Superhero Romance Novel Review: Hero Taming

Hero Taming by Natalie Wish is a superhero romance novel in the Craving Surrender series.

Links: Goodreads | Bookbub | My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Overview

Hero Taming follows superhero Rapport, an empath hero, and Dolor, a villain, who tumble into a relationship together. The relationship starts as purely physical, progressing into one with feelings and more along the way. The world is rife with superheroes and villains operating in the background, but the focus of the novel isn’t crime-fighting or action/adventure. The superhero backdrop is just that, readers draw in close to the evolving relationship instead of focusing on the broader world. If you seek a fully fleshed-out superhero universe in a superhero romance novel, this story might seem a bit light on details.

Blurb

Rapport gets into fights just to feel something. Feel pain. He is dancing on a fine edge every time he returns home injured but the itch under his skin is too strong to stop. It takes a Villain for Rapport to realize there are better ways to get what he needs. But to taste the sweet pain he craves he has to submit to Dolor.

If there’s one thing Dolor hates it’s wastefulness. And letting Rapport complete his plan to unalive himself in the stupidest manner possible would be wasteful. It’s the role of a villain to stop heroes’ plans, right? He will make sure Rapport gets the pain he is seeking… but only at Dolor’s hands.

Superhero Team

Rapport’s role as an empathic tether for his team of superheroes holds his group together. In tandem with a communication network, Rapport can feel his team and works to ensure everyone is safe and sound on missions. With strong empathic powers, his finger is constantly on the pulse of feelings, the feelings of others.

But Rapport’s powers don’t extend to himself, which leads him to proclivities that he thinks forbidden. Rapport is a masochist. He rushes into fights so that he can feel something. In a dramatic twist, Rapport cannot feel enough when he’s a superhero whose power is to feel what others are feeling. He seeks out criminals to beat him up. He relishes being bruised. The twinges of pain remind him that he has his own feelings.

Complimentary

Dolor’s power compliments Rapport’s desires. As a counterpart to seeking out pain, Dolor heals people. However, as he heals, he inflicts excruciating pain on his victims. He’ll bring people to the brink of death and then heal them. They wish they’d died; the pain is that bad. Dolor brings fear to the concept of healing. That’s why he’s a villain, in his eyes.

Above all, Dolor sees through Rapport’s actions. He calls Rapport out on his pattern of rushing into fights and taking hits that he could have avoided.

“Do not deny it, Rapport. I have been watching you, and it’s clear as day… You go looking for pain.”

Rapport Needs to Let Go

Rapport’s conceptions hold him back. Who is a hero is allowed to be? Thirsting for someone to hurt him doesn’t seem like hero behavior. Dolor offers him the sweetest taste of what could be, dangling the carrot that Rapport cannot resist. A safe way to fulfil his needs. A path that won’t lead to Rapport dead in a morgue.

They are the perfect pair if it weren’t for the fact that they are on different teams. The hesitation is minimal, though. Rapport ponders for a very, very brief period before he seeks out Dolor to collect on his promise of delivering pain in a controlled way. And here, the author introduces my one gripe with this quick jaunt through pleasurable pain.

Undernegotiated Kink

As a voracious reader of romance, erotica, and full-on smut, I have a bag of expectations that come with reading kinky things. And the biggest thing in that bag of expectations is that kink will be approached with the respect it deserves, and the partakers of the kink will both be on board with the well-known mantra: safe, sane, consensual.

That’s not entirely what happens in this story. Rapport and Dolor do not talk about their initial scene before they do it. No safeword is established. Whatever boundary-pushing events happen within a scene is less important to me than the participants being on board and consenting enthusiastically beforehand.

Rules

They DO talk about rules. Masks stay on; no permanent damage; no powers. Dolor does tell Rapport to tell him if he wants to stop. But for people in kink, saying “no” is often part of the scene. Safewords, hell, even the stoplight system, work to allow immersion into a scene so a participant can cry, beg, and complain as part of the scene.

So I will give the author some credit that things were talked about, but it falls short of an actual discussion of the approaching scene and a missed opportunity to establish a safeword between them. It’s the minimum when writing kinky scenes. A safeword should be agreed upon.

Feelings Develop Quickly

These supposed enemies can’t seem to stop real feelings from developing any more than they can help manifesting their superpowers. They are quickly gone for each other. Without much thought or discussion, their relationship is exclusive. They seek each other out for pleasure, simple pleasure, not kinky pleasure. They share meals, they take baths, and they become friends and lovers. And I like it. I like them.

Dolor to the Rescue

One evening marks the turning point in their relationship. Rapport stumbles to Dolor’s door for help after a horrible night. And Dolor lets Rapport empathically connect to him. Dolor is a soft, gooey sweetheart, is what it reveals. And he’s so not a supervillain. The pair end up using their powers on one another after that,t and then soon after, the masks are gone. They’re boyfriends and not scene partners.

Rapport to the Rescue

The tables turn at a pivotal moment of the story. Rapport becomes caretaker for Dolor, clearly in love with the man under the persona of a villain. As the story wraps up sweetly, the once-upon-a-time villain and the hero are together and happy.

Recommend or Nah

This story is a quick read. The progression of the characters from enemies to lovers flows smoothly. I enjoyed it. If you are looking for a superhero romance novel, this will fit your desires nicely, much like Dolor and Rapport’s needs complement one another. As for me, it’s a recommend from me.

Reviews by Fae

I received an advance review copy for free from Booksirens, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel, read my review policy and submit a contact form.