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Verdict: A tense, steamy small-town romance between a veteran with PTSD and an icy prosecutor from her past, with a heroine readers root for and chemistry that crackles, undercut by a betrayal that a vocal minority feel is forgiven far too easily.
Best for: Readers who love ice queens, damaged military heroines and explicit heat, and who want a series they can sink into for several books.
Heat level: ★★★★☆ (4/5 — explicit, on-page scenes)
Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.9/5 — a 4.24 Goodreads average across nearly 2,500 ratings, docked for a romance some readers find one-sided)
Tropes: Ice queen, second chance, veteran with PTSD, cop and prosecutor, small town, forbidden workplace romance, hurt/comfort, crime investigation, single first-person POV, series romance.
Don’t Call Me Hero by Eliza Lentzski is the first book in her long-running series of the same name, first published in 2014 — a contemporary lesbian romance with a crime thread, in which an ex-Marine turned small-town cop is pulled into a financial investigation alongside the city prosecutor who once knew her well.
It holds a 4.24 average across almost 2,500 Goodreads ratings, and the six books that followed each rate higher than the last. Readers love the chemistry and argue about the love interest. Both are worth knowing before you start.
What Is Don’t Call Me Hero About?
Don’t Call Me Hero is a romance wrapped around a small-town police story. Embarrass, Minnesota, gives it a quiet, cold backdrop, and a financial-crime investigation gives the leads a professional reason to keep colliding. The book’s emotional weight comes from Cassidy’s war: her PTSD is handled with care, and readers with military backgrounds say it rings true.
Cassidy Miller is an ex-Marine who has come home to start over as a cop, carrying nightmares and memories she would rather not discuss. Julia Desjardin is the city prosecutor — cool, polished, intimidating and part of Cassidy’s past. The book is told entirely in Cassidy’s first person, so Julia remains something of an enigma, which is part of her appeal for some readers and part of the problem for others.
What Makes This Sapphic Ice Queen Romance Work
- The chemistry: The most praised element. Around eight reviewers single out the tension between Cassidy and Julia, and many are openly smitten with Julia.
- The PTSD portrayal: Around five readers praise how authentically Cassidy’s trauma is written, from flashbacks to the slow work of living with it.
- The pace: About six readers call it a page-turner, and the investigation keeps the plot moving between romantic beats.
- The heat: Readers describe the intimate scenes as steamy — one calls them among the hottest they have read without being vulgar.
- A series worth committing to: Each later book rates higher, and readers compare Julia to Lee Winter’s ice queens — a natural pick for lesbian military romance fans.
Book Synopsis
Cassidy Miller came home from the Marines with a chest full of service and a head full of things she does not talk about. Joining the police force in her small Minnesota town was supposed to be a quiet way back into ordinary life. Ordinary life, it turns out, has other plans.
A financial crime lands on her desk, and the case brings her into the orbit of the city prosecutor, Julia Desjardin — elegant, exacting and as cold as a northern winter. Julia is not a stranger. She is a piece of Cassidy’s past, and she is very good at making it clear that she has moved on.
Working together means long hours, sharp words and a pull neither of them can quite ignore. As the investigation deepens, Cassidy has to decide whether she can trust the woman across the desk with the parts of herself she keeps locked away — and whether Julia is someone who can be trusted at all.
My Review
Cassidy is the reason this works. Lentzski writes a veteran whose trauma is part of who she is rather than a plot device — the nightmares, the hypervigilance, the reluctance to be called a hero — and the first-person voice makes her easy to root for. Readers with military experience say the portrayal rings true.
The chemistry is the other draw. Julia is a classic ice queen — cool, composed and devastating — and the tension between her and Cassidy carries the book. The heat delivers when it arrives, and the small-town investigation gives the romance a frame and a pace that keep the pages turning.
Where it struggles is Julia, and this is the loudest complaint rather than a stray one. Around seven readers feel that a betrayal or a manipulation on Julia’s part is forgiven far too quickly, and some go further, calling the relationship one-sided or toxic; on StoryGraph one reader called her abusive and stopped reading the series. Because the book never leaves Cassidy’s head, Julia’s motives stay hard to read, which about three readers found frustrating. Around five found the ending rushed or anticlimactic, about as many were put off by Julia’s habit of calling Cassidy “dear”, and a few found the crime plot mundane.
One expectation to reset: the setup suggests a cop thriller, and the investigation is really a frame for the romance. If you came for a twisty mystery, calibrate; if you came for an ice queen and a damaged hero, it delivers.
My honest note: An absorbing, steamy start to a beloved series, with a love interest who will divide you. If you need the person in the wrong to earn forgiveness, this may rankle. If you love ice queens and slow-burning series romance, it is a strong opening chapter.
| Element | In Don’t Call Me Hero |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Cassidy Miller & Julia Desjardin — an ex-Marine turned cop and the ice-queen city prosecutor from her past |
| Core tropes | Ice queen, second chance, veteran with PTSD, cop and prosecutor, small town, workplace tension |
| Setting | Embarrass, a small town in northern Minnesota |
| Heat level | 4/5 — explicit, on-page scenes |
| Series | Don’t Call Me Hero book 1 of 7 — the couple ends together, no cliffhanger; their story continues across the series |
| Content notes | PTSD with flashbacks and nightmares, anxiety, war memories, emotional betrayal, family conflict, explicit sexual content (from reader reviews) |
How Spicy Is Don’t Call Me Hero?
A 4/5. I could not get a romance.io reading for this title, so the number comes from readers, who are consistent: the scenes are on the page and steamy, with one reader calling them the hottest they had read without tipping into vulgarity. LezReviewBooks described the second book as just as hot as the first.
