Tag: LGBTGIA superhero romance

Review:  Signed, I’m Yours! (Subpar Superhero story) By Rhys Lawless

Rating: 4.5🌈

Well, this was simply adorable.  I absolutely adored Signed, I’m Yours! (Subpar Superhero story) By Rhys Lawless.  One of the most enjoyable in this series.

The journey of Seojun, Mr Sinister, a not so very super villain, who wants to find the family he left behind in South Korea turns into a funny, heartfelt story about a man who instead finds love, respect, and a new found family when he never expected it.

Seojun, fabulous in Pink, meet the SPAM agent Jack “Happy” Lewis, signs Jack up for some internal secret investigation, that goes immediately rightfully wrong. 

This wonderful story is so well written. The beautifully crafted characters have so much heart, including the many fabulous side characters, that it’s hard not to wish for more from this universe and gang of heroes.

Even the main villain of this piece is a man isn’t what you expect.  Instead he’s poignant, the crimes also contain an unexpected twist.

Honestly, the story and characters were a total joy that it was an absolute pleasure reading this.

A winner for the series and as a whole for the author to the readers. 

Subpar Heroes series- 15 books:

🔷The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt 

🔷Behind the 8-Ball by A. E. Wasp

🔷Transparent Is a Color by Kaje Harper❤️

🔷Impossible Things by Alexa Land 

🔷My Not-So-Super Blind Date by Allison Temple ❤️❤️

🔷An Ex-Hero’s Guide to Axe Handling by Jenn Burke ❤️❤️

🔷In The Nick of Time by Elle Keaton 

🔷Static/Cling by Jaimie Samms

🔷Spiritual Guidance Not Required by Jacy Braegan   

🔷What Could Go Wrong? By Toshi Drake 

🔷License to Chill by Chantal Mer 

🔷Code Name Dolittle by Lynn Michaels

🔷Signed, I’m Yours! By Rhys Lawless❤️

🔷A Taste of Danger by Morgan Brice. 9/5/2024

Buy link:

        Signed, I’m Yours!: A supervillainous romcom

    

Blurb

I’m The Sinister Signature. New York City’s biggest supervillain. And anything I sign is mine!

Including the hunky, happy-go-lucky SPAM agent with the bear-bod who catches me red-handed.

Jack “Happy” Lewis.

The man who can never turn his smile into a frown and who’s way too excited to be tied to me for the foreseeable future.

He drives me up the wall, but at least I’ve got a guy on the inside who can help me with my mission.

In my search for my missing family, SPAM, the mysterious agency that handles super-powered individuals, and Happy are my only recourse.

There is one problem however.

With Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes stuck by my side, I’m starting to feel…things and I don’t like it.

It gets worse when we have to pretend we’re engaged.

The last thing I need right now is to fall head over heels and quit my search. Or give up my criminal empire and go over to the good side.

Ew. That’s not me.

I’m a supervillain, damn it. I won’t fall victim to Jack’s charms.

No, I won’t.

Signed, I’m Yours is a standalone paranormal romcom with a grumpy supervillain, an always-happy good guy literally stuck together on a case, a fake instant engagement, a very convenient bi-awakening, and only one bed.

Part of the multi-author Subparheroes MM romance series.

  • Publisher: Rhys Writes Romance (August 29, 2024)
  • Publication date: August 29, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 284 pages

Review:  What Could Go Wrong? (A Subpar Superhero story) By Toshi Drake

Rating: 3.25🌈

What Could Go Wrong? By Toshi Drake is another in the multi-author series about a group of people labeled subpar superheroes who work for the secret agency SPAM. 

Most of them have abilities that are considered less essential or powerful to society or the agency, hence the label.  

In Drake’s book, What Could Go Wrong?, the best elements of this story are the two main characters and their new developing relationship.   It starts with Ezra, an awkward records clerk for SPAM. Enthusiastic about his unseen employer, April, naive about exactly SPAM does, and sort of unaware about his own weird powers, Ezra’s attempts to prove himself to himself and his boss powers the events. 

And it’s how he accidentally but not really meets Chauncey “Chaz” Adams, retired subpar agent with a weird power of his own. 

It’s a case of goofy, enthusiastic , out of his depth employee meets grumpy, bitter retired agent, they have a instant attraction, get ensnared in a  muddled investigation involving Big Foot, that further develops into just a narrative plot line quagmire.

