Karma Girl (Bigtime superhero series, Book 1) [Kindle Edition]

Jennifer Estep (Author)

Book Description

Investigative reporter Carmen Cole gets the surprise of her life on her wedding day when she discovers that her fiance and best friend are sleeping together – and that the two of them are her town's resident superhero and ubervillain. Shocked and hurt, Carmen reveals their secret identities and then decides to devote her life to unmasking every superhero and ubervillain who crosses her path.

A series of successful unmaskings lands Carmen a job at The Expose, one of the biggest newspapers in Bigtime, New York, a city that's full of superheroes and ubervillains. Carmen is in her element – until she gets kidnapped by the Terrible Triad, Bigtime’s most dangerous ubervillain team.

The Triad orders Carmen to uncover the secret identity of Striker, the leader of the Fearless Five, Bigtime's most popular superhero team – or else they’ll drop her in a vat of radioactive goo. With that threat hanging over her, Carmen sets out to unmask Striker, but what she doesn’t count on is falling for the sexy superhero. But with the Terrible Triad lurking around, this is one story that just might be the death of her ...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Chick lit meets comics lit in Estep's fresh debut. Carmen Cole, "reporter extraordinaire" for the Exposé in Bigtime, N.Y., is on a mission—to unmask all superheroes and über villains—after catching her fiancé, Matt Marion (aka the Machinator), in bed with her best friend, Karen Crush (aka Crusher), on Carmen's wedding day. But after Carmen outs a member of the Fearless Five, Travis Teague (aka Tornado), and Travis kills himself, she's not only devastated, she's demoted to society reporter. When the Terrible Triad nabs Carmen, their snarky Malefica insists she unmask the Fearless Five's Striker or suffer dire consequences. By the time Carmen knows who Striker is, they're in love, and turning him over to a superbitch isn't an option. A zippy prose style helps lift this zany caper far above the usual run of paranormal romances. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• File Size: 511 KB
• Print Length: 372 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: B003S9WDGE
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005CIXPOS
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,724 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars More like 4 1/2 stars... June 20, 2007

By Deborah Wiley VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Imagine a world in which a superhero protects every town while ubervillians attempt to complete their nefarious deeds....

Reporter Carmen Cole lives in such a world and it makes her sick! Ever since she accidentally uncovered the secret identities of her ex-fiancé and ex-best friend, Carmen has been the bane of superheroes and ubervillians everywhere. That is, until a miscalculation leaves Carmen as the pariah of the journalism world. Her past comes crashing back to haunt her when she finds herself locked in a battle between the Fearless Five and the Terrible Triad with both her life and her heart on the line.

If you are looking for a serious read, then KARMA GIRL is not the book for you. KARMA GIRL is pure entertainment. Jennifer Estep has perfectly captured the campiness and humor that made so many of us love the superheroes of our youth. There are no real secrets here as the so-called secret identities of the Fearless Five and the Terrible Triad are fairly obvious, but that is part of the fun. After all, everyone should have been able to see that Clark Kent and Superman were one and the same and yet no one could figure that out. KARMA GIRL uses those same basic principles to great effect.

Carmen Cole's tale of woe is pretty funny as even she can see how revenge really isn't the best choice. Carmen's actions repeatedly come back full circle and hence the very appropriate title to this charming story. Jennifer Estep does a great job at making Carmen likeable despite some of her actions, perhaps because Carmen herself expresses such deep regret for the mistakes she has made. And I love how all of the characters are named, as the alliteration really helps promote the comic book atmosphere!

After finishing reading KARMA GIRL, my first thought was that this just had to be a series. There are simply too many possibilities out there for more stories involving the other superheroes. Thankfully, Jennifer Estep is already working on future books as I can certainly envision other adventures for the fictional town of Bigtime! KARMA GIRL is pure fun as Jennifer Estep shows a real flair for crafting a tale that is both amusing and engaging.

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars No Bad Karma Here April 12, 2010

By Tracy TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Carmen Cole is on a mission. When she found her fiance in bed with her best friend thirty minutes before her wedding, something in Carmen broke. When she realized that under the wedding clothing that the two were...er...working around...lay the truth of their secret identities, and that her fiance was her town's superhero and her best friend was the town's ubervillain, she did more than break. She snapped. Pictures that is. Of the two lovebirds doing the deed. Then she ran right to the newspaper she worked for and broke the story. Fueled by righteous anger and bearing a load of pain and humiliation, her heartbreak became the fuel to a quest, to a mission - unearth the identities of every superhero and ubervillain there is so NO ONE could be lied to and hurt like she was. And so her mission began, and she followed it faithfully until the day that her story caused the suicide of one of the superheroes she unmasked. The regret and sorrow over that haunt Carmen, ending her mission, throwing her karma completely out of whack, and leaving her ripe for the pickings of the Terrible Trio - her most recent city's ubervillain crime bosses. Karma is a bitch, and when it bites back, it leaves marks, and Carmen is just about to realize just how bad karma can get. Will any superhero lend a hand after her mission of disclosure?

