Holding Out for a Hero by Christine BellMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
GENRE: Fantasy Romance
THEME: Superheroes
RECEIVED: Entangled Publishing
BLURB:
Scarlett Fever, by Christine Bell and Ella Dane
After five years in training, it’s finally time for Scarlett Fever and her fellow superheroes to leave the United Superhero Academy and test their powers out in the real world. There’s only one problem. She’s been assigned to partner with arrogant, by the book, and irritatingly hot, Blade of Justice.
Blade’s whole life has gone according to plan, and he’s more than ready to move on to the big time, protecting a metropolis of his own. But his perfectly ordered life is derailed when he’s teamed up with the fiery maverick, Scarlett Fever.
Sparks fly the moment they arrive in Plunketville, Oklahoma, as they each set out to force the other to request a transfer. They soon discover there’s more going on in this single stop-sign town than blowing up mailboxes and cow tipping. If Scarlett can get Blade to listen to his gut, and he can teach her to use her head, they just might have a fighting chance.
Ironheart, by Nico Rosso
Vince might be hard as steel, but he’s not invincible. Not when iron touches him, especially in the hands of an evil minion. Not when Kara ran away after a whirlwind affair, just when he thought he might be falling in love. And definitely not when she returns, looking for his help.
The archvillain TechHead is coming for Kara and her superhero teammates, and he’s determined to use their combined power to create the ultimate weapon. But Kara can’t fight him alone. She needs Vince’s brutal skill, though being with him means she risks losing her beloved secret identity, leaving her nowhere else to hide.
When TechHead makes a play to capture Kara, Vince has more to lose than just his heart. But he will do anything for the woman he loves, even if it means putting his heart on the line again.
Playing With Fire, by Tamara Morgan
Fiona Nelson has always been one hot ticket—even before she took the conversion serum that gave her superhu¬man abilities. Fiona’s powers come at a price: lack of human contact, or she won’t be the only thing burning. When she loses control of her emotions, her fire powers run rampant... and she’s hurt enough people already. Including herself.
But when the man behind her conversion returns to black¬mail her into helping him gain power, the only person she can turn to is Ian Jones, the man who broke her teenage heart. The man determined to expose the criminal known as Fireball, whose explosive escapades are just a little too close to Fiona’s M.O.
Ian is convinced Fiona’s dangerous, convinced she’s Fire¬ball, and convinced he’ll damn himself if he doesn’t resist a heat that’s always drawn him to Fiona like a moth to a flame—but Ian has his own secrets.
And he’ll learn far too soon what happens when you play with fire.
From the Ashes, by Adrien-Luc Sanders
Sociopath. Killer. Deviant. Monster, devoid of morals, incapable of human emotion. The villain known as Spark has been called that and more, and as a super-powered aberrant has masterminded count¬less crimes to build his father’s inhuman empire.
Yet to professor Sean Archer, this fearsome creature is only Tobias Rutherford--antisocial graduate research¬er, quiet underachiever, and a fascinating puzzle Sean is determined to solve.
One kiss leads to an entanglement that challenges ev¬erything Tobias knows about himself, aberrants, and his own capacity to love. But when his father orders him to assassinate a senator, one misstep unravels a knot of political intrigue that places the fate of hu¬mans and aberrants alike in Tobias’s hands. As danger mounts and bodies pile deeper, will Tobias succumb to his dark nature and sacrifice Sean--or will he defy his father and rise from the ashes to become a hero in a world of villains?(less)
After five years in training, it’s finally time for Scarlett Fever and her fellow superheroes to leave the United Superhero Academy and test their powers out in the real world. There’s only one problem. She’s been assigned to partner with arrogant, by the book, and irritatingly hot, Blade of Justice.
Blade’s whole life has gone according to plan, and he’s more than ready to move on to the big time, protecting a metropolis of his own. But his perfectly ordered life is derailed when he’s teamed up with the fiery maverick, Scarlett Fever.
Sparks fly the moment they arrive in Plunketville, Oklahoma, as they each set out to force the other to request a transfer. They soon discover there’s more going on in this single stop-sign town than blowing up mailboxes and cow tipping. If Scarlett can get Blade to listen to his gut, and he can teach her to use her head, they just might have a fighting chance.
Ironheart, by Nico Rosso
Vince might be hard as steel, but he’s not invincible. Not when iron touches him, especially in the hands of an evil minion. Not when Kara ran away after a whirlwind affair, just when he thought he might be falling in love. And definitely not when she returns, looking for his help.
The archvillain TechHead is coming for Kara and her superhero teammates, and he’s determined to use their combined power to create the ultimate weapon. But Kara can’t fight him alone. She needs Vince’s brutal skill, though being with him means she risks losing her beloved secret identity, leaving her nowhere else to hide.
When TechHead makes a play to capture Kara, Vince has more to lose than just his heart. But he will do anything for the woman he loves, even if it means putting his heart on the line again.
