
Intriguing!

If you are looking for a fast-paced action adventure setting for your dark and steamy omegaverse habit, this is the book for you.

Guaranteed you will fall in love with the characters, but there are twists and turns in this plot you will not see coming. Totally intriguing from beginning to end.

Check your Trigger Warnings because the themes are dark, although story enhancing.

If you love dark and steamy omegaverse, what are you waiting for?

Happy Reading!
Profile Image for Samantha Collins.
257 reviews3 followers
January 29, 2025
Wow, just wow

Well, written. I did not expect the surprise twists at the end. No idea. But it was really really good and I'm not going to spoil it. You have to read it to figure out. The Lord the spice in this book, perfect. I loved Elizabeth's dad. Dad goals right there!!
I can't wait for Jessica!!
83 reviews
February 2, 2025
Delicious

I love a good revenge story with plot twists on plot twists. I was hesitant to read because I don't like any school romances anymore,getting too old I guess. After reading the reviews I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did. Deliciously dark, and wonderfly written characters drew me in. The intriguing world and story kept me reading. On to the next in the series
Profile Image for J.L. Cres.
Author 5 books21 followers
March 17, 2025
This book for me was hard to get into. I was close to DNF’ing it but trudged through and enjoyed parts of the book mostly the middle. The end was disappointing to me. I can see the author wanted a plot twist but it just didn’t work well as there weren’t really hints earlier in the story. It came off not being very interesting in the end. That being said…I liked the characters so I finished it.
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