The Scent of Sin

Blood & Omega #1

by Halle Dawson

I've spent my whole life hiding what I am. Turns out, I was never hidden at all.

I'm broken in ways I don't talk about. Eleven years of suppressants. A childhood I barely survived. A secret buried so deep I almost forgot it was there.

When my adoptive mom married Richard Graves, I thought I could keep pretending. New house. New family. New chance to be normal. To be invisible. To be anything other than what I really am.

Then I met his sons.

Atlas, Zero, and Bane Graves are everything that should terrify me—dominant, ruthless, and tangled in the dark underbelly of their father's empire. They run a world built on blood and silence. They don't do soft. They don't do safe.

And they're my stepbrothers.

I wanted to stay invisible. I wanted to keep my head down and my secret locked away. But the moment I step through their door, something fractures.

They scent me.

My suppressants are gone The shame I've carried since I was nine years old is clawing its way to the surface. And the Graves brothers—the ones who should hate me, the ones who should look right through me—they're looking at me like I'm something to devour.

I've spent my whole life believing I was wrong. Dirty. Broken beyond repair.

They don't want me fixed. They want me claimed.

Even if it destroys us all.

Genres: Omegaverse, M M Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Dark, Fantasy, Romance, M M M

341 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 19, 2026

Reviews

[raccoon reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m not done with this book but I’m starting my review early.

Perry sure this is AI slop. Or AI assisted slop.

So far we have-him both taking his backpack and laptop to school and simultaneously leaving it at home 😒

Have instant repeats of the same sentences. Examples:

“I dab at the blood with gauze. The white turns red immediately. I use another piece. And another. I dab at the blood with gauze.”

“Right into his space. Close enough that I'm all he can see. Right into his space.”

“His fist drives into my stomach—precise, brutal. His fist drives into my stomach,”

-__-

Oh and those wounds heal super slowly, wounds that went down to the bone… completely healed with shiny scars after 7 days…

Pg 112- “take the stairs to the second floor, and as I pass Max's door, I pause. The light is still on. I can see it bleeding out from under the door, a thin golden line against dark wood. There's no light coming from underneath. Either he's asleep or he's not home.”
Pick. A. Lane.

[Greer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty sure this is AI.

[Brianna · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 11%

Because of my first assessment being that this reads very incredibly similar to a stereotypical wattpad story, I’m DNFing. I can’t do it.

So far, this is what’s happened:

Main character’s adoptive parent (cause the main character has to have some sort of trauma) announces that she’s getting married to a Dude Named Richard with 3 adult kids in three weeks. At the wedding, MC meets all 3 ADULTS separately who treat him like doodoo. Parent and dude go on their honeymoon, leaves MC with 3 unknown ADULTS in a mansion (cause Dude Named Richard and his 3 ADULT kids are majorly balling in the moola obviously, and MC and Parent aren’t). Parent and Dude Named Richard return from their honeymoon in Italy (obviously) and say they want a family dinner.

Cringe AF. If I wanted to read a stereotypical wattpad story, I would’ve gone to Wattpad, selected a story from 2016, and been golden.

[Mellaza · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was either written by ai or in some way revised by ai esp with all the redundant phrasing, constant run-on sentences + the author having no online presence and pumping out three books (two of which being over 350 pages in length) in the span of 3 months..? like yea it’s possible but when adding on to all my other points it’s a lil suspicious 🤨

[Val · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is AI.

[JJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story, not my normal read, but I could not stop reading
Reading book 2 now
Thanks

[Megan (feral hearts club)]

Ai slop

[Gabriella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw a TikTok about this book and I became super excited. I love a good mm omegaverse. This book was super good and had me hooked from start to finish. Max is an omega with his three Alpha stepbrothers Zero, Atlas, and Bane. I loved the dynamics between the brothers and the whole story in general. The only part I wasn’t super into was the basement scene with Zero. He’s not the most likable character and I’m hoping that there will be some good character growth in the second book. But Atlas is such a MAN let me tell you and Bane definitely grew on me. Max made me a bit annoyed at times with how he treated Margot but I understand why he was so agitated. I hope that they rekindle their amazing mother/son relationship in the second book, and hopefully Richard removes that stick up his ass. I can’t wait for the second book!

