Secret Sanctum: A Paranormal Organized Crime Romance, Book 3

Heroes and Villains #3

by Liza Penn, Natasha Luxe

Fans of organized crime paranormal romance can now fall deeper into the universe of Heroes and Villains with the third book of this exciting series!

Steel Soldier: the playboy Hero
Gwendolyn Odyssey: the Journalist and his former boss’s off-limits daughter . . .

After Malcolm Odyssey got caught using his mesmer powers to control most of the Heroes at Heroes Org, everyone was quick to atone for the things he made them do.

But what I want are answers.

I have to know what threat is so big that Malcolm needed to mesmer a whole army of supers to fight it. Only problem is, no one takes the billionaire playboy Hero seriously—except for the drop-dead gorgeous Gwendolyn Odyssey, Malcolm’s completely untouchable daughter.

Turns out, she’s on the same trail I am, trying to figure out why Daddy Dearest went Supervillain. She’s not only willing to work with me, she actually trusts me—and being around her makes me think I can be something other than my sleazy reputation.

But hunting Malcolm’s mystery will bring out more secrets than just those he kept hidden. If Gwen and I keep poking, we won’t just destroy Heroes Org . . .

. . . we’ll take the two of us down with it.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Smut, Fiction, Retellings, Marvel

254 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2021

About the author

Liza Penn is the pseudonym of an author living with her family in the piedmont of the Carolinas. She writes the Hotel Ever After books for fun and values her privacy.

Reviews

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book via Kindle Unlimited.

Secret Sanctum is another book in the series inspired by MCU characters but with spice (insert the sparkle emojis here). This time, we have iron man. Well, the Steel Soldier, who is Anthony Stern, a playboy, genius, billionaire, philanthropist. You know the deal. The love interest this time is the daughter of the now disgraced Malcolm Odyessy, the former CEO of Heroes Org who was using his Mesmer powers to control his heroes for some ulterior motive. Anthony hasn't forgotten what Malcolm has done, and neither has his daughter, Gwen. Gwen suppresses her own powers, attempting to hide the true strength given by her parents, Malcolm and Persephone. But when her medicine starts to wear off and she begins to sense something darker lurking behind her father's actions, she is left with no other choice than to go to her mother and discuss what she has uncovered. In the depths of space, an alien armada is waiting, plotting their assault on Earth.

This book was different from the others in the fact it felt a lot more plot driven. The others had a bit of plot, but it definitely would fall into the with little plot category on AO3. This one had a lot more plot than I thought and I am genuinely interested to see how things develop with Gwen, The Magician, Persephone and Malcolm from here on out.

[Flavia · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5
Esta gente tiene problemas con decir "te quiero" a las 2 horas de conocerse

[Jas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book similar to the first. So I’m going to go with the second one was just really not my thing possibly because of the characters. These books are pretty quick reads and I feel like this one moved the plot forward better than the last one did. I’m interested to see what role Gwen plays in the rest of the story.

[Fadua Castro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Le tenía más expectativas al libro.

Tal vez sea la gran expectativas lo que no me permitió disfrutar bien la lectura pero igualmente pudo ser mejor. Sin embargo estuvo muy interesante, ver a Anthony mi querido Iron Man narrado de manera un poco diferente. No es el mejor desarrollo de una historia y considerando de que el personaje que esta inspirado en Tony Stark y pudo haber una trama más interesante.
Pero eso es solo a mi gusto.

[Jayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
Man. That the freak. I definitely had higher expectations for this book but whatever. It wasn’t necessarily bad but not the best. The smut was decent but the plot was eh. Also the names were lowkey funny, Anthony stern. Lol anyways yeah it could of been better

[Rissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tony Stark fans Unite!

4.5⭐️
“Heres the thing. My hearts a motor. It whirls it doesnt thud. But as soon as val says that i swear my heart skips a beat. “

Anthony Stern (aka Tony Stark) is the steal soilder (aka Iron man) and hes dying. His artificial heart is poisoning him (ironman 2). One day at a party Anythony was throwing the most notorious supervillain’s daughter walks in and seduces him.
Anthony Stern starts to fall for Gwen dispite her parentage but things get complicated when he finds out that Gwen is taking a supplement that is suppressing her abilities. With her abilities she could destory the world.
If you like Tony Stark you will love this! The whole series follows a different marvel character. I had to start with Tomy though because hes one of my favorites.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite in the series so far. There was just something about Gwen and Anthony's connection.
I know it was very insta-love (kind of since she'd had a crush on him) but they definitely connected very well. Especially when he was helping her with her 'attack'. And I love that we're continuing to build toward a bigger conflict.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay so I definitely think this is my favorite so far, which is weird because Tony isn't my favorite Avenger? But I'm not complaining.

