Lavender and Honey

Cozy Omegaverse Romance #1

by Aspen Winters

She ran to escape control. They want to give her freedom wrapped in love.

Lydia never wanted the life her family planned for her — an arranged bond with a prestigious Alpha pack, where she’d be nothing more than a housewife, an obedient Omega stripped of choice.

So she ran.

Far from the suffocating traditions and cruel Alphas who sought to cage her, Lydia built a quiet life in a sleepy little town.

Armed with scent blockers, suppressants, and sheer determination, she’s managed to avoid pack dynamics for years—keeping her head down and her heart guarded.

Her art shop is her sanctuary, and solitude is the price she’s willing to pay for freedom.

Until she meets him.

Elias is an Omega unlike any she’s ever seen—vibrant, warm, and unashamedly proud of his place within his pack. His easy affection rattles her defenses, and when he brings his Alphas around—three men who radiate protectiveness, patience, and devotion—Lydia's carefully constructed walls begin to crack.

She doesn’t know how to handle their attention. Their care.

Their unyielding desire to protect and cherish her the way she’s only ever dreamed.

But allowing them in means risking everything she’s built… and the haunting fear that all Alphas are the same.

Yet Elias and his pack are nothing like the monsters from her past.

They see her. They want her.

All of her.



And for the first time in forever, Lydia wonders if she’s been running from the wrong thing all along.

But the past doesn’t let go so easily.

And when old threats resurface, Lydia will have to decide—stay hidden and safe or step into the light with the pack that refuses to let her go.

A cozy, heart-melting Omegaverse Why Choose romance with doting Alphas, a protective Omega, and a broken girl who might just find the love she’s always deserved.

Genres: Omegaverse, Romance, Fantasy, Contemporary, Polyamory, Polyamorous, Slow Burn

673 pages, Paperback

Published April 3, 2025

About the author

Aspen Winters is from Bettendorf, Iowa. She has a slight obsession with stingrays and anything that has to do with chocolate and wine. On the days she isn’t working, she is either typing or is letting her artistic side out by painting or doing any other art project she has set her mind too. She has many books planned out and can’t wait to share them.

Reviews

[SnooRegrets]

DNF at 20 %. I like cozy, but 700 pages of seemingly unedited nothingness, stilted dialogue, endless repetitions and everybody having to talk softly and gently to a meek heroine is a little too much. No matter how much I enjoyed the creative aspects and small town vibes.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Sure… DNF at 70% - I just couldn’t take it…

Lydia is an Omega who is so scared of her own shadow she has locked herself away in a self imposed prison of her life. She speaks barely above a whisper. Something the author goes through great pains to remind us of often. The problem is..I don’t get it. We get one flashback scene to Lydia’s home life. Her parents are your typical traditional Alphahole meanies. They disown her. In terms of emotional abuse, it’s the tamest I’ve read on a page yet the main character’s reaction isn’t proportional. Her reaction is so over the top based on what was described that it was jarring.

The other incredibly jarring piece is that this book desperately needs an editor. On Finn’s date the picnic basket was mentioned. Jam already given. Then the next page is about knowing the picnic basket just had to be Elias’ goodies. I had to reread the scene a few times to realize that this was likely a place where the author rewrote it and forgot to delete the piece rewritten. I wish I could say that was the only place. Later, Lydia and Soren are talking about ballroom dancing and her parents being traditional. Lydia says that. Then the next page Soren is “uncovering” that her parents were traditional.

At 600 pages, this book has so much potential. The pack is interesting but they seem to have fallen straight to commitment without so much as talk of fated mates or scents. Aside from it referencing designations often this book isn’t a typical omegaverse.

What I do love is the creativity. Elias’ character is just sunshine. I love the connection between Lydia and him. It’s the piece that drew me to the novel in the first place. I’m almost half way through this story and everything I’ve already shared is enough to make me want to “DNF” the book, but I’ll likely finish it and update the review if I change my mind about anything.

[Pinkitnl]

** DNF **

I'm so sorry but unfortunately this is a dnf for me. The story is too long, the FMC is too whiny (i don't think toxic parents is reason enough...) and the starts is almost only POV from the FMC so i can't connect with the MMC's. Also i think book needs an editor and maybe some beta/arc readers...

