Hero’s Prize by Janie Crouch
POV: Dual 3rd Person
3rd ACT BREAK-UP: Yes
TROPES: Second Generation; Childhood Crush; Childhood Friends; Small Town; friends to lovers
SERIES: Heroes of Oak Creek book 3
TYPE OF SERIES: Series of Standalones
RELEASE DATE: September 24, 2024
Colton Harrison from Hero’s Prize is one of those characters that I wasn’t too sure going into the story if I would like him. He was a little selfish… chasing a high that didn’t seem necessary. He had a good family life, a good upbringing, but there was something about his character that I wasn’t sure about. But by the end of the book… he gets his thoughts and priorities straight so I ended up being a fan. (He is still not my favorite though.)
Ella O’Conner, our FMC in Hero’s Prize is one of those characters that I can relate to in so many ways. She is confident in many ways, but unimaginably insecure in others. These thoughts and feelings stem from feeling as though she isn’t enough. Her dad is a music superstar, and her sister is a certified genius. But the only one that makes her feel less than is herself. That self-deprecation is real and intense.
Colton and Ella have grown up together, and she has always had a crush on him. Colton is oblivious though, and that is where some of the selfishness of his character comes in. He essentially used Ella’s friendship to get what he wanted out of it. Now, I will say, the fact that Ella didn’t “wait” for Colton made me enjoy this story a lot more than if she hadn’t. There is nothing that frustrates me more than when a heroine waits for a hero when they are unworthy of the wait.
Ella is a character that needs that boost of positive love.
I was 100% on Ella’s side through part of this story… yes she held on a lot longer than necessary… but at the same time… when she finds out that Colton is told about her crush (that he somehow had no idea about) and that’s why things move forward it makes sense.
Colton is struggling to find himself after an accident and realizes that maybe…just maybe he didn’t need to chase those highs in the extreme stunts after all. That there was so much for him right where he always needed. But it wouldn’t be a Linear Tactical book without our hero making a boneheaded move either. Because Colton does Ella dirty, but he makes up for it.
A Janie Crouch book doesn’t come without some added suspense elements, and the baddie is once revealed it was clear as to the why before we found out the why. Hero’s Prize is a second-generation book, and you do not need to read the first gen. I haven’t read them in a while and honestly couldn’t remember some of the characters mentioned but it wasn’t overcrowded and worked well. I am excited to get more of these second-generation characters. Overall this book is well done, and Janie Crouch creates a well-rounded and clean story. There were a couple of things that I felt needed to be addressed but weren’t and that was disappointing to me, but it was still an enjoyable read.