[Emily Mae Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, this book wasn’t bad. I know it’s based off Tony Stark and the character is definitely Tony through and through, but damn. I’m not a Team Iron Man gal, but the spice was pretty solid.

[Katerina Papostoli · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was AMAZING

[Linzey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has to be my favorite book by far in this series!

[Tammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

So here's the thing...insta love is not always my vibe and it wasn't here. Like day 2/3 of knowing each other Anthony says he loves her with his entirety. I found it a lot unbelievable...I know this story isn't supposed to be believable but how fast he came to be in love with her was more unrealistic to me than the fact there's superheroes, villains, and aliens.
The age gap...okay I can get behind an age gap but there was one line about Anthony coming back from Japan and promised his service to Malcolm...while looking at Gwen and promising it her...and I thought she was like 14 at this point yeah? And he was mid 20s...I found that really weird. Like really weird.
Like I came here for the tony stark based smut but...there wasn't exactly alot of that.
However it was enjoyable for what it was.
I didn't read the first two books because I just wanted certain character smut...sad I know, but I don't think it hindered the plot. Like they tell you what's going on, in detail. So that's helpful.
I will read the next book Magician...but that's purely for the Loki vibes.

[Megan Windsor · Rating 4 out of 5]

So the Tony Stark parallel is so well written. His mannerisms, his attitude, and behavior lines up so well with the MCU portrayal of Tony. Additionally, this story opens the door to so many new and different characters. Generally, this is a really good book.

My only problem is the whole “kiddo” nickname for Gwen. I understand that there’s a significant age gap between Gwen and Anthony and, while she is 23, when referring to a woman you’re having sex with, “kiddo” is just such an odd choice for a pet name, even for one that’s supposed to piss her off. It’s just very weird to me and I even think Tony would think it’s weird.

[Haylee Literary · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5!!

Okay!! My favorite (so far). I may be bias because I love Iron Man in the MC universe and Anthony Stern portrays this perfectly! I was obsessed with his character and Gwen’s character. There was so much revealed and some twists I did not see coming! The spicy scenes were everything! I enjoyed the plot of this so much.

Only thing I didn’t enjoy was it still felt insta lovey. If there was more time developed between the characters this would’ve been a 5 star read FOR SURE!

I think what made the insta lovey seem more realistic is the fact that they knew each other already.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

MY FAVORITE (so far) of the series. Is it because of Anthony Stern (Tony Stark) and I am a Iron Man Stan...probably. But, I thought these characters were so fun to read, and watching them fall in love...it was a 🌶🌶 and fun read.

[Frannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My hopes weren't that high for this book, since I read another book of these authors. That one was just too much smut for me, I like this book more since it's not just smut but also a storyline! I also feel like Gwen is inspired by dark Phoenix (X-Men)

[Kayde · Rating 1 out of 5]

A spicy Tony Stark retelling had me written all over it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even finish this one and DNF’d at 77%. I spent most of the book laughing or cringing and the weird subplot wasn’t gripping.

[Snuffkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the last one

[rui ♡³ · Rating 3 out of 5]

the spice is surprisingly vanilla for this series, which is already pretty vanilla in itself lmao. but i was pretty invested in both the spice and the plot + characters

[Lonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

aside from the age gap started weird nickname, i enjoyed the book! also, this is the first plot twist or turn that surprised me so that was also very good

[Tiffany Oim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written

This was fast paced but it didn't feel rushed. I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next books in this series!

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good book very steamy and smutty.

[Breanna Gutierrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fucken loved it ❤️ I so pictured Tony stark from marvel and that image did not disappoint. I think this series is doing justice. Loved it so much

[Malfoys girl]

to-read

[Vangie · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the risk of sounding redundant, I definitely vibe with these authors' writing styles for how the story easily flows. Details and romance are like a 2.5-3 but it works for the story. These are short reads so it makes sense that the connection between the love interests is so fast. The fun thing about this series is guessing which character represents in the MCU. I was vibing pretty well with this one, and really the overall plot has me hooked- mainly trying to figure out how it connects with the MCU. But Gwen's breakdown/tantrum was irritating. It really showed her immaturity and age. Like okay, they didn't tell you, but girl, you were just told that an alien army is going to attack Earth and you erupt because of a boy. Like, grow up dude. Idk, at least that happened in the last 5% so it didn't completely throw me off. But still, fun easy read - yay. Okay, and side note, the cover has handcuffs but no handcuffs were used- lol what a tease.

[Moony · Rating 2 out of 5]

omg

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a lot more fluffy romance heavy in this book rather than smutty romance like the previous. It was still good tho