[Jessica Fowler · Rating 1 out of 5]

Great storyline but sloppy writing makes an unpleasant read

I will absolutely give this author credit for the guys she wrote into this story and the basic storyline idea itself. Unfortunately Lydia is not a great character and the writing is so sloppy and repetitive that it's an unpleasant read.

In the first 196 pages she used the phrase "honey-warm scent" 34 times. I pretty much hated Elias dropping onto the page because I knew that the unimaginative description was coming multiple times per page early on. As I progressed in the book I found myself increasingly frustrated at confusing mixes of scene descriptions. For example, they were sitting on a sofa but on the next page the bed shifted (they were in a living room for Pete's sake) and one more page had them back on the sofa. I have around 40 highlighted sections related to these errors, and those are just the ones that bugged me too much to ignore. It's almost like the author jumbled puzzle pieces face side down and just put them wherever they fit without verifying the picture matched up too. Typos and poor sentence structure happily found it's way onto the pages as well.

The ending of the antagonist storyline was a bit rushed and unfortunately left me entirely disliking Lydia in the end. Her entire claim to trauma is her own fault and way in excess of the scenario described. This isn't cozyverse, it's wussverse. 671 pages for a doormat FMC and the most anticlimactic conflict resolution ever. In the end the few bits I loved (Lucien) were greatly overwhelmed by the con list for this book.

[M Janee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, so the guys were great (picture green flags then add more green). They were sweet, supportive and just very caring. The basic idea of the storyline was good.

However, I couldn't stand the fmc and the writing and overall repetitiveness of this book made for an unpleasant read.

I had 3 major issues with this: 1. Repetitive. 2. This was an established pack w a male omega bondmate and yet there was zero intimacy (not referring to sex) or affection between the pack. 3. The fmc's behaviour is way out of proportion to the 'trauma'.

1. Repetitiveness.
This was the biggest issue I have with this book. This book very obviously wasn't edited w an editor (and if it was, I'd be getting my money back.) The amount of words, sentences, dialogue, inner monologue and overall scenes that are constantly repeated make this book so hard to keep reading.
Example:
- 'murmured' - this word is used 176 times to describe speech. 49 of which were in one scene spread over three chapters. Safe to say by the end of that scene I absolutely hated that word.

2. Pre-Established Pack w a Male Omega:
The mmc's in question are a pre-established pack and bonded. This much is already said: "...You're already a bonded pack..." There's a mention of their deep seeded bonds and yet there is zero affection between them. Zero intimacy (again not referring to physical intimacy).
Examples:
- The grand total of physical intimacy between Elias and his Alphas is 2 kisses on the cheek (one of which was a request from the fmc) and a forehead kiss. When they're out on a group date and at home there's no intimacy be it speaking fondly, standing close, casual touches - all things an omega needs.
- Lucien to Lydia on their first date at a restaurant: "A friend recommended it a while back. I've been here several times, but I always imagined it would be the perfect hidden gem to bring someone truly special." (Is your bonded omega not someone special?)

3. The fmc's behaviour vs what is described as her 'trauma'.
Whenever the fmc speaks its almost always described as 'barely above a whisper', murmured, mumbled, whispered (you get it quiet, meek, demur). She jumps and flinches at every sound. Is in hiding including her designation (this implies she's being hunted - she's not). Avery (her friend) and Lydia often say 'after what I/you have been through'...only we don't see/hear it.
In this world the head alpha is the guardian of all omegas in his pack (his mate and children) - a common concept. She often says her family pack (just alpha father and mother who is...I don't know. It's implied she's an omega saying she doesn't nest but then at the end the mother says the guys are alphas just like 'us' (them - her parents)) is beyond controlling
This is what we are given about her upbringing:
- She has a degree and an art gallery (granted her father says he allowed it because it would make her more desirable to potential suitors)
- She says whilst studying she went to Italy to see the sights. No mention of it being a family trip so alone?
- Her parents allowed her friendship w Avery because she was a beta not an alpha/omega
- Her parents arranged a mating w a traditional pack. The head alpha gave her the ick because he came off as traditional (duh) and spoke about her, assessing her breeding potential, to her dad in front of the fmc as though she wasn't there.
- She tells her parents she doesn't want the match thinking up until this point they were loving and doting parents but when they basically say tough luck, it's our way or the highway, she leaves.
- They let her leave and don't speak to or contact her again for a year.
The level of trauma she constantly describes and builds up throughout the book...You'd think SA would be in her past. Or being confined to a room/imprisoned and completely
- The fmc also got a few random calls from an unknown number that when answered was just silence/breathing - this went nowhere. I thought it was going to be a situation where her intended pack were hunting her or something but no. It was completely forgotten.

