Karma Girl

Chick lit meets comics lit in Estep's fresh debut. Carmen Cole, "reporter extraordinaire" for the Exposé in Bigtime, N.Y., is on a mission—to unmask all superheroes and über villains—after catching her fiancé, Matt Marion (aka the Machinator), in bed with her best friend, Karen Crush (aka Crusher), on Carmen's wedding day. But after Carmen outs a member of the Fearless Five, Travis Teague (aka Tornado), and Travis kills himself, she's not only devastated, she's demoted to society reporter. When the Terrible Triad nabs Carmen, their snarky Malefica insists she unmask the Fearless Five's Striker or suffer dire consequences. By the time Carmen knows who Striker is, they're in love, and turning him over to a superbitch isn't an option. A zippy prose style helps lift this zany caper far above the usual run of paranormal romances. (May)