Like Superheros? Love Romance? Author Kitty Bucholtz has the book for you with Unexpected Superhero. Tori Lewis-Clarke has just returned from her honeymoon with her brand new husband Joe. After a whirlwind romance, the two find themselves settling back into their day to day routines. Tori goes on her of errands and finds herself in the middle of a corner store robbery. Without thinking, Tori is able to subdue the criminal using M&M’s. She is casually called a superhero by one of the officers on the scene, which sends Tori into a whirlwind of denial. In her world, Superheroes are the dregs of society, freaks who stop crimes without a badge. However, Tori does not realize that her new husband is also a Superhero. Joe and his team are working on a mystery involving missing children. When a father of one of the missing children ends up dead, Joe and his group investigate. Tori decides to give being a Superhero a try and discovers she is attracted to the Superhero X…which thankfully is her husband.
Kitty Bucholtz focuses a great deal on the marital love between Joe and Tori. Like two Disney characters who have just met and married, the two play kissy face through much of the book and Tori is constantly remembering snippets of her honeymoon. Tori’s interactions with a comic book store clerk, however, left me raising an eyebrow. The Clerk pulls Tori away from the Vertigo comics because she is “a classy lady” and likely wouldn’t enjoy then. As Vertigo is the DC imprint responsible for the entire Sandman series and many other classy Neil Gaiman titles, I found myself wondering if the author had ever in fact read a Vertigo comic. This detail aside, the book is a romance novel for the woman who has dabbled with comics or likes to focus on lighter-hearted comic book fare.
If you’re a fan of hardcore superhero comics or like darker reading material, avoid this book. However, if you’re looking for a more lighthearted romance to accompany you on vacation this summer, consider Unexpected Superhero.
Unexpected Superhero is Part One of the Lewis and Clarke Superhero Series and is available now.
