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Blue Nova Saga #1
Falling for the Villain
Being a superhero is hard enough...Don’t fall for your arch nemesis.
College junior Aubree Klein stays busy with a full course load, work, and protecting River City from villains as flame-wielding superhero Blue Nova. The last thing she needs is more time with her arch enemy, the evil super genius Dr. Vile. Using his malicious inventions to inflict destruction on the city, Dr. Vile knows just how to get under Aubree’s skin. But when a new and even more powerful villain threatens the city, there's only one person she can turn to for help.
As the temporary allies get closer, they find that identities aren't the only secrets being kept, and their mutual hatred may have been masking something else all along. With the fate of the city hanging in the balance, will the tense partnership last? And will Aubree find a way to combat her conflicting feelings for the one person she swore to despise?
College junior Aubree Klein stays busy with a full course load, work, and protecting River City from villains as flame-wielding superhero Blue Nova. The last thing she needs is more time with her arch enemy, the evil super genius Dr. Vile. Using his malicious inventions to inflict destruction on the city, Dr. Vile knows just how to get under Aubree’s skin. But when a new and even more powerful villain threatens the city, there's only one person she can turn to for help.
As the temporary allies get closer, they find that identities aren't the only secrets being kept, and their mutual hatred may have been masking something else all along. With the fate of the city hanging in the balance, will the tense partnership last? And will Aubree find a way to combat her conflicting feelings for the one person she swore to despise?
349 pages, Paperback
Published October 20, 2021
4 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
About the author
Kim Elliott
4 books13 followersKim Elliott lives in British Columbia, Canada with her husband and two busy kids. When she isn't writing, she enjoys looking at memes, eating donuts, and shopping for jeans. (That last one was a blatant lie.)
Kim loves that butterfly feeling when two characters finally realize they’re perfect for each other. She has a particular soft spot for tough guys who are secretly cinnamon rolls on the inside. If you crave that tingle of excitement when reading about two people on the verge of falling in love, her books might be for you!
Check out her completed young adult superhero trilogy, The Blue Nova Saga.
Kim loves that butterfly feeling when two characters finally realize they’re perfect for each other. She has a particular soft spot for tough guys who are secretly cinnamon rolls on the inside. If you crave that tingle of excitement when reading about two people on the verge of falling in love, her books might be for you!
Check out her completed young adult superhero trilogy, The Blue Nova Saga.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 22, 2021
I love watching superhero stories (animation, TV series, movies, whatever) and thought reading a novel in this style would be excellent. And though some things work well in movies (like the build-up of the conflict between hero and villain in the opening of MegaMind), it doesn’t translate to novels which has its own rules.
“Witty Banter” turned into backstory with dialogue tags like “he sneered” and point of view issues “shrugged one shoulder, enjoying her frustration” – one, backstory is to be woven through the book as necessary, not thrown into dialogue as an info dump; two, “said” is invisible; three, she can’t know what he feels.
“Self-editing for Fiction Writers” by Renni Browne and Dave King is an excellent guide to all of this and more.
The cover: great art. But title and author name too small to be read on thumbnail images.
Good premise and fast-paced writing. Not for me, though, because of issues stated.
DNF 3%
“Witty Banter” turned into backstory with dialogue tags like “he sneered” and point of view issues “shrugged one shoulder, enjoying her frustration” – one, backstory is to be woven through the book as necessary, not thrown into dialogue as an info dump; two, “said” is invisible; three, she can’t know what he feels.
“Self-editing for Fiction Writers” by Renni Browne and Dave King is an excellent guide to all of this and more.
The cover: great art. But title and author name too small to be read on thumbnail images.
Good premise and fast-paced writing. Not for me, though, because of issues stated.
DNF 3%
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March 18, 2022What a fun story. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did.
November 21, 2021
Falling for the Villain would make a great movie! I loved the characters. I loved the inventive names…Blue Nova, Dr Vile, Aftershock! It kept me guessing right up to the end. Can’t wait for the sequel to see how the characters relationship evolves. Great first novel!