[Gia · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Poorly written, using AI

[Shawn Cha · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow

This book is sooooo good, finished it in one reading. Couldn’t put it down. Need to know what happens next. I like max but he can be so annoying at times but if you understand his experiences you can see why. I know fans are rooting for zero. He’s the bad guy with a temper. I wasn’t a big fan of him this book but he might change my mind in the next. I don’t like bane the most. He treated max the worst and if it wasn’t for max scent he wouldn’t have given max th time of day. I know a lot of ppl are not atlas fans cause he’s boring and predictable. But out of all the brothers he treated max the best before all of this. They have to understand these brothers are like in their late 20s while max is barely an adult and even if he is 20 his mentality is that of a teenager as he’s never had to comprehend real life matters as he’s always had to hide his own designation. Will leave with a cliffhanger till next book. Can’t wait.

[Gianna - Romance me whole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this.

the concept is nice even if nothing new but the execution....
!!!! SPOILERS!!!!!




The whole situation was created by Zero who decided for whatever fucking reason to flush Max suppressant to show him who's boss.

that's the whole plot!

no more suppressant = heat obv

the three brothers were the worst honestly.

Petty, jealous, worse than teenagers.

I will read book 2 just to know what happens but it was pretty bad and I regret having it taking space in my brain now

[Amanda Anderson (Beauty.and.the.bookies) · Rating 4 out of 5]

three alphas one secret

Great book. Actually forgot how much I like omegaverse until this book. Sometimes I wanted to shake ALL the boys though. And whats up with Richard? Why do I have a bad feeling about him??

[Erica Chilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is just something not quite right about the writing, if you catch my drift here...

[Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF i’ve never left a review before but this book pissed me off 😭

why did he tell us Zero is 6’1 twice like we desperately needed the reminder???

and Zero bringing home a hookup then crashing out after finding out they turned the hookup room into his stepbrother’s room is killing me 😭 where exactly did you expect him to sleep?? this is supposed to be a whole mansion, i’m pretty sure there are other rooms???

there’s so much repetition and so many contradictions i feel like i’m losing my mind

skimmed though about 40% and then stopped after the SA… ewww

[sarcasm.and.books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Complete Trilogy Review
3.5 stars (as a whole)

The writing does get better in the next two books, not anywhere near perfect, but better.

I am going to do my best to keep spoilers out of this review. In order to do that, I believe a list of likes and dislikes would be the better way to do this. But, before we get into these lists, please know that I had very mixed emotions about several things in this trilogy. Lists will not convey them all especially when I'm trying to avoid spoilers.

Things I liked:

- the characters: I appreciated each character. The author made them feel like individuals with their own specific quirks, habits, and behavior patterns without them feeling forced into each role.
- the character growth and healing journey of Max was a pleasure to witness
- the plot: The plot kept me turning page after page. I needed to know what happened next. Was it the most innovative plot ever? No, but it kept me intrigued.
- the spice: the spice stayed true to the individual characters and where they were in their relationships. See the next list for further thoughts on the spicy bits.
- No third act break-up. I cannot thank the author enough for this. ❤️


Things I disliked:

- the inconsistencies, and there were a lot of them. Some were minor, but some were major. One specifically was when a character "found out" a fact that he already knew and it changed his entire perspective on a situation that he seemed otherwise okay with and therefore changed character dynamics and, consequently, the relationship trajectory between him and another character.
- there was a lot of repetition regarding descriptors. Let's just say I did a bit of skim reading in this trilogy.
- the SA situation as a whole: I felt that the author was trying to make it nuanced. It wasn't. And though I understand this is fiction and realistic situations aren't always handled realistically, I didn't feel like the repercussions were authentic to the nature of everyone affected. AKA- someone's @$$ would have been beat. Period.
- the ending was a HEA, love that, but it also left a few things lingering in the background; not quite a loose end, but not quite resolved.
- plot driven character assassination: there was a character towards the end that was made into a villain over a literal accident. This character was loved, adored, and regarded as a stern but decent person. All of a sudden the author has him acting completely out of character, there was an accidental incident, and immediately he is treated as the worst villain who ever villained. Keep in mind another character consciously and admittedly committed SA and got a punishment equivalent to being told "that's not nice, go sit in the corner because no popsicle for you". It just didn't make sense and didn't add anything to the story.


So, all in all, I gave this trilogy a 3.5 stars. Was it a literary masterpiece? Absolutely not, but it did hold my interest. And, while the execution was lacking, the plot was plotting. So, do with that what you will.

[Cc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Promising Plot, Frustrating Execution

I’m not going to eviscerate this book or the author because the plot itself was solid. The problem was the writing.

For reasons I still don’t understand, the author constantly repeated the same ideas. It started getting on my nerves by the third chapter. A character would say something like, "The house was enormous and could easily fit our apartment inside ten times over," and then, literally three sentences later, say something along the lines of, "The house is huge. It could probably fit our old apartment inside several times." Not the exact same wording, but the exact same point. This happened multiple times in nearly every chapter, and it became so distracting that it constantly pulled me out of the story.

I’m giving this book 2 stars because of the plot and what the story could have been. Unfortunately, the repetitive writing made it difficult to stay immersed.

I also struggled with the main character, Max. He was consistently rude and pushed people away while insisting they stayed away because he was "nothing" or "not worthy." At some point, it stopped feeling like character development and started feeling repetitive. He never seemed to learn from his behavior, which made him more frustrating than sympathetic.

His mother was another issue. She seemed kind enough, but she was unbelievably oblivious. If your child is rapidly losing weight, isolating themselves, and clearly looking unwell, something is wrong. Continuing to accept that they're "fine" just didn't feel believable.

I was also disappointed by Zero. I expected his character to go in a very different direction, but I never found him particularly likable. And this is coming from someone who regularly reads dark romance, including dub-con and non-con. The issue wasn't that the characters were morally gray, it felt like the author never fully understood them. Atlas was written as the calm, authoritative one, Zero as chaotic and dangerous, while Bane's personality seemed to shift depending on what the scene required. Rather than feeling like fully realized characters, they often came across as a list of personality traits from a character sheet that the author kept listing out to you on the actual page.

Overall, this was a frustrating read. There was a good story buried underneath the repetitive writing, but I never felt like it reached its potential.

[Katelyn Colvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book wasn’t so bad? I’m sort of confused by the overall rating. Was there some points that were ehhhhh? Yes. Was there some stereotypical abusive plot points? Absolutely. The ending I thought was a little cheap.

I was confused about the rationale behind the stepbrother’s hostility when they pretty specifically told him off on their first meeting and throughout the book they acted as if Maxwas the one that was nasty to them. I may have read something wrong but it did bother me a lot.

I think Max might be my favorite character I’ve read about in a long time. I felt as though Max did what he could (within reason) to avoid conflict, and problems still occurred. I like a character that goes out of their way to avoid dumb things. A massive pet peeve of mine is when characters intentionally put themselves in bad situations (i.e. get caught eavesdropping, stealing, lying, sneaking out) and then reap what they sow. Max does this two and a halfish times and the only one that bothered me was the ending, which I thought was cheap/lazy compared to the rest of the story.

I felt Max’s responses to his past and present traumas were geared towards my own responses(avoidance, fear, anxiety) so I found it refreshing but if you lean towards a more aggressive response(confrontation, outspokenness, hostility)- it won’t be found here in this character. I also appreciated that there wasn’t instant forgiveness, or “by gones be by gones” nothing is really resolved yet, no groveling (by a specific character that deserves to grovel), but things were leaning on the upswing by the end of the book with two of the three love interests.

