Hero [Paperback]

Heidi Cullinan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 4, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1615812865 | ISBN-13: 978-1615812868

Hal Porter is no man's hero; he's just another Los Angeles construction worker. So when he sees a building appear on what the day before was an empty plot of weeds-a site where people have been found dead-Hal knows a guy like him should steer clear of whatever is going on. But a vision at the building's window draws him inside, and there Hal finds Morgan, a magical shapeshifter held captive by a rival clan... and Hal's the only one who can save him. It doesn't take Hal long to realize he's in over his head, not only because the clan has powers beyond his imagination but also because he's fallen in love with Morgan. There's no escape for them now without a hero to break the curse, and Hal knows it can't be him. But as Hal and Morgan work together, they discover gifts far more powerful than magic and that heroes aren't always in shapes they expect.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (December 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1615812865
• ISBN-13: 978-1615812868
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,793,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have been telling stories forever. I started with the Fisher Price people (you know, the choking hazards of the 1970s) and Weebles, graduated to dolls and Barbies, and then finally had to admit they were just plastic and wood and picked up pen and paper with a computer keyboard on the side. I wrote my first novel when I was twelve and got it published in the K-12 school anthology. I was fully half the anthology.

What I love most in a story is a happy end. I love the freedom of a story that feels like it might be slightly dangerous and yet also promises me that it will only feel dangerous, that in the end it will all truly be okay. I cut my story teeth on fairytales and Disney long-playing records. I threw Jane Eyre across the room when they were mean to her (but picked it up eventually and got to the HEA) and clutched the Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables books when the girls finally got their house and husband and sense of stability. And then I started reading contemporary and historical romances of the 1990s and embraced what for me felt like a beautiful, radical feminism: I could be enlightened but still feel warm and safe, all at the same time.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, however, I became active in lobbying for LGBT rights, and I began to notice that while you couldn't walk anywhere without tripping over heterosexual HEAs, the LGBT versions were pretty thin on the ground. And when I first began to notice this, I honestly saw none of the kind that I had fallen in love with: the dangerous-but-not, amusement park kind of rides that all those novels I loved were. Those stories were full of sometimes implausible plots, yes, but were also always full of wonderful, engaging characters that made you excited and gave you space to feel, too. Why did only heterosexuals get those stories, I wanted to know? I think my writing LGBT romances became inevitable as soon as I was conscious of this disparity. I wanted to write those stories. There was a glut of the other kind, but there weren't enough of this kind. What else was there to do?

For me LGBT romances are brilliant new territory for story. New emotional landscapes, new adventures, new everything. I can't read enough of them, and I get ideas for ones I can write myself pretty much during every hour of the day. The links below are for the LGBT stories I have written and published so far. My goal is that it will keep growing, and growing, and growing, as I hope so does this whole genre.

Visit my web page at www.heidicullinan.com which includes sample fiction, more about me, news, links to social networking, and my email address.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it!, December 13, 2009

By 

Crystal (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hero (Paperback)

I wasn't sure if I'd like this book when I first picked it up- a disappearing building seems like an odd plot point to me- but that disappearing building, like just about everything else in this book, is not what I expected it to be at all!

This book has everything a good book should: compelling characters, an intriguing storyline, unexpected twists and turns, love, and when it's all over? A happy ending, with all of those loose ends tied up, making "Hero" a very satisfying way to spend the day.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very unique romance., November 27, 2010

By 

Mellow dude - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hero (Paperback)

Hero is a wonderful story of taking chances, discovering true love, and gaining self-confidence.

The romance is the most central part of course. The protagonist deals with some self-loathing on his homosexuality and coming out but it doesn't consume too much of the text thankfully. There are plenty of sexual scenes for those who enjoy that. :P

I recommend it to anyone looking for a different type of gay romance novel with fantasy elements.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book was so much fun!, April 29, 2010

By 

Sirius - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hero (Paperback)

I was eyeing this book for some time, but same as another reviewer, dissappearing building seemed an odd plot point for me and I guess I was not feeling it much, but then I read another book by this author "Special delivery". While I cannot say that I LOVED that one, I liked it enough to take another look at this one. I am so so happy that I did. I think this author has a great imagination. I certainly have read romances with interesting plot before, but for the most part in those books romantic storyline took a second place to mystery or fantasy storyline, or triller storyline. Do not get me wrong, I am not complaining, but in this one plot twists and turns so much with romance being front and center all the time. I loved it and yes, I could never predict what was going to happen. I do expect happy ending in romances of course, but boy I had no clue how we we will get there.