November 19, 2021
Cannot put this book down!!!!! I am addicted to Blue and her relate ability, clever sense of humour! My ten year old daughter stole it from me and said “This is the best book, I’ve ever read!.. she’s pretty mature for her age though.
Absolutely have the same bone to pick about superhero movies, the word is character development and romance story that’s always missing. Falling, helps fill this hole for me❤️ Let’s hope superhero franchises take a cue from this awesome saga!!! Can’t wait for the next one!
Absolutely have the same bone to pick about superhero movies, the word is character development and romance story that’s always missing. Falling, helps fill this hole for me❤️ Let’s hope superhero franchises take a cue from this awesome saga!!! Can’t wait for the next one!
December 16, 2023
What a fun read! Despite my initial worries that it would be too trope filled (it is called “Falling for the Villain” after all), I was delighted to find that Elliot manages to make those tropes both earnest and engaging.
As per usual in my romance novel reviews, this is an obligatory warning that romance novels are usually far outside my usual reading genres, so take my review with a grain of salt. I’m not really a romance reader, nor the target demographic for these sorts of novels, but nonetheless, it was actually a rather enjoyable experience.
My enjoyment and of the plot and characters comes from a wonderful world built by Elliot. She strikes the perfect balance between the cheesy cartoonish style of older superhero stories and the seriousness needed to make the novel work outside a satirical context. It reminds me a great deal of Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog (in the best way possible because I love that mini series) and of those classic 90s superhero animated shows. It can be goofy at times, but remains steadfastly earnest.
Alongside its tropes, it’s rather predictable at times, but not really in a bad way most of the time. Usually it was a comforting sort of knowledge to see where the story was headed, but if I had to make one critique, I would have preferred to be a little more surprised by some the big reveals. Despite or maybe because of these presictable big reveals, it felt like a rather warm and comforting story. It’s chock full of fun superhero action and engaging scenes.
The romance progressed at a decent clip and the non-romance plot was never sacrificed for the romance - a common and infuriating problem in other romances I’ve read. Blue and Dr. Vile as characters actually have things to say and actual growth they undergo, which is very appreciated. I might have liked a little more conflict of ideals rather obstruction of information being the catalyst for their conflict, but at the very least I’m so glad Elliot avoided the whole “miscommunication that they don’t talk about for unspecified reasons” trope that happens in other romances. It’s rather chaste for a romance novel, but I think that says less about this book and more about the romance genre as a whole. Definitely not casting a value judgment on that, but it is a little difficult to figure out what exactly the targeted age range for this is (it was shelved in the adult section at the library, but compared to other books, this is quite mild)
I have some qualms about the quality / design of the print (font size and typesetting were a little odd at points), but that’s obviously an Amazon and manufacturing thing rather than something the author can control. Great cover art!
Overall, it’s an easy, enjoyable, and fun filled read that I like far better than the (admittedly few) other romances I’ve read.
As per usual in my romance novel reviews, this is an obligatory warning that romance novels are usually far outside my usual reading genres, so take my review with a grain of salt. I’m not really a romance reader, nor the target demographic for these sorts of novels, but nonetheless, it was actually a rather enjoyable experience.
My enjoyment and of the plot and characters comes from a wonderful world built by Elliot. She strikes the perfect balance between the cheesy cartoonish style of older superhero stories and the seriousness needed to make the novel work outside a satirical context. It reminds me a great deal of Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog (in the best way possible because I love that mini series) and of those classic 90s superhero animated shows. It can be goofy at times, but remains steadfastly earnest.
Alongside its tropes, it’s rather predictable at times, but not really in a bad way most of the time. Usually it was a comforting sort of knowledge to see where the story was headed, but if I had to make one critique, I would have preferred to be a little more surprised by some the big reveals. Despite or maybe because of these presictable big reveals, it felt like a rather warm and comforting story. It’s chock full of fun superhero action and engaging scenes.
