Title: Hero
Series: N/A
Author: Samantha Young
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult
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…
Thoughts: I’ve been a fan of Young’s since I read On Dublin Street, and while I haven’t loved all of her books, she’s one of those authors that whose books I look forward to a lot.
With Hero she’s left Scotland and crossed the pond to Boston, one of my absolute favorite cities, and introduces us to a brand new set of characters.
I’m a sucker for damaged characters. Especially when they are damaged by the people who should have protected them and yet they have risen above their brokenness and made something about themselves.
Caine and Alexa have the misfortune of being broken by the same person. When Alexa tries to reach out to him, to have someone that understands what she’s gone through and to maybe be her friend. Instead he takes his anger at what happened to him out on her.
Alexa is tired of having to pay for the mistakes of someone else, so when Caine pulls his power trip she confronts him and demands that he make it right. What happens next is something that Alexa desperately wants and yet Caine fears.
It’s been a while since I loved a book by Young as much as I did this one. Alexa’s determination to make Caine see her for her and not as the daughter of the man who ruined his family. Caine hid behind the corporate image he’d cultivated until no one could penetrate his walls and hurt him ever again.
Watching these two fall in love was one of the best afternoons I’ve spent. Not just because of them, but also the secondary characters…one in particular who almost steals the book she’s that awesome. I hope we get more from this world by Young.
Grade B+
