3-3.5 stars for me. Unfortunately, this was not my favorite book in the Meadowfall-verse of stories from this author. It's like there were too many elements that I should enjoy but it became too much because there wasn't enough focus on one thing, that kept me from completely loving this story.
Flores is a young omega, trying to work as a dancer and who also is a street artist on the side. He has a criminal record of vandalism in his past, and his father, who is running for political office, wants to make sure that Flores doesn't mess up his chance at being elected. Gareth is a 40-year-old alpha. He has a son from his previous relationship, and has been alone ever since his omega was killed. Flores' father puts Gareth in charge of watching Flores and keeping an eye on him.
I honestly struggled a little bit with the 30-70% of the story - the middle bit. Things just kinda seemed all over the place. Flores was a dancer, but he was also an artist. He did street art, but also kinda didn't seem to spend a whole lot of time on that. He had dance lessons growing up, but his father threatened to break his legs. He loved lace and feminine things, but there also wasn't a whole lot of detail about that.
Gareth was super dominant, only his whole attitude towards Flores at the start and how wishy-washy he was when dealing with Flores' father didn't sit well with me. The "sir"/"boy" dynamic felt forced and awkward, and just not *them*. Honestly, their first sexual moment together felt kinda dub-con to me. I can't even explain it, but it just didn't work for me.
The author has definitely set up some future stories with characters in this book however - there's Ulric, the alpha who wants another alpha, there's the 2 step-brothers, and there's Gareth's son, who I could see getting a story, too. Looking forward to them all!