HEROES ARE MY WEAKNESS – Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Harper Collins
ISBN: 978-0-06-210607-0
September 2014
Contemporary Romance

Peregrine Island, Maine – Present Day

Aspiring actress and puppeteer Annie Hewitt is returning to Peregrine Island after years away to fulfill the terms of an agreement her recently deceased mother had with her mother's ex-husband. As long as someone in her family lives for two months on the island without ever leaving, they can keep the cottage owned by the ex-husband. With nothing but bad memories from the last time Annie was on the island, the cottage shouldn't mean much to her, but being unemployed and in debt from taking care of her mother in the last stages of cancer, she has nowhere else to go. She arrives on a dark and stormy night, and one of the first people she meets is the reason for her bad experience last time: the owner's son, Theo Harp.

Now a reclusive horror author, Theo is (in Annie's mind) the perfect epitome of a man from a Gothic novel. He's not happy to see Annie there and doesn't do anything to make her return comfortable. Years ago, Annie and Theo had a summer where they got to know one another more than as just step siblings, but it ended badly when she was pushed and injured, which she blames on him. He is currently holed up in the mansion on top of the property writing his next novel and doesn't appreciate what he perceives as her intrusion. When his housekeeper is hobbled by a broken foot, it is Annie who secretly steps in to help out. The other woman has a little girl who is mute, and this intrigues Annie, who uses her puppets to “talk” to the girl. Annie's time on the island is going to be a long sixty days, so it doesn't take much time before Theo and Annie are butting heads. Yet beneath their confrontations lies a deep passion for each other that soon explodes into something more.

Young love that ended badly is renewed in HEROES ARE MY WEAKNESS. Annie's life hasn't been easy, what with being raised by a selfish mother and then giving up her passion for acting to take care of the woman when she got ill, so she sees the trip to the island as a way to lick her wounds and recharge her weary bones. Meeting Theo again brings up bad memories of when he went from being her first love to someone who tried to kill her. Even now the whispers of “murderer” follow him after his sister's mysterious death years ago. He doesn't want to discuss the past and brusquely brushes off her questions. When things start happening to Annie, such as being shot at, she suspects it's Theo, yet something inside her is convinced he's not behind them. But is there someone out there who wants her off the island, and if so, why?

HEROES ARE MY WEAKNESS is an emotional tale that encompasses many things. There is the mute child whom Annie tries to reach out and connect with. Annie is gifted with her puppets and, in fact, they are a huge part of her life as the “inner voices” battle with telling her what to do. Will Annie learn the truth about the little girl's issues? Whispers abound that Theo suffers from mental illness. Heck, why did he do those things to Annie when she was a teen? Will she finally learn to trust him, or will he impede her attempt to remain on the island? Meanwhile, another reason she is there is her mother's deathbed proclamation that Annie's legacy is somewhere in the cottage. What is it…and will she discover the truth?

A well-rounded and emotional read I highly recommend, HEROES ARE MY WEAKNESS has Annie dealing with her past even as she battles the reasons for them. Grab a copy and read how Annie finally makes peace with her hero.

Patti Fischer