[ᴊᴇꜱꜱᴛʜᴇʙᴏᴏᴋᴅᴇᴍᴏɴ ☾ ✧˚ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

i didn’t realize just how long this book was when i started lol. and it was a veryyyyyy slow burn and very little spice. i was honestly surprised we even got a heat scene with how much of a slow burn it was.

this was a single 1st person POV of the fmc, Lydia, with one short chapter in Elias’s POV, so not a lot happened in this book, despite how long it was. but what i can tell you is that 81 times something was “said softly” in this book lol.

we don’t get to learn anything about the pack dynamic before Lydia joined them. Elias is their omega, but it was never clarified if he was with all the alphas. i think there was one kiss between Elias and Lucian but nothing else. and they all marked Lydia with a bite but it was never once mentioned about Elias having bite marks from any of the guys.

i did like all of the guys. and Lydia’s friend Avery. but tbh, not sure how i feel about Lydia herself.

this book does need another pass through for edits bc there was a lot of errors as well.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't even finish it.

I never ever leave negative reviews, but I had to give a warning with this one. This story had so much potential, and with a LOT of work, this author could go on to write some great stories. But I could not finish this one. There is page after page of flowerly eloquent descriptions and chapter after chapter of inner monolog, but nothing actually happening. AND huge errors that a writer and editor should catch.
Exp: Major turning point moment in meeting an MML, then 10 chapters later, comments made by FML like it never happened, even though it was a defining moment for the FML. I almost threw my e-reader.
I even skipped several chapters ahead several times just to try to get past the same repeated descriptions and monologs to the controversy the synapses claimed there were supposed to be. Ultimately, at 75% through and having skipped a third of this needlessly long book, I just couldn't handle it anymore and stopped reading. I truly hope this author keeps writing, but please put down the thesaurus and add more substance.

[Irene Kiew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very slow-paced read. There was a lot of repetition, especially in the beginning, of how the FMC (Lydia) had her walls up and was deliberately distancing herself from people. It was like the author wanted to keep reminding us how fearful and isolated Lydia is. When the guys come in, they have to tread carefully with her, and again there was a lot of repetition as the author wanted to emphasise how careful the guys were being: the word "gentle" was used 276 times in this book.

The repetition and slow pace resulted in an extremely long book -- 85 chapters. By the time I reached chapter 38, I was feeling impatient for things to get a move on.

It was written almost totally from Lydia's POV, which was frustrating, as I also wanted the men's POV. We also don't get much of the men's backgrounds so there is no explanation of why they are so understanding and empathetic towards Lydia.

As for Lydia's fear and her traumatic past, it's never explained why she is so fearful of her parents. We were told that there is emotional or verbal abuse... I had been yelled at and belittled my whole life… and told that I was only good to have children and make alliances with a more powerful pack... but they don't seem to have any leverage over her. They only threaten to cut her off -- that's the biggest threat they make. That's not exactly a scary thing, since she has already walked away from them and built a business and survived away from them for a year. Plus, she's 24, so they couldn't possibly force her to go back.

All her parents say is that she won't be able to survive outside of a traditional pack structure and that she's "flaunting herself" by not wearing scent blockers to disguise her omega scent. It didn't seem enough to provoke such a strong reaction from Lydia or to shake her up so much that she cries for hours after her mother comes to see her in her shop. Her parents didn't have any leverage to force her to go back; they didn't even have leverage against Lucian's pack. From what she said earlier, I thought her father's pack must be a powerful and rich pack (because he wants to use her mating with the Greene pack to further consolidate his power and influence) but never once did her father threaten to hurt Lucian's pack in any way... her parents actually come out of this looking quite powerless... any threat they pose is pretty toothless.

