Hollywood Heroine - Book Five of the Heroine Complex

The superhero duo of the century return in their fifth adventure, as author Sarah Kuhn brings fans the latest tale of the mighty Aveda Jupiter and Evie Tanaka - along with their rag-tag team of spouses, sisters, friends, and assistants!  I never imagined when I picked up and read the first book, Heroine Complex, that this would become an ongoing series, let alone that I would get so caught up in these characters that I would anxiously wait for each book to come out (and before you ask, yes, I've already checked, and there is a sixth book on the schedule!).  And one of the things that I have been enjoying about the series is that the books rotate the main character - first it was Evie, then Aveda, then Bea - then it returned to Evie, and with this book, Aveda, and the next book will once again spotlight Bea.  This provides Kuhn with the opportunity to not only spotlight different characters in the "family," but it also gives her the opportunity to present each book with a different style and feel.  And this latest entry in the series is no different.

Hollywood Heroine finds Aveda and Evie heading to Hollywood to watch the development and filming of the new television series based on their adventures as the superheros of San Francisco!  And when they meet the actresses who will be portraying them, they are surprised to discover just how much alike the women are to themselves.  The director, though, is a whole 'nother story!  The man has his own strange visions for the show, including the idea of having a vampire written into the story (which, as readers who have been following the series, have never been in any of the dynamic duo's adventures).  Aveda and Evie are put off by the man's attitude and his revision to their adventures - and when the man portraying the vampire takes his method acting a bit too far and actually bites the actress portraying Aveda Jupiter ... well, there's no hesitation that the real Aveda Jupiter is going to jump in and save the day!  Only - no one asked her to, and no one wanted her to, and her actions result in Aveda and Evie being thrown off the set and barred from watching future filming!  Something is definitely not right here, but is it supernatural in nature or just the way of Hollywood film makers?

Aveda is determined to get to the bottom of it, but also finds herself dealing with a plethora of other problems as well.  Scott (her scrumptious husband) has come out to Los Angeles with them to look into starting a surf club for teens there locally.  It is  dream come true for him, and Aveda wants nothing more than for her husband to follow his dreams. But does that dream also have to include the Magnificent Mercedes f/k/a Mercedes McClain?  Mercedes was a friend of Aveda's when she first began doing the hero thing - but it turned into a competition, and Mercedes had no problem taking credit for Aveda's heroics, stealing the limelight while trying to remind Aveda on a daily basis the only reason she got as far as she did was because of her race!  Now, years later, Mercedes has made a name for herself as Los Angeles' local hero, and she seems to have set her sights on Scott.  And if that weren't enough, Pippa, the Jupiter/Tanaka team's latest assistant, seems to be having issues with her best friend Shelby ghosting her (which is probably easy to do, since Shelby is an actual ghost!), and Aveda feels she has to help her by involving her in this latest adventure.  And there's also the odd issue of her mother sending her pictures of oranges, then containers, and then the weird phone calls to check in (which her mother never does).  With so much going on, so many problems to solve, Aveda Jupiter is pushing herself to the very edge...

Which is exactly what someone is wanting to happen!

Yes, if Aveda Jupiter and Evie Tanaka are involved, you know the adventure is going to involve supernatural hi-jinks of some kind. Is it still that demon Shasta, bound and determined to get Evie's baby?  Or is it real vampires that have invaded Hollywood?  Or is it something else entirely?  Whatever it is, Aveda is on the case - but she's concerned that Evie does not seem overly interested in investigating; rather, she's more interested in taking in the sights and checking out the local food fare!  After all, this trip to Hollywood was supposed to be a vacation.  Is Evie slowly pulling away from the team, now that she is having a baby?  Will she and Nate move away and give up the hero job altogether?  Bea already moved to Hawaii, and Lucy and Rose had moved out of the headquarters, so was her team/family slowly falling apart, leaving Aveda all alone?  Was this what her future held?   Kuhn puts poor Aveda through the ringer as not only must she deal with the very real threat of the vampires in the city, but she must also figure out how not to push her husband away, deal with Evie's pregnancy and desire to step away from the heroing, her sister's absence, her weapons and tactical expert no longer on site and readily available, and her new assistant's self-esteem issues.  Oh, and what happens when Aveda realizes that she is .... nah, I can't say that, it would give away a huge part of the story!

This one has it all!  Secret underground tunnels, searches for the elusive tome, vampire bats, steamy dreams, huge supernatural battles, internal conflict, relationship problems, and a new, energetic assistant who is such a bundle of energy, for me, she personally stole a lot of the limelight away from Aveda - I absolutely LOVE Pippa and hope that Kuhn will eventually give her a book of her own (hint! hint!).  But on top of this, it also has something that feels very much like a soap box and less like a true story element - yes, I'm aware discrimination still occurs, particularly in Hollywood and more particularly when it comes to women of color.  And while that element certainly plays a part of this story, there are times where it feels less like the story and more like the author simply ranting about it, which became distracting after a while.  There were times where it flowed naturally into the story, and there were times where it simply read like a rant aimed at the readers.

But, aside from that, Kuhn does provide an amazingly fun story to read, and I still find myself thoroughly engaged with each of the characters.  Looking forward to the trip to Hawaii in the next book so we can see Bea shine!

RATING:  8 cheeseburger potstickers out of 10 for some fabulous Hollywood supernatural mayhem and the guts to even mention a weremervampire!!!