Knot What She Seems

by Katie May, Ann Denton

All my life, I was told an omega had to be three things—docile, dependable, and demure.

Three qualities I am most definitely not.


Darling Academy is designed to teach adult omegas how to please their alphas, but I’ve never fit in with the other girls. I don’t know the difference between a salad fork and a regular one, and I certainly don’t care where people sit at a dinner party.

My entire life is turned upside down when my dying twin brother is conscripted to attend Eros Academy, a brutal war school designed for the strongest of alphas.

The decision is easy—I’ll pretend to be him and go in his stead. It shouldn’t be too hard to balance two lives, right? All I’ll need is a scent blocker, a body suit, and a penis. Easy.

But Eros is not like Darling. Instead of dance classes, we learn how to shoot guns. Instead of politics, we discuss war tactics. Instead of planning dinner parties, we organize assault missions.

I also didn’t plan on Alpha Team X.

They’re huge, vicious, psychotic, and the newest instructors. All four of them are capable of instilling fear in anyone who looks directly at them.

Quickly, I find myself balancing two lives, both of which center around Alpha Team X.

I’m the “alpha” they torment on a daily basis…

And the omega they obsess over.

Either way, I have a feeling if they discover the truth, I’m dead.

That is, if the school doesn’t kill me first.


Knot What She Seems is a non-shifting, contemporary omegaverse that takes place in a world different from our own, where all of the countries are ruled by monarchies. In this book, you can expect knotting, nesting, heat, ruts, and possessive alphas who worship the ground their omega walks on. There are minor bully elements. This books contains no MM, no FF, and no OW drama. It is part one of a duet.

Genres: Omegaverse, Romance, Why Choose, Enemies To Lovers, Fantasy, Royalty, Werewolves

464 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 23, 2025

About the author

Katie May is a romance writer of numerous genres! She writes everything from horror to fantasy to contemporary. #whychoose

She has a gorgeous tabby cat who she adores, and she’s obsessed with coffee and horror movies.

Reviews

[Taren Chauncey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beware! Itʼs part one of a duet with no release date for part two in sight

I ordered this because I saw one of the authorʼs posts in RHR on FB. NOTHING IN THE POST MENTIONED IT HAS A CLIFFHANGER. THE COVER DOES NOT SAY PART ONE OR LEAVE ANY INDICATION THAT IT ISNʼT A STANDALONE. I CHECKED AND IT NOW IS LINKED BY A SERIES WITH NO RELEASE DAY FOR PART TWO BUT I AM REALLY UNIMPRESSED WITH THE FALSE ASS ADVERTISING

THIS IS WHY SO MANY OF US GET PISSY ABOUT JUMPSCARE CLIFFHANGERS. JUST BE HONEST. I WOULD HAVE BOUGHT IT ANY WAY BUT NO WAY I WOULD HAVE STARTED READING IT!

I DO NOT READ BLURBS BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS HAVE SPOILERS. DO NOT PULL THIS KINDA THING. THANK YOU. NOW I WONʼT BE PICKING UP PART TWO.

[Keziah · Rating 2 out of 5]

We have:
- the country of Hypso (a monarchy)
- the country of Nothos (neighboring country they’re at war with)
- mythical diseases
- Lana Del Rey
- Taylor Swift
- The Office
- 365 Days
- Luke Eisner
- Charlie Hunnam

This is a jumbled mess and reads like one. Make a contemporary omegaverse in the world as we know it or make a fantasy omegaverse in a different world. Trying to do both doesn’t work. Maybe it does for some people, but for me it comes across as lazy and jarring. Hard sell to be like “oh yeah this mystical monarchy has been at war with a neighboring mystical country for decades. The alpha males are sent to fight and omega females take classes to learn how to be a subservient homemaker.” All the while “Summertime Sadness” by Lana Del Rey is playing in the background.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn - I really liked this! It's kind of like a mulan-inspired omegaverse (think ~she's the man~). The characters are pretty well done, and I liked the story a lot. My one complaint is that sometimes it felt like the chapters didn't seamlessly flow into the next one, but overall, it was enjoyable.

[Spasticnontastic · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Natalie H · Rating 3 out of 5]

June 2025
Kindle edition

Picked for the cross dressing and disguise. Started off good. Bit of bullying and toughness for 'Teddie', insta attraction/scent match for Brylee. Awful mother alpha mother queen and stereotypical meek omega father. The lack of care for the brother was heartbreaking. But with the way the location of the medicine kept getting thrown around, it was gonna end up with Brylee in their clutches.