So when we come to the confrontation with her parents later on in the book, it feels like, What? Is that all there is to it? I gather that Lydia has insecurities, but I didn't understand how those insecurities could have made her question whether she's can survive on her own and forge her own path, especially when she has already successfully done that for a full year. I think I would have understood her fears better if she had had an experience of an alpha importuning her or attacking her after scenting her omega scent (because she keeps worrying about how vulnerable she is as an unmated omega) but there is never anything like that.

Lydia also never explains exactly what happened with the Greene pack (the pack her parents chose for her) and what the head alpha had "alpha ordered" her to do. She seems traumatised by that but didn't tell her guys about it and only briefly mentions it to her parents.

All in all, I felt frustrated by this book. Not just the slow pace and the repetitiveness but the fact that the "threat" of Lydia's parents turns out to be no threat at all and the lack of information about the guys' backgrounds. We hear a lot about Lydia's parents, but what about the guys' parents? It would be so much more meaningful if at least one of the guys would say, "I totally understand what you're going through because I also have had to fight to take my own path..." But no, we never hear that. Soren does say, We've all been broken in some way, Lydia. That's why we recognize it in others. In you. But he doesn't elaborate. Shared vulnerability would have given so much more depth and strength to the relationship.

[Boosh Tasticc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot 🌟
Spice 🌶️🌶️
World building 🌍

Very poorly edited. Many spelling mistakes and errors in punctuation e.g. "kneck" instead of "neck".

Lots of copy paste writing. The scene she puts a helmet on ...she does it twice apparently?

The MMCs are pretty generic for this genre. The carpenter one has zero personality but is the first to give her a grope in his workshop ...it's just so meh.

The plot was poor. Angst was a mean mum that caused the FMC to have a panic attack. MMC1 told mum to go away, and the pack go off to have an orgy.

Very poor OV read.

[Madison Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was legitimately really bad, but it’s not the worst thing I’ve ever read. It was so long for basically zero output or reason. The whole thing could’ve been 50% shorter with some editing (which definitely didn’t happen because it’s so repetitive and had awful grammar). The only reason it’s not a 1 is because I rated it 1.5 and rounded up.

[Sav🩵]

dnfd this at 23% 😔

I agree with alot of other people that the book had a really promising premise but it just fell short. I can’t even imagine why it needed to be 600 pages because in the first 20% there is just a lot of repetition. The guys are saying the same thing just different ways and I think the characters needed more detail. I would’ve loved more one on one interactions with Seth & Lydia before Finn was introduced and so on.

This is a slow burn but Lydia is being introduced to everyone really quickly and as someone with social anxiety that would’ve been a lot to handle. I think Seth & Finn should’ve been the main focus and like 40% in we get the other two. It would’ve made the courting feel more balanced because we saw the connect Lydia had with Seth & Finn.

The vibes were very cozy & I could picture this sweet town with its weekend farmers markets selling fruit preserves & bread. The wood carved boxes sounded beautiful and the detail when it came to Lydias thought process about painting was also really good. I just wish we could’ve gotten more from other areas in the book as well. Super disappointed, I really wanted to love this book!!

[Andrea ☾ [is inconsistently consistant] · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really can't... DNF @ 17%

What in the unedited hell is this?? Why is every single thought repeated at least 2 times before we get to move tf on! Also, why do these people talk like they're robots?? Have they never held a conversation before??

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Struggle To Finish

So, I’m a stubborn reader. Once I get a certain amount through a book I will finish it no matter what. This one has been the biggest struggle for a while. The text is repetitive, characters I honestly couldn’t care less about and a trauma that really didn’t seem that traumatic. *spoiler* (she had parents who set up an arranged marriage, she said no, left, parents came to find her, spoke to her demanding, she says no, they leave). Inner monologues say the same thing 100 times some differing mostly the same, page after page. The original pack omega in 600 pages shares one kiss with one of the alphas and the fun pack times don’t happen until 90% in by this time I couldn’t care less! Even then she needs, needs, needs for 3 whole pages with her alphas knowing she needs…..for goodness sake stick it in already!!! Shame as had potential but poorly executed. I’m fairly certain I will not traumatise myself reading another of this authors books in the future

[Mariah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring… so boring nothing of any importance happened until like 70% of the way through. The book could have easily been cut in half and it would have been much better! Even the “fighting scene” with the FMCs parents was boring nothing happened just them saying “do you really want to do this!” “They will change you’ll see” and the one MMC saying “your not welcome here get out” and that’s it.