I saw a review suggesting the book was written by AI, I didn’t see any give aways but I’m obviously not the author so I wouldn’t know either way unless they left a prompt in.

[Keondra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first book by this author.

Overall, the book was okay. I liked the beginning and the end, despite the cliff hanger and (possible spoiler) stupidity of the MC, was decent. I know some people complained about the repetitive wording. I was fine with it because I thought it added to the intensity of the story. It's an unusual writing style, but it kinda worked.

My main issue was with the characters. I didn't like Max, the MC. He's a traumatized omega and doesn't really try to be anything more than that. He spends more than half the book hiding from the 3 brothers, refusing to eat, and lying to his adoptive mother, which he feels extreme guilt over, but continues to do in the next breath. He made my brain itchy from all the lying and frustration.

Adding to that trainwreck, is Zero, the second oldest stepbrother. He's the sole cause of Max's problem and has the nerve to mistreat Max throughout the book. I feel that anyone who claims to like Zero after reading that basement scene, deserves some serious side-eye. He does something unforgivable and is never brought to justice for it.

The other brothers, Atlas and Bane are the only likeable characters. Atlas is decent to Max from the beginning, unlike his younger brothers. Bane starts off being a jerk, but he admits his wrongs and apologizes to Max. His feelings for Max seem to develop the most.

The story ends on a cliff hanger. I'm curious, so I'll probably read it.

[Emily Sarver · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 4 stars is largely due to the vibe of the book and the premise. MM, omega verse, why choose? Say less. However there were some noticeable issues with the writing.

First, if I had not read the blurb and if there was no mention of suppressants I would have had no idea this was an omega verse book until about half way through. There’s no real mentions of designations and it only seems to impact Max, no one else. Second, the writing is very repeat I’ve. There’s are 2 same exact character descriptions for each step brother (no real description of Max). Before Max kissed each step brother it was the same: “tell me to stop” “I open my mouth. Nothing comes out.” Max’s scent was also mentioned a million times. I get it, it’s vanilla, honey, and burnt carmel. The scent does not have to be described every time it’s mentioned. I fear the writing in the book has the same fatal flaw as from blood and ash - the author is pointing out the writing style by having characters point it out. Max loves creative writing and I sometimes got the vibe that this book was assignment. The fragmented or one word sentences reminded me of a class on how sentence structure provides impact.

Overall I did thoroughly enjoy this book and was largely able to look past the writing and I won’t hesitate to read the next book in the series

[Calikekeluv♥️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Common sense anyone??? (spoiler)

So these alphas in this book really are irritating. First of all Zero WDH was that?!! Take what you want without the ok and blame it on biology! Atlast handled the situation with that pretty good but then later one started acting weird like he’s the leader so he’s the only one that can make decisions for the pack and the omega without even consulting anyone. Like really trying to act like I get to claim our Omega while they get to sit there and support it! Max was getting on my nerves because how are you going to go through a heat and you’re not even preparing for it? Day by day you’re just living life like you don’t have a heat coming,then when a spike hit, you’re running to your room. And can Richard even smell Max? I mean ain’t he an Alpha too? He can’t smell the Omega scent around his house like the rest of them? Margot and Richard was nose blind in this book. OMG and communication would have been great but everyone was always walking away before the other can really get the important parts out. And why would Max go try to buy some back alley suppressants while seeing all the bad signs there ?? Even though this book had me screamingggg come onnnn!!!! I’m sticking with it till the end I have to see what happens next.

[Harley Fulghum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoilers!










4.5✨3.5🌶️

Max, Atlas, Bane, and Zero!

Favorite Tropes:
MMMM
Omegaverse
Stepbrothers
Hurt/comfort
Unhinged MMCs

Check Your Triggers! This is Dark!