Paused at the halfway mark when things started getting wishy washy with the arranged pack confrontation, moving into jealous territory. It was messy. Lack of communication as a whole. Given her past surely there should be some in the know as a matter of protection. That she didn't tell them or at least mention the threat was bizarre. The ones that sold her were still walking around no problem. It was a wtf moment.

For being the top alpha team the guys were pretty clueless. Focusing on Teddie, first bullying for trying to get them fired, then to toughen him up for the sister's sake. Obsessing over wooing Brylee. They were an alright bunch but the only one that really stood out was Colter. All in silent violent type, figured things out and was just there for her.

Cliffy ending that wasn't that much of a surprise. It was either going to be Sam or Harper. Him getting randomly attacked was a hang on are we trusting this moment. Looks like the hidden identity is done with now. Might give the next one a go, see how I feel at the time.

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

4.75⭐️

“𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦—𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦—𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴.”

once again i hurt myself by reading a book i know has a cliffhanger without the next book being out. it also feels CRIMINAL to not have a release date yet for the next book after that cliffy.

me currently:



i didn’t know how much i liked gender swap stories and seeing how authors make it work. Brylee is an omega who doesn’t want a pack or be the typical omega at Darling Academy. but she wasn’t always like this and she has walls built up around herself. enter in Alpha Team X, 4 slightly psychotic alphas, now teaching at Eros Academy, and her scent matches. but since Brylee is taking her brother Teddie’s place at Eros, they work “Teddie” to the ground, not knowing it’s Brylee everytime. this book has so many secrets, like why Brylee doesn’t want a pack of trust anyone, why Alpha Team X is actually at Eros, and obviously Brylee pretending to be her brother.

“𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘉𝘳𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘴. 𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴.”

this book had great banter and humor. Brylee’s humor and jokes had me cracking up. as well as the different personalities of the guys. all slightly unhinged but also wanting to impress Brylee so badly it’s cute and hilarious when they get nervous.

“”𝘊𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮?” 𝘒𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩. “𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴.””

Colter is my fav of the alphas. he’s the scary one everyone one is afraid of who is scarred and wears a mask. but he’s obsessive over Brylee and soft only for her.

there is so much going on in this book. not just about Brylee pretending to be her brother, but the war going on between Hypso and Nóthos. and with the cliffhanger, i can’t wait to see how everything plays out.

if you’re looking for an omegaverse where the fmc will do anything for the ones she loves and doesn’t want go fit into the mold of a typical omega, this is perfect for you. just mind the cliffy.

MFMMM, 1st person multi POV
1 omega fmc, 4 alpha mmcs
scent matches, slow/medium burn, cliffhanger

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 ⭐️/1.5 🌶️—This is a weird book. It’s a fantasy but we have all of today’s music and movies and Taylor Swift mentioned? It reminded me of Pack Darling meets Cassandra Featherstone’s Discordia University. It was entertaining but you really had to ignore the weird moments when our reality encroached into the worldbuilding.

[KLynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best "gender swap" books I've read *at least in the romance genre*.
Yes, some things were a little far fetched and there are plenty of plot holes that will need to be plugged, but overall a pretty solid read.

[Bri · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s Definitely A NO From Me. ❌

The “idea” of this story was there& definitely was the reason for me picking it up in the first place. however … much to my dismay …the execution longevity was horridly lacking. Here’s my opinion on this poor state of work … (without spoilers)

I’m starting to loose faith in the “Omega-verse” trope. I swear … the laziest writers attempt this thinking it’s an easy sell and I guess it has become so. However, I expect way more. In this case and with all books that fail to deliver … they focus too much on outwardly (bad ass)*strong female leads …then continue to write these females into a traumatic drama filled , emotional wrecks… with zero common sense, zero rational, I mean Zero nothing…but air and bluster… why?!?! That math ain’t mathing no more.

And btw… we so over— pages and pages of one sided filler busters 👀 and boring dragging untimely dialog because of all this cosmetic fillers. Zero plot. No excitement. No flow.
Slow burns we all can handle if the characters are well developed and the plot is heavily driven to enagege us with the scenery and introspection and backstories etc.… with slow-burns we expect more story than heat. Talk about “Heat” … laaawd Jesus…if the story & characters was so bad… (the heat build up factor) was darn near none existent … hellllloooo.… because these types of authors continue to kill the vibe of our female lead by turning her into a mental-rambling- dialogue-talking-dribbling-jibber- jabber mess… with severe PTSD… I can’t. They solely focus on these bad development female characters leads and then have a nerve to dominate these females dialog with utter dribble that never push a plot. Leaving us as severely wanting, mentally parched and really perplex… quietly or not so quietly annoyed, thinking how did something with so much potential go so horridly wrong?!?!