What does work here is the dynamic between Ezra and Chaz. It’s built slowly as they get to know each other under adverse conditions, further adjusting to each other’s expectations and differences in sexualities.  It’s developed around respect and mutual understanding. They treat each other as responsible adults and with support for each other’s issues, whatever they feel they might be. 

It’s a lovely romance and Ezra and Chaz make the story entertaining and sweet.

But the investigation and case they fall into is a narrative bungle.  It makes little sense, it’s choppy in execution, and its overall plot is muddled. Even their powers aren’t clearly defined.

So read this if you’re a fan of the author, the series, and for the relationship, which is lovely.

Subpar Heroes series- 15 books:

🔷The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt 

🔷Behind the 8-Ball by A. E. Wasp

🔷Transparent Is a Color by Kaje Harper❤️

🔷Impossible Things by Alexa Land 

🔷My Not-So-Super Blind Date by Allison Temple ❤️❤️

🔷An Ex-Hero’s Guide to Axe Handling by Jenn Burke ❤️❤️

🔷In The Nick of Time by Elle Keaton 

🔷Static/Cling by Jaimie Samms

🔷Spiritual Guidance Not Required by Jacy Braegan   8/1/2024

🔷What Could Go Wrong? By Toshi Drake

🔷License to Chill by Chantal Mer 8/8/2024

🔷Code Name Dolittle by Lynn Michaels. 8/22/2024

🔷Signed, I’m Yours! By Rhys Lawless 8/29/2024

🔷A Taste of Danger by Morgan Brice. 9/5/2024

Buy link:

        What Could Go Wrong?

    

Blurb

All Ezra has to do is deliver a message to retired clean-up agent, Chauncey Adams, and he’ll become the go-to person for SPAM’s Canadian office. Drive to Chauncey’s, hand off the papers. That’s the mission.

What could go wrong?

Everything. Everything could go wrong. A random phone call, unexpected magic words and a grumpy retired agent are just the beginning. The end? Finding Bigfoot on the Bruce Peninsula.

Between dead bodies popping up and being kidnapped by incompetent bad guys, Ezra and Chaz have to solve the mystery of what happened before they get stomped out for good. These secret agents are more laughable than lethal, but they’ll have to rely on each other–and the growing spark between them–if they want to survive.

What Could Go Wrong? is a part of the multi-author Subparheroes MM romance series.

  • Publication date: August 6, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 194 pages

Review: Static/Cling (Subpar Heroes story) by Jaime Samms

Rating: 4🌈

Static/Cling by Jaime Samms is another in the Subpar Heroes multi-author series about a group of people who have specific abilities that have been deemed just not “super” enough for high level status. They’re subpar heroes or heroes whose abilities are diminished in some respects.

Samms story involves a group of characters, first a pair of friends/lovers that eventually ends up as a triad when they find the third that completes them. Along the way, a team of like minded and powered characters is formed, there’s a scary mission to undertake, and an evil villain to be foiled.

Static/Cling has terrific characters, interesting storylines, and the potential for additional novels, packed as it is with loose ends and underdeveloped plot lines and character elements.

I really enjoyed it.

Characters like Bjorn Bielke, “electricity runs through my body” and Leif, his best friend/lover and personal current discharge unit, who end up working for SPAM (the superhero agency) where all the rest of their future team is working, are great in their respective roles. Also fascinating, if not equally well developed, is Kassian, IT SPAM specialist, but he’s more. What exactly is not delved into.

The developing Bjorn/Leif/Kassian romance is interesting in how the author pulls it off and it makes sense for all the people involved. This could have taken up more of the plot, especially since Leif and Kassian each need more narrative development than is given towards the end.

Sal, Robert (two more intriguing members of this found family) as well as actual family members, contribute to a action packed, emotionally driven story.

Only the fact that Samms had left unexplored or unresolved some major plot lines at the end of the story did I feel unsatisfied with the finish and HFN given to the characters.

Perhaps, like other writers, Samms intends to revisit this universe. At any rate, if you are enjoying the series and are a fan of the author, I recommend reading Static/Cling (Subpar Heroes story) by Jaime Samms. It’s very entertaining.

