Title: Putting Out for a Hero
Author: C. Rochelle
Series: Villainous Things #3
Pages: 462
Baltasar has decided to step up and start pulling his weight for the Suarez Clan. He volunteers to be in an arranged marriage because he is the only one in his family who isn’t gay. What he doesn’t expect is to find himself being married off into the Salah family or to realize he doesn’t want to marry Dahlia, he wants her brother instead.
Like the previous books, I was hooked to Baltasar and Zion’s story from the very beginning. Baltasar has been portrayed as the simple minded but strong brother of the Suarez family, but we quickly realize he is more than just that. Baltasar struggles with social anxiety and self confidence, which leads him to frequently put himself down and not stand up for himself against his family. I adored Baltasar. He was such a sweet but giant teddy bear of a man. Balty really came out of his shell with Zion and learned to stand up for himself in this and I loved every minute of it.
Zion was Baltasar’s rival during the Junior League Deathball tournaments and has known for years that Baltasar is his but, like everyone, believed he was straight so he never made a move. Finding out Baltasar was going to marry his sister broke something in Zion and it made him take a chance to see if there was something there. Zion was a fantastic partner for Baltasar. He was protective, caring, supportive, and made Baltasar fight for what he really wanted. I also think for a guy who says he has no clue on how to raise a child, he was doing a stellar job at it.
Zion and Baltasar have a very intense and steamy relationship that was filled with a lot of emotions, exploration, and also frustration. Also I need to point out that Baltasar is technically engaged to Dahlia during this relationship so technically he is cheating, but both he and Dahlia don’t want the marriage so it never felt like true cheating to me. Zion and Baltasar have a very kinky relationship filled with a dom/sub dynamic and a breeding kink. But, while this relationship does move pretty fast, Zion does give Baltasar time to catch up with his feelings on being attracted to men and realizing he isn’t straight.
During all this relationship development, we also are learning more about Zion’s family and that they may know something about the origin of supes. I have really been enjoying the worldbuilding in this series and this book just continued to give us a little more information about how supes and villains came to be. Also we get to meet our first official alien, and I so want to know more about them now! Like I said, I am really loving this world.
Overall, this was another fantastic addition to this series. I can’t wait to read the next one, especially since it features the twins who have been pretty scarce so far in this series.
TW: death of partner from cancer; grief; anxiety; fist fight between MCs; toxic and abusive family; misogynistic behavior and language used;
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Previous books and reviews for the series:
Red-Haired Ash Reads 