As women who have a great tender spot for this genre … please stop thinking we foolish enough to continue to support such mediocrity in writing. There are better stories out here, stories we are willing to actually pay an arm and a leg for rather than waste our precious time on this malarkey. Arghhh!!!

I haven’t been this disappointed with a story in long awhile and I don’t think I’ve ever rated a book a dismal 1 star.

It’s clear …I had enough…

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed the story and will probably read the next book, but there were a few things that felt out of place or didn’t make sense.

Their parent’s coldness towards Brylee and complete ignorance of Teddie’s illness is odd. I also didn’t have a clear sense of what society is like for female omegas. On one hand, Brylee seems to have a lot more freedom than omegas in similar dystopian books, but on the other hand, attendance for female omegas is mandatory at Darling Academy with its alpha centric curriculum. And her parents have given her the find a pack or we’ll find one for you ultimatum.

Finally, one of my pet peeves is mentioning contemporary music, celebrities, and tv shows when writing about a different world. It takes me out of the story. There has to be a way to describe entertainment that gives the reader the same feeling without naming names.

[BettyLovesBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Quite different to the usual OV RH lore, with a fun role reversal and secret plot. A good range of interesting characters, too. Perhaps the only downside was the occasional injection of pop culture references, which didn’t fit with the rest of the world building. Hoping it won’t be too long a wait for book two.

[Kerry Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was interesting. However the art of writing was ok. Meaning there were a number of times I found myself skimming or skipping to move along in the story as the narrative itself failed to hold my attention.

This book ends on a cliff hanger. Anticipate at least one more book to conclude the story arch.

[Bent Letters · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

And now we wait for the sequel...

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS. Perfect for people like myself who loved She’s the Man and Mulan. Brylee is an omega who is hating her life while going through a program Darljng, which teaches omegas how to be perfect, simpering dolls for their alphas. She takes her twin brother, Theodore/Teddie’s place at Eros. Eros is a training ground for alphas to teach them how to be soldiers. Also teaching at Eros? Turns out, Brylee’s scent matches. Brylee is NOT into trusting fate and doesn’t believe in scent matches due to her past experiences. This story was funny but also serious in places. Our girl is working through some trauma and these alphas are going slow and trying to help. I loved their personalities and it was comforting to have them just be cinnamon rolls for Brylee but just straight up unhinged for their students.

That cliffhanger did us dirty though(not actually though- it was perfect)! So good. I was watching as I had less and less pages left and my mouth was agape at that last page. When is the next one coming out again? I’m desperate.

[Rambling Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knot What She Seems had something I couldn't resist: the secret girl trope. I don't know what it is about that one, but I need to give the story a chance whenever I see that.

KWSS has two layers of identity deception.
1. Brylee, an omega, is pretending to be a male alpha so that she can attend Eros Academy.
2. The alpha she's masquerading as just happens to be her twin brother, the crown prince.

Personally, and this doesn't mean it doesn't exist, the secret girl isn't a trope I've seen much in omegaverse. Secret omega, sure, but the gender isn't usually a part of it, so it was refreshing to get that added twist to keep the storyline more unique and fresh.

Brylee was likable, and I can totally admire her devotion to her twin. She's willing to put her body and her mental/emotional health at risk to give him the time to (hopefully) get better. She's a loner, though you start to learn more about why she keeps herself so separate from others pretty immediately. A little further in, we find out why she doesn't have the desire for a pack and is very skittish around alphas.

She's reminiscent of other non-pack-oriented or non-omega-oriented omegas that I've read before, but that doesn't detract from whether I enjoyed her.

Her pack...
1. Ridge: the pack lead. He's a little aloof and matter of fact, but he's in charge of wrangling the rest of Alpha Team X. Later, we do get a little information about his history, which helps give him a bit more dimension.
2. Kylian: aside from my aggravation with the spelling of his name, he's likeable. He's supposed to take on that playful psycho kind of role, though so far, I feel like he has the reputation of psycho without us seeing that reputation play out on the pages.
3. Luka: the "secret" academic, who enjoys research likely more than he enjoys fighting. He's a bit of a neat freak and nervous cleaner, and he's god some awkwardness to him and less self-confidence when it comes to the wooing that has to ensue. I feel like we got maybe the most development on him.
4. Colter: the scarred giant. Colter is the strong and mainly silent type, though he doesn't seem to have any issues with sharing his thoughts or communicating when he wants to. He's got an ooey gooey center when it comes to Brylee, surrounded by that kind of "she's mine? she's mine!" type of vibe.

