I'm Not a Supervillain (A Hero-Villain Clean Romance Short Story)
Greetings, everyone. Thank you for joining me for a review of a Romance short story.
In late June, indie author Mindy LeMieux posted a call for ARC readers for her new clean Romantasy novel, Madness in Wonderland. Since she had previously been advertising her short story “I’m Not a Supervillain”, I figured I’d read that story before taking her up on the offer.
The short story I found was rather curious one. First, it convinced me that LeMieux is capable of writing an actual Romance, rather than just a self-indulgent porno. Second, it is a rather interesting case in balancing the internal journey of the character against the realities of her circumstances. So, in addition to taking her up on her offer (if she adds me to her ARC team, there will be a review for Madness in Wonderland on Goodreads in September, and a longer review here in October), I wanted to talk about these two points.
Masks on, everyone. It’s time for the fight scene.
STATS
Title: “I’m Not a Supervillain”
Series: N/A
Author(s): Mindy LeMieux
Genre: Romance
First Printing: December 2023
Publisher: Self-published to Amazon
SPOILER WARNING
Mild spoilers for “I’m Not a Supervillain” will be included throughout this review, through I will keep the first paragraph of each section as spoiler-free as possible. Heavy spoilers will be confined to clearly labelled sections.
PREMISE
Holly Hart never expected the city’s most eligible bachelor—the sexy Ryan Jax—to notice her. Being invited as his date to the most exclusive New Year’s Eve party in town felt like the start of something unforgettable.
She just didn’t expect the unforgettable part to involve an indoor tornado, a full-on superhero–supervillain showdown, and the sudden awakening of her own powers.
Now Holly’s stuck with a night she wishes she could forget—and a choice she never wanted to make: hero or villain.
But what if she doesn’t want to be either?
“I’m Not a Supervillain” is a hero-villain clean romance quick read with adventure, surprises, and swoony kisses.
Reaction
Yeah, this story is exactly what it says on the tin. If this premise sounds like exactly your cup of tea, you will probably be satisfied.
RATING: 7/10
“I’m Not a Supervillain” is a straightforward story. Holly’s romance with Ryan takes an unexpected turn with superpowered things start happening, and then afterwards, she has to deal with the emotional fallout. As indicated in the premise, the climax of the story (such that it is) comes down to Holly needing to make that pivotal choice Since this is a Romance, her choice also plays into her choosing between Ryan and another potential love interest.
I think that this story works quite well as a Romance. Sure, we don’t get a lot of time to get to know the characters - Holly and Ryan’s relationship begins the story more-or-less fully formed, so the drama is really about how the revelations at this New Year’s Eve party disrupt their dynamic and force them to reevaluate what they want out of their relationship - but the manner in which it resolves is an emotionally satisfying payoff.
The reason I don’t rate this story higher, despite the fact that it does work quite well, is that it never actually explores this “hero-villain” choice. Sure, this helps keeps things simple and avoids variables that would undermine the framing of Holly’s personal arc, but it does also mean that a significant chunk is missing from the narrative. That isn’t necessarily a flaw. In this particular case, though, the story itself brings the matter up, so the fact it doesn’t get explored feels less like trimming the fat and more like something was forgotten.
GENRE
This story is undeniably a Romance. All the stuff involving superheroes, supervillains, and powers is just set dressing for Holly’s emotional and romantic journey.
This story also succeeds as clean fiction. It’s clear that this is a case where “clean” refers to the absence of pornographic content. The story does fade to black with the strong implication that a sex scene is about the happen, so I feel like applying a broader definition of “clean” would be a stretch, but context makes it clear that LeMieux wasn’t using a broader definition. She made a simple promise, and she did keep it.
ANALYSIS (Heavy Spoilers)
Actual Romance
A criticism I’ve made against The Empyrean, Runebreaker, and the Fire and Fang series is that their Romances, such as they are, boil down to nothing but a pretense for pornographic content. The relationship is built solely upon sexual attraction, while the drama is just a pretense to drag out the story. The one exception out of the three is found at the very end of Fire and Fang, in Clutch and Claw (which we will review next month), where there’s a shift in the chemistry between Syla and Vorik that makes them feel like they’re in a committed, mutually supportive relationship.
