My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“A man like me isn’t capable of being your f__king white knight.”
“I never asked for that.
…you’re no f*cking white knight, but you’re what I want.”
I’ve desperately waited for this book to be released ever since December last year. And when it came out I unfortunately was in the middle of readathon of other authors’ books so I’ve been on the edge for quite a while to get my hands on this book. It wasn’t until the beginning of this week that I’m free from my February reading list. I had a really high expectation to this new standalone from Samantha Young. I mean, I’ve read everything on Samantha Young’s On Dublin Street series and they’re lovely. Her writing style is perfect and she always manages to fulfill my hunger of great contemporary romance.
Well, this book is great, as always Samantha effortlessly hooked me with her over-the-top writing style and I finished this book in one sitting. This book has a similar vibe as Sylvia Day’s Crossfire series. You know, a love story between a blindingly handsome and rich bachelor haunted by dark past with a gorgeous confident one of a kind girl. I love Crossfire series and unsurprisingly I love Hero too. But sadly Hero didn’t impress me like I thought it would. I mean, I enjoyed it and even loved parts of it but it wasn’t the book that lingered in my head long after I finished it. It was good I loved it but it wasn’t excellent I fell in love with it.
This was actually the second book that I’ve been waiting impatiently to be released on this year that didn’t completely repay my giddiness (the first one was Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful Redemption. Read my review of Beautiful Redemption here if you wanna know why).
Alexa Holland’s life was completely ruined by a man who she thought would be her forever hero. Her mother died when they were not in a speaking term, her father was someone that she would never want to meet anymore, no one came forward and claimed her as family, and her boss hated her for breathing. She was utterly alone. Yet she was in the verge of losing her only job after an awful encounter with a successful attractive every woman’s dream guy, Caine Carraway at work. And what worst, she might not get other jobs in this field anywhere forever. Caine wasn’t a stranger to her. They shared the same flawed history and were chained together in a complicated way. Caine hated her, it was clear and however understandable. But she was not the one in fault, and surely no one could judge her just by the bloods that ran in her veins. Alexa only wanted Caine to see that. Or maybe it was what the actual plan. But the moment they met, she knew it was more than that. And maybe that was what Caine wanted as well. Unable to deny the attractions that strongly pulled them into each other’s arms, they kept being haunted by their dark history and some ugly secrets that was hidden neatly behind the wall.
Caine didn’t want Alexa to put her hope high on him.
Alexa wanted Caine to break the wall and let her pull him through.
Caine didn’t want to be her hero.
Alexa wasn’t looking for a hero in him.
When things got rough, would they be able to see past the dark veils and see each other for just who they were? And accept each other for just who they were?
All characters in this book were very well-built. The writing was smooth and damn was it hot as hell. This might be the steamiest book of all Samantha Young’s, I guess. I love Caine along with all his baggage. I mean, his insecurity, his doubt and all the cold and mean personality he constantly showed to Alexa. I adore him, period. And Alexa is really one of a kind. I truly amazed by her confident and unwavering determination. Her smart-ass personality is what attracts me the most. And God, how I love their banters sooo much!
I just have one complain about this book, though. The push and pull between them seemed never ending. He hurt her, he felt bad, she was just oh-so-weak she accepted him back, he hurt her again, felt bad again, she became weak all over again, and they made up… again. The first and second time I was fine, but it went on and on and I was this close to roll my eyes at the never-ending cycle (which actually ended anyway). I understand why Caine kept doing that. I was actually a bit disappointed by Alexa for being so weak. She’s such a confident girl, how could she become all melting-ice-cube in front of Caine like that? (It was LOVE, okay? Love could turn you into melting-ice-cube, apparently.) The climax was a bit cliché but it was alright. And anyway I’m glad I couldn’t predict ‘the secret’ so it was pretty shocking when I found out.
Despite my disagreement of certain thing on the book, Hero is actually an enjoyable read. I enjoyed their banters. I also enjoyed the humors from Maisy’s evil demeanor (she’s Alexa’s friend’s baby girl). It reminded me of how brilliant Samantha when it came to write about kids and their undeniably cute behaviors. The chemistry between Alexa and Caine was so strong. And the romance was sweet I had to keep wiping the grinning off of my face.
So, I settled with four steamy stars for Hero ;)
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