Denton and May did a good job of bringing out Brylee's past and gradually developing the world of KWSS. Sometimes, when there's a governmental/political aspect to a story, it feels like that gets info dumped, but they made good choices about when to bring information in and how much to share with the reader at a time.

I think their co-writing helps balance some of the things that sometimes irk me a little bit in May's solo writing, like the way the comedy is done and how often it relies on crudeness to get a laugh. Don't get me wrong, there's still some of that, but it felt like it was done more strategically, so it had the intended effect (laughter) rather than being too much.

Overall thoughts...
I enjoyed the story, I really did. I binged through it and stayed up a bit later than I should have to finish it, which is one of those signs that a storyline has grabbed me. There were some things that poked at my brain a little bit, hence the three stars instead of four. One of those non-spoilery things were the way the characters were depicted, particularly the men.

Here's the thing, if the word "Darling" wasn't such a prominent part of the story, I can't guarantee that the connections would be fresh in my mind, but here we are.

The way Kylian is written, he's very reminiscent of Flynn, from Pack Darling. Now, the cheerful psychopath with boundary issues is not a character type that's "owned" by any author, but I couldn't help but think of that. Alpha Team X, and the reluctant omega being their scent match, has that superficial overlap with Lilah and her guys.

Colter, with his mask, gives me Wraith vibes from Feral Omega by Lenore Rosewood. Now, his backstory, the bits we know, are very different from Wraith's, so that's a good thing. But the mask to hide the scars, being the biggest/most physically intimidating, being the most silent, and even the way some of his narration is structured with fragments and those shorter sentences that stand alone... it just gave me Wraith vibes.

Truly, none of this is meant to be a drawback. If you love those types, take this as a positive that you're going to find what you want!!! As a whole, I did enjoy the story, though I know a lot of people think three stars means you didn't. Personally, I'll reread KWSS and I'll enjoy doing it. There are just some things that I'm hoping are smoothed out as the series continues.

Some spoilers below the arrows, so continue on if you don't mind.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The way Brylee's parents were so checked out bothered me, especially the omega dad. It's convenient that they're so distant, but it just felt like I wasn't getting a good enough/convincing enough reason for this distance. Even when it came to Teddie and his illness... He's the crown prince, but you don't verify with your own doctors that he's not dying? Brylee was sold and assaulted, but she doesn't have an actual bodyguard and can easily sneak out on her own to see Teddie or go from campus to campus? Teddie not even knowing the full extent of what Brylee went through also just make me wrinkle my nose a little bit. The ending was a bit typical. I think it's possibly the hundredth time I've read an abduction as part of the cliffhanger, but what can you do?

[Naya · Rating 3 out of 5]

And wheres the next one like..

[A.B. Shepherd · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually really liked this and would have given it four stars, but I'm pissed because the second book is not only not published yet, it's doesn't even have an estimated release date. I won't be coming back for the second book.

[Shontae · Rating 1 out of 5]

A painful read

Some spoilers: This book was a very difficult read for quite a few reasons. Overall, it was hard for me to get invested in this story as it didn’t dive beyond surface level story development. This story also lacked character development or depth of personality which was a shame. Everything just felt flat at best, stereotypical, and very unbelievable. There wasn’t enough deepening of relationships and the storyline to carry the plot. There is also quite a bit of subtle, but consistent, potential prejudices that show up with the character who is a poc.

Overall, there were just so many things happening and it all felt a bit chaotic and the entire premise was hard to get lost in. Details rushed and not thought out like they mixed all the hottest clickbait literotica themes (academy, enemies to lovers, omega-verse, royalty, RH) and just slapped a story around it all. Much was lost for each genre and the royalty aspect was believable to me. This filtered into the details of the book, like the logistics of a wig staying on unglued, in hand to hand combat, lol. I just kept getting slammed by the crazy unbelievable plot and details keeping me from deeper immersion and overall enjoyment.