[Katie Gaffney · Rating 2 out of 5]

So. Many. Adjectives. The writing style is very soft and descriptive and sometimes the author was repetitive. The spice at the end was like reading the same scene over and over. A couple spelling errors here and there but not obnoxious. The FMC seemed way too damaged. There were mentions of emotional abuse from her parents and an unwanted Alpha command but she seemed excessively soft and meek for her experiences. Overall way too wordy to get through a couple weeks worth of her life.

[Catt Co.]

Drinking game. Take a shot every time Elias is described as “ honey warm”.

[Renee]

here’s a fun drinking game: take a shot every time you read the words “his honey-warm scent”.

[Selina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I REALLY wanted to like this book. The premise sounded so good.

Its so slow... So slow. and dont get me wrong, i like slow burn but its not the burn thats slow. Its the pacing.
our FMC has been emotionally abused ( you are told this, but flashbacks show her parents are just jerks and disown her for not getting married) , but is strong enough to run away from her parents, Buy a business and run said business but is terrified to go out in public and talk to anyone.

The MMCs pretty much sees her and feels a spark from the get go. But takes things very slowly to manage her fears ( totally awesome here)

The hard thing is the repetitive phrases and just the pacing. The editing is poor in some spots and I never really connected. After 20 chapters I was starting to wonder if anything WOULD happen. I started skipping bits and didnt really see much happening. I did KINDA finish the book by skipping bits and pieces and getting to the end..

The big bad of her past? Her parents saying its time to come home and take your place and her lead alpha telling them no, shes our pack now. Thats it... Not a lot of build up conflict or resolution. In the end she bonds and is happy as expected. Just... Lackluster.

The author uses a lot of words and some imagery which is really nice. I appreciate someone who attempts to flesh out a storyline and world. But some of that falls flat too.
The FMC has trauma that dosent seem supported as to why... Her behavior isnt consistent with what you see. Jerk parents who try to make her get married, disown her if not, then she runs away, buys a building and starts a biz but cant talk to anyone? whispers. hides her designation. The response is mixed. She can run away but not talk to people... It dosent track for me.

I felt like Elias was great at first, so soft and gentle but then amped up a bit feeling almost odd? Like he was so calm, then hyper... For a bonded pack there isnt a lot of affection or love shown between them. I get making the omega the center, But Elias is an omega too. If they were going to go the route that it showed, he should have been a beta and it would have made a BIT more sense.... Where are all the traditional omega needs?

In any event. I think the story had some good points and potential. It just fell flat. Its extremely rare that I start skipping out of boredom. Ill speed read through but not skip... So maybe I missed some things in there but judging by other reviews.. I didnt.

I applaud the attempt at a slow burn, at the storyline buildin and some details. I loved the idea of their gift boxes ( though I didnt connect carved boxes with jam really...) And including her in their artistry. It kinda pulls together more. I liked the farmers market and the few little restaurants I saw described. Its not a total wash, but its not a story I connected to.

[Bluebyyou · Rating 1 out of 5]

So bad.

Desperately needed an editor. The first twelve chapters could have easily been condensed into three to four without losing anything relevant. It would have different if the writing was immersive or lyrical or simply fun to read but instead it was repetitive (if one of the men had said, 'no pressure' one more time I was going to scream), filled with continuity errors (you just had this conversation at the end of the last chapter!) and exaggerated melodrama. (Heads up: she is not in hiding from abusive parents as the story first leads you to believe, she is choosing to hide from the world because apparently the dynamic, proactive woman, who had a go-bag at ready, walked out to live her life her way when her parents gave her an ultimatum and created a whole secure, stable life for herself by herself within a single year's time, then turned into this broken bird for author only knows what reason because it certainly wasn't on-page.)

