APHRODITE'S SECRET

In Kenner's hokey paranormal romance, Protector Jason Murphy, a shape-shifting hunk/dolphin, is bent on destroying Hieronymous, his villainous father. Hieronymous held Jason in a fish bowl for six years, during which time his girlfriend, Lane Kent, gave birth to his exceptionally bright son, Davy. Now Jason wants to win back Lane, who doesn't know of his powers, and raise his "halfling" son. But Hieronymous has other plans. The over-the-top evildoer plans to steal Davy's smarts, thereby becoming the world's wiliest villain. As descendents of the Greek gods, Protectors supposedly possess powers like levitation and super strength, but Jason and his fellow Protectors—by-the-book Boreas and the perpetually confused Zoë—are frustratingly ineffectual. Indeed, Boreas and Zoë spend more time suspecting Jason of villainy (because of his "bad blood") than battling Hieronymous. Kenner (Aphrodite's Passion; Nobody but You) still manages to wring some humor from her outlandish premise, and the attraction between Jason and Lane feels genuine. However, readers may spend much of the book marveling over the protagonists' mental deficiencies. (May)