The biggest thing that was extremely difficult to read is the narrative and storyline with Kylian. In every scene his skin color is mentioned. Granted it is mentioned as beautiful but it is how he is referred to often and this is paired with an even more severe lack of character development and humanizing details and narratives that give the other characters some depth and life. Saying his skin is beautiful does not diminish the weirdness of it being in every single description of him. It was extremely uncomfortable and after a while, inappropriate especially considering how he is portrayed as a whole. He was the most static (main) character in the novel and this is in stark juxtaposition to his pack mates. At times it leans to ignorance in his depiction without the necessary offsetting depth to make the recurrent mentions of his skin meaningful. It felt like the authors were trying to write a character they don’t understand, while (hopefully) unaware of biases and subconscious prejudices that might bleed into their novel and thus to their audience. The other character’s skin color is never mentioned, though I believe Luka is Hispanic. The lack of ability to write for, include, and understand this character is also paired with the fact that he doesn’t get a date or meaningful time with Brylee, and he has no significant connection with her aside from small moments here and there that are again, very surface level. There is no tenderness or rising relationship (yet). They mention, of all the men, that he was a “manwhore”, further playing into stereotypes without any additional supporting character enrichment to offset it. The highlight of this is a scene where they talk about each man’s past during a group date. This narrative is not, by any means, deep but they do dive into small, more intimate, memories and familial connections with each pack member. Giving them life and touching on something endearing and memorable about each man. Except Kylian. Kylian…likes mountain climbing. That’s the extent of depth to him. Does he have family? Who knows! He climbs mountains, while another pack mate played the piano, love their grandma, etc. This is subtle and I’m not shaming, but it is the responsibility of the authors to cover people outside their culture with more depth, research, and care. We are all biased and blind to what we don’t know. Not every culture is yours to write on. Maybe it’s completely different in book 2.

This book overall felt harried and slapped together, lacking the roots it’s complex storyline needed to thrive. The lack of synchronization may be from having two authors, I am not sure. Overall, I am a picky reader, but I do not shy away from a simple read. I do try to read all books in their entirety, and I struggled here. I try to see the book through where the author is and who their audience is, so this will be great for many do don’t need deeper storylines, foundations, or character development. This book is straight forward, deals with light enemies to lovers, and touches on what a lot of women crave, which is strong men, physically AND emotionally, that are safe enough for us to let go with. If you’re looking for the holy grail of all the romance genres in one story and don’t need to get too deep, you may enjoy this. It has high stars so it looks like I’m amongst the few who don’t.

[Jen, Queen of RH · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟*𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝

First five star I've rated in 2+ months.

This 1st installment hit all of the marks for me and was overall a very solid read.

These are the reasons why I enjoyed it so much:

𝟭.) 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗟

Brylee had a little bit of the "I'm not like other omegas" mindset at times, but she wasn't b*tchy, stuck up, and didn't think she was better than the other omegas at her academy because of it. In fact, her roommate was described as the "typical omega", but Brylee learns to soften up to her slowly and ends up trusting her as a friend. Which was really refreshing to see, because I'm getting tired of omega FLs putting down other female omegas for choosing to embrace their femininity.

What made me really admire Brylee as a FL, though, was the unconditional love for her brother (Teddy) and the things she's doing to try and save him. She herself has severe trauma to work through, has to lose sleep, has to endure exhaustive physical activity, risks getting caught lying, etc. Yet, she sticks to it and sucks it up because of Teddy.

Brylee's selflessness, courage, and determination made her an endearing FL. You can't help but root for her.

𝟮.) 𝗦𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗟𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘄

I really liked that the MLs were respectful of Brylee and didn't try and rush her to accept them, despite not being aware of her trauma and not knowing what she went through.

Were Kylian, Ridge, Luka, and Colter hot for Brylee? Of course, and there were definitely some spicy moments. But it was nice to see them hold back and get to bond with her a little through solo mini dates (Luka getting locked in so he can win a toy for Brylee was adorable) instead of trying to immediately jump in her pants.

There is only 1 sex scene and 1 mutual kiss scene in the entire installment and that's because Brylee was in a desperate situation with her heat arriving amongst a crowd of alphas during training. I thought just these 1 scenes were enough considering Brylee hasn't unpacked her trauma to the guys yet, and she's still dealing with the consequences of what happened to her.

Besides the romantical slow burn, I also enjoyed the slow burn regarding the plot. Specifically, regarding Brylee's male persona.

It's fitting to have the most silent, but observant ML (Colter) find out first. While, the other MLs continue to stay in the dark not knowing Brylee is the Teddie they know. I can't wait for them to catch up lmao.

𝟯.) 𝗦𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗟𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗿𝘆𝗹𝗲𝗲

I'm glad that Brylee's scent blockers were actually strong enough to hide her scent so the ML's weren't consecutively in love with 2 different people (actually the same person, but they wouldn't know).

I have stumbled into other rh genderbender novels where I've seen the MLs lowkey falling for the FL's fake identity, and the idea always felt weird to me because it feels like cheating. Yes, it's the same person, but the MLs don't know that, so to them it's basically falling in love with 2 different people.

