Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Looking Beneath the Surface


Published: September 3rd, 2012
How to Date a Henchman
By: Mari Fee
Carina Press
ISBN-13: B008JK0MV0

Gina Hall is a college dropout with big dreams. Working as the receptionist at EnClo Corp isn't one of them, but she needs the paycheck, and she amuses herself by speculating what the mysterious company actually does. She's even more intrigued when the owner arrives, bringing with him a very attractive man named Burke.

Burke's job is more deadly than dead-end: as head henchman for Gina's boss, aka supervillain Static, he makes sure his boss doesn't end up in jail—or worse. But Static's latest scheme is way more legitimate than either of them are used to. This time they have a real office—with a smart, sexy receptionist.

Unfortunately, Gina isn't the only one curious about EnClo Corp's business. When a superhero starts sniffing around, he proves to be less than heroic, and the lines between good and evil blur. Only Gina and Burke can foil his investigation...provided they can keep their hands off each other long enough to save the day.

Review

   Gina Hall is a small-town, Canadian girl who is working as a receptionist at the mysterious Enclo Corp - so mysterious that she still doesn't know what they do and she's been working there for months!  All she wants is for something exciting to happen in her life, or to possibly see a superhero.  But since Canada passed anti-vigilante legislature unlike the U.S., that is highly unlikely.  So she just reads about Glimmer and his arch-nemesis Static.  When Mr. Sparks (the company's owner) and his right hand man Burke arrive, the shit starts to really hit the fan.  It turns out that Enclo Corp is a front for supervillain Static a.k.a "Mr. Sparks" and his latest scheme, which involves using his brain to gain more power in the international market.  Of course, this causes Glimmer to follow him to Canada in the hopes of foiling his 'nefarious' plans.  But is everything really is black and white as it seems?  Who is really the villain when it comes down to it?  And how on Earth will everything turn out, especially with Gina and Burke's explosive chemistry and Gina being shoved into the middle of the supers' fighting?  I thought this sounded interesting and I love books about superheroes/villains. Usually I don't read novellas, but this one is on the long end clocking in at 76 pages or thereabouts.  So I figured I would give it a go.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well the characterizations were done, the plot was fleshed out and how little of it was focused on the sexual aspect of the romance (usually when a story is this short and a romance, there's at least one or two sex scenes).  Mari Fee managed to write a compelling story about the shades of grey involved in right and wrong, a cute romance, the tribulations of super powers and it was funny too.  If you're a fan of comic books or superheroes in general, I'd recommend this one.  It's a quick, fun read and definitely time well spent.  

VERDICT:  4.75/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published September 3rd, 2012.*

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are much appreciated and I always read them with a smile on my face! :) While I appreciate the thought, this an award-free blog as well. I just don't have the time to keep up with it. Thank you for my smiles and please share your thoughts! Also, sorry for the Captcha, but I've been getting a lot of spam lately!