Book Review – Be My Hero by Linda Cage

Be My Hero (Forbidden Men Book 3)
How sweeeeeet is this book?!!! It’s sweet, quirky, funny and fun. And at times, super-emotional! And even quite dark. Definitely explores some dark subjects, and very dark characters (the evil villains by way of family members), but overall a light, feel-good read that I throughly connected to. In fact, I absolutely LOVE these characters. I feel attached to them, and will be backtracking to book #1 (Price of a Kiss - he’s an escort!) and #2 (To Professor, with Love - teacher-student romance!!) to get their full stories.

While this one reads perfectly as a standalone, I kind of regret not having started at the beginning of this series (Forbidden Men Series) *waggles eyebrows* since the previous “couples” are very prominent in this installment. And I bet I would have gotten to know the couple from this book better as they too, have appeared in the past installments.

Mind you, I went into it thinking it would have a darker edge, a more serious feel to it, and I’ll admit, at first, I was a bit taken aback by the writing style. Oh it was good… just… I dunno. I guess my expectations for that “intensity” and that biting internal dialogue would be a huge part of it. After all, per the blurb, they are both coming out of very traumatic experiences, and now, she’s pregnant and single…

For the first time in years, I finally felt free. I didn’t have to worry about any male in my home trying to get at me. I could just live, focus on my baby, and begin the rest of my life. Except, now that I could finally be me, I felt lost.

I had no idea who I really was.

…and he’s on parole for defending another woman and helping her raise her baby, but still hoping to find the love of his life (and what a STORY that part is!!).

Did I love Tristy? God, no. Most of the time I didn’t even like her. We’d survived through hell together, though, and you didn’t just turn your back on a fellow survivor. They became a part of who you were and left you bound to always keeping watch over them.

Yep… pure angst-potential!

I knew this one could be crazy and angsty. And it was!! I just went into it thinking it would be darker, but once I got used to the “feel” of this one, I fell in love with it! You know… that awesome “family feel”, the hilarious antics…

“She’s probably never going to leave him alone until someone takes her out.”

Eyes lighting with intent, she grabbed my hands and squeezed them hard. “Oh my God, E. Let’s take her out. Together. We’re in a big ass Jeep.” Her fingers clamped even tighter around mine. “When she comes back out. let’s gun the engine, pop this curb and run her wicked ass over. Oops, total accident. What was she thinking by jaywalking across a busy street in the middle of the night? And then…” She nodded, as if coming to the best part of the story. “While the car’s lying on top of her and the only things poking out are her glittery red Christian Louboutins, I say we steal her shoes and run.”

Wow, what was this, the homicidal version of The Wizard of Oz?

While yes, I had to agree Mrs. Garrison, Mason’s rapist – er – I mean the rapist of Mason since she wasn’t Mason’s anything – was the Wicked Witch of Florida, that still didn’t mean manslaughter was a good option.

And hello, how had I turned into the rational one?

“Yeah…” I said slowly before shaking my head. “No, I think maybe we should shy away from anything involving … murder.”

*snort*!!!!  LOL!!!!!!!! I mean… can you just see these two?! In that dark jeep, the one cousin all excited and frantic and the other one thinking… “Oh… I’m gonna be on the news…” (a little “Friends” throwback there )

But that’s just to give you an idea of the “feel”.

As dark as you *think* it sounded, it really isn’t. It’s out of sheer hilarious desperation between best friends/cousins. And I must tell you all, these are VERY sweet (and usually innocent) girls. I was snorting my way through this part! Pure comedic genius. Maybe you need to “read the rest” to get this in context. One of those “you had to be there” moments, but OMG this part will NEVER be forgotten. LOVED!!!

I loved the very obvious character traits (each one coming alive and having that special *something*), and yet, still with those dark pasts, tormented thoughts and obstacles to defeat. Evil… sometimes from those that should be the closest to you. I’d say it has that “Kerrelyn Sparks/Lynsay Sands” feel but without any of the paranormal stuff.

This book reminded me of those.

Eduarda: Which one are you picking Maryseeee ???

Maryse: Darn it! I can’t choose!!!! That “batch” that I listed up there in my “rambling” section… I still can’t figure out which. They all look equally good to me. I’m thinking one of the pregnant girls, ’cause I dunno. I think I’m in the mood for that situation. Er… not in real life mind you. LOL!!!

Maryse: Okay! I chose. Reading Be My Hero and it’s cute. I’m still “getting into” it, ’cause I think I was thinking it would be a bit more… serious or intense. Writing style is more light and quirky, but good so far. But 15% has me chuckling. A lot!

Maryse: Okay yah, if you go into this looking for funny and sweet, you got it! I’ve switched my reading “mode” into the right “mood” for this book, and I’m enjoying it.

Kandace: I’m 60% into Be My Hero. It’s a super easy read and I love how sweet he is. I thought it would be darker.

Maryse’s Book Blog: I thought it would be darker too, Kandace. I kind of regret not having backtracked and read #1 & #2 first since those characters are such a HUGE part of this one, but it read so well as a standalone anyway. Very cute and quirky and funny and fun and VERY emotional at times… good stuff! I’m happy with my choice.

Lauren: JUST finished Be My Hero before heading over to look @ this list….I LOVED it!!!! It had been a week or so since I’d read a book I didn’t skip thru. This one held me from beginning to end!!

Beverly: Loved Be My Hero by Linda Kage!

Michelle: Now I for sure need something light – picked up Be My Hero too and that sounds like a needed ‘cute’ read.

Amy: I must be in the mood for some single-mama angst ’cause Be My Hero and Surviving Love are realllllly looking good right now.

Yep… I was totally in the mood for that, too!

And yet, as much as I giggled and highlighted entire pages of dialogue (GAH!!! These people are funny… but “just like us” kind of funny, ya know?) but I digress. As much as it has that comedic relief, it also had those deeply emotional parts that had me on the verge of tears. Absolute wet eyes, absolute believable pain, absolute sadness.

And that’s just to tell you, that it’s not lighthearted “fluff”. Because it made me feel the intensity, when it counted. Yessssss yes, at times it was way over the top. I mean… how much more could these people take!?? The amount of drama and crazies that comes at them is like… wow. Definitely fiction-like. Yikes!!! But if you just ‘go with it” you can have so much fun (and experience so many “feels”) with this anyway.

And you know what? I went with it.

It’s fiction, and it’s fun! Plus, I’ve read plenty of books/series that I absolutely loved where entire town is inundated with human-evil-doers, book after book, and still, I could totally connect. Because of that real-life friends-to-family feel. Like with this one!

4 stars!

Tagged as: 4 stars, contemporary romance