Ugly by Roe Horvat

Title: ⟫ Ugly 

Author: ⟫ Roe Horvat 

Blurb: ⟫ When a homeless young omega comes by Burke’s pub asking for work, Burke doesn’t have the heart to send him away. He lets the boy help with some chores in exchange for food, and soon, Emerson’s visits become regular. Then one frosty December night, the boy keeps his head down, hiding in a corner until closing time and looking like he wants to disappear into the ground. Emerson is about to go into heat, and he has nowhere to hide. 

People say Burke is ugly and scary, but Emerson has never been afraid of the burly pub owner. The big alpha has scars down the side of his face, but so what? He must have been in a lot of pain once, poor man. When snow covers Dalton City, and Emerson realizes he’s only days away from his first heat, his feet carry him to the pub by themselves. Burke is the only alpha Emerson trusts not to hurt him. And given the choice between freezing to death or getting abused, Emerson would much rather offer himself to Burke. 

Except Burke is probably the nicest man in the entire city. 

Stunned, Emerson finds himself safe and warm during the snowstorm, without having to sacrifice anything. Maybe he’s even a little bit in love with his rescuer. 

 

Ugly is an omegaverse gay romance, mpreg, non-shifter. High heat, monogamous couple, HEA. 

Review: ⟫ This was beautiful. 

I can’t think of another book that I’ve read that contains such incredibly filthy dirty talk, whilst still managing to be sweet, soft and beautiful. This was a really great story – it would have been so easy to fall into so many tropes, but instead it was a fabulous love story, with Emerson and Burke falling for each other whilst terrified of losing their hearts and being left wrecked. 

There was size kink, breeding kink, heats and ruts – all written in Roe’s incredible explicit style that gets you all hot and bothered – but it was the quiet moments, where Emerson was dreaming about sitting on his man’s lap in the warm, safe and calm, watching the snow outside that stuck with me. For some reason, this story just really resonated with me and made me feel quietly happy. The characters felt real – Richard, struggling with success not being everything he thought it would be; Kirby finally finding a way off the streets; the staff at Burke’s pub – and altogether, it was like a found family that was so accepting, just – so warm! Literally, the only jarring note was Mark who was a little caricature-esque in his evilness, but he was so on the periphery of things that he didn’t impact too much on my love for the story. 

I’m probably not making a lot of sense, but if any of the above kinks appeal to you, I would snuggle up under the duvet and throw yourself into reading Ugly. You won’t regret it.