“All Superheroes Need PR” by Elizabeth Stephens

 Decent enough, but no “Paranormals” -- 3 stars

I’ve had moderate luck with super hero books in the past. A few of the ones back on DC Comics were just okay, but I really enjoy the “Paranormals” series by Christopher Andrews. So I decided to take my chances on a super hero romance by author Elizabeth Stephens, just to mix things up a little. Sadly, the experience was more “meh” than anything.

“All Superheroes Need PR” was passable. The world building in the early chapters was sharp and immersive, the characters just compelling enough that I did find myself reading past my bed time. I kept waiting for the story to do something worthy of its own opening.

But somewhere around half way through, I noticed I had stopped caring. I’m not sure I can explain why, either. The plot held together all right, the writing stayed competent -- nothing broke, exactly. The pacing may have dragged, or perhaps the emotional stakes just didn’t deepen the way I wanted them to. It just slipped from enjoyment to feeling like a task to finish it.

There were parts that did work. The characters’ personal histories felt considered -- not in a way that made me care about them exactly, but in a way that made them feel like they could really exist. And the world itself was drawn at the right level of detail -- enough to orient me without spelling everything out, which I was grateful for in those first few chapters.

I DID finish it, though something had definitely slipped away from me by the final pages. I won’t be continuing on to Book #2, and I doubt I’ll return to this author -- not because the talent isn’t there, because it is, but because the way she tells a story and I simply don’t speak the same language. Or something.

Again, “All Superheroes Need PR” isn’t terrible. But after reading the “Paranormals” series ... well, some books just aren’t meant for certain readers, and I think this was one of those. Sorry.