The Heroines has an incredibly clever concept: Heroines from novels and stories “take breaks” from their plotlines at a little bed-and-breakfast on the prairies north of Chicago. Cool, right?

The book does do some fun stuff with its great concept — but then veers off on a tangent, with its main character landing in a hospital adolescent psych unit for a few weeks after talking about her abduction by an errant Hero (who happens to be an ancient king on horseback). It’s still witty and interesting but could do much more with the idea if it just stayed at the bed-and-breakfast with a bunch of Heroines.

A great idea but could now stand to do a sequel that stays put.

Rated: High for mainly language. One character in the psych unit spills a few of the strong “word” just in a few pages. The rest of the book has scattered mild/moderate language. It also contains references to sex but not much graphic.