Caped and Dangerous by Isabel Jordan

8/24/2020

5 Comments

Sci Fi/Paranormal/Rom Com
Publication date: 8/15/2020
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

You know all those things I said I was looking for in a romance novel a while ago? Well...here they are...

Plot Overview: Grumpy, 46-year-old, state-employed superhero Greer Glenanne has a city to protect even though she'd rather stay home and binge-watch Supernatural on Netflix. And she can't seem to keep hot billionaire Killian Morgan--who may or may not be a supervillain--from flirting with her. Sexy times and hilarity ensue.

Trope bingo: Older woman/younger man romance, superhero sci fi romance, urban fantasy/paranormal romance, mature romance, billionaire romance.

There's a lot to love here. Let me count the ways...

Older woman/younger man

In my opinion, there just isn't enough older woman/younger man romance out there. You can't swing a dead cat (hey, it's a saying) without hitting a novel about some 40-year-old man child finding love with the perky-boobed 19-year-old of his fantasies. But older women with younger men? That's A LOT harder to find. Especially if you're looking for a female character who didn't get dumped by her husband for a younger woman and is bitter and possibly hating on younger women as a result. Greer is NOT that kind of older woman heroine. Sure, she's divorced, but she's not carrying a lot of emotional baggage. She's fairly emotionally health--she's just tired. She's been fighting crime for most of her life and she just hasn't had time for romance. But she's a smart, funny, grumpy, snarky MATURE woman who is still vibrant and desirable and self-assured. She's a fan-effin'-tastic heroine that I think most readers (especially those over the age of 40) can relate to. And also, the main conflict between Killian and Greer is NOT their age difference. That's barely a blip on their radar, and I LOVE that. At one point, Greer mentions their age difference once, and Killian tells her flat-out that it's not a problem, and it never really comes up again.

ACTUAL mature characters

I've seen plenty of romance marketed as "mature", only to pick up the book and find out that the heroine is 29 or something. NO. That is NOT "mature" romance. Greer is 46, thank you very much. Killian is 36. THAT is a true, mature, older woman/younger man age-gap romance.

A billionaire who ISN'T a dominant a-hole

Killian is fabulous, y'all. He's not a manwhore, a commitment phobe, or a dominant in search of a young submissive. He's not a domineering alphahole. He just happens to be a fabulously well-off business man who has been not-so-quietly pining for Greer for 2 years. He's smart and funny and flirty and dead-sexy. Basically, he's my romance novel hero catnip.

Light, funny reading

Look, the world is a horrible place right now. I don't want to read books that will emotionally devastate me. Caped and Dangerous is the perfect kind of book for me right now. It's light, funny, has lots of hilarious banter, and it doesn't make me think too hard. It's fast-paced and sexy--and that's really all I need at the moment. Maybe I'll get back into gut-wrenching emotional stuff again at some point...but this is not that day.

Side characters

The side characters in this one are fabulous, and I'll actively protest if they don't get their own books. That is all.

Like female-gaze Marvel

Look, I love Marvel movies. I really do. But in any straight, white-male directed movie there is always a moment or two when you're reminded that a man was behind the camera and in charge. (Like when the camera lingers a bit too long on Black Widow's cleavage, or the female heroine is inexplicably forced to wear something skimpy or strategically/sexily torn). This book is like what you'd get if a Marvel movie was female-directed. It's Marvel, but without the pandering to the white, straight male audience.

So, in case I didn't make it clear, I want to read more in this series and more from this author--and if anyone at Marvel is listening, Greer is your next superhero. Just sayin'. Please and thanks.

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
Kicks the CRAP out of the romance stigma! No rehab needed.

5 Comments

Aparna Raghavan

8/30/2020 09:06:12 am

Thank you for this great recommendation. I loved it.

Joey W. Hill link

9/25/2020 03:00:25 pm

Love this! Though I think to give the devil his due, we can't call the cleavage thing a "white straight male behind the camera" issue. I think that's just Hollywood knowing their viewership of a good comic book movie enjoys their sexy shots. They have also not skimped on Chris Evans' tight backside, Robert Downey's lovely biceps/tank T-shirts or Chris Hemsworth's...well, everything, head to toe, lol...and bless them for that! Great review on this book; got several chuckles from me, and you're right - nice to have some light fare with a solid and adult love story. Have shared on Twitter with my followers.

Jennifer, Romance Rehab

9/25/2020 04:24:20 pm

Good point. Everyone benefitted from seeing so much of Chris Hemsworth and RDJ's biceps. But I'm getting sick of Hollywood sexualizing everything--and I feel like a disproportionate amount of that sexualizing is done by white male directors. I want to see more of films like The Old Guard on Netflix. They had GORGEOUS people in that movie, but there were no lingering shots of Charlize Theron's cleavage or any arm porn for the guys. It was just a great action movie with a stellar cast and fantastic storyline. And it was directed by a woman. I want more of THAT!

Joey W. Hill link

9/27/2020 04:20:19 pm

I don't know - maybe I'm wired for the sexual stuff (can't imagine why, lol). The jeans that Charlize and Kiki were wearing looked painted on and highly impractical for the special ops stuff. And we did get a very nice ab shot of Booker when he was wounded. Yeah, his guts were hanging out, but still (grin)... What I will say is that when sensuality/sexuality is done by a female director who "gets it," it is remarkable. Angela Robinson handled Professor Marston and the Wonder Women SO incredibly well, and Tosca Musk/Laura Alston have been doing some nice work on Passionflix with The Will and Gabriel's Inferno.

Sheesh - you and I really need a long night barside at a conference, where we can SIskel and Ebert the crap out of every movie/TV show we've ever seen, lol... :> Enjoy your Sunday!

Joey W. Hill link

9/27/2020 04:21:59 pm

Whoops - my bad - that was Louise Alston, not Laura.