Female lead was weak, immature and her inner monologue was needlessly repetitious, self-involved and boring af. I get it, you think you have been hard done by because your toxic parents gave you the choice to either marry at their will or be disowned. But you were a grown-ass woman with a flourishing career and enough savings to travel to a new destination, secure a safe and comfortable place to live AND start your own frickin' business so privileged would be the description for your situation, not tragic, and all this I'm-so-sad-and-alone whining just makes you look narcissistic and spoiled. Personally, I think you should be grateful to your parents for disowning you because it gave you the kick in the rear you clearly needed to leave the nest and take control of your life and you didn't even have to deal with their toxicity and interference while your were doing it. (Also, the female lead closing her store during her business hours on more than one occasion to spend time with the men with no care for her customers, just made her look more narcissistic and spoiled. And, since it was at the men's request, it also made them look self-important and disrespectful of her work.)

"Lydia, your input has already elevated this project beyond anything I could have imagined. I would be honored if you'd consider designing the cards as well.”
The flattering of the female lead by the male leads was so over-the-top ridiculous, it sounded fake, manipulative and nefarious, especially since they didn't actually need her and her 'artistic talents' because one alpha already did commercial design work, another was an actual artisan woodcarver (and Elias, Finn was the one who originally came up with snowflakes for winter and blossoms for spring, not her, the one idea she had at dinner was stupid) and a third already had a successful business created around his specialty preserves. On top of the that, the project he was rhapsodizing about were wooden gift boxes containing jars of preserves, so it's not like it was cutting edge stuff, commercially or artistically.

Started skimming at 35% due to how boring the story was compounded by the stupidity of the phone situation. First off, she owned an art supply story so she would have had a business phone in her store for customers to contact her for information and ordering (people picking up orders is mentioned in the story), especially since she didn't have a webpage providing hours, directions, product info, ect. Second off, the male lead telling her she was going out to dinner with him, as opposed to asking her, was just plain rude. Third of all, the male lead wanting her to check-in with him every day at the same time is huge red flag territory. And pray tell, how would that prevent them from needlessly worrying again if this scenario were to repeat itself given they would still need to come to the shop because she still wouldn't have had any way to contact them?

Completely quit at 42%. The writing was poor, the story was boring, the female lead was a self-involved twit and the male leads come off as predators manipulating a broken, vulnerable woman and the omega male lead crawling in to sleep with the female lead without prior intimacy, reason, invitation or permission tipped the scales into too creepy for me.

Do not recommend.

[Anastacia Newton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for me

This book is unnecessarily long. In addition, Lydia's behavior does not make sense with the relaying of her history. Expecting me to believe she is strong enough to walk away from her family to be independent but then spends every minute hiding and refusing to interact with others with a level of unmatched fear just does not make sense. Worse, the book is overly repetitive. She is constantly having inner monologues, saying the same thing, over and over, chapter after chapter. She mentioned her walls (carefully constructed) almost 60 times in a 600 page book. There are times where entire conversations occur twice as though they did not just occur and places where Finn and Soren are swapped. This is the slowest crawl of a slow burn, but at 50% still nothing had happened. There's no real plot beyond the developing of the relationships, and while I like the characters, if we could have had more of the MMC's POV, then the excessive monologuing and surprising herself with her decisions would have been more tolerable. As it is, I struggled to finish this one. The idea was solid, but this read could have easily been 2-300 pages less. It's also really strange that this was an established pack with a male omega and yet we never see much in the way of intimacy amongst them for the majority of the book, by 50%, we have only seen a cheek kiss between the male omega and his Alphas. By 75%, we have only seen the cheek kiss and a forehead kiss amongst the established mates. No spice with the FMC and other mates until 80%. As a whole, it makes zero sense that the established mates act like roommates with zero intimacy. Randomly, the books calls the alphas wolves once and references pups when speaking of children a few times but there are zero other references to shifter culture or any evidence that they are wolves. Then at 85%, when the big climax portion is, all of Lydia's faith shakes, and honestly, my biggest question is why is no one getting this girl some therapy? By the time she finally shows some real growth, I wanted to throw the book over the tedious commentary up until this point. I really wanted to like this book, but overall it was plagued with way too much inner monologing.

[Lyly · Rating 1 out of 5]

too soft

I want to start by saying that this might be a really good book for someone else, but it wasn’t for me because it’s super soft.


Lydia is absolutely babied in this book. By everyone. Over everything.

My limit was her being praised for agreeing that she likes seasonal promotions and for recommending traditional fall colors and winter colors for seasonal gift boxes.

