A Hero for the Holidays by Sherrilyn Kenyon was not what I was expecting. My immediate impression from the cover image conveyed, at least in my mind, the idea of a Christmas romance novel. The back cover indicated that the book contained four separate stories, yet only two of which mentioned Christmas in their descriptions. The holiday season appeared in all four but more as an afterthought. I had never heard of Kenyon before so was unaware of her writing genre, which centres on the paranormal and fantasy. I don’t read fiction in that genre–yet was game to try–however I was disappointed by the lack of Christmas content and deceptive cover art.
I did not like this book. The longest story, Upon the Midnight Clear, involved a battle among gods with superpowers and alternated between real time and dreamland. Kenyon wrote about the characters as if the reader already knew who they were, so this romp in dreamland must be part of a series. In my case I picked up this book not knowing who anyone was, so had no knowledge of any backstories. I am sure if I was aware of who the characters were and what their roles were in the netherworld, I would be more accepting of what was going on. Instead, I just had to accept that gods could manifest weapons out of thin air and reduce their enemies to literal dust.
In the story Santa Wears Spurs, a major part is devoted to an explicit sex scene. I did not care for any of it yet the overall storyline–about a man who returns to his wife after a five-year absence and discovers he has a daughter–was at least mildly interesting. He shows up at his wife’s door on Christmas Eve, so there’s your Christmas content.
Unlike the case with Debbie Macomber where I stated two years ago that I wouldn’t read her anymore (yet picked up more of her Christmas novels in 2023 and this year) I can say with conviction that I definitely will not be reading any more Sherrilyn Kenyon.