As a true tongue-in-cheek romp, Karma Girl is a fun, light read. There's nothing too dark and unpleasant, and even the villains tend to feel more Sunday comics than dark comic book. Nefarious plans and wicked plots abound, as do irrepressible superheroes and sexy millionaire playboys. At the center is Carmen, the wounded reporter who's now paying for her revenge in the worst ways. I truly enjoyed the very "Batman/Superman" feel to the book - the costumes, the masks, the alter-egos, the Alternate Universe technology and inventions (like the freeze gun stuff and the explodium). It was just a whole lot of fun - and so long as you're okay not taking it seriously, it's a cute romance, too...though admittedly, I would've liked a wee bit more of JUST Carmen and Striker scenes. The book is written well and while the pacing slowed in a few spots, it was nothing that really distracted my enjoyment. I enjoyed the F5 group, and the villains were suitably villainous, and sure - it doesn't take a mad scientist to figure out who everyone is, but so what? It's not SUPPOSED to for the reader - that AU blind spot (like no one noticed Clark Kent was Superman??) that exists in all superhero books, movies, comics, etc. was well represented here.

There was only a couple of things that really bugged me - the prolific use of the word "karma" and being hit over the head with Carmen's guilt over Tornado's suicide. Both were so, so, SO overdone that it exceeded by FAR the bounds of foreshadowing/plot development and headed straight into being really distracting. I understand the importance of karma as a theme here, and to keep Carmen likable she had to feel remorse for Tornado, but sheesh - there's a fine line and it wasn't just crossed here, the author did the naked samba over it all through the book. Other than those two complaints, I found this book to be a fun, light, and surprisingly cute read that really well represented all those crazy, campy superhero stories. Nicely done.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Carmen reporter extraordinaire July 16, 2010

By peaceloveandpat

Format:Kindle Edition

Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned.

On Carmen's wedding day she found out that her fiance and her best friends were entangled in a very shocking way. She literally caught him with his pants down while her best friend moan with pleasure, after her heart shattered into million pieces, the shock did not end there, in the throes of undressing, she caught a glimpse of another clothing underneath, and found out that her fiance was a superhero named Machinator (controls machines with his mind) and Crush (freakishly super strength). So what do you do if you are an investigative report scorned and heartbroken? You take a picture and turn your humiliation into a headliner. And that was exactly what Carmen did, she made it her personal vendetta to expose superheros and ubervillains so nobody won't feel cheated like her ever again. And more months / years she was successful at it, people are fascinated by her skills on uncovering who is behind those mask and spandex until one of the superheroes group member called Fearless Five committed suicide after being exposed.

Booed and threatened by the public, Carmen was forced to write the society page of the newspaper. But her life got even more complicated when she was kidnapped by the ubervillain nemesis of Fearless Five called the Terrible Triad. She is of course being black mailed and was given some nasty image of how they are going to torture her but then she met Striker (leader of the Fearless Five) and she never thought a superhero can be so good looking with a spandex. Conflicted with the past and stressed out by what is happening in the present, Carmen still did what she does best, nosy, sarcastic, funny and impressive on everything.

I love the story the plot, the humor, the characters and the ending. I haven't read much of a superhero vs. villains book but every time I do, I always end up wanting more and Jennifer Estep's is no exception.

I wish Big Time series could be all about Carmen and her superheroes... a girl could dream

More About the Author

Jennifer Estep is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.

Jennifer writes the Elemental Assassin adult urban fantasy series for Pocket. Books in the series are SPIDER'S BITE, WEB OF LIES, VENOM, TANGLED THREADS, SPIDER'S REVENGE, BY A THREAD, and WIDOW'S WEB. THREAD OF DEATH, an e-novella, is also available.

HAINTS AND HOBWEBS: AN ELEMENTAL ASSASSIN SHORT STORY can be found in THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF GHOST ROMANCE.

DEADLY STING, the eighth book, is set to be released on March 26, 2013.

Jennifer also writes the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series for Kensington.

Books in the series are TOUCH OF FROST, KISS OF FROST, and DARK FROST. CRIMSON FROST, the fourth book, is set to be released on Dec. 24, 2012.

FIRST FROST, a prequel e-story to the series, is available as a download. HALLOWEEN FROST, an e-short story, is available in the ENTANGLED e-anthology.

Jennifer is also the author of the Bigtime paranormal romance series. Books in the superhero-themed series are KARMA GIRL, HOT MAMA, JINX, and NIGHTINGALE. A KARMA GIRL CHRISTMAS, an e-story, is also available.

Excerpts, free short stories, and more information on Jennifer's books can be found at http://www.jenniferestep.com.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#58 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#72 in Books > Romance > Fantasy & Futuristic

#80 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy

#58 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#72 in Books > Romance > Fantasy & Futuristic

#80 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy