Review: Hearts of Darkness by Andrea Speed

Kaede Hiyashi is sick and tired of living in the shadow of his father, supervillain Doctor Terror. Brilliant but crazy, Doctor Terror sends his son to Corwyn, California, for reasons Kaede can’t imagine. Sent to accompany and protect him is Ash, a genetically modified supersoldier raised and trained by an infamous death cult.

Corwyn is lousy with superheroes, led by the obnoxious Dark Justice. Kaede finds himself dancing around Dark Justice as he digs into his father’s mysterious business and teaches his socially awkward—but physically lethal—bodyguard to acclimate to “normal” life. Can these two wacky supervillains figure out what Doctor Terror wants them to do, solve the riddle of the villain known as Black Hand, and keep Dark Justice from raining on their bloody parade? The course of love—and world domination—never did run smooth.

Action. Humor. Supervillians. And snuggling. Oh, the snuggles! I'm such a sucker for the cuteness.

Kaede's the son of the Supervillain, Doctor Terror. Doctor Terror sent Kaede a bodyguard, Ash, when he sent Kaede off to Corwyn. All for his super secret master plan, of course. *insert Supervillian laugh*

Corwyn was full of Heroes and Villians. They're all ridiculous. And what I loved most is that Kaede knew exactly how ridiculous they all really were. He loathed them. Kaede was tired of being compared to his father and people assuming that he was as evil as Doctor Terror. When the Heroes and Villains confronted Kaede, he didn't take them seriously and laughed in their faces, while simultaneously kicking all their asses. He was completely awesome. He came off as very "whatever" about everything, but was brilliant at the same time. He toyed with them, made them think he was clueless... little did they know he had a secret weapon. Ash.

"For a killing machine, Ash was goddamn cute."

Yes. He absolutely was. I love an adorably clueless virgin, and Ash was exactly that. Plus, he was totally badass. He was genetically engineered by Doctor Terror to be practically invincible. Because of all the training growing up, he had no social skills. He's a little on the awkward side and it was adorable. I'm not sure how a killing machine can be so endearing, but Andrea Speed has made it so. 

Ash was curious about Kaede and all the things he made Ash feel. The feelings in his pants, if we're going to be specific. Being the generous soul that he is, Kaede helped him explore all things physical. The sex scenes were not explicit at all. They were mostly fade-to-black, but they were so damn cute that I didn't even care. I was in it for the sweetness and the cuddling because it gave me all the mushy feels.

I really liked the whole vibe of this story. Kaede was immersed in the Superhero and Supervillian drama, even though he didn't want to be. He basically thought they were a bunch of dumbasses. I kind of felt the same way. It's like I knew everything was ridiculous, but at the same time it wasn't because I was so into the plot. The story made fun of itself and I liked that.

I loved, loved the ending. Kaede being a brilliant Supervillian mastermind and Ash kicking asses everywhere he turned. I hope there's a sequel. I have to know what happens next.

A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

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