Josh has always found it difficult to open up to people, especially about who he really is inside. He’s just starting to feel comfortable in his own skin when everything changes. The hot alpha he had a one-night-stand with joins his football team. And Josh doesn’t know what to do.
It’s all about new beginnings for Nat: new university, new course, new football team… new boyfriend? When he finds he’s suddenly teammates with the alpha he can’t get out of his mind, Nat chooses to believe that Fate is on his side.
But Josh is in the closet, not to mention he’s as closed-up as a clam about his feelings. Nat is willing to work on that with him, though. He’s got a feeling that Josh is more than worth it. If only he can convince Josh of the same thing.
ALPHA’S SECRET ALPHA is a steamy and heart-warming mm romance, featuring two alphas finding their way in the world, grumpy/sunshine, found family and lots of knotting.
Josh’s insecurities mean there are a couple of chapters of angst near the beginning and another one mid-way through, but don’t worry! Nat is determined to get Josh to open up to him and realise his worth so they can get their HEA. The rest of the book has all the light and fluffy feels you could want and some very high heat alpha/alpha action.
SWEET IN SILFORD is a non-shifter omegaverse, featuring alphas and omegas who fall in love. It is MPreg-light, meaning MPreg is possible but doesn’t feature in every story. Each book can be read as a standalone. They do feature some crossover characters, though, so why not enjoy the whole series? This book is an alpha/alpha story.
Hope is a MM Romance author, writing paranormal and shifter romance with romantic comedy vibes. She is an absolute believer in true love and lives for those HEAs.
You can expect a big helping of Body Positivity from Hope’s stories. Every body is beautiful and Hope loves writing about men who learn that they are sexy and worthy… and find just the right person to prove it to them.
When writing alpha/omega gay romance, she likes to play with stereotypes and gender expectations. She loves a soft-hearted alpha and a bossy omega.
In her fantasy romances, Hope can’t help but write about shifters, magic, fated mates and found families. Her stories have lots of heat and lots of heart.
If that's your jam, sign up to Hope’s newsletter on her website to get updates on her latest releases.
As I go further into the Alpha/Omega world I'm still learning new things with each story, this time that it doesn't have to be Alpha/Omega, here it's Alpha/Alpha and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Both men were great characters, although Josh was a very sad and tortured soul. This was my first with this author, they had a nice, uncomplicated way of producing a story. This was part of a series, the fact I hadn't read any of the others didn't impede my enjoyment of this tale.
I absolutely adore Josh! I liked his silent, strong character and how he looked out for Riley. Nat is a ball of alpha sunshine that Josh desperately needs. There were multiple miscommunication incidents that kept them from their HEA. But after they finally step out of their own way, watch out! They definitely know how to bring the heat. I think Grandad Archie would fit in with Chris and Angelo's family with over sharing .
📚Story setting/tropes/tags: - university football - alpha x alpha - dual POV (1st person)
👥 MCs: - introvert, quiet, pragmatic, wary, lonely, kind, caring MC - extrovert, social, cheerful, assertive, compassionate MC - well-matched, same size/height/body build
💕 Romance: - wholesome, heartfelt - soft mutual pinning/yearning - insta-lust/attraction - slight slow burn - low angst - knot = body “ILY” signal - scent calming - public coming out - tender PDA - ILY - HEA
🔥 Spice: - explicit content - handjob - raw sex - breeding - knotting (first time and every time after; growing bigger; thrusting with knot inside) - marking bruises (alpha’s strength) - bj - light praise kink - alpha voice - cock teasing - claiming bites - light pain kink - anal/prostate orgasm - multiple ejaculations
‼️TW: - past domestic violence (mention) - homophobia (mention)
💬 Review: Omg, did I just finally find a decent alpha x alpha MM romance? HELL YES!
Let me preface that I went through many novels that falsely claimed to portray alpha x alpha pairing when in fact one alpha was secretly an omega or hybrid alpha/omega or worst was raped until he turned into a slutty brainwashed helpless bitch. Fuck that shit, this book delivered imo alpha x alpha in the most wholesome way without ruining the alpha archetype.
The alpha x alpha trope here wasn’t a dark clash of two dominants but both MCs exhibited enough alphaness to satisfy my craving (growling, alpha pheromones, teeth marking, “mine” claiming, possessive/protective instinct, knotting, alpha voice). In this omegaverse story, being attracted to the same designation (A/B/O) was regarded as queer but not treated as taboo. In fact, all characters had liberal views.