Playing With Fire, by Tamara Morgan
Fiona Nelson has always been one hot ticket—even before she took the conversion serum that gave her superhu¬man abilities. Fiona’s powers come at a price: lack of human contact, or she won’t be the only thing burning. When she loses control of her emotions, her fire powers run rampant... and she’s hurt enough people already. Including herself.
But when the man behind her conversion returns to black¬mail her into helping him gain power, the only person she can turn to is Ian Jones, the man who broke her teenage heart. The man determined to expose the criminal known as Fireball, whose explosive escapades are just a little too close to Fiona’s M.O.
Ian is convinced Fiona’s dangerous, convinced she’s Fire¬ball, and convinced he’ll damn himself if he doesn’t resist a heat that’s always drawn him to Fiona like a moth to a flame—but Ian has his own secrets.
And he’ll learn far too soon what happens when you play with fire.
From the Ashes, by Adrien-Luc Sanders
Sociopath. Killer. Deviant. Monster, devoid of morals, incapable of human emotion. The villain known as Spark has been called that and more, and as a super-powered aberrant has masterminded count¬less crimes to build his father’s inhuman empire.
Yet to professor Sean Archer, this fearsome creature is only Tobias Rutherford--antisocial graduate research¬er, quiet underachiever, and a fascinating puzzle Sean is determined to solve.
One kiss leads to an entanglement that challenges ev¬erything Tobias knows about himself, aberrants, and his own capacity to love. But when his father orders him to assassinate a senator, one misstep unravels a knot of political intrigue that places the fate of hu¬mans and aberrants alike in Tobias’s hands. As danger mounts and bodies pile deeper, will Tobias succumb to his dark nature and sacrifice Sean--or will he defy his father and rise from the ashes to become a hero in a world of villains?(less)
REVIEW:
As a huge comic book lover I’m always on the look out for superhero stories and wish their were more out there. I was thrilled to hear about this anthology Holding Out for a Hero, meaning I get multiple hero stories all in one book. This was by far my favorite anthology and introduced me to authors that I’ll be looking out for.
Holding Out for a Hero consist of four short stories that are action packed with fantastic superheroes and lots of heart pumping romance. Scarlett Fever follows a young superhero who straight out of the Superhero academy is assigned to a rural area with a new partner that she just cant stand. Together they try to solve an unusual occurrence as well as fight the spark that they seem to have. Scarlett Fever was my favorite story out of all four. The characters have a great love hate relationship and really had to build that trust between them. The mystery of this town was a great plot twist, bringing more challenges for both Scarlett and Blade. Plus it was fun watching them both try to keep their identities a secret with such colorful towns people.
Ironheart follows Vince who is known for his destructive side and tough exterior has tried to live a life out of the superhero spotlight, His heart was broken by the one woman who could soften his steel heart. But when she suddenly steps back into his life along with a villain trying to capture her, he has no choice but to help her. I adored this romance; both characters are so very powerful and really know how to show their affections in a “tough” and hot manner. They were a great team, who seriously had one heck of a villain that they needed to crush while protecting each other.
Playing with Fire follows Fiona a woman who has fire in her blood literally. Her ability to control fire…well isn’t under control just yet. She took a serum that gave her this new superpower but she cant have any contact with humans. When one of her fire incidents bring her face to face with her past crush, she cant seem to keep her ability a secret. He also has some secrets of his own and now is trying to figure out if Fiona is guilty for the many Fires that have been happening and are getting more destructive. I had a bit of trouble getting into this story, as much as I liked Fiona and her very colorful and interesting past. I couldn’t connect with Ian as much as I would of liked. He treated Fiona a bit harshly sometimes, as did his partner. I really rooted for her to stand up for herself and loved when she finally did against the main villain.
From the Ashes follows Tobias a young university student who has always followed his fathers orders. But his father is a villain and someone who only wants more power, which he uses his son to do some of his dirty work. While on assignment for his father, Tobias meets Sean Archer one of his professors and someone who finds Tobias very intriguing and cant resist. Tobias has to choose if he wants to follow in his father’s footsteps or follow his heart. This was my second favorite story, these two guys had such fantastic chemistry and I loved them together. Definitely a story of good and evil falling in love, Tobias’ character is a bit lost and really doesn’t want to follow his father and Sean shakes up his life a little.
Again this was a thrill to read and each story had bits pieces that I just loved. Each author wrote a story that captivated me right from the start, adding in such wonderful characters that each had a love story that developed nicely. I hope that all these authors, either writes a story based on these characters again or set in the same world; I would love to continue their adventures and romances. I highly recommend this to superhero fans and fantasy lovers who enjoy a great romance story with well-developed plots and exciting characters.
RECOMMENDATION:
This is an adult book with some sexual content for a mature reader. Comic book fans should get their hands on this anthology asap! And if you love romance this is the right book for you!
AUTHOR LINKS:
Christine Bell
Twitter | Goodreads | Site | Blog
Ella Dane
Twitter | Goodreads | Blog
Nico Rosso:
Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Site
Tamara Morgan
Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Site
Adrien-Luc Sanders
Twitter | Goodreads | Site
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