Subpar Heroes series- 15 books:

🔷The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt

🔷Behind the 8-Ball by A. E. Wasp

🔷Transparent Is a Color by Kaje Harper❤️

🔷Impossible Things by Alexa Land

🔷My Not-So-Super Blind Date by Allison Temple ❤️❤️

🔷An Ex-Hero’s Guide to Axe Handling by Jenn Burke ❤️❤️

🔷In The Nick of Time by Elle Keaton

🔷Static/Cling by Jaimie Samms

🔷Spiritual Guidance Not Required by Jacy Braegan 8/1/2024

🔷What Could Go Wrong? By Toshi Drake 8/6/2024

🔷License to Chill by Chantal Mer 8/8/2024

🔷Code Name Dolittle by Lynn Michaels. 8/22/2024

🔷Signed, I’m Yours! By Rhys Lawless 8/29/2024

🔷A Taste of Danger by Morgan Brice. 9/5/2024

Buy links:

Static/Cling

Blurb:

Best friends Bjorn and Leif help each other out. Whether it’s blowing off some steam in bed (as friends do), or helping each other find a new job, they’ve always been there for eachother. So when Leif points out an ad for a janitor team at SPAM it’s a perfect fit.

Bjorn will be able to work where his strange ability to gather static electricity won’t be a problem, and Leif will still be by his side to make sure nothing bad happens.

Turns out, Bjorn should have read the fine print.

Working at SPAM is like no other job they’ve ever had, and then there is Kassian. Tacitern. Unfriendly. Half computer geek, half muscle-head, he’s way more appealing than he has any right to be, and maybe the spark between them they’ve often looked for but never found.

But Kassian the computer geek is clear. He doesn’t need any more friends, and he doesn’t need a lover, never mind two. Kassian the muscle head has a different take on the idea.

When they have to track down a missing computer file and stop a madman from ruining the lives of everyone at SPAM, it’ll take the whole team, a multi-layered plan, and no small amount of luck to succeed.

It will also take the three of them combining their skills to stay alive and save, not just the day, but each other.

Static/Cling is a part of the multi-author Subpar Superheroes MM romance series.

• Publisher: Jaime Samms (July 30, 2024)

• Publication date: July 30, 2024

• Language: English

• File size: 3301 KB

• Print length: 237 pages

Review: In The Nick of Time (Subpar Heroes novel) by Elle Keaton

Rating: 3.75🌈

In The Nick of Time by Elle Keaton is a great example of how a reader can absolutely enjoy and be engaged by a story while recognizing that it’s not exactly fulfilling expectations. Especially when it’s a part of a series with certain parameters.

Did I spend a lot of time laughing and appreciating the evolving dynamics between Agent Douglas Swanson ,aka Long Shot, and his newly acquired baby agent Nicholas Sedgwick? So much. The wonderful dialogue, the believable relationship that develops as they investigate the missing agents, and even the addition of Tim the sulcata tortoise, that works together to create a fast-paced, funny narrative.

It’s sexy, funny, full of surprises, small neat characters, Las Vegas, and enjoyable storytelling.

But in a series that’s about people who have super powers or powers of a less impressive nature, that’s not an element that is as well explored by the author here as I had hoped.

We understand immediately that Doug’s semi-retired and doesn’t use his superpower any longer due to a tragic event. But Nick’s perhaps more interesting abilities aren’t well explained. And during Keaton’s storytelling, any “uses” by Nick are often in “off the page” scenarios so the reader isn’t emotionally or visually involved.

The full promise the character has been showing is never reached as far as his detailed abilities. And a potential new one is never brought up again. The author leaves some elements underdeveloped. Just as Tim is left as Tim. He just is.

Even SPAM , the superpower /subpower organization, is not as well laid out as it should be.

In The Nick of Time (Subpar Heroes novel) by Elle Keaton is a story that I very much enjoyed. The characters are engaging and their relationship journey made my day. It certainly made me smile a lot. Check it out!

Subpar Heroes series- 15 books:

🔷The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt

🔷Behind the 8-Ball by A. E. Wasp

🔷Transparent Is a Color by Kaje Harper❤️

🔷Impossible Things by Alexa Land

🔷My Not-So-Super Blind Date by Allison Temple ❤️❤️

🔷An Ex-Hero’s Guide to Axe Handling by Jenn Burke ❤️❤️

🔷In The Nick of Time by Elle Keaton

🔷Static/Cling by Jaimie Samms 7/30/2024

🔷Spiritual Guidance Not Required by Jacy Braegan 8/1/2024

🔷What Could Go Wrong? By Toshi Drake 8/6/2024

🔷License to Chill by Chantal Mer 8/8/2024

🔷Code Name Dolittle by Lynn Michaels. 8/22/2024

🔷Signed, I’m Yours! By Rhys Lawless 8/29/2024

🔷A Taste of Danger by Morgan Brice. 9/5/2024

Buy links:

In the Nick of Time

Blurb:

Have you always thought you were special?