I liked that the author didn't take that route for this series and made the MLs loyal to Brylee.

𝟰.) 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗟𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗜 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

Kylian, Ridge, Luka, and Colter were 100% distinguishable from each other and had their own unique charms to them, which is always a plus as individuality is important to have amongst main characters in this genre.

From Luka and his OCD to Kylian and his flirtiness, all 4 MLs were likeable and solid characters. If I had to choose, my least favorite would probably be Ridge, because he was uptight at times. And my favorite without a doubt would be Colter. The 2 scenes where he catches Brylee at Eros academy and the scene where helps her with her heat 🥵 🔥 Chefs kiss 🤌

We readers get some insight to see how fighting and participating in war has shaped the MLs, but I hope we see more in the next installment.

As for the plot, I have a lot of questions and can't wait to see what happens next. Specifically regarding the two nations at war and what kidnapping the princess may trigger.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I need the next installment asap!!!

[syn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I called the ending from a mile away... but it was still a good read. I do agree with other readers that the consistent pop culture references didn't mesh the best with the fantasyland omegaverse setting, but I was willing to overlook it. The guys were alright, and it was clear that an effort was made to distinguish them from one another but aside from Kylian's flirtatious jokes, him, Ridge and Luka were all relatively bland and shallowly fleshed out characters. Colton, though? Dude has my heart. I love big 'scary' scarred guys that turn into the sweetest teddy bears for their girl and the way he was worried about scaring her with his looks will always undo me... it probably helps that I really don't mind the anonymity of the mask either. Brylee as an MC is alright, but definitely sucked into the classic omegaverse FMC body betraying syndrome a little too much for my liking, and not as feisty/strong as I would have liked. Personally, I love a long haul character development and would have loved to have seen her becoming fitter and stronger than the average male at Eros- because unlike them, she doesn't have a designation and birthright to rely on and has even more of a reason to prove herself. I almost wish there was a little bit more of a bully romance dynamic between the men and 'Teddie' and a few close calls that went both ways- not her just complaining and sweating over them shirtless and teaching. The patriarchal society (ironic considering that her alpha mother is the monarch) is interesting, but I feel like it should have had more of an effect on Brylee's character (again, I want that passion and deep seated rage at the unfairness of the world). I also think the book focussed a lot more on small interactions with the men rather than the greater picture (an entire war) and so Brylee does seem a bit shallow and ignorant to be fussing over what to wear on a date when he brother is literally dying and there are spots in the city filled with violence and war. Considering the trauma she went through, I also find it interesting that it hardly manifests aside from the ocassional panic attack or nightmare- no flinching at loud sounds or sudden movements, no avoiding touch, no irrational fear of being in an enclosed space with an unknown male etc. I also thought it seemed odd that her heat lasted for only a few hours, was sated by one knot, and left the other bond members completely unaware that it had happened, even when they were in the same room as her when she went into heat? Overall, it seems good, but there are definitely a few things that feel glossed over for the sake of the romance taking front place. Nonetheless, it's catchy and Colton is an easy win for me, so I'll probably read the next one when it comes out. 7/10.

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

She’s the Man meets Mulan meets omegaverse—this book melded all the best qualities of each to create a dark, captivating story that was entertaining from start to finish. With well-defined characters, a richly developed setting, and pacing that worked perfectly with the plot, this duet stood out within its genre as one of the best. It was also quite dark at times but was balanced out with the budding romance and the humour of the body-swap shenanigans. Having said that, trigger warnings are listed below.

Overall, I loved this book and will be anxiously awaiting the conclusion!


TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Spoilers ahead.

SA: A major plot point in the book was the previous kidnapping of the FMC. Years before the current plot, she was drugged by her then-partners and handed over to her kidnappers. In brief flashbacks, we learn the FMC was held captive, tortured, and most likely sexually assaulted (she never lets her flashbacks go for long enough to be 100% sure, but it’s implied so I’m including it). These exs are seen later in the book (having no remorse for what she went through) and cause a panic attack. Afterward, the FMC laments on the fact they got to remain free and unpunished because of a mistake in the legal case.

This book also includes: mentions of violence ranging from punches to gore (on page), mentions of war (off page) with in-depth descriptions of battles (on page), mentions of kidnapping (off page) and the lingering trauma associated including panic attacks, flashbacks, and permanent injuries (on page), serious sickness of a loved one (on page), implied prostitution of someone who has no other choice (off page), abusive and neglectful parents (off page), an overall misogynistic culture (on page), and, weirdly enough, so many mentions of the FMC puking or having to puke or tasting bile (on page). I guess she’s a nervous puker.

[Spinneretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

WARNING! Cliffhanger! This one is a 5/5 on my trauma scale, so you may want to buy and wait for the next one before reading!

Brylee’s twin brother is the heir to their Kingdom’s throne, and he’s also deathly ill. That’s why she comes up with the brilliant idea to masquerade as him when he is told he has to attend the local war college.
Dividing her time between her own Darling Academy, where all Omegas are trained on how to pleased their alphas, and Eros Academy, where the Alphas are trained to fight in the ongoing war between kingdoms, she struggles to deal with the physical training- especially when she discovers her scent matches are teaching!

Set in another universe, where humans are divided into alphas, betas and omegas, this is a reverse harem romance, with an omega female who doesn’t conform, and her scent matched mates who are their country’s top warriors.
Brylee has had some bad experiences with alphas before, and it makes her reluctant to fall in with their plans, but they aren’t top warriors for no reason, and it is entertaining to see just what lengths they go to, to try and get her approval.

This isn’t a particularly light hearted story, and I have a feeling that we might just have some rather harsh parts to come in book two. However, it does make for an entertaining story, with likeable characters, a steamy scene or two, and lots of angst and anger!
I’m definitely waiting impatiently for the next book, because I despise cliffhangers (although I did freely chose to read this book knowing there was one), but I’m really hoping it’s resolved quickly, with some deserved punishments being dealt out (I can think of four very deserving characters right off!).

This is a great read for RH/Academy romance lovers that don’t mind the bite of a cliffhanger.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually just mark a book as read and rate the stars to keep up with what I read and when but I had to leave a review for this book.

I read the blurb and was like ok quick read plus I was happy it was going to have " She's the Man" vibes but in omegaverse so how could it go wrong. Well...
1. It's part of a series with no date for next installment. I was 90% through the book like I know they not going to wrap this story up quickly in the last 10%.
2. The omega academy the FMC attends care nothing for their safety. They have no security at all plus they right next to the alpha academy how is most of the omegas not knocked up or knotted all day since all that separates them is a wall that alphas can hear and smell over.
3. The FMC brother and his omega are the worse. I expect them to help her more and keep her informed since she putting her life and body on the line. I was hopping her bro could she up from time to time to help keep up appearances even at the end when both of them are needed to attend an event or when she shows at the beta gym.
4. This was labeled as Fantasy but I'm guess the omegaverse is what makes it fantasy because there is no magic atleast not in this book.

The story development of the relationship between Brylee and her guys were good. Plus I was happy one of the knows her secret and its fun reading him help her keep it. Waiting for next installment to see how things play out. I feel there will be more betrayal in the future for Brylee and they are going to be from her blood relations. I speculate her brother is actually playing her. Only the next installment will tell.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably going to be one of my top recommendations for omegaverse books (as long as the rest of the series is just as good). The FMC has a great personality and the MMCs were likeable. There were little inconsistencies in the book and the overuse of some terms but overall it kept my attention. Bonus - it had girl disguised as boy trope and was actually handled well!

The FMC is witty and well developed as a character. She had a traumatic event happen to her that shattered her trust and made her build walls around herself. I feel like the author handled this very well on how it shaped her personality and day-to-day interactions. I didn't like the overuse of "something" being stuck in her throat when she was emotional/nervous though. The MMCs I had a harder time differentiating between and remembering who was who. I blame this on a lack of physical description for most of them.

The story involves "girl disguised as boy" and is somewhat realistic in the fact she could probably pull it off. The body betrayal was prevalent in the book but the FMC fought it most of the time. I feel like this was satisfactory since we are dealing with omegaverse which is big on biology. There's no instalove which I really enjoyed but no holdouts from the MMCs either - so no drama within the harem. The group were taking their time to get to know each other which we rarely see within this genre.

Overall I would definitely recommend this book and hope the rest of the series is just as good.