The romance progressed at a decent clip and the non-romance plot was never sacrificed for the romance - a common and infuriating problem in other romances I’ve read. Blue and Dr. Vile as characters actually have things to say and actual growth they undergo, which is very appreciated. I might have liked a little more conflict of ideals rather obstruction of information being the catalyst for their conflict, but at the very least I’m so glad Elliot avoided the whole “miscommunication that they don’t talk about for unspecified reasons” trope that happens in other romances. It’s rather chaste for a romance novel, but I think that says less about this book and more about the romance genre as a whole. Definitely not casting a value judgment on that, but it is a little difficult to figure out what exactly the targeted age range for this is (it was shelved in the adult section at the library, but compared to other books, this is quite mild)
I have some qualms about the quality / design of the print (font size and typesetting were a little odd at points), but that’s obviously an Amazon and manufacturing thing rather than something the author can control. Great cover art!
Overall, it’s an easy, enjoyable, and fun filled read that I like far better than the (admittedly few) other romances I’ve read.
March 16, 2022
(PARENTS CAUTIONED: Out of consideration for parents and the various ways in which we all choose to raise our children, it should be noted that there is an inappropriate scene between superhero and villain that should require your immediate discretion. Read the book through and decide if it's something you wouldn't mind your child reading. As for adults, it's PG-13.)
What a wonderful surprise!
Normally when I read books, I end up dissatisfied with the direction the author took, the poor dialogue, and/or the lack of practical thinking possessed by the main characters. Usually, I roll my eyes more times than I care to count, and I rarely like the climax. Sometimes, I even put the book away before I get through half of it.
But this book is different! It has been so long since I have enjoyed a book from beginning to end. I didn't have to fabricate an ending I preferred over the author's choice, and I finished it with the satisfaction that I had indeed read a good story. I simply opened the pages and enjoyed the ride as Kim Elliot effortlessly created whole characters (nothing generic, but fully developed), efficiently described scenes, and masterfully unfolded a mystery that I was not able to guess within the first few chapters.
The only reason I gave four instead of five stars is because of the parental caution I listed earlier, and stereotypical laws of attraction pervading our society today. In other words, if you want to have a good romance, you have to be good looking. No one falls for the plain or common looking people. It always has to be the hot models; the guys with ripped torsos falling for the girl with slender, strong arms. Ugh!
Otherwise, it was highly entertaining with the constant banter between villain and superhero!
SPOILER ALERT: I was also pleased with the way the author solved the problem of how a villain and superhero could possibly have a go at a romantic relationship. The solution is simple. Just make sure the villain is, in fact, a superhero. After all, as thrilling as it is to become romantically involved with a bad guy, it never works out. Reality will always come knocking and there's nothing you can do to solve the problem. . . Unless the villain isn't actually a villain!
What a wonderful surprise!
Normally when I read books, I end up dissatisfied with the direction the author took, the poor dialogue, and/or the lack of practical thinking possessed by the main characters. Usually, I roll my eyes more times than I care to count, and I rarely like the climax. Sometimes, I even put the book away before I get through half of it.
But this book is different! It has been so long since I have enjoyed a book from beginning to end. I didn't have to fabricate an ending I preferred over the author's choice, and I finished it with the satisfaction that I had indeed read a good story. I simply opened the pages and enjoyed the ride as Kim Elliot effortlessly created whole characters (nothing generic, but fully developed), efficiently described scenes, and masterfully unfolded a mystery that I was not able to guess within the first few chapters.
The only reason I gave four instead of five stars is because of the parental caution I listed earlier, and stereotypical laws of attraction pervading our society today. In other words, if you want to have a good romance, you have to be good looking. No one falls for the plain or common looking people. It always has to be the hot models; the guys with ripped torsos falling for the girl with slender, strong arms. Ugh!
Otherwise, it was highly entertaining with the constant banter between villain and superhero!
