Review - Infamous Heart: A Forbidden MM Superhero Romance by Ryder O'Malley

Griffin is a talented young artist with a lifelong fascination for superheroes. His work for a magazine profiling the city’s superheroes should be a dream job, but his boss takes credit for all his ideas and has just denied Griffin a promotion. When he tries to assert himself by going to the owner of the magazine, Griffin gets fired. The only bright spot is meeting Sebastian, the art director of a competing magazine who not only seems attracted to Griffin, but also offers to help the designer get a job at his publication. Only, it turns out Sebastian has a pretty big secret he’s been trying to keep.

“Infamous Heart” is a fantasy set in a contemporary fantasy world where superheroes are real. As in our own modern world, there are ‘fan’ magazines and websites about the crime fighters as well as others seeking to tear them down. It’s a very well constructed and believable alternate universe.

The story is told entirely from Griffin’s point of view. He seems to be a very nice person, whose main fault is probably that he is too nice, trying to get along with everyone. Griffin is an easy character to empathise with, especially in an age when toxic work environments are so relatable. His reactions to the situations he finds himself in seem entirely natural.

Griffin’s relationship with Sebastian also develops quite naturally. That is to say, it’s not without a few bumps along the way. Griffin is clearly infatuated with the man, which causes him to overlook a few red flags about Sebastian’s behavior. The shortcomings aren’t fatal flaws. They just make Sebastian more realistic.

Griffin is part of a small group of diverse gay friends that meet for coffee most mornings. These men form the focus of the other books of the series.

“Infamous Heart: A Forbidden MM Superhero Romance” is available from Amazon (commissionable link).