Perennially unemployed loner Nick Sedgewick applies to an online job opening with that exact phrase and expects nothing to come of it. It was likely a no-so-funny prank after all.

If Doug ‘Long Shot’ Swanson wanted a new work partner he’d hire one himself. He’s perfectly happy on his own and if he plays his cards right he’ll retire sooner rather than later. And he certainly wouldn’t hire an irritating spicy-candy-eating slacker who’d probably miss his own funeral.

But somebody is killing off agents and Nick’s new boss needs Doug and Nick to figure out who it is and put a stop to it. And if they accidentally fall in love along the way that is no one’s business but their own.

Neither man wants to be a hero. But maybe between the two of them, they can save the world. Or at least their little corner of it.

In the Nick of Time is a part of the multi-author Subpar Superheroes MM romance series

• Publisher: Dirty Dog Press LLC (July 25, 2024)

• Publication date: July 25, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 197 pages

Review: My Not-So-Super Blind Date (a Subpar Heroes story) by Allison Temple

Rating: 4.75🌈

I’m such a fan of the multi-author series because it’s a great way to find new writers or rediscover ones that you haven’t read in a while.

There’s been a huge variety in the series themes and authors who have decided to participate so it makes this format even more exciting.

The Subpar Heroes is a terrific theme, the not quite good enough hero, the one who has a power but it’s subpar, does strange stuff, is considered weak.

In the case of this book’s subpar hero character, Morgan Murray, he’s barely able to whip up enough of a current to charge his phone’s battery, but then he might actually start a fire.

He’s not a member of SPAM, that was his famous mother. He works in scientific research to save the world.

Then Morgan is matched by friends to go on a blind date with Jasper, who’s a henchman. And things get interesting. And scary. And maybe romantic. And they do them again and again and again. Over and over again.

The manner in which Temple builds the story, the surprise element of repeating the date, and then the slow revelation of how long it has been happening. Which one recounts the first time he knew what happened, it’s just chilling. And extremely well written.

It down to fantastic characters and a plot that both has to develop yet replicate itself.

Temple’s execution of the circular structure of the narrative, ala Groundhog Day, is just superb. When the date begins, and that’s the triggering point that starts the day again, is due to one factor. A person’s life is ended. Over and over. There’s a warning note at the very beginning of the book.

From there out, the narrative veers from the original, there’s character and relationship growth. The universe explores the present histories of these people and how they got there. Then the author takes us and them on another related journey.

It’s an incredible story, a heartfelt and at times, heartbreaking book. I really wanted more at the end. But then again, maybe just that was probably perfectly fine. A full future ahead.

This is one of the best of this series to date. I’m definitely recommending it.

Great cover.

Subpar Heroes series- 15 books:

🔷The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt

🔷Behind the 8-Ball by A. E. Wasp

🔷Transparent Is a Color by Kaje Harper❤️

🔷Impossible Things by Alexa Land

🔷My Not-So-Super Blind Date by Allison Temple ❤️❤️

🔷An Ex-Hero’s Guide to Axe Handling by Jenn Burke ❤️❤️

🔷In The Nick of Time by Elle Keaton 7/25/2024

🔷Static/Cling by Jaimie Samms 7/30/2024

🔷Spiritual Guidance Not Required by Jacy Braegan 8/1/2024

🔷What Could Go Wrong? By Toshi Drake 8/6/2024

🔷License to Chill by Chantal Mer 8/8/2024

🔷Code Name Dolittle by Lynn Michaels. 8/22/2024

🔷Signed, I’m Yours! By Rhys Lawless 8/29/2024

🔷A Taste of Danger by Morgan Brice. 9/5/2024

Buy links:

My Not-So-Super Blind Date

Blurb:

I’m Morgan Murray. You probably haven’t heard of me. With a raft of allergies and powers that won’t do more than charge a phone, I never lived up to my super family’s super expectations. It’s okay. I’m used to being overlooked.

But there’s only so much disappointment one man can take, and finding out the cute guy on my blind date is a henchman for the city’s most notorious crime boss? That’s one letdown too many. This date is over before it even starts.

Or is it?

In the meet cute that won’t end, Jasper and I are stuck in a time loop and the only way out is deadly. Good and evil may be relative terms, but if we can’t escape, we may find out that love is forever…and ever.

My Not-So-Super Blind Date is part of the Subpar Heroes multi-author MM romance series.

• Publisher: (June 6, 2024)

• Publication date: June 6, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 254 pages