I liked the focus on the fact that both MCs were strong, big, masculine, same-sized alphas and had a balanced dynamics between two equals. These exact qualities turned them on and numerous scenes highlighted their pleasure of not having to physically hold back because the other wasn’t fragile like omega. Details like them having rougher sex with scorching bruising intensity they could withstand or fully collapsing on top of the other and him enjoying the feeling of a heavy body crushing him into a mattress knowing that he can easily take it. There was also something really erotic about alpha calling the other alpha as “his alpha”.
There was plenty of spice (lots of hot knotting sex) with one alpha who on his own terms embraced liking to bottom and taking the knot without turning into a needy doormat sub, without being brutally forced into that, which I found refreshing because in most books dubcon is sadly used to make one alpha submit. There was poor communication at first but once they opened and started to really talk, it all clicked in quickly. One of the best parts of this book was that MCs openly discussed their bed roles without judgement or toxic masculinity bs.
I liked MCs contrasting personalities in their early to later interactions: in the first scene Nat was a dominant alpha figure while Josh played a more subdued character (I wouldn’t say submissive, I felt that he was too desperate to explore his attraction to another alpha, an internalised homophobia, and he was yet to awaken/embrace his alpha dominance). Nat completely owned him but once they got together and discussed their real preferences, it was a complete consensual switch. They finally acted out their deepest desires with a person they truly trusted and connected with, this made their knotting sex that much better imo. Josh finally taking charge in bed and going primal on Nat who was just as demanding was damn hot!
Josh was lonely (it quite pissed me off how his team didn’t bother to interact with him) and dispirited with anxiety issues, which was strongly hinted to be due to his upbringing. But deep down he was very caring, loving and thoughtful, he had the biggest heart.
Nat was a delight! I love how confident he was with his sexuality, unashamed of his desires, even if they contradicted what the alpha should be like. Him having to hide his desires from everyone because he was an alpha and he shouldn’t need that kind of thing was a valid analogy to toxic masculinity where men are still told not to embrace their softer feelings that contradict macho male stereotypes. What I especially enjoyed was that no matter what role Nat played in bed, he still had his domineering alpha presence.
One scene that really stood out to me was how Josh saw Nat’s longing expression and gave him exactly what he secretly wanted (that emotional intimacy and display of belonging to someone) without having being told that. This showed how perceptive he was to his partner’s needs and I knew these two were meant to be together. Nat was paying just as much attention to Josh, he was the perfect match for him, Yin to his Yang, never giving up on him.
It was a low angst, tenderly fluffy romance with two really green flag MCs. I wish this novel was longer. Read book 4 where Josh is first introduced and then book 6 to get few more scenes of Josh and Nat as a couple.
PS You know what was missing? A bonus scene with proposal, you can’t tease that in the ending and not deliver ;)
“Owned. Claimed. My body wanted that. I wanted someone to be unafraid to claim me in public, to tell the world I was his.”
“Your thoughts get too noisy sometimes?” “Most of the time.” “Does anything else help?” “This. This helps.” I held him tighter.
“And it was worth it. He was worth it. The sweetest, most tender-hearted man I’d ever met, all wrapped up in a hard shell.”
“I figured either he’d become my alpha or he’d punch my lights out. Kill or cure.”
“I want that. Do you want that? You want to be mine?” “Yes.” “You’re mine. You’re my alpha.” “Thank God.”
“I liked that I could growl and snap at him and he’d take it, match me, give it back to me.”
“It made me feel safe in a way I didn’t recognise. As though I couldn’t mess up. Or rather, when I did mess up, it wouldn’t break us. We’d talk about it. Work through it. Apologise. Kiss. Decide how to move forward.”
“Thanks. For—” I couldn’t work out what exactly it was I wanted to thank him for. For being there. For holding my hand. For talking when I just couldn’t. For being strong. For trusting me. In the end, I settled on, “For everything.”
“I love you.” It was all I could think of to say. It expressed it all. I’d do anything for him.
“I was an alpha, I loved being an alpha, it was just that I loved that he was an alpha, too.”
“The focus he gave things was so sexy but when he applied that intensity to me? That made me want to beg him to love me forever.”
“I’m sure. I’m an alpha who’s into alphas. Specifically, I’m into you.”
“I felt the glow inside me. I was feeling that more and more these days, and it had taken me a while to get used to the sensation of safety and love.”
I loved this grumpy/sunshine thing going on! I don’t always like the trope because it can be more abuser/cheerful victim. But true grumpy sunshine where the grump is a good person and the sunshine can also take shit very seriously is my jam!
