I have been going through my TBR and saw that I had yet to read Hero and decided to give it a shot. I will say that it's definitely apparent that this novel is 7 years old--you can pinpoint exactly what iteration the romance writing community was in and I'm absolutely certain that I would have enjoyed it in 2015. In 2022, it doesn't hold up as well but mainly that's because Samantha Young has evolved as a writer and what she's doing now is miles above what she was doing then--which makes sense because she has a ton of experience now.

At any rate, it was a fun read in that I could spot what was coming next and reminded me of those earlier days in romancelandia.

It's okay. For me something was missing. Pushing away from the Hero. Hero is dating and the heroine ends up as his PA so books a restaurant and gives a goodbye gift to one of his dates. Other woman and man drama.

** I was quickly drawn in and liked the banter, I like anti-hero stories.
I was almost at a 5 star reading but her groveling was a kick in the stomach. Honestly, I wanted him to fly on the plane to Paris for her

Hero
(Hero #1)
by Samantha Young 

Kindle Edition, 410 pages
Published February 3rd 2015 by NAL



Goodreads synopsis:
The emotional and unforgettable new romance from the New York Times bestselling author of the On Dublin Street series.

Alexa Holland’s father was her hero—until her shocking discovery that she and her mother weren't his only family. Ever since, Alexa has worked to turn her life in a different direction and forge her own identity outside of his terrible secrets. But when she meets a man who’s as damaged by her father’s mistakes as she is, Alexa must help him.

Caine Carraway wants nothing to do with Alexa’s efforts at redemption, but it’s not so easy to push her away. Determined to make her hate him, he brings her to the edge of her patience and waits for her to walk away. But his actions only draw them together and, despite the odds, they begin an intense and explosive affair.

Only Caine knows he can never be the white knight that Alexa has always longed for. And when they're on the precipice of danger, he finds he’ll do anything to protect either one of them from being hurt again…


***

4.5 Stars

This is the first book in the Hero series by Samantha Young.

First off, I have to say that this book has one complex backstory. These two people’s lives are so intertwined through family drama that I am not sure how they managed to avoid meeting each other all the previous years.

Alexa “Lexie” Holland is probably the most selfless, self sacrificing characters I have come across in fiction. She is certainly well-adjusted considering her terrible history. Her father had another family while she was growing up and the other woman in this instance was Caine’s mother. Caine’s mother got hooked on drugs and died because of Lexie’s dad. Now Caine is filled with anger all these years later. Lexie and her mother were estranged and when given the choice between Lexie and her cheating husband, she chose her husband. So, both Lexie and Caine have abandonment issues to the max. Yet somehow when Lexie meets Caine, she wants to help him heal and find happiness. Not with her but in general. She feels extremely guilty about what her father did to him.

The entire dynamic between the two leads is completely screwed up. After meeting her, Caine causes her to lose her job and not only that but she was banned by that particular photographer for ever finding another job in the business again. The next day she forces her way into his office asking him to help get her job back and to explain her family connection to him and apologize for the way she acted and took him by surprise.

It really isn’t hinted at until the end but Caine has more issues than just his problems with Lexie’s father. Because of this secondary issue Caine feels he will never be deserving of anyone’s love.

There is a lot of back and forth between Caine and Lexie. Hate to love vibes for sure. There is probably about 50 pages more of this than there needs to be but it is still entertaining and angst ridden. I spent over half the time reading this either crying, with tears in my eyes or choked up. These are not issues easily fixed. And I wondered if Caine would ever relent and completely fall for Lexie. He was so hard on himself. He held himself to such a high standard that no one would come out unscathed once he set his sights on them.

This is definitely worth the read. There is also a follow-up book called “Villain” featuring Caine’s best friend, Henry Lexington. Totally check both of these out. You won’t come away unaffected.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

This was pretty much typical Samantha Young and if you've read any of her Dublin Street series, I'm sure you'd enjoy it. For me, it was lacking a little of the family dynamic the Dublin street series managed to create. Of course, the romance was scorching as always and Young may well be one of the best writers of gut-wrenching romance and sizzling sex scenes out there, so I will likely always pick up her books for that alone.

3 stars