I think it reflects limited research on the authors part honestly. Not digging deeper into different hobbies, not reallt digging deep into understanding trauma (Lydia’s background made no sense and didnt explain why shebwas so reclusive). A limited knowledge of men (it’s possible this is just the authors dream guys. But they were just super softttt)

Now the authors writing style is decently well developed. It was just little things here and there that I noticed.

For example; whenever Lydia spoke the author repeated her voice was “barely above a whisper” and it just feels as if there were other ways to be deacriptive about her voice or showcase her nerves.

I also noticed a contrast in the authors writing when writing dialogue vs action. Something about the writing just took me out of the story.

That said, I could see others really liking this book, finding this soothing or theraputic.

It just wasn’t for me though so 1 star.

[Xannie Jacobson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had such great potential but fell so flat. The author constantly was repeating herself in the same sections of the chapters, Lydia couldn’t decide if she was meek and terrified or some independent free willed woman, most of the conflict was made in Lydia’s head, the author used so much flowery language in the descriptions and inner monologues when the characters didn’t speak like that to each other and there were some very obvious grammar and spelling mistakes. An editor needed to go over this again. I’m also disappointed that we could get an all male pack with a male Omega and the only interaction between the male Omega and his Alphas was one kiss and a few on the cheek. They have been bonded for much longer and you’re telling me they have all just been waiting for Lydia? That makes no sense.

Sorry for the run on sentence up there but it got so frustrating how many things would be inconsistent and unnecessary. The author also forgot that Soren was described as a home body yet we meet him and he’s clearly meant to be the bad boy. Purple eyes? And the author would forget something had happened already and repeat it as though it was the first time.

The bones were good! But the execution needs work.

[D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

decent…but

This is my first book from this author, and while I do really love omegaverse stories, this one left a lot to be desired. This book is a hard-core slow, slow, slow burn: (75% or later in the book)

I will say that I finished it. Unfortunately, I struggled through a lot of it due to punctuation errors, and general editing that must have been looked over during the revision process.

I also feel like a lot of information was left out and there wasn’t closure regarding her parents. The dynamic of the pack before Lydia joined is a little confusing, the only person who showed affection towards Elias was the Head alpha. The other two seemed indifferent to him in an intimate relationship way. That doesn’t really scream cohesive pack to me.

I am hopeful that the next book in the series is better edited, and that the author decides not to use the same phrases over and over again. I’m pretty sure “honey-warm” was mentioned over 15 times when describing Elias’s scent. That got really old, really fast.

Overall, it was a decent book. Not sure I would read it again or recommend it until of these errors are remedied.

[booklovingredhead · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautiful, wholesome book, and it kept me entertained for a 3-hour car drive. I could not leave this cozy atmosphere of this book for more than a few minutes.

I adored the cozy vibes this book had; it also combined my love for wholesome cozy content (though there is steam at the end) and RH omegaverse.

Lydia was a dream female lead; she is artistic, feminine, and owns an art shop. She had so many mental battles to fight in that creative mind, and then she meets her pack. They were with her in every obstacle she faced, they supported her and showed her how truly strong she is.

Now, there were spelling errors, some "plot holes," and some repetitive dialogue. But even with those things, this book was still a dream. It was the cozy book of my dreams, and I cannot wait to read the rest of this series. I have a feeling it will become a favourite. I mean, Aspen Winters knows how to write swoon-worthy romances, the dates the guys took Lydia on, had me melting into a puddle.

[Haylee · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Standalone

💜RH Omegaverse MMFMM
💜First person/FMC POV (one chapter in Elias’s)
💜No cheating/OW drama
💜Female and male omega
💜No MM*
💜No talks of sexual past at all


FMC- Lydia
MCs- Elias, Lucian, Finn and Soren

Almost 700 pages, should have been 350 MAX honestly. Only two spicy scenes. Half the time I forgot it was even an omegaverse as they acted like normal people most of the time, just with scents. I skimmed here and there as it was so flat and I was bored. I felt no connection to them. It was TOO cozy. All the guys were nice sweet guys at least.

No idea if there were virgins/manwhores as none of them talked about their past AT ALL. It bothered me we didn’t even get to know if Lydia was even a virgin or not….though I guess I’m glad we don’t know if the guys were hoes or not lol they didn’t act like it.



