Omegaverse that has a taste of sweetness but won't give you a toothache. Reckless is a new addition to my list of omegaverse reads, and it's definitely a good option for fans of Kathryn Moon's series, the ones who want those alpha, beta, omega add-ons without the angst, darkness, and dub/non-con that happens between the FMC and the men in a lot of the omegaverse that's currently out there. Now, it's not quite as much of a sweet story as Baby or Lola's, but so far, Alek's men want to do right by her, and they seem like they're going to be a good fit and respect her boundaries, her body, and her feelings.
Alek is a curvier FMC, which is always nice to read about, and I think that while she does have some body image issues, they're at a totally bearable level. Sometimes, with an FMC who is a curvier girl, readers get weighed down with so much internal self-hate that it drags me out of the story. Alek has some insecurities, sure, but they're more about her past and how she grew up or even her attitude than they are about her body type, and that's totally fine with me.
Alek's got some sass, a little bit of a chip on her shoulder (though I can't say it wasn't earned), and she's got to get over some trust issues, but she's flawed enough to be interesting and not too flawed for me to get tired of her. So, Merlin has hit a nice balance with this new leading lady to add to her repertoire, and I think there's a lot of wiggle room to have some great character growth as we get to see more books featuring Alek.
The guys are all likable, and they bring something new to the table as far as shifters go. We've got a big cat, a direwolf, and a coyote, which are definitely not breeds we see a lot. We don't get too much of the shifted forms of our MMCs or FMC this time, but I'm hoping we get to see more interaction with that later. The guys are a good mix to hit the tropes you want and give you secrets to uncover. In fact, I think that's kind of the big word for book one: secrets. Although we get Alek establishing a relationship and a tentative foundation for a future with all three of the alphas, we don't know much about them. Like Alek, they're all holding parts of themselves back, so we get enough of the surface in Reckless to decide if we like the base of who they are, but I was definitely left highly curious.
With Hades, we have this sensual and confident male who's used to being admired. The thing that'll pull you in is that he's also still a bit vulnerable/insecure because Alek doesn't quite know how to handle him. He's a bit larger than life for her to take in, so there's a little bit of delay on their relationship even though he's the first one she meets. Roman is a bit more steadfast, and Merlin lays out a clear dynamic fairly quickly so that readers who like MM and who enjoy there being attraction between the males will see the Roman and Hades have a lot to also offer Alek (uhm, duh, and us) as a package. Wilder is the bit of an outlier, but he's got some of the same wildness and bloodthirst in him that Alek does, and there are some signs that he might be the most empathetic to who she is at her core, which makes him easy to like and want to know more about as well.
I don't know that I'd pick a favorite after book one, which I consider a good problem to have, so no complaints here.
Like Merlin's other series, we have some s*xy times, so we're not left wanting, but the actual relationship part- where you build trust, get to know each other, really confide who you are- is a slower build. So I'd say it's a faster burn on the fiery stuff and a more gradual build into the messy emotional part of their connection. Overall, I really enjoyed this first book, and aside from the epidemic of "we've got some secrets we need to share," I really have no complaints. I was happy to dig into this one, and I'm more than ready for book two :)