I have been reading but not reviewing Sarah Kuhn’s Heroine Complex series. I was very happy to get an ARC of Unsung Heroine from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. At some point I will review the three previous books – Heroine Complex, Heroine Worship, and Heroine’s Journey. I will say now that they are fun books, and you should definitely read them before picking up this novella.
Unsung Heroine focuses on Lucy Valdez, the bodyguard with no superpowers, but awesome fighting skills, a killer fashion sense, reigning karaoke champion, and a deep love of British mystery shows. She is also in love with Rose Rorick, head of the San Francisco Police Department’s Demon Unit. During Evie’s bachelorette party in Heroine Worship, Lucy had stated she was ready to pursue a romance with Rose. But now, she has decided they can never be more than friends. Everyone, including Rose, find this confusing.
What? But you said . . .” Her brow furrowed as she tried to recall the words I’d blathered out six months ago at her bachelorette party. “That you were taking things slow because you wanted her to get to know the real you, the one underneath all the flash and fabulousness—”
“Which she has. And that’s why it’s too late. I miscalculated completely, Evie. She does know the real me—all too well. And that means we are now forever stranded in the utopia that is Friendlandia.”
In this novella, Lucy has to deal with competition to her karaoke crown and her fear of being vulnerable enough to accept that Rose sees the real Lucy Valdez, and still wants her. Lucy and Rose don’t have superpowers like Tanaka/Chang women, but they have experience and training. They are capable of saving the day without the superheroes. Evie, Aveda and Bea are present in the book, and Evie and Aveda have some great friendship moments with Lucy. In order to solve the most recent outbreak of demonic activity, Lucy has to figure out how to open up to people.
Kuhn’s bouncy and bright series gives us an ungritty urban fantasy without an apocalypse. Life is going on as usual in San Francisco, but there are a occasional demons and the superheroes who fight them. The relationships between the women are as, if not more, important that their relationships with their romantic partners. This really is a fun series and I encourage you to start with Heroine Complex, and then read all of them.