Susan Elizabeth Phillips is one of my longtime favorite authors. I don’t love all her books or everything about her books, but I always know I will at least have a few hours of enjoyment. Heroes Are My Weakness is familiar ground for SEP – A down on her luck woman who disguises her fear with sass, a man who disguises his protective instincts with brooding or asshole behavior. As with Mary Balogh, Susan Elizabeth Philipps brings together wounded people who heal themselves as well as each other. However, this is a contemporary romance, so there are plenty of sexy good times.
Heroes Are My Weakness is not SEP’s finest work. It’s fine. It’s entertaining, but it won’t go into repeat rotation. The conflict is a bit clunky and overblown. I knew very quickly how it would eventually resolve, but it takes a long time to get there.
Annie and Theo have an ugly past history. Annie thinks Theo is a murderous psychopath. Of course, we know he isn’t, but Annie comes to trust Theo a lot faster than I would consider reasonable. If you just roll with it, and accept that Theo has convinced Annie that he isn’t a psychopath and he’s very sorry for trying to kill her, the banter between them is pretty great. Theo does what a romance hero should do – he believes in Annie more than she believes in herself and tries to protect her. Annie, in turn, offers forgiveness.
There are a number of references to Jane Eyre in Annie and Theo’s story. I feel like SEP may have clung too tightly to her inspiration. It’s not a bad book, it’s just not my favorite.
