Just Plain Fun Reading — Andrea Vernon series

The Andrea Vernon books are perfect light, fun reading. These are what you get when you mix the workplace, romance, and superheroes. Andrea sees all the action from behind-the-scenes at a corporation which manages their contracts and assignments. Which is very funny indeed.

The audiobooks are read by Bahni Turpin who is as good as you can get for expressive reading.

Andrea Vernon's drowning in debt and has no prospects. Then, one morning, she is kidnapped, interviewed, and hired as an administrative assistant by the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection. Superheroes for hire, using their powers for good.

Her coworkers may be able to shoot lightning out of their hands or have skin made of diamonds, but they refuse to learn how to use the company's database. And there's the small matter of a giant alien space egg hovering over Yankee Stadium, threatening civilization as we know it.

Alexander C. Kane has an inventive mind when it comes to superheroes and villains. The range of abilities and the uses to which they are put are both believable (in a superhero universe) and funny. Combining this with an office atmosphere full of sales meetings, government restrictions, and contracts is surprisingly effective and ... of course ... funny. My favorite hero is Inspector Well Actually. He's the most brilliant man on earth but can't analyze a situation unless someone makes a flatly wrong statement that he can contradict. Hence the name "Well Actually."

Andrea's adventures wrap all these elements together into a surprisingly tense tale of saving the world from aliens. It's like a comic book but without the pictures. And that works because Bahni Turpin's narration is spot on.

More than a year after she helped save the world, Andrea Vernon is in a good place. Her boss is giving her greater responsibility and she’s getting to travel a lot. And she has a really fun new BFF, Never More.

One small issue, though — Never More is a supervillain bent on world domination, and it looks as if nothing can stop her. Especially since Congress is determined to bring the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection and all of “Big Supe” under government control.

Even with mankind’s greatest heroes fighting back, will it fall on Andrea to save the day — again?

This book is even better than the first. Alexander Kane has a positive genius for combining superheroes with the mundane activities of business and life. Corporate takeovers, inappropriate best friends, and adapting to new business techniques are melded hilariously with some of the most inventive superheroes yet. As always, I love Andrea's personality, Ms. O, and Inspector Well Actually. Now I can add Andrea's frenemy Never More to the list.

The supervillains of DESTRON have conquered the country, The Big Axe has been imprisoned, and the heroes of the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection have been reduced to hiding behind a force field surrounding New York City.

And if that's not enough, Andrea Vernon is pregnant. With a Little Axe.

But Andrea’s not one to sit on the sidelines. She has to make a plan to save the country, rescue her boyfriend, and figure out what exactly people do with babies. And a whole new slate of enemies is coming for CUP, led by the newly installed dictator of America, Dr. Robotfury, and his ingenious mecha-administrative assistant who bears a rather frightening resemblance to Andrea.

It’s a lot to wrap up before you go on maternity leave.

This was a good addition to the series. I thought the Executive Committee subplot was very, very dumb. However, the rest was great fun. I especially liked the new super C'Mon.  Recommended to anyone who likes Andrea Vernon.