How to Date a Henchman by Mari Fee
Paranormal/Superhero Romance
Released: September 3, 2012
Carina Press

Reviewed by May 

Superheroes. They were as addictive as celebrities, and like celebrities, most of them failed to venture into Canada. Canada passed laws against vigilantism rather than reinterpreting the existing Criminal Code to allow exceptions for the exceptional, and as a result there weren’t many superheroes operating north of the Fourty-Nineth. Privately Gina thought it had more to do with the Canadian climate and superheroes’ love of spandex.

Gina works as the receptionist at EnClo Corp, and she hasn’t got a clue what they do, nor does she suspect the notorious villain Static is the owner and her boss. When Mr. Sparks (aka Static) shows up with Burke (aka Static’s henchman) things really start to get interesting. Soon a superhero is lurking around, she’s got a hot date, and Gina’s world will never be boring again.

This novella was really cute, and on the lighter side of superhero novels. She put some unique twists on her world, including making a henchman her hero (which I’d love to read more about!) and really questioning if a villain has to be an evil kind of person. Indeed, I really enjoyed the twist that the villain wasn’t so much a bad guy, as someone who was unsatisfied with the ways of the world and didn’t quite fit in.

On the downside, there was too much trying to fit into this short story and everything suffered for it. The “who is a bad guy and who is good?” plot could have been developed a lot more, or the budding romance between Gina and Burke could have been given more space and time to blossom and grow. Instead, we got just a taste of everything and I found myself wishing for more. Given the title I had hoped for a lot more romance and I wish more sparks had flown between the couple.

I hope this author branches out into more superhero romances – I would love to see how she could develop both romance and action elements in a longer format. Her action scene writing as well as her vivid characters both make me hope we will see a lot from her in future.

Grade: C

Recent Reviews:
The Romanceaholic – 4.5/5
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