I honestly adored these two. I’d read a whole full length novel about them (when I say full length I mean like 600 pages). They both like to push and pull and they support each other and they’re both sweet and stubborn. The book had some heavy topics (internalized and externalized queerphobia, past abuse, PTSD and anxiety, isolation, etc.), but it didn’t get too heavy.
One of the things I didn’t appreciate in this book was the idea that if someone doesn’t come out, it’s because they don’t love you enough. Someone else coming out has Jack all to do with anyone else. This is not a healthy expectation for anyone. The last part of the book got better about it but it started out iffy.
I have been looking for a great alpha/alpha pair for the longest of times and finally found the dynamics in this book. This line captures it exactly:
"His arms were strong and he held me close. I was too big to fit in his lap like Riley fitted in Chris’ but I didn’t mind. I was an alpha, I loved being an alpha, it was just that I loved that Josh was an alpha, too."
Perfect, I love how he loves his designation but just has a preference in bed. That's the kind of dynamics what I had anticipated from Ms. Hassard in Undone.
These two had a shitload of miscommunication which I just ascribed to their struggles with dealing with attraction to their same destination. I do feel there should be more details on their relationship development after they got together but I'm too satisfied with having a great alpha/alpha pair that I'm not even complaining.
4.5 ⭐ stars In a world - an Omegaverse where toxic masculinity is the norm. It can be very difficult for a young Alpha to admit let alone accept that he is attracted to other Alphas. Especially if he is involved in the extreme masculine sport of being a footballer. All his life he has grown up with societal expectations of what a real Alpha should look like and act like. Any qualities that seemed too much that of an Omega were not just frowned upon but discouraged and vilified. Fear is a very powerful and motivating tool in getting someone to confirm to societal expectations.
How can a young man overcome all this baggage which is interfering with him being able to lead a happy life? What will he do? Wallow in the shameful mantra that he finds himself in? Or does he find a way out of the darkness into the light to join the other Alpha who is prepared to fight to be together?
It's hard to find alpha/alpha pairings. It's even harder to find said pairings where one of the alphas finds themselves turning into an omega once they start seeing each other, enter the role of being one, or had only been pretending to be an alpha and was actually an omega the entire time.
I'm glad to say this book had none of that. It was a nice find among the glut of toxic heteronormativity or outright misogyny I tend to run into with non-standard omegaverse fiction (standard omegaverse fiction can be guilty of this, too, but the subgenre's so saturated that there's a decent variety).
The book's themes dealt with love, coming out of the closet, internalized homophobia, overcoming self-doubt, and reaching understanding after self-sabotage and poor communication. It was a nice, light read and I really wanna give Hope Bennet their flowers for writing this.
I loved everything about this! Josh is my favorite kind of grumpy - the kind who's nursing a big hurt heart that only his man can help him heal, and Nat was perfection! I loved that he needed something only Josh could give him, too. I snagged this the minute it was out and read it all in one sitting, and am still smiling now that I've made it through the epilogue. Utterly, adorable, as per the entire series, and I already can't wait for the next! This author has become a one-click-on-release-day for me, and I can always count on her stories to make my heart happy 🥰
Josh, little Riley's reclusive alpha friend from book 4, finds to his horror that an alpha he'd hooked up with a month earlier is the new player on their football team. Horror, because alpha/alpha is considered queer in their world, and he's in the closet.
He's got a lot of baggage, so a happy ending is going to take a lot of work. I really liked both these guys, and rooted for them from the very beginning.
I’m not gonna lie, this is the best one in the entire series. I came back to add my review after getting through them all. I felt like this alpha couple had the most to lose and the most to overcome. All of these are instalove but this one, you could actually see the reasons why. Plus, this one made me laugh the most.
The whole series is a fun read, but this book stuck out as being the most meaningful. I enjoyed it.
I remembered starting this series and then for some reason this book has been sitting there waiting to be read. I don't know why I left it so long it was a really great book. Josh is just so special and Nat is super sweet. I feel like we could have gotten to know the characters a little more but for a quick read it was really good.
Even though Josh and Nat are opposites, they still find the middle to get along. The difference to this story than the other ones is that they are both alphas. Josh is really insecure about who he is and it's never brought out in the story as to why. It only refers back to his childhood.
I enjoyed Josh and Nat's story. I love a good grumpy/sunshine book and this hit it out of the park. This makes a good addition to the Sweet in Silford series and I’m looking forward to reading how Liam finally catches his professor
Adorable short story. I liked the plot and the characters. Just too many "Wait. What?" moments for me to give a four star. I still enjoyed it and would rec the book though.
This is one of my favorites in the series. There is just something about josh that makes me want to hug him and protect him from all the awful people forever!