Max’s backstory is sad! He was being physically abused by his foster mom while being told that omegas are disgusting! Horrible! He was saved from that house but he continues to hide because he hates himself. He writes in his diary to help his anxiety. Atlas is the oldest and boss type. He was unsure about Max at first. He figured out quickly but couldn’t accept it. Which is just a terrible way to handle this. Zero is the damn reason all this shit happened. He dumped Max’s suppressants just to be a bully. While he didn’t realize at first what they were for; it was still an asshole move. Then he taunted him about it. Bane couldn’t handle his feeling so he was cruel! Asshole! As the truth came out, they realized what the reality was. Atlas fought it, Zero was pissed, and Bane couldn’t figure out what to do. They gave him relief but then immediately made him feel rejected. And with his Heat minutes away; he couldn’t risk the pain of them actually saying the words. He needed suppressants fast. His desperation ended in disaster. They are the reason he was taken!!! That cliffhanger hurt!!!

[Elana Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

Max is an omega that lives hiding what he is. His adopted mother gets married, putting him in the path of three alphas, Atlas, Zero, and Bane, his new step brothers. Moving into their house is an adjustment and the brothers make it clear they don't want him there. But after Zero throws away his suppressants in a fit of immaturity, Max starts to go into heat. This ends up putting the brothers at odds with each other while Max tries to hide what he is. This story represents the omegaverse in a different way. The premise of this book was good but execution was lacking for me. There were a few typos and instances of repetitive sentences. Additionally there were several contradictions in plot and scenery. The brothers behavior was very inconsistent and I'm not sure if that was on purpose. Lastly, after Zero throws away Max's suppressants, that is never mentioned again, which was kind of weird as that's the action that leads to the rest of the story. All in all I'm not sure if I will continue the story, as this one ends on a cliff. Please be aware there is violence between one of the brothers and Max, if that is a trigger. Spice level: 1

[LC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings. 3.5 stars. Maybe?

While the writing style is a bit... strange (most likely Ai or Ai adjacent), there were some scenes where I could genuinely feel the emotions coming off the page. I could feel the rage, the lack of control, the desperation, and panic at points.

However, a lot of the scenes are the same thing told in a different way over and over again- Max having a panic attack when he's around the brothers, locking himself in his room, going to school/work, then locking himself up again. Rinse and repeat over. And over! We could have done with a few less chapters of his inner monologue and more of him interacting with the brothers. Or his mother. Or any freaking thing other than locking himself away and whining about it.

I also would've loved more POVs from the brothers. They talk about how they can't control themselves around him but we only ever see/hear that from Max's POV. I want to be inside the heads of the others- even fucked up Zero.

I'm still debating if I'll read book 2... I'm going to be severely disappointed if it's the same flow as this book.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️'s Needed a quick intro read to get back into the groove and the blurb cought my attention. I saw some negative reviews and some saying it was written by Ai so I almost didn't give it a try but said what the hell let me see how bad it is. I couldn't tell that it was Ai specificly but there were more plot holes then a slice of swiss cheese. That being said I did enjoy some parts of the story. Max's character surprisingly had some depth. I like Atlas the best Bane was a close second but I really disliked Zero. The story kind of got progressively less cohesive the farther in you got. I felt like the story added in the omegaverse bits when it wanted. As well as the "crime family" parts. Also side note what kind of loving mom would let her child waste away and not try a bit harder to see what was wrong. Just saying that some parts were deep and others were very surface level and not very believable. I don't think I will read the next one.

[Jay Purse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoiler ⚠️

Scroll down... To see my issue....
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SPOILER:

So, the whole issue is that Zero poured out Max's suppressants... They run a blackmarket suppressants organization... Yet, they couldn't come to the conclusion to GIVE Max those suppressants??? Like, at this point NO ONE has questioned Max about the fact he randomly STOPPED taking his suppressant after moving in with three Alphas... Zero has been running around being a POS... Being the main reason Max is in this awkward and unbearable situation... With 2 Alphas who are regularly A$$HOLES and Atlas who the verdict is still out on him... Like, Zero is not dealing with any repercussions for his $hitty behavior... Like, not ONE conversation about the suppressants being poured out... Not one suggestion to get him illegal suppressants... I don't understand the ignoring of both these facts... Hopefully, this is something addressed in book 2...