*Even though Elias is a male omega, there was zero MM, if you don’t count the one kiss towards the end. What’s the point of male omega if you’re not gonna have MM? And I guess all the guys were together, but they all acted more like friends than anything.

[OnTheSamePaige]

DNF at 15% so no star rating. This is PAINFULLY repetitive.

Guy 1: "She has her walls up, but there is something about her that speaks to me."
Guy 2: "Yeah, something inside her calls to me to break down those walls she's errected around herself."
Guy 1: "I know what you mean. It's like she's closed herself inside these walls, but behind them? There's something deeper that summons me."

She whispers, they give her understanding looks, she wants to break down the walls, they speak gently. They gentle her gently while she whispers her whispers to their gentle eyes. WTF.

You can easily trim away 80% of this book without losing anything. I knew it was cozy fluff, but this fluff is more like the lint left after washing a ratty, holey blanket.

It obviously wasn't edited or beta read. The author didn't even bother with a basic spell check based on the typos.

Also, I see the reviews are poor, with lots of DNFs, but the average star rating is still decent. SOMEONE must be giving lots of 5 stars. I call shenanigans.

[TIFFANY MYERS · Rating 1 out of 5]

ok

So the story isn’t bad . But I did almost stop attempting to read it several times . By the time you’ve gone through the stretched out constant descriptions for each scenario feeling person u feel like it’s been way too long and too much . It just needed to get to the story instead of repeatedly repeating mostly on feelings . I feel like if I’d cut down the times and length of descriptions and not completely over focus on the anxiety with 20 words at a time it would b a nice little book with more satisfaction. Maybe add a little more bulk to the actual conflict at that point . The only reason I made it through is I could tell there was gonna b a conflict but honestly that situation was disappointing on how it played out . Definitely needs major editing . Prob could cut a 3rd of the book and get where u went directly . I appreciate the vision just needs to find a faster easier way there .

[CallHerXi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave 2 stars solely based on the fact that the overall plot and theme of the book had potential.

However, the book had the quite a few issues for me:

1) The tendency to repeat lines over and over again.
2) It felt like multiple people were writing or that the author forgot what was they had written previously.
3) Some of the reasoning for the back story didn't quite flow or fit.
4) It REALLY read slowwwwwwww.
5) Half of what was written didn't need to be written, while quite a few things that may have added depth and filling to the story should have.
6) There was quite a few editing errors.
7) Overall the book DIDN'T need to be over 600 pages. Barely needed to be half the size based on the story alone.

All and all I can see why people "DNF" it was a very long read and I did find myself kind of skimming throw certain parts. It isn't a book I would say that I would rush to read again, let alone read again period, but overall I can say I did finish it.

[Nicole Turk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nicole

I loved the concept of the story but it went no where painfully slow! There was so much repetition that I skimmed and only paid attention whenever I saw quotation marks. I need...yes we know what you need....said 125 times grew frustrating and tiresome! And what does progressive mean in this boom? There are 3 alphas and 2 omegas...is that different or is it bc of the 3 alphas and Lucian was the really alpha one. The sex was very disappointing too....very G rated in my spice level. There is no epilogue and I think it was like 80 something chapters! I should have read the reviews but the sample got me good! What does soren do for a living? Are the men sexual w eachother bc they did not show that in this story if you are worried about that. It was jus so
painstakingly slooowwwwww!!! I get why but dang! Just beware g rated and slow paced w alot of repetition!

[Sonya Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lavender and Honey by Aspen Winters

What an enchanting book. Lydia's growth from scared omega to confident and loving omega is so beautiful to read. The four men all fall for her as soon as they meet her and make plans to start courting her but no-one explains this to Lydia until a comment is made during a date that makes them realise they hadn't asked her.
Lydia is initially hesitant as her relationship with Alphas hasn't been the best with her parents giving her the ultimatum of bonding with a group of what sounds like despicable alpha's or leaving and being entirely on her own.
Seeing her grow as she builds her own shop and friendships and relationships and then break as her family make a reappearance is upsetting but this time she's got 3 alpha's and an omega behind her.
Cannot recommend this highly enough and I cannot wait for more from Aspen Winters