No reviewer I found flags kink content. The thing worth knowing in advance is the emotional dynamic — some readers find Julia’s behaviour manipulative. If you want an ice queen at a similar temperature, Truth and Measure and If I Don’t Ask sit in the same band.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you love ice-queen love interests, you want a veteran heroine written with care, you enjoy explicit heat, and you are happy to follow a couple across a long series.
You may want to skip it if: you need a love interest who earns forgiveness, one-sided relationships frustrate you, you want a gripping mystery, or you need both leads’ points of view.
In short: a steamy, absorbing ice-queen romance whose love interest divides readers.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (October 2026)
This is a long-running independent series with a devoted readership rather than a viral hit. Book one came out in 2014, and the series has grown to seven books, each rated higher than the last — the latest sits at 4.63 on Goodreads — which tells you how many readers stay. The numbers for this book: a 4.24 average across almost 2,500 Goodreads ratings with only about 3% at one or two stars, 3.91 across 51 StoryGraph reviews with a 1% did-not-finish rate, and 4.5 from almost 1,700 Amazon ratings. I found no trade reviews and no Reddit or BookTok conversation driving it. The audiobook, narrated by Lori Prince, runs about 10 hours 18 minutes, and LezReviewBooks gave it 4.5 stars.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The chemistry and Julia herself, first — around eight readers. Then the pace: about six call it a page-turner. Around five praise the authenticity of Cassidy’s PTSD. Readers who love ice queens compare Julia to Lee Winter’s heroines, and author Clare Lydon gave it five stars.
What readers argue about and complain about: Julia, above everything. About seven readers say her betrayal or manipulation is forgiven too quickly, and some call the relationship toxic or one-sided — the complaint is louder on StoryGraph than on Goodreads. Second: the ending, rushed or anticlimactic for about five. Third: Julia’s pet name, “dear”, which about five found off-putting or ageing. Smaller notes: a mundane mystery, and a single point of view that keeps Julia hard to read. The genuine split is Julia herself — the same coldness some readers find irresistible, others find unforgivable.
The series question everyone should ask first: book one ends with the couple together and no cliffhanger, but this is a series about one relationship, and it continues for six more books. Ratings climb with each instalment, so readers who like this one tend to keep going.
Frequently Asked Questions
How spicy is Don’t Call Me Hero?
A 4/5. The sex scenes are explicit and on the page, and readers describe them as very steamy.
Is Don’t Call Me Hero a standalone?
It is the first book in a long series about the same couple. Book one ends with Cassidy and Julia together and no cliffhanger, but their story continues across the later books.
Is Julia an ice queen?
Yes. Readers consistently describe Julia as an ice queen and compare her to Lee Winter’s heroines, though some find her treatment of Cassidy hard to forgive.
How many books are in the Don’t Call Me Hero series?
Seven so far, and each has rated higher than the one before on Goodreads.
Is there an audiobook?
Yes — narrated by Lori Prince, running about 10 hours, and LezReviewBooks rated the audio edition highly.
If You Loved Don’t Call Me Hero, Read These Next
Readers who love Julia compare her to Lee Winter’s ice queens, and The Red Files is a good place to meet one. For another military heroine in a forbidden workplace romance, If I Don’t Ask is the closest match on stakes. And for another veteran finding her way home, A Marine Awakening is a gentler option.
For more like this, browse our list of lesbian military romance books or the full Book Reviews collection.
The Bottom Line
Don’t Call Me Hero is a series opener that hooks readers for good reason. Cassidy is a beautifully drawn veteran, the chemistry with Julia is electric, and the heat delivers. It is also a romance in which the love interest’s behaviour is forgiven faster than many readers can manage, with an ending that arrives a little abruptly. If you love ice queens and are ready for a long series, it is an easy one to start. Check Don’t Call Me Hero on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, Don’t Call Me Hero ranks as a well-loved indie sapphic ice-queen series opener — absorbing, steamy and anchored by its veteran heroine, held back by a divisive love interest and a rushed ending, and best approached as the start of a long relationship story.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ 4.24 average across 2,479 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ Only about 3% one or two stars
- ✓ 3.91 on StoryGraph, 1% did-not-finish
- ✓ Julia’s forgiveness divides readers
Romance ★★★★☆ 3.8/5
- ✓ Chemistry the most-praised element
- ✓ Ice-queen tension sustained
- ✓ Couple together by the end
- ✓ Feels one-sided to some readers
Characters ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ Cassidy written with real care
- ✓ Julia magnetic for many
- ✓ PTSD portrayal praised
- ✓ Julia’s motives stay opaque
Writing ★★★★☆ 3.8/5
- ✓ Page-turning pace
- ✓ First-person voice immersive
- ✓ Small-town setting vivid
- ✓ Mystery plot mundane for some
Emotional Impact ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ Trauma handled authentically
- ✓ Second-chance stakes land
- ✓ Readers root hard for Cassidy
- ✓ Betrayal forgiven too quickly
Heat Level ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ Explicit, on-page scenes
- ✓ Readers call it very steamy
- ✓ Hot without being vulgar, says one
- ✓ Emotional dynamic unsettles some
Ending ★★★★☆ 3.5/5
- ✓ Couple together, no cliffhanger
- ✓ Series continues their story
- ✓ Sets up a long arc
- ✓ Rushed and anticlimactic for some
Re-read Value ★★★★☆ 4.1/5
- ✓ Series ratings climb book by book
- ✓ Lori Prince audiobook well rated
- ✓ Ice-queen fans return
- ✓ Julia’s behaviour sours some rereads
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