[BookGeek1987]

The blurb sounded good and I thought I’d give it a go. Hidden omega moves in with new stepbrothers, and yeah, you can clearly see the end goal of how it’s going to play out.

I don’t want to accuse an author of AI but I think it was definitely used to assist in the writing of this book, or the editing was just horrendously bad and the human author should be embarrassed about what they’ve produced…

Also, there is straight up rape by one of the step-brothers. Omega clearly states no on multiple occasions during the act, and it’s ignored. This isn’t dubcon during a heat situation. The other brothers find out and go ballistic but I’m not one of these people that will accept a person going on to be in a relationship with their rapist. So even if the editing/suspected AI hadn’t of caused me to DNF, once I’d read this scene - and skimmed forward to see what happened next - I just had to DNF.

[Rainbow Shelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ 3🌶️

I really enjoyed this book! The storyline pulled me in from the very beginning, but my heart absolutely broke for Max. Watching him struggle to find where he belonged and seeing the way most of his stepbrothers treated him was heartbreaking. The only exception was Atlas, who actually gave him a chance.

I loved the tension between all the characters—it kept me turning the pages—but I really wished there had been more communication, especially between Max and his stepbrothers. Instead of trying to get to know him, they immediately assumed the worst and saw him as someone who would take something away from them. They judged him before giving him any opportunity to show who he really was.

I'm definitely looking forward to the second book, and I really hope the brothers realize how wrong they were and finally learn their lesson. 🤣

[Autumn Winchester · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure why the reveiws are all over the place on this read. I thought it was pretty good. At first, i wasn't too sure I'd enjoy it. Some of the details were a littler over done, constantly making saying the same descriptions over and over. But as i kept reading, the plot held my interest enough to finish it out. And I'm glad I did.
Sure, a few details like the healing of bloody knuckles was too quick, but this is fiction. And maybe this author didn't use a good editor to catch that, or some of the little things that were missed through out. As an author myself, I know things get overlooked. But i enjoyed this book and can't wait for the next part.
Warning....other than TW....this book leaves off with a huge cliff!

[JaylahNoel · Rating 1 out of 5]

AI garbage. Every sign is pointing that this is an AI generated story.
1. there’s no copyright, publisher, authors note, nothing within the first few pages of the book.
2. This so-called author “Halle Dawson” does not even exist. And if they do, there’s no internet presence, which is very suspicious.
3. The word play/writing flow is extremely repetitive and robotic… it’s actually infuriating. The same exact words are said over and over and over and over… you get it.
4. It’s one thing to have grammatical errors but plot errors??? Nobody proofread this.
5. There’s not even personality changes with each POV.

To the people who rated this anything higher than two stars, I’m convinced you’re a preteen or have a reading literacy of a juvenile.
I NEVER DNF A BOOK, BUT THIS IS SO HORRIBLE. I JUST CAN’T FORCE MYSELF TO FINISH. Kindle needs to ban this BS.

[Jenyx · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I finished it in one sitting, and I have to admit—multiple alphas x one omega stories always work for me. 🔥

As for the book itself: it was interesting, I liked the structure, and while the characters were a bit complex, it all worked well together.

Characters:

Max – our omega. Honestly, a very frustrating character 😅 There were several moments where I felt like shaking him through the pages. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really connect with him.

Atlas – the mysterious, reliable alpha 🖤 After reading the second book I have mixed feelings about him, but here, I really liked him.

Zero – a hard no 🚩 Extremely toxic, major red flag.

Bane – without a doubt my favorite alpha in the book 😍