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A review by nikkisbooknook
The Hero She Wants by Anna Hackett
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
My favourite trope ever is Grumpy Sunshine and Shep is Grumpy personified. Shep enjoys being on his own, with only very rare guests when they are in trouble. But when his former boss turns up with a job offer from the President - well you can't really refuse.
He expects to rescue some society princess academic - someone totally out of her element. But Hayden is the complete opposite. She loves digging in the dirt, finding history and restoring artifacts to their people. But her alias has been advertised and now she's up for sale to the highest bidder. Daughter of the President is a huge bargaining chip after all.
Shep has a major dose of survivor's guilt and PTSD, added to the childhood trauma he experienced you don't need to think too hard as to why he became such a protector. He revels in the way Hayden just gets on with things - after all she pretty much rescued herself the first time. Hayden loves that Shep treats her as just another human - no political plotting, no hunger for money and even less time for media than she does!
Hayden is smart, snarky and has a core of steel. She is no damsel in distress - she may be out of her element but she won't sit by and wait for others to come for her. The loss of her friend and protective detail lays heavily on her and she has some misplaced guilt herself to deal with.
We get a little sneak peak of Ren in this book and that's a man with his knickers in a knot over a woman!
TW: murder of a friend; Grief; PTSD, Survivor’s guilt; death of a parent from cancer and sibling from neglect, torture, childhood abuse
He expects to rescue some society princess academic - someone totally out of her element. But Hayden is the complete opposite. She loves digging in the dirt, finding history and restoring artifacts to their people. But her alias has been advertised and now she's up for sale to the highest bidder. Daughter of the President is a huge bargaining chip after all.
Shep has a major dose of survivor's guilt and PTSD, added to the childhood trauma he experienced you don't need to think too hard as to why he became such a protector. He revels in the way Hayden just gets on with things - after all she pretty much rescued herself the first time. Hayden loves that Shep treats her as just another human - no political plotting, no hunger for money and even less time for media than she does!
Hayden is smart, snarky and has a core of steel. She is no damsel in distress - she may be out of her element but she won't sit by and wait for others to come for her. The loss of her friend and protective detail lays heavily on her and she has some misplaced guilt herself to deal with.
We get a little sneak peak of Ren in this book and that's a man with his knickers in a knot over a woman!
TW: murder of a friend; Grief; PTSD, Survivor’s guilt; death of a parent from cancer and sibling from neglect, torture, childhood abuse
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder, Child death, Death of parent, Torture, and Child abuse