ARC Review: Heroes Are My Weakness by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Susan Elizabeth Phillips never fails to entertain. I’ve read a couple of her books before so I have an idea of what to expect. She usually delivers a funny, quirky, heart-warming romance. This was no exception. Her new book “Heroes Are My Weakness” is all the above with a little more.

Antoinette (Annie) is a ventriloquist. Her five puppets give her the strength and alter egos she needs. And Annie really needs them at the beginning of the story! She is back in Maine at a small island where she grew up. Annie has just lost her mother, Mariah. Mariah and Annie didn’t have a very warm and loving relationship. From the flashback we can see that Annie spent all of her life trying to gain her mother’s approval. The small cottage where Annie is traveling to was left to Mariah as part of the divorce from the hero, Theo Harp’s father. Annie is miserable and broken. She is recovering from pneumonia and has financial trouble and other problems as well. One of the problems she has is that she also runs into her ex-stepbrother. She and Theo have a very long history.

Theo is back on the island living in his father’s house. He is on the island trying to escape his own problems. He recently lost his wife and is also working on his new book. Theo is less than thrilled to see that Annie is back on the island. Where Annie is fun and light, Theo is dark and brooding.

I really liked Annie. I thought she was a funny and hilarious character. She is a talented ventriloquist but doesn’t always use her talents for good deeds. Annie and Theo were romantically involved when they were growing up but a series of events cause her to become terrified of him.

There were so many layers to this story that it’s difficult to give it one description. It was a romance, tragedy, dark, funny, complex and all these would be accurate. The point is I really loved it and could not put it down. Annie says so many hilarious things to Theo that I literally laughed-out-loud. Her constant reference to his dead bodies were so well delivered that they kept me laughing. Aside from the development of these two characters there is also the mystery surrounding who is trying to get Annie out of the cottage. Her life is sometimes in danger and there is the “who is trying to get Annie off the island” theme.

Theo was a great hero. At first it was hard to understand him because, as the reader, we experience him as Annie does. But I really liked Theo and thought that he had great chemistry with Annie. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I had such a great time reading it and highly recommend it.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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