Holly and Ryan do not have this problem. I’m not saying their relationship is complex, necessarily. They’ve been on some dates before, and a lot of it does seem to be at least partially based on physical attraction and Ryan impressing her with his ability to access this party. However, there’s a sense of mutual connection between them that runs deeper than him validating her and being, “Flaming hot. Scorching hot. Gets-you-into-trouble-and-you-like-it level of hot.” The drama that arises between them isn’t about dragging out the plot.
Perhaps more importantly, when Holly needs to decide the path she wants to take, Ryan’s support for her comes across as something rooted in his characterization. Xaden and Kairos often came across as PEZ dispensers controlled by the needs of the plot. They didn’t withhold or grant the support (resources, power flexing, validation, etc.) that Violet and Aelie requested on the basis of their characterization; they did so because those decisions prolonged or resolved the drama. By contrast, Ryan acts on the basis of his character, such that it is. He initially contributes to Holly’s decision by asserting his own viewpoint (i.e. superheroes are stuck-up and self-righteous, so Holly shouldn’t have to be like them), but when Holly plays her feet and insists upon her own opinion (she wants to just be herself and be neither a hero nor a villain), he backs down. When the story ends will him giving up his life as a supervillain, it’s clear that this is a choice he is making out of love for Holly, rather than just because LeMieux needed a Happily Ever After.
Protagonist-Centered Morality
Back when I did the review of Magic and Majesty, I concluded that, while “Fate of the Nightbloom” and “The Gryphon Key” are the same story, former is self-indulgent trash while the later is a compelling character study. This was attributed to the framing of the narrative, and more specifically, whether the Main Character’s emotional journey clashed with the reality of her situation. “Fate of the Nightbloom” fails because the Main Character is set up as an assassin prodigy, yet never demonstrates those skills; whines about not wanting to kill people, while eagerly threatens violence against a character whom the author goes out of her way to make as evil as possible; and is framed as the real victim when her target reacts in a not-unreasonable manner to someone trying to kill him for reasons he doesn’t understand. By contrast, the Main Character of “The Gryphon Key” is motivated only by her desire for self-sovereignty, and the wider context of her situation is only referenced in cases that felt true to this myopic focus (such as her telling herself that killing a man she already wants to kill is for the Greater Good).
“I’m Not a Supervillain” occupies an interesting middle ground. The emotional core of Holly’s personal arc is that she is suddenly forced to make a binary choice about her future. Both options come with significant costs and expectations. Her choice is the decision that makes her, personally, happy, rather than one based in any moral principle.
This is, in the most neutral sense of the word, a selfish decision. The big risk here is that the context would make that selfishness a vice while trying to frame it as a virtue. LeMieux does swerve slightly in that direction. The story doesn’t provide adequate context about what it actually means to be a hero or villain in this world. Ryan’s villainy (including endangering dozens of people by using his powers to sweep them from the penthouse of a skyscraper to the street) is treated as a harmless prank. Heroes are also framed as an oppressive force, when the logic within the story makes it clear that, just be opposing Ryan’s antics, heroes are already a net positive upon the world. So if LeMieux had tried to frame villainy as Holly choosing her own happiness, that wouldn’t have worked.
Rather than do that, Holly rejects the binary. Yes, her decision is to prioritize her own happiness, but she does so by asking to be left alone to continue living her life the way she did before her powers manifested. We are given no reason to believe that leaving her alone will harm anyone. Within this framing, the true meaning of “hero” and “villain” within this world isn’t important. They function as symbolic placeholders for an unwanted choice. Holly is not rejecting service to the public good or claiming any virtue for herself by not using her powers to hurt others; she’s just asking to not face consequences for a situation she had no say in creating. This holds together.
MASKS OFF
“I’m Not a Supervillain” is a simple and satisfying story of a woman taking an unexpected development in stride and the impact that this has on her romantic relationships. While I wish that the story gave more context about the world, particularly the meaning of heroes and villains within this setting, what we got is still functional. I’m looking forward to seeing what LeMieux can do in Madness in Wonderland. Assuming that she adds me to the ARC team, you can expect a Goodreads review in September and a deep-dive review here in October.
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