[KittySexy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy bien empieza la saga
La autora Katie May nunca me decepcionan sus libros, todos me encantan
El mundo de la saga trata de Alphas, Omegas y Betas en el mundo actual, pero con la diferencia de estatus trata sobre cual perteneces y también hay olores como con los lobos
La protagonista me gusta como es... es muy fuerte ( después de todo lo que sufrio a manos de los Norths y que la vendieran sus novios ) y no se deja llevar por los sentimientos que tiene cuando esta cerca de sus compañeros Alphas
No me gusta nada los padres de la chica, el padre parece que no hace mucho y su madre solo le importa el reino y no sus hijos porque su hijo le dijo que se estaba muriendo y no se preocupo por querer curarlo y la chica después de lo que sufrio en su secuestro no se para hablar con ella y directamente la manda al colegio de Omegas y la quiere unir con una manada sin escuchar lo que quiere ella
Los chicos que son una manada que pertenecen a la protagonista tienen muchos problemas que hace que las Omegas nunca los quieran a todos, hasta la protagonista y me encantan, solo lo que me molesta un poco es al principio cuando empezaron a ser profesores del colegio de Alphas masculina y empezaron a enseñar a la protagonista ( disfrazada de su hermano gemelo ) fueron algo idiotas con él ( ella )

[Kinsey B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knot What She Seems is a fun and easy read. I picked this book up between heavy Romantasy reads for a quick read and it fulfilled exactly that. This book was well-written and humorous. The FMC, Brylee, is an Omega that does not enjoy her lot in life. Her brother, an Alpha, is extremely sick and is not able to attend the Alpha school. Brylee goes undercover as her brother and with the help of him and his friend, she maintains attendance at both the Alpha School and the Omega School. Once Brylee encounters her scent matches, things begin to get much more complicated for her. She forms close friendships with her two roommates (1/school) and slowly begins to reveal her secret mission of attending both schools to others.

This book ended on such a big cliffhanger, I loved it! I cannot wait until I can start book 2 to find out what happens next. If you are looking for an intro to Omegaverse, this may be the perfect book for you.

Tropes:
Fated Mates/Scent Matches
Reverse Haram
They Fall first
Undercover double life

Quote:

“I won’t talk about sex sandwiches anymore. I swear. Come on, boo. Let me in.”
“Sometimes surviving doesn’t feel like winning. Sometimes it feels like a loss,” he whispers.

[Jennifer G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trapped at Darling Academy, where she is learning to be a proper Omega and to find a suitable Pack, is stifling Brylee. When her terminally ill twin gets called to attend Eros Academy, she knows the strenuous curriculum will make his death a certainty. She devises a plan to take his place while continuing her studies. Balancing two lives shouldn't be too hard, right? At Darling, she learns nest design, dancing, and flower arranging. At Eros, she learns war strategy, shooting, and combat. They both teach politics, but one teaches the politics of seating at a dinner party, and the other, how to gain allies or destroy enemies. Then there's Team X, the abusive professors torturing her at Eros, and her scent matches wooing her at Darling. It's exhausting on a good day, deadly on others.

This is an excellent gender swap romance, but I didn't realize it wasn't standalone, and there seems to be no release date for the second part. I can't recommend it because of this. Great storyline, solid lead characters, and valuable side cast characters, dysfunctional royal family, unpredictable twists, good relationship development, major cliffhanger, and no conclusion in sight.

[olivia V. · Rating 2 out of 5]

knot sure why I do this to myself (see what I did there, I can do it too) .. book had an interesting enought premise. That pretty much is all there is, execution fell flat and the characters were a little too immature, author tried too hard I think to cram as many tropes/archetypes as possible. The writing at times is very amateur, needs a lot more polishing and maybe less wishy washy omeganess, she flips back and forth so much it had my head spinning at the nonsense.... Also you can't just make up an omegaverse world, with 2 warring countries, no info or background about this world and add in current pop culture references. Makes no sense. Swift, really? I find that annoying. Too much monologuing, but its all info dumping about the character herself and not the war the book is hinting at, its pretty much the entire book. Although I did finish, it ends on a cliffhanger and they mmcs aren't too bad, I actually kind of liked them. I might check out the sequel if it comes out and it did pass the time last night because I am in a book slump.

[Lauren Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knot What She Seems is funny, stressful, and completely engaging from start to finish. Brylee’s everything I look for in an FMC: intelligent, strong-willed, and ready to go to any length for the people she loves. I really liked the way she doesn’t quite fit in with other Omegas at her finishing school, and I thoroughly enjoyed her dedication to impersonating her brother at the men’s war college. It’s Mulan, but so much better. I thought that the flashbacks into Brylee’s past were well done, giving us just enough insight that we can understand her hesitations and anxiety, but not enough that we really know what happened. I absolutely loved the MMC POV chapters, and I hope we get a little bit more of that in book 2, especially after that ending. Also, THAT ENDING! This is a pretty brutal cliff, and I was not prepared for that twist.

🍌 “Never in my wildest dreams did I have ‘watching an elderly omega jerk off fruit’ on my bingo card.”