Holiday Heroine - Book Six of the Heroine Complex

Well, six years ago I picked up the first book in this series, thinking it was just a one-off book - but I liked the premise and the cover, so I bought it, I read it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Then a second book came out, and I was over the moon.  And then a third.  And a fourth.  And a fifth!  And now I have read the sixth book in the series, but am saddened over the fact that this is the final book in the "Heroine" series by Sarah Kuhn.  I have grown to love these characters - Bea Tanaka, her sister Evie Tanaka, and their "sister" (friend) Aveda Jupiter - as well as all of the assorted supporting characters, love interests, frenemies, and family members.  Kuhn truly did create a huge family over the course of these six books, and it's a shame to have to say goodbye (although, admittedly, there is one thing about the series I won't miss - more on that later....)

Holiday Heroine is the final journey of Bea Tanaka (and no, before you get worried, that is not referring to a death by any means!).  Bea was first introduced simply as Evie's younger sister, who Evie basically had to raise after their mother died and their father took off.  Bea was viewed as a bit of a trouble maker, and it was Evie's job to take care of her and see to it that Bea stayed out of trouble.  In Heroine's Journey, the third book in this series, Bea's powers were tested by a malevolent force, and she nearly turned completely to the "dark side," all with the idea that she was going to be reunited with her mother.  Now, here we are three books later, and Bea has grown up - and in this book, she is determined to prove to everyone - her sister, her co-workers, and her boyfriend (Sam) that she truly is grown up and can keep her powers under control.

But the real question is - can she?

Kuhn provides readers with a holiday-centric story as Bea is prepared to celebrate the Christmas holidays in the middle of summer with her family - Evie and Aveda are coming for a visit, along with Nate and .. uhm ... Sam - which could be kind of awkward, since Bea and Sam sort of broke up.  The only problem is, Bea doesn't remember the break up.  She also doesn't remember spending the afternoon at her office in Maui completing reports.  Nor does she remember cleaning up her tiny apartment in Hawaii and charging her phone.  Either Bea is having black-outs, or something crazy is going on.  When she comes across a picture of her and Pika with ice cream - something that wasn't going to happen until Friday - does it dawn on Bea what is really going on.  Bea Tanaka is time-traveling!

With all of the other crazy things that have happened in this series - demons, other dimensions, ghosts, vampires, and such - why should time travel be so out of the ordinary?  Bea is both excited and frightened at the prospect of traveling through time.  And just like all of the movies she has seen, she must avoid doing anything that could potentially alter the timeline.  This is what she tells herself to excuse the fact that she doesn't say anything to Team Evie/Aveda about the time-traveling.  Instead, she decides to show everyone just how grown up she is and figure it out herself.  If only she could figure out how to control when it happens and to what time she goes.  But things go crazy (as if they weren't crazy enough!) when she wakes up and discovers that Sam is no longer in the timeline - it's as if he never existed at all!  So, she does what any normal person does and goes back to try to correct that mistake.  But in so doing, she erases her sister from the timeline!

And if all of these things weren't bad enough, Nate's evil mom, Shasta, is back on the scene, working overtime to convince Bea that she must sacrifice Evie's soon-to-be-born baby in order to save all of humanity!

There are plenty of twists and turns, and lots and LOTS of angst (a lot of which would probably have been completely unnecessary had Bea simply told Evie, Aveda, Nate, Scott, and the rest of the team what was going on from the very beginning!) - but there are also plenty of fun scenes wit the time-traveling element.  We get to see more of Sam's family.  We get to see Nate and Evie as doting parents.  We get to see a wild beach battle against a gigantic sea monster.  We even get a talking chicken!  (Yeah, trust me, it's a bit weird at first, but you just go with it....)

The one thing I could have done without in this book (and this has been actually building in the last couple of books) is the whole "white people are stereotyping and discriminating against people of color, and therefore white people are bad" sentiments scattered throughout the story.  Yes, I'm not oblivious to the fact that there are still people out there who discriminate, and yes, I do understand that racism can have an impact on people in different ways.  But when I'm reading fictional stories for enjoyment, I don't need those kind of things shoved down my throat when they add nothing crucial to the story.  The first three books in this series barely touched on those issues - they focused on the characters, their coming to terms with their powers and their family around them, and their battles against the demons coming through from the other dimension.  I thought that was the focus of this series.  But starting with Haunted Heroine, moreso in Hollywood Heroine, and now much more in Holiday Heroine, it's almost as if Kuhn feels it necessary to push this sentiment into the story, despite it lacking any substantive purpose for the story.

But I was able to look beyond that to the story as a whole, which I enjoyed overall.  Evie, Aveda, and now Bea have all managed to find their balance (and their husbands/boyfriends), and I can see them having their happily ever afters.  I'll miss these characters, but it's satisfying to know that their family has finally been firmly established, and whatever happens in their futures, they will face them as more than a team - but as a family!

RATING:  8 canoes toppling to the ground out of 10 for bringing the story of this terrific trio of super-powered ladies to a satisfying and happy conclusion!