Can you believe we’re already a fourth of the way through the year? It seems like just the other week I was writing how I planned to move to a quarterly schedule for my new superhero fiction posts in 2021.
2021 has been not so great in many ways, but it doesn’t disappoint when it comes to new superhero fiction. Check out a few that caught my eye below.
As usual, I haven’t read all of these books personally, so please read the descriptions and reviews before purchasing.
*This post contains affiliate links.
We Could Be Heroes
by Mike Chen
An extraordinary and emotional adventure about unlikely friends and the power of choosing who you want to be.
Jamie woke up in an empty apartment with no memory and only a few clues to his identity, but with the ability to read and erase other people’s memories—a power he uses to hold up banks to buy coffee, cat food and books.
Zoe is also searching for her past, and using her abilities of speed and strength…to deliver fast food. And she’ll occasionally put on a cool suit and beat up bad guys, if she feels like it.
When the archrivals meet in a memory-loss support group, they realize the only way to reveal their hidden pasts might be through each other. As they uncover an ongoing threat, suddenly much more is at stake than their fragile friendship. With countless people at risk, Zoe and Jamie will have to recognize that sometimes being a hero starts with trusting someone else—and yourself.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo |IndieBound
Junior Hero Blues
by J.K. Pendragon
Last year, Javier Medina was your average socially awkward gay high schooler with a chip on his shoulder. This year, he’s…well, pretty much the same, but with bonus superpowers, a costume with an ab window to show off his new goods, and a secret identity as the high-flying, wise-cracking superhero Blue Spark.
But being a Junior Hero means that Javier gets all the responsibility and none of the cool gadgets. It’s hard enough working for the Legion of Liberty and fighting against the evil Organization, all while trying to keep on top of school work and suspicious parents. Add in a hunky boyfriend who’s way out of Javier’s league, and an even hunkier villain who keeps appearing every time said boyfriend mysteriously disappears, and Blue Spark is in for one big dollop of teenage angst. All while engaging in some epic superhero action and, oh yeah, an all-out battle to protect Liberty City from the forces of evil.
Welcome to the 100% true and totally unbiased account of life as a teenage superhero.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo |Apple Books | IndieBound
Beneath The Mask: A Superhero Romance Anthology
by Michael C. Bailey, Karen Diem, Jeremy Flagg, Jamie Hawke, Trish Heinrich, Franklin Kendrick, Nancy O’Toole, Lana Pecherczyk, Christine Ragland
Ten tantalizing tales of masked heroes saving the day and falling in love.
From sweet saviors to steamy angelic warriors, reluctant heroes to grumpy playboys, this anthology has something for everyone who’s ever fantasized about being a hero…or falling for one.
Do you dare to peek behind the mask and live out your sweetest, darkest, steamiest fantasies?
Each story includes superheroes and a swoon-worthy happily every after!
Kill Your Heroes
by Slade Grayson
Eddie Marr never planned to be a supervillain, but it seemed like a surefire way to become rich and famous. All he had to do was come up with a flashy costume, a signature gimmick, and commit a couple of high profile (yet nonviolent) crimes. Eddie figured he’d eventually get caught and spend a year or two in a minimum security prison. Then he’d write a tell-all book, do the talk show circuit, and parlay that into a regular TV hosting gig.
But the best laid plans…
As the Puzzler, Eddie was strictly a C List supervillain. He matched wits with Dark Revenger, a grim and gritty, street-level superhero. Eddie always managed to get away unscathed, but one night, things go horribly wrong and the Dark Revenger is dead. It’s one thing to steal the Mona Lisa. But killing a world famous superhero? That’s hard time with the worst of the worst.
Most people would cash out, change their identity, and go on the run. But Eddie knows there’s no running if you’re responsible for the death of an A List superhero. The only chance Eddie has in staying out of prison, and staying alive, is to take the Dark Revenger’s place and not let the rest of the world know the original is dead.
Eddie can do it. He’s got the physical ability and the tech savvy. He even looks good in the costume. It’s the ultra-serious, crime-fighting part he has trouble with. (Seriously, does the Dark Revenger need to be so “dark” all the time?)