SPOILER ALERT: I was also pleased with the way the author solved the problem of how a villain and superhero could possibly have a go at a romantic relationship. The solution is simple. Just make sure the villain is, in fact, a superhero. After all, as thrilling as it is to become romantically involved with a bad guy, it never works out. Reality will always come knocking and there's nothing you can do to solve the problem. . . Unless the villain isn't actually a villain!
November 8, 2021
I thought this book was awesome! The cover artwork is perfect – futuristic, great sci-fi artwork that allows the reader to visualize the characters how they wish. Truly appreciate the enlightenment of how the characters in the story developed their supernatural abilities – it made them so plausible. I love the way that the heroine’s character is so well developed, and enjoyed getting to know both her superhero persona as well as her college student personality. The interaction between Blue Nova and her archnemesis, Dr. Vile, was filled with just the right amount of action. But watching their relationship develop when they have to team up to deal with the new villain on the scene was even more pleasurable! Adding romance to the superhero genre is great and amazingly entertaining. Anxiously waiting for what I am hoping will be the next installment in this wonderful series!!
November 10, 2021
I liked this book, I did but I took off a star for him kissing another girl.
December 22, 2021
I enjoyed this book. It was interesting to read about superheroes and villains in a non-comic-book format. While this book is targeting YA readers I think it appeals to adults too. I might consider this a New Adult book, but those usually have mature content, and this book is pretty mild even with depictions of violence.
I like the world in which this story is set. It's clearly more expansive than we see in this installment, but I like that there is a possibility of seeing more in later installments. I think it was smart of the author to focus on one small city as an introduction to this world of superpowered beings, whether natural-born or due to radiation.
I like both the hero and villain right from the start, but then the hero goes through a transitional period where she begins to wonder if being a hero is even worth it and whether she's actually any good at it. I too was wondering the same thing as I was reading it. There were times where she just felt really naive, but in the long run, it served a purpose.
My only major complaint about this book is that we get to see all our heroine's faults but not really any of the villain's. It's like he's perfect in every way... oh, and he just happens to be doing his part to make the heroine better too. Honestly, it was slightly condescending that our hero really didn't learn anything on her own. She learned it all secondhand unless I missed something. Still, by the end, she has grown a lot and I still really like her.
I look forward to reading more of this series.
Recommended to fans of the superhero genre and enemies-to-friends plot lines.
I like the world in which this story is set. It's clearly more expansive than we see in this installment, but I like that there is a possibility of seeing more in later installments. I think it was smart of the author to focus on one small city as an introduction to this world of superpowered beings, whether natural-born or due to radiation.
I like both the hero and villain right from the start, but then the hero goes through a transitional period where she begins to wonder if being a hero is even worth it and whether she's actually any good at it. I too was wondering the same thing as I was reading it. There were times where she just felt really naive, but in the long run, it served a purpose.
My only major complaint about this book is that we get to see all our heroine's faults but not really any of the villain's. It's like he's perfect in every way... oh, and he just happens to be doing his part to make the heroine better too. Honestly, it was slightly condescending that our hero really didn't learn anything on her own. She learned it all secondhand unless I missed something. Still, by the end, she has grown a lot and I still really like her.
I look forward to reading more of this series.
Recommended to fans of the superhero genre and enemies-to-friends plot lines.
February 22, 2022
3.5 stars- not sure I’ve ever said this, but I really think this would be a better TV series then a book.
Still lots of fun though.
Still lots of fun though.
April 16, 2022
Great read
I recommend this book for young readers who enjoy reading about heroes and villains. Excited to read book 2's adventures!
I recommend this book for young readers who enjoy reading about heroes and villains. Excited to read book 2's adventures!
May 26, 2023
What a fanfreakingtastic read! I LOVED reading this so much! The leading couple was ADORABLE, and I am simply obsessed with them.
November 14, 2021
This was such a fun read! I especially like the character of Garrett. Can’t wait to see what happens in the sequel!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews