When I picked up Alpha Inmate by Liliana Carlisle, I was deep into my exploration of omegaverse and reading more of that subgenre. I chose this book after seeing a booktok about the second in this series and, because I am who I am, I decided I absolutely HAD to start with the first book, despite the two being standalone. Sadly, this one was a bit of a disappointment to me.
One of the biggest things that trip me up, and this could just be a me thing, is when a book says there is love and romance between the two leading characters, and it barely plays out on the page. I have no problem with books that are mostly sex, erotica, with a shoestring romance and plot. But, I despise when one lead doesn’t want to love the other character but within a very short period of time (and a lot of sex later) falls in love overnight and agrees to forsake everything about themselves – their morals, beliefs, reputation, etc. for this person they’ve barely met. That is what I felt happened here. She throws away her career, her entire life, for this random inmate that she has barely had a handful of conversations with that were mostly surface level. If, instead, we had this simply be a strong physical connection with her beginning to believe in him and work to free him, I would’ve enjoyed this better. It would’ve been more believable.
Something else that I don’t think gets talked about as much as it should in omegaverse that truly bothers me, is scent/consent. I enjoy dubcon when done right, but it feels like a lot of the time it isn’t in omegaverse. If an omega goes into heat, if there is a scent match, if they can smell and taste and feel the arousal off each other, that shouldn’t automatically override everything else. It doesn’t mean romance, and the fact that I’ve seen quite a few omegaverse stories use this as a quick and easy way to make the romance happen is lazy and annoying. That’s what I felt with Alpha Inmate. They know nothing about each other but because they’re a scent match, because they’re attracted to each other, Alpha decides that is consent enough. That is invitation enough. Scent does not equal consent. And it definitely doesn’t mean romance. There is no romantic build-up. There is no courting. It’s simply you’re mine because I enjoy your smell and I don’t care if you agree or not. And Ellie, who has lived her life wanting to rid herself of the Omega stigma, wanting to prove she’s more than her designation, gives in so easily and falls right into the role she’s fought against her whole life.
Though Alpha Inmate by Liliana Carlisle was not a winner for me, I think it definitely would be enjoyable for someone that was only looking for an alphahole erotica romance that wasn’t looking for romantic build-up and simply wanted sex and a bond connection. If you’re like me, however, and need even the slightest bit of romance, of conversations, courtship, this will likely be a disappointment. The good thing is, however, the second book in this series definitely delivered where this one didn’t.