Then the world’s premiere superhero team, the Majestic 12, needs help with a seemingly impossible crime: One of their own has been murdered and they need “the world’s greatest detective” (a.k.a. the Dark Revenger) to solve it.
He’s not the hero we need.
He’s not the hero we deserve.
He’s not really a hero at all.
Potential Threat
by Dawn Ibanez
He’s a hero. She’s a vigilante. They must save a young girl from a nefarious organization. Will their attraction hinder their chances of survival?
Mercury has lived his life according to the organization that raised him. Now he is a famous hero committed to saving others. After his mentor’s murder, he is ordered to hunt the vigilante Savage, the woman he has been lusting after for the past year.
Savage spent years trying to keep her streets safe. She has never been afraid to step into the gray areas of justice. But when her past comes knocking on her door, she’s forced to go on the run. She turns to Mercury, the hero that’s been trying to bring her under his wing and into the United Hero Alliance.
With danger stalking them from all sides, Savage must protect what’s hers. While Mercury must decide between the family that gave him purpose, or the woman that could give him a future.
Refined: Supervillain Rehabilitation Project
by H.L. Burke
It’s hard to be a hero when crime is in your DNA.
Now a full time hero with a beloved wife and treasured daughter, former supervillain Fade is certain nothing could take him down a dark path again. However, a mystery from his past lies in wait, a mystery tied to a part of his life he’d rather forget.
When DNA evidence reveals that Fade’s biological father is the elusive and enigmatic assassin known only as Syphon, Fade wants nothing to do with that mess. Unfortunately, Fade can’t shake the target this newly discovered connection puts on him—and the backs of his friends and family.
Fade’s only chance to fix things is taking down Syphon himself. But Fade’s long absent father has his own plans for their reunion. Plans that could cost Fade everything he’s fought and bled to create.
United We Stand: A Superhero Adventure (The Pantheon Saga Book 6)
by C.C. Ekeke
Hugo Malalou must die.
Greyson Hirsch has carved a bloody path of destruction across America in his war against superheroes. Fully embracing the villainous persona of Damocles, he now dedicates himself to ridding the world of these “false messiahs.”
His next target is San Miguel’s own Aegis, known to friends and family as Hugo Malalou.
By slaughtering Aegis and his team of Paragons, Damocles hopes to crush the symbolic face of this new generation of heroes.
Hugo is equally motivated to stopping Damocles’s reign of terror, bringing him closer to a shadowy powerbroker hellbent on burning the current world order to ashes.
But Hugo’s efforts are derailed when a close friend is corrupted by an ancient evil that could plunge San Miguel and beyond into nightmarish chaos.
Now he is forced to make an impossible choice—stop Damocles or save his friend’s life.
The only option this young hero has is to roll the dice, causing destructive consequences no matter what he chooses.
Aegis and Damocles finally collide in United We Stand, Book 6 of the bestselling Pantheon Saga. Grab your copy today.
Destroyer of Earth (Just Cause Universe Book 21)
by Ian Thomas Healy
EITHER YOU DIE A VILLAIN OR LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO SEE YOURSELF BECOME THE HERO
Forty years ago, Harlan Washington began his one-man war against the superheroes of Just Cause.
One day ago, he grudgingly allied with those heroes to defend the Earth from an alien invasion.
One hour ago, he detonated a new kind of bomb to destroy the alien fleet, and was thrown through space and time.
Now… He’s lost in spacetime and dying, more alone than any human ever has been.
He never expected to be rescued.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | IndieBound
Have you read any of these? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Kristen Brand 
Anyone else think Slade Grayson makes an awesome supervillain name? 🦹🏻♂️
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It’s not just you. 😊
Given that Mr. Grayson’s author bio specifically states he knows he shares a first name with a DC supervillain but that it was his name first, I bet he hears that a lot.
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Grr! I came here to research my competition as an author publishing a superhero story. (The Wingman)
I did not come here to spend my money on books… again! XD Oh well, read what you love, right?
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Haha! Read what you love is right.
And feel free to comment/send me an email when The Wingman is out. I’ll add it to my next roundup.
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