Genre: M/M Paranormal Romance
Length: Novellas
I have a guilty pleasure—mpreg. Believe me, I know the psychological implications of being interested in this sort of kink, and I’d probably agree with most of what would apply to me, but that doesn’t change the fact that I love it.
I’m sure everyone knows what mpreg is at this point, but for those that don’t, mpreg is male impregnation… and I can’t even say it’s fantasy, because there are actually dudes who get pregnant these days. However, in most mpreg, there’s an element of fantasy, and because it’s also a kink, there are distinct areas of the relationship in the romance, and physical aspects of the impregnation and the pregnancy, which are focused on more than others. (That’s my polite way of saying it’s full of tropes.)
I’m going to be honest, most of the mpreg I read is absolute garbage: poorly written, little to no plot, and so stereotypically hetero, you sometimes wonder if the author just changed every “she/her/hers” to “he/his/him”. It’s that bad. And yet I still read it. However, since mpreg appears to be on the rise in popularity, I’ve been noticing some better stories, and I would like to present a few for your consideration. Because of the paranormal aspects of these stories, they are all classified as speculative fiction.
Becoming Omega by Wolf Specter. I’ve been paying attention to Specter ever since he wrote a mpreg book called, Tall, Dark, and Grizzly, about a lonely grizzly bear shifter, who romps around with an interviewer that comes to his house. Specter enjoys the usual shifter tropes—fated mates, alpha/beta/gamma pack structure, shifters with big dicks (and knots—which is sort of a bestiality kink), etc. But what really struck me was his polished diction, and his story. Sure, a lot of these stories aren’t very complicated, but Specter’s follow solid plot sequences, and have their own unique twists.
Part of the reason I love Becoming Omega so much, is our little omega, Isaac Ward, really isn’t that little. Instead of the docile omega we have come to expect in shifter stories, our omega is a former special forces solider. Like, kick-ass special. He’s also flippant and vulgar—excellent—and he possesses a stubborn streak a mile wide. It’s fucking hot. This, combined with Specter’s usual flair, made it one of my favorite mpreg stories.
Angel Knots is a new author (maybe—they all have fairly obvious pen names) on the mpreg scene, but she has paired with Wolf Specter on occasion. Their series, Dragon’s Destiny is also very good, but it’s not finished yet. Knots has her own series, Top Dog MPREG (*sigh* Yes, that’s all caps).
Another small criticism? Sometimes mpregs have the… bottom, or omega, or person who’s going to be knocked up, become wet upon arousal. Like, you know, how a vagina would get wet. Honestly I find that a bit disconcerting on many levels, but from time to time I’m able to move past attempts to make gay stories heteronormative, and in this case, I was still able to enjoy the story. It also had fated mates, knotting, and all that jazz (jizz?).
Top Dog MPREG is about Colin, our omega, who gets swooped into a secret government program, so they can breed him to their alpha shifter, Ben. Ben and Colon are largely oblivious of the government’s plans for them (by which I mean, they are too doped up on each other’s pheromones to notice anything outside their little sex bubble), until, of course, Colin becomes pregnant. Then shit gets real.
This was a pretty hot story, which sort of surprised me because it’s very classic alpha and omega drivel, which I find exhausting at the best of times, and at the worst of times, I’ll throw my book across the room (haha, joking. My phone is my book. I haven’t gotten that angry yet). Our alpha has just enough of that sweet innocence, to make him interesting, and our omega has a compelling set of scenes in the beginning of the story, where he’s sort of manipulated by the government, and he knows it, but goes along with it anyway. It gives him more of a backbone, and even I could relate to his actions. I would consider myself bull-headed, but if the right person of authority tells me to do something, even if I hate it, I end up doing it anyway.
These authors are with the Kindle Unlimited program, and Wolf Specter in particular has a fairly high output. You can expect several new stories from him every month, either solo, or with another author. As of the date of this review, I’ve read everything of his, and most of his work is carnally delicious. *howl*
B. A. Brock is a reviewer for DSP and QSF. He enjoys reading, writing, running, family and food, and fills his life with bent bunk. He especially loves to discuss LGBTQ+ literature. His website is http://www.babrockbooks.com. You can find him on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/BABrockBooks