Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Hero
AUTHOR: Heidi Cullinan
PUBLISHER: Wilde City Press
LENGTH: 59,785 words
BLURB:
Construction worker Hal Porter knows he’s nobody special. But when strange events draw him into a magical world, he becomes the only man who can free Morgan, a lonely, long-enchanted shape-shifter. Whether he feels he’s worthy or not, Hal is the hero Morgan has been waiting for.
However, Hal’s task becomes personal as he and Morgan fall in love. Now, to save Morgan and give himself the happily ever after he’s always longed for, Hal will need to do something far more daunting than face Morgan’s captor or finally come out of the closet…
He’ll have to believe in himself.
REVIEW:
Poor Hal, he’s just so average. He’s a construction worker from Kansas, living in LA. He moved there thinking it would be his chance to find love and happiness, but he so shy and ashamed of his sexuality that nothing has happened. He’s lonely and miserable, and like the good Catholic boy he is, full of guilt and shame, even when he’s alone in his apartment. He’s a hard worker, but doesn’t seem to really love what he does. He goes to work, and goes home, day after day. Then one day, he sees something strange and his life is altered forever.
When a seedy looking bar appears in the empty lot next door to the construction site, Hal is reluctantly drawn in to a bizarre magical world. He is sent in by a strange woman to save someone named Morgan, but he has absolutely no idea what he is walking in to or how to save anyone. Yet he’s a good man, and bumbles his way around, doing his best to help. Initially he is not very successful and ends up needing more help than he provides, but he is rewarded with a night of passion like he has never experienced before. But in the morning, it is back to reality, and he realizes he’s not saved anyone. Luckily he gets a chance to try again. Or, maybe he is forced to try again!
I found this to be an interesting story, with lots of opposites. Hal is very bland and mild, calm and mundane, shy and innocent. His love interest, Morgan, is wild and magical, bold and sexual. Not always willingly however. LA is uninteresting and boring, the Oasis is bizarre and magical. Hal’s Kansas breed, Catholic mother, the opposite of Morgan’s magical kitsune mother. Hal is good, Eagan is bad. No compromises. It’s a simple seeming plot, Hal plays the part of the hero, going in to the magical place to rescue his love interest, but it’s really not that easy or simple. Morgan and his world are a mess, in desperate need of help and love. Hal wants to be the one to help him, and love him, but Morgan is stubborn and convinced his reality is what it is. It’s a wonderful plot, I admit I did get lost a bit, but I had fun reading it!
So the plot was good, very complex and creative. Hal was a little blah, but he kinda was that way. He’s sweet but bland. Morgan is amazing, I wish I understood him better! Their emotional connection forms quick, and the sex between them is very creative and hot! The extra characters are interesting, very good or very bad. Heidi is a fantastic writer, she keeps this odd story moving forward and it kept my interest. I enjoyed this one, although I tend to like her contemporary without the fantasy better. I’m not sure why, I did like Hero, but I didn’t love it.
RATING: 
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